Blunsdon United F.C
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| Blunsdon United | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Blunsdon United Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Ducks, The Saints, The Ultras | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Warwick Park, Blunsdon, Swindon (Capacity 150) |
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| Chairman |  Lingo Phome |
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| Manager | Landon Khanfan |
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| League | Wiltshire League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–07 | Wiltshire League, 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Current season |
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Blunsdon United is a local football club based in the village of Broad Blunsdon, Wiltshire, playing in the Swindon League. The club has two mottos.
The first club motto is "pro bono publico" - For the public good which is on the top of the badge.
Another club other motto is "Quocunque Jeceris Stabit", which translates to Whithersoever you throw it, it will stand. This is displayed at the bottom of the badge.
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[edit] History
The club, established in 1955, uses a duck for its badge. But the badge was modified in 2005 by including the mottos into the badge.
Blunsdon United was formed by the merger of two even smaller football teams, Broad Blunsdon FC (established on 13th of August 1947, based in the village of Broad Blunsdon) and St Andrew Church of England AFC (established on 7th of October in 1926 and based in the village of Blunsdon St Andrew by the local parish church).
It is a grass-roots football club held in high regard by the village of Blunsdon, seen by locals as keeping Blunsdon "independent", a bulwark against the anonymity of absorption by the sprawling northern suburbs of Swindon.
[edit] Badge
The club will be celebrating its 50th year anniversary on May 1, 2005. For this celebration the club announced a minor change to the Blunsdon United club badge.
A 4 ray sun and a crescent moon will be added to the top left and top right corner of the badge respectively. In addition, the duck is slightly modified to include a gold necklace around the neck of the duck with the number 50 on it.
According to the club statement, the necklace will represent the 50 "golden" years the club have and hopefully enjoy for the next 50 years, and the sun and moon represent the hope that Blunsdon United will last as long as the sun and the moon!
The club motto is "pro bono publico" is displayed at the top of the badge and the motto "Quocunque Jeceris Stabit" appear at the bottom of the duck.
[edit] Ground
Previously the club has no permanent grounds, being required to play in an open field "known as William Garden" owned by a local farmer, who uses it to train horses in the summer months (making the field unavailable to the team).
Other former tempory grounds in the club's history are Penhill Fields, Blunsdon St Andrew Ground, Gloucester Victory Park, Eltham Grove and Stockwell.
On April 13, 2005 the club moved to Warwick Park, a large field behind the semi-detached houses on Ermin Street. This will be their permanent ground for the next 15 years. The field is behind door numbers 20 to number 32 of the houses in Ermin Street. It is commonly known by the local fans as "Mary's Shed" or "Mary's Backyard".
This ground was purchased by the drug and tobacco company ThuyPN, which is based in Streatham, south London. The ground and the stadium is called Warwick Park and have a capacity for 150 people.
[edit] Club
The club sponsor is Headlands WC the toilet maintenance and repair company, based in Upper Stratton, north east Swindon. It was the club first ever sponsor, started in 1996 and ended in late 2001. On October 28, 2006 the club announced a sponsorship deal with local retail business Oriental Touch based in Swindon. The owners are both Blunsdon United fans.
Originally, most of the players in the team were over 30, but more recently the average age has significantly lowered to around 22.
The current manager is Landon Khanfan. The chairman is Lingo Phome, who is famous in the Swindon League for making strange and outrageous comments.
Local rivals to the club are Penhill Pirates, Penhill United, Headlands Grove, Pinehurst Vale, FC Abbey Meads, and Highworth Town. All the teams are based in northern Swindon and the surrounding countryside.
In 2002 Blunsdon United was named "Unsung Team of the Year 2002" in the Swindon Evening Advertiser and was mentioned in a small article in the national tabloid The Sun. The club has been noted for improving social behaviour in Blunsdon: for example, three local teenagers who had exhibited anti-social behaviour in the past had their football skills rewarded with a full-time contract partly funded by local charity, and are said to have since expressed the opinion that their lives have taken a turn for the better.
The club's founder is a woman who doubles as "Ling the Duckling", the club's mascot. On April 18, 2004, fans staged a large protest against her proposal to change the name of the club to "Blunsdon Ducks United"; the proposal was subsequently withdrawn. Also on September 13, 2004, local rivals Penhill Pirates approach to take over the team was turn down.
The team has never won a final. Their closest run was a 2004 defeat in the local final against the Swindon Supermarine in the Victory Challenge Cup.
On December 27 2004, the club started to hand out awards to players for their contribution to the team for the year for the first time in its history.
[edit] Club records
Highest recorded attendance of 39. This was set in 29th August 2004 against Dunraven Rovers in the home tie of the semi-final of the North Swindon Cup.
Lowest recorded attendance is 2. Bizarre incident when most of the fans travel to London to see Blunsdon United play Dunraven Rovers away in a cup game. But the game was quickly changed to a home tie at Blunsdon United due to a water-logged pitch at Brixton Palace (home of Dunraven Rovers). So the match was quickly arranged to a home tie at Blunsdon United therefore the fans cannot get to the game in time. Strangely the spectator is one man and his dog.
Biggest Win: 7 - 1 against Eltham FC in the Walworth Trophy in 1999.
Greatest Defeat: 2 - 7 against Warneford Wanderers in the Swindon League in 1985.
Highest goal scoring game: 6 - 4 against Academy of Peckham FC in the Gloucester Primary Trophy.
Most appearances for the club: Tommy and Henry Twins. The two brothers have over 150 appearances each for Blunsdon United from July 2000 onwards.
Highest transfer fee: £49.98 for Namberto "Nam" Guyen, from club Stockwell and Victory FC on 27 December 2000.
Oldest Player Ever: Current goalkeeper Phil Vansan is currently the club oldest ever player. He is now 52 years old but ever reliable.
Youngest Player Ever: Alexander "Kay Kay" Waykay make his debut at age 15 against Blunsdon St Andrew Juniors.
[edit] Current squad
- As of 1 May, 2008.
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[edit] Miscellaneous
The origin of the club nickname "Ducks" comes from a dream the chairman Lingo Phome have one night before the merger of Broad Blunsdon FC and Blunsdon St Andrew CoE AFC.
In Lingo Phome dream, some ducks was winning in a game of football against some snakes. The chairman takes this as an omen for the club, which generated the nickname "Ducks" for Blunsdon United.
