The Club Today

The aim of the club is to help youngsters to play organised football by providing training and playing facilities, equipment, coaching and regular league fixtures. The club also holds social events for players and their parents. These have included family discos, free trips to Football League matches and sportsmen's dinners. Teams are encouraged to organise social events for their team or a group of teams because football is not just about winning games but is more about teamwork and friendship.

The Club is affiliated to the Lancashire Football Association. It is run by a committee which meets once a month. The secretary is Frank Thompson (01254 853185) and he has been with the club since the mid 1980's.  All the managers and assistants attend the meetings.

History of the Club

Gregson Lane is a small village 5 miles south east of Preston in Lancashire, adjoining the villages of Hoghton and Higher Walton. Some junior teams had existed in Gregson Lane before 1975, but the club was formed in 1976 when it entered one team in the Preston Junior League. In 1978 Gregson Lane JFC became one of the founder members of the newly formed Central Lancashire Junior Football League (an amalgamation of the Preston Catholic Football Combination and the Leyland and Chorley Junior Sunday Leagues).

In 1979, Gregson Lane had just one team in the league, the under 13's. This team were runners up in the League Cup and included two players who went on to play professional football, David Lee (Southampton, Bury and Wigan) and Nigel Greenwood (PNE).

 
1979 Under 13 Team. Nigel Greenwood front row, fourth from left; David Lee front row, far right.

The league has expanded tremendously since these early years, when there were only 25 clubs in the under 14 to under 16 age range. Now there are over 60 clubs with teams from under 11 to under 16. The league covers a large geographical area from Garstang in the North to Southport in the south, but centres on the towns of Preston, Leyland and Chorley.

 
Under 13's 1985

Every year since the formation of the league, there has been at least one Gregson Lane team in the Central Lancs League, and this season (2004-05) we have eleven teams(under 7 to under 16) in two different leagues. The under 7's to under 10's play in the Mid Lancs Colts League and the under 11's to under 15's in the Central Lancashire Junior League.

 
Under 12's 1990

The club always tries to draw on local talent and we pride ourselves on being a friendly club whose aim is to encourage average players and not just win silverware. The club has had some successes, particularly in recent years. In the 1997-98 season, our under 16's were champions of Division B. In 1998-99 our under 14's were champions of their division and in 1999-2000 our under 12's were champions of the A Division. Last season (2003-04), the under 9 team were division champions, while the under 11 and under 15 sides were runners-up in their respective leagues.

 
2004 Under 9 Division Winners