All successful sporting clubs are built on solid foundations.
Cookham Dean Football Club is no exception to that rule and their success over the last 130 years has been largely based on a rock-solid core support and strong values of sportsmanship and tradition.
The club is the third oldest in the Berks & Bucks Football Association behind Maidenhead United and Marlow Football Clubs, and although they are immensely proud of their traditions the club is also looking to the future.
Dean’s legacy of success is undisputed and they are proud to boast that they are one of the best supported clubs in the area.
Although the senior side draws much of the attention from the fans the club also boasts a thriving youth programme where youngsters from under 11 to under 18 can thrive in an atmosphere of fun, friendship and loyalty.
But this football club is about much more than what happens on the pitch, the club is famous for its tremendous appetite for fundraising and has hosted a series of hugely successful charity matches over the years.
It cares about the community and in turn the community cares about the club.
What is certain is that Cookham Dean Football Club will continue to thrive, most probably for at least the next 130 years. And although many local youngsters will continue to be drawn towards the bright lights of the Premiership giants there will always be a place for clubs who give back and Cookham Dean is certainly one of those.

HISTORY
Cookham Dean Football Club was formed in 1879.
During the early days the club fluctuated between the Maidenhead & District and Wycombe leagues but wherever the club played they were always successful.
In the early 20th century the club won a series of trophies including the Wargrave & District League four times in a row between 1919-1923. Dean were runners-up the following year.
The club’s biggest triumph of those early days came in 1935 when a side captained by the well known local character, Colonel Percy Garrett, lifted the Henley Town Cup.
It was a golden era for the club they repeated that success in 1936 and 1937 with Garret’s fearsome reputation as a robust centre half one of the main reasons behind the success.
The war put a stop to that run of success as many of the side were drafted into the armed forces and shipped off round the world.
Many of the side who won the Wycombe Combination league at Wilks Park in 1938-39 were called up.
Albert Stroud of Penniston Road played in that side before going off to serve in the war and returned as part of the all conquering Dean side of the late 40s after serving King and Country.

The wars came and went and Dean bounced back quickly re-establishing itself as one of the top sides in local football.
The club won the Maidenhead & District league every year from 1946 to 1953 with club legends like George Ansell and Len Fenner shining brightly.


In 1962 the club moved to the Reading Combination League, with the First team winning the Premier Division in both 1971, 1972.
That same side won the Reading Senior Cup in 1971 but the year before that they had topped the lot by lifting the Berks & Bucks Junior Cup. The success continued following a switch to the District League when they won the league at the first attempt.
Players like Brian Lambert and Colin Budge were becoming part of another golden generation. These dedicated clubmen, who were not only fine players and firm friends but had been known to sweep snow from large areas of the pitch, so that a game could go ahead. Lambert even rode his bicycle to Slough to collect an Orange football from Gilfoyles Sports shop for one snowbound match.During the time local man Les Emmett would always help out and was often first on the scene to clear or mark the lines early on Saturday mornings so that games could go ahead. These men certainly
helped to set the standards at the Club.
The Reading League was strong throughout the seventies and matches were hard fought. The club began to build momentum again into the eighties, but it was not until the final season of the Reading & District league when Tommy Ovens side took the Premier Title and rounded off a tremendous season by lifting the Reading Senior Cup as well.
One of that teams players Terry Claydon scored an amazing total of 100 goals for the club that season, 67 for the all conquering Saturday side (who also reached the B&B semi-finals) and he also notched over 30 more goals for the old Sunday morning team in the Thames Valley League, in a feat that will surely never be bettered.

No less than four Senior Division runners up spots had been filled before the club won its first Senior Division Title in 2005-06 during a superb campaign from Manager Terry Claydons strong squad.
The title race was possibly the closest ever with Cookham winning the title on the last day away to closest rivals Marlow United.

