The 120-year-old league where every game is at home

How many football leagues have former and current cricket players as serving council members, as well as former England cricket idols, England football captains, EFL referees, and serving council members?

In many ways, the Bristol Downs League is comparable to every other amateur Saturday afternoon league played across the nation, dating back almost 120 years.

However, it is unique because every Saturday afternoon at 14:00 all four divisions play on the same set of pitches. Every game is played at home.

41 teams, more than 1,500 players, and more than 400 matches are played annually in the sprawling 442-acre open parkland of the city’s Avon Gorge, which is located at the top of the city’s Avon Gorge.

The 2023-24 campaign of BBC Radio Bristol focused on the subjects of the people, players, officials, and teams that make the league so unique and integral to the city’s sporting fabric.

Numerous well-known names have laced up their boots in the park’s changing areas since the Bristol Downs League was established in 1905.

Wally Hammond, a former Gloucestershire batsman and former England cricket captain, used to play here in the early years.

In addition to leading the national football team and Arsenal, Eddie Hapgood, another Three Lions captain, also played on the Downs during his amateur career in the 1920s.

The former Gloucestershire captain David Graveney, who later became England cricket’s chairman of selectors, described his time playing on the Downs as “the happiest times of his sporting career.”

“People look at me and say, “Are you sane or what?” But he claimed that it was “a truly extraordinary and enjoyable time.”

You’ve chosen the national cricket team, you’ve traveled the world, you’ve played for Gloucestershire, you’ve led Gloucestershire, but I’m adamant that that time period was the happiest.

Another league player who played was Jonathan Gould, who was formerly the goalkeeper for Scotland and Celtic.

Bobby Gould, the son of former Wales and Wimbledon FC boss Bobby Gould, and Gould was a banker before turning professional.

The Downs’ weather is somewhat exposed, which is unfortunate because of it. It’s incredible that so many people enjoy the football game here on the weekends, he said.

The Bristol Downs League referees don’t always have a bad reputation.

Richard Morris returns to his former self-imposed starting position when he isn’t running the line in a League One or League Two game.

He said, “It’s a chance for me to reconnect with old friends and recall how I came through the system and where I came from.”

“To help you support the next generation, it’s really important to remember who supported you.”

Before joining the 20-30 referees that meet every Saturday on the Downs, he officiated in Portsmouth’s game against Cheltenham Town a week prior.

There is a sense of community in the referees’ dressing room at the Downs, Morris said.

“They really are like a family, and so many of the guys have been playing games on the Downs for years and years.”

Bill Bombroff is a renowned figure in Bristol’s refereeing industry. He officiated matches in the old First Division at clubs like Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur as well as the European Cup. He is now 86.

He works with the Downs League to train new officials and serves as its referees advisor today.

Referee Nick Baddell gave “he will give you so much information,” “he will take you for the first week, ring you on the Monday, or email you,” along with some pointers for where to go.

Sneyd Park FC, a founding member of the league and the only one to continue playing since its formation, has its roots even further back to 1897.

The club’s teams currently compete in all four divisions of the league, along with Clifton St Vincent’s, the second-oldest team in the league, which was founded in 1899.

You enter the changing areas, which are a little messy, but you can see the history on the walls. You get the old club members who show up every week to support you because this team has been playing in these changing rooms for more than 100 years, said one of Sneyd’s players.

He continued, “For amateur football, it’s pretty unusual to have a hundred people turn up when we get to the final.”

You might put “The rivalry with Sneyd” on the list of major derbies between English and Italian football, I suppose. A Clifton St Vincent’s player said, “I don’t believe there is much love lost.”

When he was a teenager in 1956, Don Stone made his Snyed Park debut. Up until 2024, he served as the club’s chairman and president.

Stone’s former team was still there on Saturday afternoons until he passed away in June at the age of 93.

Because you see all the teams each week, he said, “It’s unlike any other league.”