Sweet Cadbury Athletic: Groundhopper Day '25

Words: Tom Reed

Images: Tom Reed

Shot on film at Cadbury Athletic FC.

The quiet hits as you alight at Bournville railway station and plod down the sedate streets.

George Cadbury’s model village, with its sweeping drives and barely any cars on the move. A place of work, rest and play for the workers of the chocolate factory more famous than Mr Wonka’s.

Flashes of purple awaken the senses and hint at the link to the famous confectionary.

The hush is broken by the Carillon tower behind the Cadbury Recreation Grounds as the bells toll and the groundsmen poke at the pitch with forks.

The ringing of the unusual instrument, gifted to workers by the boss in 1906, acts as a call to spectators for Cadbury Athletic FC, the “Chocolate Men” and their “groundhopper day”.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Cadbury factory. Bournville.

The Tudor style pavilion is the draw, another gift from Mr Cadbury in 1902, and one of the most eye-catching stands to watch football from in England.

The whole site, with its old terraces, and pitch enclosed by the factory buildings makes the Recreation Grounds of Cadbury Athletic a bucket list, must-see for anyone interested in football.

Quiet falls again when the Carillon pauses and footballing silence is important, set against the loud Premier League.

As the arms race for super stadia intensifies, smaller venues such as Cadbury Athletic’s become all the more priceless, a place of connection and community as opposed to consumerism, even in a place of manufacture.

Cadbury Athletic, formed as a works club in 1994, is the epitome of accessible, with its home a short stroll from the station on the outskirts of Birmingham. Entry comes through a discreet gate, with affordable tickets that match George Cadbury’s ethics of not putting a strain on the populace.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Cadbury Athletic pavilion.

Already in situ and taking in the rare March sun are a father and son duo of groundhoppers from the Forest of Dean, getting stuck into the souvenir fanzine celebrating 30 years of the club. The rest are in the Attic Brewery in neighbouring Stirchley with Bournville being dry due to Cadbury’s Quaker temperance beliefs.

Groundhoppers are the truest of football supporters, understanding the importance of the bricks, mortar, floodlights and turf that make the places where we go to watch football.

The lights or lack of them have been an issue for Cadbury Athletic, due to strict ground grading rules, meaning that football at a higher level is problematic with their current facilities.

There’s talk of Cadbury Athletic moving to another more future-proof site, which would be disappointing for all involved.

While the club could move away from its iconic home, the company grounds would potentially lose both a first-team outfit which lives up to George Cadbury’s sporting ideals and the priceless PR which the football club brings.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Cadbury Athletic Groundhopper Day ‘25.

Football fans converged from all over on the day, there were students from Birmingham University who splashed out on mauve shirts and scarves and a football enthusiast from Tilburg in the Netherlands who didn’t want to miss the opportunity to watch proceedings in fine weather.

A statue of Terpsichore watched over the match, the sculpture presented to the factory by the workers in 1931 and representative of the symbiosis of healthy society.

Terpsichore is the Greek goddess of song, dance and eternal youth, which was apt given the number of children kicking a ball about behind the goal.

The players made a dance of it themselves, jigging into decent positions but lacking the finish, matching the relaxed atmosphere.

It’s said that the Recreation Grounds’ pitch is made from the turf of the original Wembley, having been provided by the same company, which might have presented a choking chance for any over-thinking forward.

Pete, a well-known Cadbury Athletic fan in his 80s, watched on from his normal spot in the pavilion. He sports a Birmingham City scarf from the Kumar days so knows all about supporting a club through thick and thin but prefers to watch his football from the Cadbury balcony now rather than the Tilton Road End.

At full-time, the smell of fresh chocolate drifted off towards Birmingham but the football club at Bournville show that football isn’t all about the big city clubs.

The best players play football in their own time and Cadbury Athletic have been doing that for 30 years.

Hopefully they will still be at the Recreation Ground in another 30 years time, the Carillon cracking in the distance and supporters unwrapping Wispa bars below the brown and white beams of the pavilion.