There was cup glory for the Dean in 1998 when they beat Emmbrook Sports 2-0 in the League Cup final (BTC),
Under the management of Ray Barber, the final also had the honour of being the last game played at the former home of Reading FC, Elm Park.
There was a seven-year wait for the Dean to make their first appearance at Readings new Madejski Stadium, and again it came in the League Cup Final (BTC), the result was the same, a 2-0 win to Claydon's men, but this time over local rivals Marlow United in one of the finest team performances in living memory. In the same week of the 2004-05 season just to top it all off the senior side also won the Norfolkian Senior Cup at Maidenheads York Road Ground.
Terry Claydons side returned to the Madejski at the end of the 2007/08 season for another League Cup Final(BTC Senior Cup), which was the Managers last game in charge, the Dean overcame the challenge of Shinfield to take the silverware home once again after an excellent 4-2 victory in a superb setting.

Between 2005 and 2008 Cookham had provided sometimes four to seven players at a time for the Reading League Representative squad and were rightly proud of their achievement.
At the start of 2008/09 Cookham Dean began the new campaign with a new Manager and Coach who would have to re-build the side after several players moved up to higher levels, or in some cases hung their boots up.
New boss Dave Clarke earned his crack at the Senior job after impressively leading the Reserves to the Reading League First Division title in 2005/06 and the first ever Premier Division title in 2007/08.
We look forward to the next chapter.

WARGRAVE & DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Winners: 1919/20
1920/21
1921/22
1922/23
Runner Up: 1923/24

BERKS & BUCKS JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Winners: 1934/35

HENLEY COMRADES CHARITY CUP
Winners: 1935/36
1936/37
1937/38
Runner Up: 1938/39

WYCOMBE COMBINATION
Division 2 Winners: 1936/37
Division 1 Winners: 1937/38
1953/54

MAIDENHEAD NORFOLKIAN CUP
Senior Winners: 1936/37
1967/68
2002/03
2004/05
Runner Up: 1970/71
1988/89
1993/94 (pens)
2003/04 (pens)
2005/06 (pens)

Junior Cup (Reserve Section) Winners:
1956/57 1998/99
2002/03
Runners Up:
1967/68
1968/69
1970/71
1971/72
2007/08

MAIDENHEAD & DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Winners: 1946/47
1947/48
1948/49
1949/50
1950/51
1951/52
1952/53

READING COMBINATION
Premier Division Winners: 1964/65
1970/71
1971/72
Runner Up: 1966/67
1968/69
1969/70

READING COMBINATION CHALLENGE CUP
Winners: 1963/64
Runner Up: 1967/68
1970/71


BERKS & BUCKS JUNIOR CUP
Winners: 1969/70
Runner Up: 1967/68



READING CUP (Evening Post)
Seniors Winners: 1970/71
1988/89
Junior Winners: 1969/70


READING & DISTRICT LEAGUE
SENIOR CHAMPIONS 1988/89


READING LEAGUE
Senior Division Champions 2005/06


Senior Section Runner Up: 1990/91
1997/98
2003/04
2004/05


Division 4 Winners (Reserve Team): 1996/97

Division 3 Winners (Reserve Team): 1997/98

Division 2 Winners (Reserve Team): 1998/99

Division 1 Winners (Reserve Team): 2005/06

Premier Division Winners (Reserve Team): 2007/08

BTC Senior Cup Winners:
1997/98 (At Elm Park)
2004/05 (At the Madejski Stadium
2007/08 (At the Madejski Stadium)

BTC Junior Cup Winners (Reserve Team): 1996/97

BTC Junior Cup Reserve Team Runners up: 1997/98

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THE TOP TEN APPEARANCE HOLDERS

