WHO ARE BSAFC?

Budleigh Salterton Association Football club was formed in 1913 and played in the East Devon Football league until 1919 when they were first registered with the Devon and Exeter Football league. The club floated around the town playing a various sites including Moor Lane and Jubilee Park until 1953, the club were constantly having to move and during 1950 wheels were set in motion to find a new and permanent home due to the council wanting Moor Lane for a new housing development.

In February 1953 Budleigh Urban District Council bought four fields at the corner of Barn Lane and Greenway Lane from the then Baron Clinton under the 1937 physical and recreational act for recreational purposes only, a covenant that still remains on the land to this day. The fields were then sectioned in to two plots of land one being a four acre site to be the home of Budleigh Salterton Association Football club and it’s home to called Greenway Lane.

In October 1953 at the start of the football season BSAFC leased the four acres of the land (or ‘there abouts’ as it states on the lease), the lease was very simple. Pay the rent on time and manage and manure the demised premises in a good and husband-like manner and to keep the land constantly in good heart and the turf in sound condition.

Since 1953 the club has come along way, it remains a non profit making business which is run by the committee all of which are volunteers and a number of staff that work the bar and keep the club clean.

The football has gone from strength to strength. Today the club fields six teams from the young and thriving 1st team in the Devon League North & East, Ladies senior team, Academy U18, Boys U15, Girls U15. The club also runs a 5-13 year old coaching session year round (under floodlights in the winter) with Exeter City trained coaches at £3 per child and open to all.

The social side of the club which generates the money for the football has something for most people, great bar with an excellent choice, ladies skittles, mens skittles, bingo on Tuesday nights (very popular), watch live sport on the clubs large screen and a friendly local for the rest.

The clubhouse has recently had some modernisation with new mobility assisted toilets have been installed with the help from a Devon County Grant organised by Christine Channon and a new kitchen has been installed courtesy of the clubs 1st team sponsor, System Six. New furnishings inside and a coat of paint have all been added since the end of the last season all of which should be complete by mid September as the club gears up for a new season and hopefully new business. The club can provide a great space for parties, receptions, any function, it currently can hold up to 180 people, there is a private lounge room ideal for small parties and is fully licensed and can provide catering courtesy of Mandy Butcher the club caterer.

Budleigh Salterton AFC is the forgotten club of the town that over the years which has over the past one hundred years tried to give young men, women and children a direction and teaches them to play and work as a team along with keeping fit. It is also very proud to recently support the town in offering the pitch and floodlights to the Devon Air Ambulance as the new night landing site for the town which is not the only community use, the Memory Club, Fine Arts, Garden Club and several Probus clubs all use the clubhouse at times during the day. Recently the club hosted the Reg Varney tribute ‘Before the Buses’ tribute show in aid of local charities.

To join the club is easy and membership is remarkably cheap at £5, great social, great football and good friendly people.