Woodbourne was founded in the spring of 1961 by a group of young people associated to the Boys Brigade and Young Peoples Fellowship at St. Johns Church in Harborne, Birmingham. They decided to break away from the church due to the then minister objecting to the playing of decadent music on the church premises, mostly the Stones and Beatles!! An alternative meeting place was found at the Toc-H Hut in Wentworth Road, Harborne and the club started to thrive socially in the true sixties style, and in the sporting arena with a cricket team operating in the Birmingham Parks League, and a table tennis team in the Birmingham League.

 

The Toc-H Hut was generally available for a couple of nights each week with additional meetings being held at the family home of one of the founder members, Gregory Wood. It was at this venue that the name of Woodbourne was selected partly because of the location but also after the nearby, Woodbourne Road, which it was thought sounded ‘strong and a little posh’, as the founding members were after all impressionable teenagers. And so Woodbourne was up and running.

 

With cricket and table tennis flourishing we decided to play football in the winter months, and in the 1962 / 1963 season joined the Kings Norton Football League. Like our cricket team we used Sennelys Park, Weoley Castle as a home venue. Socially we were  fortunate in having an energetic group of ladies and parents who supported all of our activities and fund raising. We were able to build up reasonable funds which took us in search of our own premises. Leading this was the father of one of the female members, Ken Burrows, whose efforts secured our present ground, hence its name ‘The Burrows’. Interestingly another site looked at in now dissected by the approach road to the M42 at Foreshaw Heath.

 

Our original lease was for 7 years, later extended by a further 28 years which took us up to February 2006. We now have secured a further 28 year lease with the ‘Right to Renew’. The clubhouse has recently been renovated and we strive to improve it further whilst also attracting new members, re-establish a solid financial base, and progress towards being a valued asset within the local community.