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Old Magdalenians was founded for the 1991/2 by several members of Magdalene College, Cambridge who arrived in London at the same time and wanted to continue playing a decent, but social standard of football together. The prominent early members, including Paul Bowtell and Matt Idle, recruited actively amongst their work and social groups to create a two team club, playing in the Western division of the Old Boys League. The club was originally based in Feltham, surviving for several years with the original members supplemented by new recruits, mostly from the firms where they worked. The 2nd XI found early success, winning it's league several times as it rose to a suitable level in the league structure. During this period the Old Boys fixture was instigated, strengthening links with the college which have been crucial in maintaining a flow of new blood into the club.
The watershed in the club's history was 1996/7 when the standing down of the founders, resulted in a difficult season where the club struggled both on and off the pitch. Fortunately this coincided with a new wave of recruits from the college, and election of Pete Henderson, Christie Buck and Kev Bone as the club officials. As would be expected from a group of accountants, the club was soon on a firm financial footing, and the player base began to expand. The captaincy of the 2nd XI changed several times in this period before Richard Harte inherited it in the middle of the 1997/8 season. By this time, the ground moved to Gunnersbury Park, and a period of consolidation followed.
When Andy Kingston became club captain in 2000/1, the club was firmly established in 1 West and 4 West of the Old Boys League, continually finishing just outside the promotion places. Andy's four season's in charge saw the club reach its first cup final (losing the AFA Minor Cup Final in 2002). Over this period the player base continued to expand, with both sides capable of beating anyone in their divisions, but unable to put together a sustained charge for promotion. The Old Boy's league morphed into the Amateur Football Combination, and the influx of clubs left Magdalenians in 2 West and 5 West. With 50-60 players representing Old Magdalenians every season, consistency had always been a problem, but a core of players who managed to clock-up more than 15 appearances per season was developing. The fresh recruits of 1996/7 now formed the backbone of the 2nd XI, several having clocked up more than 100 appearances, and Andy DeMestre becoming the first player to reach 100 goals for the club - not bad for a natural goalkeeper.
The club moved to it's current home ground moved to Regent's Park in 2002, making us the most centrally located club in the AFC.
Andy passed the 1st XI baton to Dave MacKenzie in 2004/5, and Mark Celenk (2004/5) and Gary Keane (2005/6), recent graduates from the college, took over the 2nd XI. They coped well with the retirement and re-location of several senior players, but a solid core remained and the addition of a couple of decent new recruits resulted in back-to-back promotions for the 1st XI. When Scott Newton took the reigns in 2006/7, the 1st XI were in Intermediate North but coped well with this massive step-up in standard to finish mid-table.
A change of management in the 1st XI during 07/08 saw Dave Bell take over, although an injury during the season saw him spend most of the time directing from the side lines. Both teams remained in their respective divisions despite the 1’s pushing for promotion through much of the season and the 2’s being saved from certain relegation by a league re-organisation.
The 08/09 season saw changes to the captains of each of the teams, with Ant Brennan and Dave Thomas taking over as 1s and 2s captains respectively. During this season, we also started making much more use of this web site for showing team selections. The 1s had a strong season, pushing for promotion from Intermediate West until the early spring when their challenge faded. Despite a disappointing end, they finished well enough to be moved to Intermediate North for the 09/10 season. The 2s had a season of fluctuation with too much changing around of players to generate any consistency. With a string of poor results punctuated by some excellent performances the 2s stayed in 3 West despite finishing near the bottom.
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