Club History
1994
Explorers FC was founded in 1994 by Bert Goodall when children at his Thursday Night Youth Club based at Harlington Baptist Church wanted to play football. Training began at William Byrd School ( Harlington ) on Saturday mornings, the team was entered into the Hayes and District Youth League and Berts daughter Valerie was at the forefront of developing the club.
1997
The club stayed at William Byrd until 1997 when it moved to Cranford Park School and then a year later in 1999 returned to William Byrd.
2000 – 2003: FA Charter Standard Award
In June 2000 the club moved to West Drayton Cricket Club ( Cricketfield Lane West Drayton ) and in April 2003 the club received its FA Charter Standard Award.
2005
In May 2005 Explorers FC became West Drayton Explorers FC with Tracy Lobjoit taking on the role as Secretary and Dave Chana as Chairman.
In July 2005, after full-time cricket wanting to return to West Drayton, manager Dave Fosh secured a move to Stockley Park (Chestnut Avenue in West Drayton)
2012
After ground rent rises and the club grows, on 8th October 2012, Head Coach Brendan Rossiter made the move to our current home at Sipson Recreation Ground.
2013/14: FA Development Status
The 2013/14 season came with big changes, a whole new committee, and Alison Rossiter and Simon Hughes taking the lead as Secretary and Chairman. The new committee had a vision, this club could grow!
2014/15
The changes and the move saw the club reach new heights, 2014/15 Head Coach Brendan Rossiter and Vice Chairman/Development Officer Wayne Edwards produced the new club Development Plan and the club was awarded FA Development Club Status.
2015/16
Since the recognition, the club has been awarded winners of Middlesex FA Development Club of the Year 2015/16 and retained the award in 2016/17.
2017/18
The latter end of 2017/18 was greeted by Simon Hughes retirement and a new Chairman took over at the helm, Graham Aldred.
Graham oversaw saw more changes for the club in 2018/19 with the introduction of a new updated Explorers FC badge ( no longer West Drayton Explorers ), a new Explorers Mini Kickers Academy and further links with professional football clubs. A new FA Wildcats Football Centre for Girls was also set up in conjunction with Middlesex FA.
2019/20
The 2019/2020 season was cut short unfortunately due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic but Explorers Football Club ran development training sessions for all the teams throughout the Summer after the lockdown of 2020.
2020/21
The start of the 2020/21 Season saw new changes to the Committee, with Graham Aldred stepping down and Vice-Chairman Wayne Edwards becoming the new Club Chairman and Nick Mitchell taking on the role of Vice-Chairman.
A new club partnership with Beaconsfield Town FC started this season which allowed the creation of 4 new Beaconsfield/Explorers teams for ages U15 /U16 helping the players have a pathway into further football development as they get older.
The 2020/21 Season restarted and Wayne Edwards decided after 10 years of Explorers FC involvement to step down with Vice Chairman Nick Mitchell becoming the new Explorers FC Club Chairman for the 2020/21 Season.
It was decided the U12-U16 teams would move to Beaconsfield Town FC from the start of the 2021/22 Season.
After 16 years of involvement with Explorers FC, Secretary Alison Rossiter decided it was time to step down and move on from the role at the club prior to the start of the 2021/22 Season.
2021/22: FA Accredited Status
The 2021/22 Season started afresh with a re-boot! A brand new Club Committee was chosen and voted in. New Club Secretary Natalie Dunlop joined the club alongside new Club Treasurer Zaina Zhao, new Club Welfare Officer Olivia Hoare, new Registration Officer Kirsty Pearce, and James Shipperley being voted as new Vice-Chairman.
Previous Head Coach, Brendan Rossiter moved to Beaconsfield FC with Paul Bunn becoming the new Explorers Head Coach.
Puma was chosen as the club kit, with updated training and match kits chosen.
Explorers Football Club became FA Accredited at the start of the 2021/22 season which replaced the FA Chartered Standard status and started redeveloping their teams from the U6’s Little Eagles alongside the Mini Football U7, U8, U9, U10’s, and Junior Football U11’s and U12’s
2022/23
The 2022/23 Season introduced a New U12 Reds Mixed team run by Lewis Simpson alongside a new intake of U6 Little Eagles which now takes our teams from ages U6-U12.
With a lot of work behind the scenes Chairman Nick Mitchell and alongside a new development pathway in place by Head Coach Paul Bunn, Explorers FC were awarded 2 Star FA Accreditation at the end of the 2022/23 season.
2023/24
The 2023/24 Season introduced a New U7 team run by Neal Williams and Elias Khalil, a New U14 Team run by JD Odeyale and a New U15 JPL Team run by Nathan Bailey and Charlie Gibbs, and a U15 Team run by Gavin Tackley – which now takes our teams from ages U6-U15.
Our U7-U11 Teams play in the Thames Valley Development League. Our U12 Team plays in the South Bucks Mini Soccer Conference and the U13, U14 and U15 Teams play in the Wycombe and South Bucks Minor Football League. We also have an U15 Team in the Junior Premier League on Saturdays.
New PUMA Match kits have been designed, still featuring Sky Blue Shirts and Socks but now with Dark Blue Shorts, and Dark Blue numbers – which have a nod to the previous Dark Blue Kits of Explorers Kits from the past, as 2024 will be our 30th Anniversary of Explorers Football Club.
New Committee
The 2023/24 season began with Nick Mitchell deciding after 3 years of being Explorers Chairman to step down to focus purely on coaching , with Vice Chairman James Shipperley becoming the new Explorers FC Club Chairman, JD Odeyale the new Vice-Chairman as well as Ziana Zhao stepping down as Treasurer with Racheal Tripp becoming new Club Treasurer.
With a new focus on the younger age groups, and changing in Coaches, Explorers FC has started a partnership with PSD Coaching for new U5 and U6 players wishing to start their football journey, prior to them turning into U7 Explorers Teams.
Explorers FC has been voted a 1 Star FA Accreditation for the 2023/24 season.