OUR HISTORY

OUR HISTORY

The Robins were formed in 1926 under the quaint name of Knowle Men’s Institute! The club has played on the land at Hampton Road in Knowle since their formation. This land, which we share with Knowle Cricket Club, was originally owned by John William Murray of nearby Grimshaw Hall. In 1921, he passed the land into Trust to ensure it was used for the “maintenance and interest of any athletic or other similar sport for the use and enjoyment of any of the residents of Knowle”. This Trust arrangement is still in place now, and the football club and cricket club have three trustees each whose job it is to look after the interests of the Trust and maintain the provision mentioned above. 

During those early days Knowle enjoyed many successes, winning two league titles and several trophies before the war. These included the Dr Nelson Charity Cup, the Henry Butler Cup and the West Bromwich Shield. Of course, like many clubs the Second World War then brought a temporary halt to official league football at Knowle. After the War, the team was lucky to have many players return from their war time duties, plus several new players looking for a home and they were able to rebuild a strong team. 1947 was a pivotal year for the club; firstly our club house was built at the Hampton Road pitch. Many of the players donated sheets from their Anderson Shelters to use in the construction! This club house stood until February 2017, when Storm Doris hit Knowle – more on that later…. 

On the football side, in 1947 Knowle won the league and cup double in the Birmingham Youth & Old Boys Amateur Football Association. We have done some research about this team, and you can read about them and some of the stars here – https://www.facebook.com/notes/knowle-fc/the-1947-knowle-fc-team/1277149579054397/ 

Following the 1947 success there is then much confusion over which league Knowle played in. We believe that by 1956 the club was playing in the Worcester Combination (later to become the Midland Combination) Division 3, thanks to a match report cutting in the diaries of Ron Sharman (see 1947 team!). However, some records suggest Knowle joined the Worcester Combination League as late as in 1966! Others show Knowle stayed in the Birmingham league until 1953 when it became the Mercian League, then joined the Worcester Combination.   

The club was known as Knowle Town during this period, before reverting to the simple Knowle FC name we are familiar with. After several seasons of mediocrity in the 50s and 60s, they suddenly began to find their feet. In the 1968-69 season, the club finished runners up in the Worcester Combination League Division Two, then were promoted to Division One the following year. At this point, the league had been renamed the Midland Combination. The team did flirt with relegation during much of the early 1970s, but managed mid-table finishes in 1978-1981. They also reached the final of the Birmingham Junior Cup where they lost to Highgate United in front of over 1000 spectators.   

1981/2 was a stellar season for the club however. The team reached the fifth round proper of the FA Vase under Gordon Cooper, and were unlucky to lose that game 2-1 to two goals in the last five minutes. The team also got lost on the way to the ground, and only arrived 15 minutes before kick-off which probably didn't help on the day! You can read more about the cup run here - https://www.facebook.com/notes/knowle-fc/knowles-198182-fa-vase-cup-run/1732469216855762/ 

A reserve team had also been created that year but only lasted twelve months before disbanding as, on the back of such a great season, Knowle went for a different direction. The club was renamed Knowle North Star and new players came in, perhaps attracted by the cup run. However, things went badly and in the three seasons under the new name, Knowle finished bottom of the league twice. They dropped the ‘North Star’ and went back to Knowle FC in 1986. The Reserve team was put back in place, but again struggled, this time only lasting 2 seasons.

One of Knowle’s most exciting periods came when Dave Prust became the Chairman in the nineties. He brought in a series of highly successful managers, and secured Knowle’s highest ever league finish – 4th place in the Mid Comb Premier League in 1995-96. The following season Knowle won the Les James Challenge Cup on penalties after a thrilling game against Kings Heath finished 3-3. The same year, the Reserve team were reformed and this time had the stability to last for many years. However despite a mid-table 11th placed finish at the end of the 1998 season, Knowle’s Firsts were relegated to Division One due to not having floodlights at the ground, which was a new league rule. Dave bought in Peter Frain (who later went on to manage Alvechurch, Highgate United & Bolehall Swifts) as manager in 1998 and Knowle finished runners up in Division One in Peter’s first season. They also secured third place in 2000/01 & 2001/02 and were runners up in the Challenge Cup in the former. 

