TARVIN AFC HISTORY
With 450 players across all settings Tarvin AFC has grown to be one of the biggest in the area, a stat of which we can all be truly proud.
This is where it all began.....
HISTORY
Tarvin AFC recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary having been formed just ahead of the 1999 season. Like so many of the best laid plans the decision to form our Club was born in a pub when a group of parents got together to discuss how their kids might carry on playing once their Cub football came to an end. Back in the 90’s youth football in Tarvin was as a Cub Scout and once you reached eleven years of age the only option was to look further afield to try to get into an established team in the surrounding area. Rather than watch their boys stand on the sidelines waiting to get a game at Christleton, Waverton or Vicars Cross our founders took up the challenge to form a Club and ‘Tarvin 2000 AFC’ was born.
Merely meeting up to make that decision was only the start of the effort made by Bill Piggin, Dave Culliford, Tony Dunne, Mike Reckless, Roger Crimes, Chris Butler, Giles Walton, Kenny Thomas, Paul Dotchin and Jeanette Ankers, who we are proud to name here as we owe them such a debt of thanks for getting the Club off the ground. So many more swiftly joined as the Club grew.
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Once all of the requirements of the FA and the Chester Youth League had been met Tarvin 2000 AFC entered a small number of teams into their respective leagues, playing in yellow and sky-blue kits which the coaches dubbed ‘The Chelsea kit’ as it was so reminiscent of the Chelsea away kit of the time. Rather than as a result of any grand design ideas, as is the case today, the kit selection was merely what was available at the supplier in the right sizes.
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Starting with teams in just a few age groups the Club quickly grew to host a team in each year from U12s up to U18s. Year on year the Club added teams in each age group and backfilled in the younger years when the Cub football finally stopped, meaning that by the 2004/5 season there were around 10 teams across the Club. At that point the Club’s name was felt to be outdated so it evolved to ‘Tarvin Athletic FC’, dropping the reference to our inauguration in the millennium season.
​However, football in Tarvin was not an unfamiliar concept before our Club was formed. Right back in the post second world war years the adult team of Tarvin United could be seen playing on the pitch which later became known as the King George V Recreation Ground.
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For those that might be thinking this is where our blue and white striped kit was born will be sadly disappointed as those dark stripes were… red.
1940s team with St Andrews Church in the background
Further line-ups, kits and haircuts followed through the years for Tarvin United…
At first glance it might appear that Tarvin was ahead of the times with a Women’s team, but the seventies photo is a fun day match of men vs women.
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As previously mentioned, youth football was only available in Tarvin through the Cubs.
Whilst there were several kits over the years it was the orange and black kit of the Tarvin Bears Cubs that became the most recognisable and was worn right up to the launch of Tarvin 2000 AFC.
Today we boast 28 teams playing from U7s right up to U17s in both mixed and girls leagues. We also have our training only U5s and U6s starting out on their football journey as well as a Vets team, made up of some of our coaches, who do their best to put into practice all of the instructions they deliver to our youth players. Finally, we are incredibly proud to have launched a Womens’ Squad in 2023, who train each week and are playing a few friendly yet competitive matches.
