Chairman and Manager Ryan King has kindly provided this article about West Norwood FC (WNFC) today – The Black and Blue Army.

About the club:
WNFC is an open-aged men’s football team, playing in the Southern Sunday Football League. We recently achieved Charter Standard accreditation, and are approaching our third season in existence.

The Club was founded in 2018, by Chairman and Manager Ryan King, to try to reignite the spark of its predecessor Hope & Horns FC, and also to provide a platform for local footballers to play the game we love. The Club and its players/management actively try to support local causes and have worked with The Hope pub on several occasions to raise funds for various causes. We have a squad of around 30 players, ranging in age from 16 to 47. We currently have no sponsors, and are self-funded.

Our home ground is Edward Alleyn Sports Club, on Burbage Road in Herne Hill. A fantastic venue, with well looked after pitches and great people running the place; it really feels like a home for us. Its actually directly opposite the Velodrome, which for some time was the home ground of the original WNFC.

We have recently commissioned a company to design a new home kit for the coming season, in our traditional colours of Black & Blue. We have decided against getting the shirts sponsored, in favour of a tribute to the wonderful people of the NHS – see picture above. 

History:
We are going into our third season, after two promotions in our first two seasons.

• 2018/19: Started out in League 2, gaining promotion at the first attempt
• 2019/20: Finished Runners-Up in League 1, having had the season curtailed by Covid-19
• 2020-21: We will be playing in the Championship; one promotion away from the top-flight.

Social Media:
TWITTER: @WestNorwoodFC 
INSTAGRAM: westnorwoodfc 
FACEBOOK: West Norwood FC

Our season will get underway on 6 September, and we will be having pre-season games all through August, once the restrictions have been lifted.

We always welcome new players, particularly but not exclusively from the local area.

We also try to bring through youngsters every season, with a positive environment that gives them the confidence needed to compete in men’s football. To this end, we have just completed the signing of three 16 year old players, who we hope to help on their footballing journey.