Hillingdon football club is expanding

Until recently if you lived in Hillingdon and aspired to play football for the town team your choices were limited to travelling to the north of the borough and join a club playing their football in the rural outskirts of Ruislip or consider playing for one of the neighbouring teams Hayes, Yeading or Uxbridge FC...

Well not any more! Hillingdon FC is based in Hillingdon and play their football in Hillingdon.

The club was founded in 1989 as Hillingdon Irish Saints FC by amongst others John Speed and played from the Irish club in Royal Lane Hillingdon. After a few years the decision was taken to drop the word 'Irish' from the clubs name as it gave the perception that you had to be Irish to play for the club.

Hillingdon Saints FC built a reputation as a friendly Youth Football club gradually growing from four to five teams to 12 teams. The club became aware that the players needed an option to continue playing football for the club beyond 16 years of age and Hillingdon Saints FC fielded a senior side for the first time during the 2006/7 season.

The team played its first season in the London Commercial League but elected to apply for entry to the Middlesex 'Cherry Reds' County Football League as this put the club on the bottom tier of the official FA football pyramid and at the same time asked the FA to be allowed to make one final change to the club's name to Hillingdon FC.

The FA accepted that the club had grown to such a size that it now drew players from all over the borough and therefore warranted the name change. Another successful season followed and Hillingdon FC finished runners up in their division and have earnt promotion to the first Division of the Middlesex County League.

As the senior team was rapidly establishing a reputation as a progressive side the club saw the need for a stepping stone between Sunday Youth Football and the rigours of a first team debut so the club applied for entry to, and were accepted into the Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League at U18s initially playing football at the old Vikings ground in Greenford under floodlights on a Wednesday evening.

For the 2008/9 season the team relocating to Uxbridge to play our football at the newly built Hillingdon Stadium in Gatting Way Uxbridge.

One final addition to the club structure has seen us add a reserve team playing in the Middlesex County Reserve Football League. The club now has our own pitches, clubhouse/changing rooms and the facility to take a young player from the first time he laces up his boots until the day he decides to hang them up for good (and hopefully coach the next generation of 'saints').

For more information on the club see www.hillingdonfc.com