Longlevens AFC

There was a pre-Second World War Longlevens side which was resurrected after the war but ‘died’ in 1952.

Unfortunately, no records of this earlier team survived, but the Club, as it is known today, was founded in 1954.

Arguably, their first season was the most successful in the Club’s history!  They won Division IV of the North Gloucestershire League(N.G.L.); the Minor County Cup and the Geo. Sanday Hospitals Cup.

The N.G.L. was then contracted and Longlevens found themselves in Division 2 and almost repeated their clean sweep by winning the Division and retaining the Geo. Sanday Cup.

These must have been ‘heady’ days as the very next season they captured the Division 1 title and also the Senior Hospitals Cup – The J. O. Roberts trophy and on the back of these successes a Reserve side was formed in 1957.

The Club successfully applied to the Stroud and District League and the Reserves were admitted to Division 3 and this began an association that has remained unbroken to this day.

In their first year the Reserves gained promotion to Division 2, by finishing Runners-up in 3 and two years later they joined the top flight after winning Division 2.  There then followed an extremely lean period for the Club, with no honours being gained for almost ten years, during which time the Reserves found themselves back in Division 2.

Another major change occurred in 1968/69 when the Club left the N.G.L. to join the Northern Senior League and a season later they won promotion to Division 1 and also won their section of the Stroud & District Charities Cup.  Again, this was a good period for the Club, with the Reserve Team returning to Division 1 as Runners-up.

These successes, in part, were fuelled by an influx from the Under-18 sides, who won the Youth Shield two years in succession – in 1966/67 and 1967/68, but shortly after that the Youth Team folded, not to re-appear for more than twenty years.

Little of note happened until the mid –Seventies when a Third Team was started.  They enjoyed brief success – winning Division 6 of the Stroud League and the following year finishing Runners-up in Division 5, but unfortunately they were forced to fold 2/3 years later.

The Third Team (‘A’ Team) was resurrected in 1983/84 and won the inaugural Division 7 Trophy of the Stroud League and in 1994 a Fourth Team was added.

Another burst of success occurred in the two seasons commencing 1987 when, the Firsts won the Senior League title, the Merit Shield for the highest number of league goals scored and Section ‘A’ of the Stroud Charity Cup, in 1987/88 and then, in the following season, they gained the highest placing yet recorded by the Club, by finishing Runners-up in Division 1.