1.Colin Budge 844

2.Colin Moore 697

3.Robert Keys 658

4.Sean Gavagan 510

5.Andy Broadley 477

6.Lee Woodbridge 462

7.Bryan Carter 451

8.Richard Lambert 403

9.Dominic Gavin 362

10.Martyn Newell 360

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SUNDAY FOOTBALL

THAMES VALLEY SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Premier Division Winners: 1991/92
Runner Up: 1988/89
1993/94
Division 1 Winners: 1990/91
Division 2 Runner Up: 1989/90
Challenge Cup Winners: 1990/91
Runner Up: 1992/93



*See also the various Team & Youth History pages for more

ETHOS
The club is very proud to be firmly at the heart of the community in Cookham. The football club shares strong links with the people of the village and is actively seeking to stretch the club’s reach still further.
Perhaps the ethos of the football club is best summed up by the people who have helped make it so successful.
One of those men, Rory Gavin, recently stepped down from his role as chairman which he has held since the late 1990s.
A local man, Gavin made more than 170 appearances for the club before a serious injury ended his career at the age of 21.
After his playing career he became club secretary before becoming chairman.
He said: “I think the club has always been the typical village football club. They haven’t tried to get above their station, but have just tried to build a club that is part of the community.
“The club has become a much closer place in the last 12 months. Everybody now knows Cookham Dean FC is all about the members. It’s not my club or the secretary’s club it’s the members football club.”
Gavin believes the club’s policy of investing in the young footballers who live in Cookham will ensure the club’s long-term success.
He added: “Over the last seven or eight years everyone has worked really hard to get good coaching in place for the youngsters.
“We want to have a club where the young people of Cookham can come and learn about the game and enjoy themselves.
“In years to come it will be those players who will come through and be the backbone of the first team.
“Just look at Jamie Handscomb he joined the club as a young lad in the Under 14’s and he has come through and played for the Senior side for five years before moving up several levels to the Southern League with Burnham".
Another man who has been key to the success of Cookham Dean FC is Colin Budge. He is a true legend and played an amazing 844 games in the colours of Cookham Dean.
Budge made his debut in the 1960s and was a key part of a golden generation for the football club and was a leading player in the cubs finest ever side at the start of the seventies. He was still playing into the early 1990 having sustained a superb level of fitness throughout his entire career.
In his heyday he was a left winger who terrorised opposition defences with a blend of trickery, pace and dribbling skills coupled with a tremendous cross.
Today Budge is president of the club and continues to play a key role on the committee as well as helping to keep up the traditional values and moral standards that the club is famous for.
He is the perfect example of a one-club man and demonstrates the kind of loyalty that Dean is famous for.
The club’s fundraising has become a major part of their success in recent years. The veterans side have played a series of special games the most memorable of which was against a Jim Rosenthal celebrity XI.
Liverpool great John Barnes, former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward, and Sky TV presenter Richard Keys have all graced the Alfred Major Recreation Ground, over the years raising money for such worthy causes as the Berkshire Air Ambulance and Imperial Cancer research.

FACILITIES
The club have played at Hillcrest Avenue since 1937, having been based at Cookham Dean Common from the birth of the football club in 1879. The well known Green Clubhouse stood from 1948 until it was demolished in May 1987 and the new building was erected by club members in the same year and had it's official opening in the August of the fine summer of1987.
Over the years significant improvements have taken place to the facilities and in 1996 the club took advantage of lottery and local authority grants to extend the current clubhouse.
Off the pitch the club has developed a reputation for having a lively atmosphere on most Saturdays during the season.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
The future of the club is undoubtedly bright. With a superb youth system in place there will be a production line of talent coming through the club.
In the era of football as a business you might think clubs like Cookham Dean would struggle.
But it is now, more than ever that clubs like Dean are really needed. Real football is losing its way but clubs like this one are helping people discover the game as it used to be.
Gavin added: “The club isn’t worried about going higher, we just want to be the best we can be where we are.”

Cookham Dean went on-line in Febuary 2006 thanks to the good people at Clubwebsite.

If you have any information to add to the CDFC History pages then please contact
sidneynewell@aol.com

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