History
Birkdale United was established in 1975 by Sam Benbow, in order to provide a club for boys in the Birkdale area of Southport, Merseyside, a small town in the North-West of England. The club started off known as Amber United, although it swiftly became known by its current name. Although we are happy to welcome boys and now girls from right across Southport, Formby and beyond, it is encouraging to see that even now the nucleus of the club remains within Birkdale, with virtually all teams playing their home games at Carr Lane.
The club has been recognised as one which is really going places, with at least one Premiership academy openly recommending the club to young children’s parents. This is payback in a way as the club has played a crucial part in the footballing education of famous Premiership players such as Shaun Teale, Dominic Matteo and Paul Dalglish.
In 2005, the Club was awarded both the Charter Standard and Charter Standard Development Awards by the Football Association, marking it as a recommended club for parents and children with regard to its practice and standards. This was particularly down to the hard work of former Secretary Anita Shaw, and Vice-President Bill Sloan, who spent many hours ensuring that the paperwork was correct and that everyone involved with the club had the requisite qualifications and clearance. This was a huge boost for the club and, coming as it did on the eve of the club’s 30th anniversary, heralded a bright future for Birkdale United.
This was further confirmed when in January 2008 the club was awarded the FA Charter Standard Community Club Award. This made Birkdale United the only club of this level in Sefton, and only the sixth in the Liverpool County FA area. This built on the work undertaken by Anita and Bill three years previously, and a great deal of credit has to go to Secretary, Sharon Caul, for ensuring all the forms were filled in correctly and that all of the criteria were adequately covered.
Birkdale United was named Charter Standard Community Club of the Year in July 2009, following on from the Development Club of the Year award of twelve months previous. This is a phenomenal achievement and every member of the club should feel great pride as everyone has worked towards this prestigious honour.
It was also a fantastic night for Club Chairman, Kevin Stockley, who was named not only LCFA Coach of the Year but also North West Coach of the Year. Both of these awards are just reward for the work which Kevin has put in, not only this year but over the many years he has been involved with the club. He now goes forward to the National awards and we wish him the very best of luck!
