British_Airways_F.C.
British Airways F.C.
Association football club in England
British Airways Football Club is a football club based in Bedfont, Greater London, England. They are currently members of the Combined Counties League Premier Division North and play at the Orchard, groundsharing with Bedfont.
| Full name | British Airways Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | April 1974 | ||
| Ground | The Orchard, Bedfont | ||
| Capacity | 1,200[1] | ||
| Chairman | Ray Pipe | ||
| Manager | Jason Owens | ||
| League | Combined Counties League Premier Division North | ||
| 2023–24 | Combined Counties League Division One, 2nd of 22 (promoted via play-offs) | ||
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The first mention of the club is from April 1947, when it was the works team of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). In 1982 the BOAC team merged with the works team of British European Airways (the BOAC and BEA companies had merged in 1974) to form British Airways Football Club.[2] At the time of the merger, the club had over 200 members, fielding 15 adult teams.[2] The Saturday team played in the West Middlesex League and then the London Commercial League.[2] The club were one of the most successful in the league, winning the Division One title and League Cup several times, the Middlesex Premier Cup in 1996–97 and the Middlesex County Intermediate Cup a record nine times.[3]
After winning the Intermediate Cup three seasons in a row between 2004–05 and 2006–07, the club entered a team into the Middlesex County League,[2] joining Division Three (Hounslow & District),[4] which they finished bottom of in 2007–08. In 2011 league reorganisation saw them moved up to Division Two.[4] In 2012–13 the club's first team transferred from the London Commercial League to the Middlesex County League Premier Division, with the team in Division Two becoming British Airways Thirds. The first team won the Premier Division at the first attempt. After winning the league title again in 2017–18, they were promoted to Division One of the Combined Counties League.[5]
In 2023–24 British Airways were runners-up in Division One, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Rising Ballers Kensington 2–0 in the semi-finals, they defeated Berks County on penalties in the final, earning promotion to the Premier Division North.
The club originally played at the Concorde Centre in Cranford. When they joined the Combined Counties League, they began groundsharing with Bedfont at the Orchard.[6]
- Middlesex County League
- Premier Division champions 2012–13, 2017–18
- Middlesex Premier Cup
- Winners 1996–97
- Middlesex Intermediate Cup
- Winners 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07
- Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p632 ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0
- A history of British Airways Football Club British Airways F.C.
- Intermediate Cup Middlesex FA
- Middlesex County League 2006–2012 Non-League Matters
- British Airways at the Football Club History Database
- British Airways FansFocus