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A family fun day will be held by Holwell Sports Football Club on Saturday to celebrate 120 years of the club.
Holwell Sports started life as Holwell Ironworks Football Team in 1902. The ground at Asfordby Hill is where most workers employed at the Holwell Iron Works lived and where the working men’s club was set up for social and fitness activities.
There will be a whole host of activities throughout the day at the Welby Road Ground including a Tug 'o' war, games, a BBQ and a bar.
The activities start at 9am at the Welby Road ground - next to the Stute.
Holwell Sports are celebrating their 120th anniversary by hosting a family fun day. Photo: NEMM File Photo
Other highlights include an under 16s mini tournament between 9am and 12pm and a women's football match 12pm-2:30pm.
The final activity of the day will be a men's veteran football match of Holwell Sports V Melton Town (KO 3pm).
Holwell’s most famous son was Dixie McNeil who famously played as a striker. As a schoolboy, McNeil signed for his local club Leicester City F.C. after playing for Holwell Works. How-ever he did not fit into the First Division side's plans and was released.
He eventually made his football league debut for Exeter City F.C. in the 1966-67 season against Wrexham, a club he would later play for and manage. Dixie was a nickname to savour, associating him with the country’s most famous footballer of his day, Dixie Dean, who set a record when he smashed 60 league goals for Everton in the 1927/28 sea-son.
In 1988 the Holwell Works closed and the club’s name was changed to Holwell Sports Football club.
In 2007 Holwell approached Corus who own the waste land around the facility and secured a 30 year lease on part of this ground to generate a new training area, at the rear of the main pitch on Welby Road, this is still an on going development.
In 2008/2009 Holwell gained promotion to FA level 6 on the national football league pyramid, one of the first clubs in the EMCL league where we compete against teams from
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire as well as teams from Leicestershire.
Most recently Holwell Sports are playing in the Step 6 of the football pyramid in the United Counties League.