Club History
Virgina Water FC are a Charter run club based in Surrey. Having been founded in 1920 the club recently celebrated 100 years as a club. Their home ground is called the Timbers which is in Virginia Water.
The ground was named after founding member Harry Timbers. In the 19th century during the formative years, the club received financial payments from the Crown. They were paid £2 a year and this was paid under both King Edward VIII and King George V.
In recent years the Timbers have had some very famous footballers visit for various functions.
In 1969 Waters had a new clubhouse built at the Timbers. It was opened by Sir Stanley Rous CBE, who at the time was president of FIFA. Throughout the club’s 100 years of activity they could very much be described as a “yo yo” club with ups and downs throughout the decades.
The 1980s was nothing short of abysmal for Waters as they were relegated twice down to the Surrey South Eastern Combination Intermediate League.
Moving into the 90s, the winning feeling was certainly restored as Virginia Water achieved back to back promotions from the Intermediate League all the way back to the CCL. This was achieved in just 2 seasons.
Due to league ruling VW only stayed in the CCL for 1 season but they certainly didn’t loose the winning spirit as they picked themselves up and won the Surrey County Premier Cups in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The 1997 win is one that holds a special place in the clubs history as it was one piece of a historic treble jigsaw that saw them not only win the County and League Cup but also the League title.
Despite winning the League cup and County Cup, promotion out of the Surrey Elite League was something that they couldn’t quite put their finger on. Following this, a managerial merry go round begun. The Club struggled to find stability with many managers coming and going during these tough times.
The 2015/16 season came around and so did another managerial change. Ceri Jones was appointed. Jones, who has a rugby background took the Reins and Waters haven’t looked back. With him in charge, he’s overseen argubaly the most successful Waters team in the clubs history.
Step 7 has always been a stumbling block for VW, they’ve never been able to get out of it. Their luck changed, as in the 2016/17 season, Waters won the double. The youthful side won both the League and the Cup and secured promotion into the Hellenic Division 1 East.
With the jump from step seven to step six complete, Waters looked to build on their recent triumph. It came as real surprise to the club, as in the 2017-18 season Virgina Water made club history and achieved promotion at the first time of asking. This was a big deal for the club as it was the highest level the club had ever played at. Promotion meant that Waters would be playing at step 5 of the non league pyramid.
The second promotion came as quite a shock to the club as their historic ground didn’t meet the criteria for a Hellenic Premier division side. Therefore, drastic changes were needed to be made. In the Summer of 2016 plans to build a new home were rejected as local residents were not happy about losing their beloved “green belt land”. The proposals of a stand, club bar, floodlights and, a 170 capacity car park were met with anger and left locals unhappy due to their “strong, emotional bond” towards the land.
So Virgina Water now ground share with Windsor FC at Stag Meadow. Virginia Water are now in the same league as their tenants which has created some feisty meetings in previous years.
The Surrey based club have been on the hunt for a new home for over 3 years now. They have finally found somewhere suitable, after having their previous plans back in 2018 abolished by local residents.
The image above is the plans for the new ground, reasonings for the move is primarily for the first team due to their success over the past 3 seasons. League regulations mean any ground must have at least one stand and be floodlit to be determined fit for purpose. As well as this the club hopes to build on recent success and by building a state of the art new home they are hoping that this is only going to aid more success in the future.
“The Club’s aim is to provide fun and enjoyable football for all, developing players from a young age and providing a pathway for them into adult football. As part of the recent on-field football success of the Virginia Water first team, and to commemorate our centenary, it is proposed to rebuild the existing clubhouse to provide a modern facility, meeting all the latest Sport England and Football Association standards, along with current building regulations and standards. The clubhouse will primarily be for the football club, but it is proposed to include other sports, including cricket and also provide social and community accommodation for the village of Virginia Water, and the immediate surrounding areas” – David McBride
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