In 2001, a Ladies team was formed for the first time at Knowle by Steve Kinsman, who bought along a section of players who had been on the fringes of the Aston Villa Women’s team. Boosted by a group of young U16 players joining from Solihull Borough in 2002, the team consolidated themselves in the West Midland’s Regional Division One South over the subsequent seasons. 

Dave Prust tragically died of a thrombosis in 2003 at the age of 44 and this left Knowle in a real quandary, but the late Roger Whittick and current Life President, Liam Coyle steadied the ship. Still under Peter Frain, Knowle won the 1st Division in 2003 but couldn’t be promoted back into the Premier Division because the ground still didn’t have floodlights! Peter left as he was frustrated – what more could he do?  
Derek Adamson and Dave Cox then took over and were immediately successful! They won the 1st Division in 2006 and then again in 2008 along with the President’s Cup. This time the club was adamant that they wanted the chance to test themselves in the Premier League, so an agreement was made to ground share with Studley and Knowle FC moved away from Hampton Rd for the first time. That first season in 2008/09 saw the team finish a respectable 12th under the management of Dave Cox & Martin Bishop (with Derek Adamson moving ‘upstairs’ to become chairman). That year also saw Adam Green’s reserve team gain promotion to Division 2, and Les Hopcroft take over the management of the Ladies Team. 

However the cost of ground sharing as well as running Hampton Road for the Reserves, Ladies & a growing Junior section soon took its toll on the club and the team took voluntary demotion back to Division One in 2010. They finished runners up the following season, and went all the way to the President Cup final but took second prize there too. Eventually Knowle did get their hands on that trophy though, winning it in 2013/14. 13/14 was also a successful year for the Ladies, who finished runners up in their league, earning promotion to the Premier League.  

Off the field, the club were strengthened by the appointment of Tracy Lake as chairperson; Tracy’s expertise and steady leadership enable Knowle to get back on an even financial keel for the first time in several years and to start planning for the future. 2015 represented a year of change for Knowle. The Midland Combination League and the Midland Alliance League merged, and Knowle were placed in Division Two of the newly formed structure. Former youth team player and first team goalkeeper Chris Knott was appointed the club’s new manager in the summer, and an over 35s Veteran’s team was formed for the first time. 

Knowle suffered a huge blow in early 2017 when Storm Doris tore through the clubhouse and ripped off that roof made of old Anderson shelter panels. This made the building structurally unsound and it had to be demolished. A huge fundraising drive then took place and the club will always be grateful for the support of the local community as we simply would not have been able to continue operating without them. 2017 also saw Dave Ratcliffe take over from Tracy as chairman of the club and he steered the club through a difficult period, eventually overseeing the installation of a new modular building in October 2018. 

On the pitch, new management came in around all around the club for the 18/19 season. Clive Seeley became manager of the First Team, with support from former player Nic Oakley & Gary Ingram. They had a great first season and went all the way to the Les James Challenge Cup final, just missing out with a 2-1 loss to Redditch Borough. Louis Farrell came in to manage the Ladies side and the Reserves were led by Tommy Dunne with assistants Graham Burden and club stalwart Jason Hall. David Tomkins became player/manager of the Vets. 

Unfortunately, the Reserve team folded in the summer of 2019.  Of course, the 19/20 season finished prematurely thanks to the global Coronavirus pandemic. The First Team in particular were hit hard by this as they were well placed in 2nd spot in the league and had reached the semi final of both cup competitions.  The Ladies team changed management again in the summer of 2020, with Richard Stanway and his team taking over, but 20/21 was also curtailed due to Covid issues. The following year did see another step forward for the club, with the introduction of a Men's Sunday team managed by Cliff Mann. There was another reshuffle of the First Team staff ahead of 22/23 with Matt Seeley joining forces with Clive, and Natalie Gibson becoming the first female manager of the Ladies side.

As we look forward to the new season, all the senior teams, alongside a thriving junior section, are very much embedded at the club and looking forward to bringing more success to Knowle FC in future!
Share by: