About Cadbury Athletic
Origins
Long before Cadbury Athletic Football Club was founded, football in Bournville was already woven deeply into the area’s identity. Its origins can be traced back to the vision of Richard and George Cadbury, who in 1878 purchased land to create what would become the now-famous Bournville village. Built around the principles of community wellbeing, recreation and moral purpose, the brothers believed strongly in the value of sport in building character.
By the 1890s, this philosophy produced one of the region’s earliest organised works sports movements. The Bournville Athletic Club was established in 1896 to oversee sport among factory workers and soon developed into a significant local institution. A dedicated 14-acre site – the Men’s Recreation Ground, opposite Bournbrook Hall – became home to football, cricket, hockey and athletics. Its centrepiece, the now Grade II-listed Pavilion, opened in June 1902 and became one of the most iconic amateur sporting structures in the country. Football quickly emerged as the dominant sport. Bournville Athletic FC became one of Birmingham’s leading amateur sides, winning the Birmingham Junior League (later the Birmingham Combination) six seasons running between 1897 and 1903. Improved facilities, including terracing added in 1928, reflected both their success and the sizeable crowds they attracted. After the Second World War, the club moved into the Central Amateur League and later the Midland Combination, competing there until folding in 1987, by which time the direct link to the factory had ended.
Continuing the legacy
Cadbury Athletic Football Club, the modern club, was founded in 1994 by John Peckham and Roger Hughes, re-establishing a footballing presence bearing the Cadbury name. Beginning life in Midland Combination Division Three, the club retained the historic purple and white colours with factory permission. Early success arrived immediately with promotion in the debut season, followed by a rise to Division One in 2001 and a flourishing reserve side collecting local honours. A runners-up finish in Division One in 2005 earned promotion to the Premier Division, but the lack of floodlights at the beloved Cadbury Recreation Ground led to years of groundsharing at Pilkington XXX, Alvechurch and The Triplex. Nonetheless, the period brought milestones: FA Vase and FA Cup debuts, a return to the Premier Division in 2014, and a memorable FA Vase run to the last 32 in 2017–18. The Recreation Ground remained central to the club’s identity, but also a limiting factor. Efforts to install floodlights were repeatedly blocked, and plans for long-term redevelopment continue to require cooperation with the Bournville Village Trust and Mondelēz International. Even so, its unique charm has drawn groundhoppers from around the country, forming a distinctive part of Cadbury Athletic’s character and matchday atmosphere.
The 2020–21 season brought a voluntary demotion to Division Two following COVID disruptions and the devastating loss of the Cadbury Club to fire. Returning home renewed the club’s connection to its roots, and the 2021–22 season produced an unbeaten campaign crowned by the Division Two title and the Birmingham County Saturday Vase.
Continuing the legacy
Off the pitch, Cadbury Athletic has become widely respected for its player development pathway. The club’s youth system has produced eight professional footballers, including internationals and Premier League winners such as Demarai Gray and Daniel Sturridge, along with academies for U18s, U21s and a growing junior section operating across multiple grassroots leagues. The club formalised its community role in 2022, uniting under charitable status and expanding provision into Walking Football, development football and soon girls’, women’s and disability pathways.
Ahead of the 2025–26 season, the first team began a new chapter at the Birmingham Moseley Sports Quarter, a modern home with a sporting lineage stretching back to the 18th century. Under First Team Manager Dean Guest, the club looks to combine the professionalism of modern non-league football with the tradition, values and community spirit inherited from the earliest days of Bournville Athletic.
From factory fields to a multi-team community club, Cadbury Athletic remains rooted in the same ideals that shaped Bournville itself: opportunity, participation and a belief in what football can mean to a community.