Knowle to celebrate historic centenary year with open-top bus parade
As many as nine success-laden teams will tour through Knowle and Dorridge on Saturday, June 6
Knowle FC are delighted to announce details of an open-top bus parade following unprecedented success across the club during its centenary year - led by our treble-winning Men’s First Team.
As many as nine success-laden teams will take to the streets of Knowle and Dorridge this Saturday, June 6, between 3:10 and 4:30pm.
The Men’s First Team has attracted plenty of local attention this season - and rightly so. Tipped for relegation by many before a ball had been kicked, they defied all odds from minute one.
Flexing their unshakeable togetherness and unbreakable team spirit, Matt and Clive Seeley’s side not only secured promotion to Step 5 for the first time in the club’s 100-year history, but they did it in unforgettable fashion.
Upon making the jump up from Step 7 just last summer, they accrued 106 points from just 40 matches to achieve previously unfathomable back-to-back promotions. The breaking of a long-standing Midland Football League record by winning a whopping 21 successive league matches between August and February only adds to their remarkable list of feats.
Even more impressively, their league success was achieved alongside silverware on two cup fronts. They lifted both the Birmingham County FA Midweek Floodlit Cup and Coventry Telegraph Cup after dominant final victories.
But our centenary year success wasn’t limited to the Men’s First Team.
In title-winning fashion, Ryan Mountford’s Ladies side secured an immediate return to the West Midlands Regional Women’s Premier Division, and only narrowly missed out on a league-and-cup double as they were edged out in the cup final by Walsall Women at their 11,300-capacity stadium - just 24 hours after the Men had won the Midland Floodlit Cup at the very same venue.
The Pigeons also enjoyed a successful campaign, as well as many of our 30 junior boys and girls squads.
Starting at our Hampton Road home, the celebratory bus will travel via Knowle High Street and Station Road to Dorridge Rail Station, before doubling back to complete the 5.8km route.
The Greswolde Arms, Knowle & Dorridge Cricket Club and The Forest are all on route - which can be found in full across our social media pages - so pick yourself a spot and celebrate with us.
The Men’s First Team, alongside the Pigeons, the under-16 Boys Tigers and under-15 Boys Pumas, will begin at approximately 3:45pm. The Ladies team will set out earlier at 3:10pm, sharing their tour with the promotion-winning Kestrels Girls and the under-7 Boys Bobcats - our youngest side.
There is a possibility for a third loop, dependent on whether or not the under-10 Boys Leopards and under-13 Girls Dragons return from their respective tournaments on time. If they do, their trip will commence at 4:10pm.
Ahead of the open-top bus parade, Club Chairman Stuart Lanyon - who was the driving force behind organising all of this - said: “Saturday represents an opportunity - so very rare for any club - to celebrate marked success across so many of our teams.
“It is fantastic that, in a centenary year, so many teams have been able to celebrate what has been a remarkable success across the club, and we are going to take the opportunity to shout about and celebrate those successes.
Lanyon, who lives and breathes the club, works tirelessly day after day to ensure we can move forward together in the way that he wants us to.
He added: “There is no doubt that being the Chairman of a club on its centenary is an honour, but it also adds quite a significant pressure to get it in its best possible shape for going on another 100 years.
“That (the honour and responsibility) is sitting with me in two ways. One is getting the right systems, processes and structures in place to ensure that we are growing our sponsorship and commercial partner base.
“[The other is] to encourage as many people as possible to be a part of renewed vigour within the club as we look forward to the future.”
With so much to celebrate across the club, a special occasion awaits players, staff and supporters alike - so get out, get your Knowle colours on, and join us for what promises to be an unforgettable afternoon.
I know I’ll be there. Will you?
