Club History
Castle Cary Football Club - Founded in 1924 .The History of the club will appear here eventually and we are keen to hear from anyone who has any memories of football in Cary over the last 50 years or so.We also have many old team photographs which will be appearing on this page like these.
We are also delighted to be able to present the memoirs of Mr Ken Clothier a founder of the post war team and secretary of the club from 1946. Please follow the link to Ken's Memoirs
We are also delighted to be able to present the memoirs of Mr Ken Clothier a founder of the post war team and secretary of the club from 1946. Please follow the link to Ken's Memoirs
Cary had a good team, as I remember in the early thirties, but fell on bad times financially and Mr John Pither, who was the owner of the ground at Catherines Close, decided that only friendly football could be played on his field.To be qualified you had to join his bible class on a Sunday at the Congregational Chapel. I am sure it did us no harm - in any case Mr Pither was a very good speaker ( being an auctioneer and running Pither and Son) . His son Donald played on our team and was good at football and cricket - hence we now have the Donald Pither Memorial Ground . Good old Johnny, what a legacy for the town. I had many good games with the pre war bible class side and also the Castle Cary Juniors run by the local lads.
Let us all appreciate that good clubs need hard working officials such as Cary have at present. Don't take them for granted .Just see what is happening to clubs around the district.
Ken Clothier back
Memories from Mr Ken Clothier - Club Secretary 1946 and then some!
Since a young age , I have been interested and involved in our wonderful game. Castle Cary is lucky to have such good teams and a great supportting lot of officials.
In my early school days I used to go along with a senior neighbour to watch Ansford and Castle Cary. What a great day for the winner when they played against each other.The supporters were very partisan and were not slow to express their felings. All good fun though and a good topic for the evening pint.
The landlord of the Angel Hotel was avery good raconteur with photos, one such with a Castle Cary Team post the 1914-18 war.This must still be about somewhere , being the property of Tom Biss at the time, perhaps now in the hands of the family or museum.
In my early school days I used to go along with a senior neighbour to watch Ansford and Castle Cary. What a great day for the winner when they played against each other.The supporters were very partisan and were not slow to express their felings. All good fun though and a good topic for the evening pint.
The landlord of the Angel Hotel was avery good raconteur with photos, one such with a Castle Cary Team post the 1914-18 war.This must still be about somewhere , being the property of Tom Biss at the time, perhaps now in the hands of the family or museum.
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After the 1939-45 war, some of us decided that there just had to be a football team fpr the lads returning from war service and other services which involved us all.Mr John King was a friend of mine and he asked me to form a steering committee and then to call a public meeting at the then Church Hall.
We first met at a small workshop at Donnes factory courtesy of Mr Donne and Mr J R Bulley. Mr Bulley was very keen on sport and gave me a lot of knowledge on how to run meetings and form the club. Ken Clothier and Ted Asher were first secretaries and after the first year of 1945 we played friendlies against good teams from RNAS Yeovilton and the Army team from Houndstone Camp in Yeovil. Some of the players went on to play professional football. We lost against the Navy but beat the Army team, much to their disgust, with a challenge to play on their pitch, but we decided to rest on our laurels.We also played and won against Germany! At least that is what we called them but actually they were prisoners of war and based at Sigwells.One top player was Alec Eisenstrower who went on to play for Bristol City.
After we had got going in the league, we did play several friendlies at Cary against Bristol City. We did our best but you soon find out the difference betweeen ameteur and professional football, although we did match them in the evening at the Bar and for dinners at the Consti. Bill Peaty and Ken Clothier were joint secretaries for quite a number of years, as we could not find anyone to take it on. Eventually Les King came to me and volunteered to have a go, provided I set him up for the clerical side of meetings etc.We all know what a very good job Les made of it until illness overtook him.
We first met at a small workshop at Donnes factory courtesy of Mr Donne and Mr J R Bulley. Mr Bulley was very keen on sport and gave me a lot of knowledge on how to run meetings and form the club. Ken Clothier and Ted Asher were first secretaries and after the first year of 1945 we played friendlies against good teams from RNAS Yeovilton and the Army team from Houndstone Camp in Yeovil. Some of the players went on to play professional football. We lost against the Navy but beat the Army team, much to their disgust, with a challenge to play on their pitch, but we decided to rest on our laurels.We also played and won against Germany! At least that is what we called them but actually they were prisoners of war and based at Sigwells.One top player was Alec Eisenstrower who went on to play for Bristol City.
After we had got going in the league, we did play several friendlies at Cary against Bristol City. We did our best but you soon find out the difference betweeen ameteur and professional football, although we did match them in the evening at the Bar and for dinners at the Consti. Bill Peaty and Ken Clothier were joint secretaries for quite a number of years, as we could not find anyone to take it on. Eventually Les King came to me and volunteered to have a go, provided I set him up for the clerical side of meetings etc.We all know what a very good job Les made of it until illness overtook him.
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