Filton Athletic vs University of Bristol

Afternoon everyone and a warm sunny welcome back to home of football at Elm Park for our opening match of the new Gloucestershire County League season!

It is finally great to get our third season in the league underway after a proudly thrilling but ultimately disappointing summer cheering on those mighty Three Lions of England.

Our main focus this season is to continue the great work and progress we have made both on and off the pitch over the last few seasons, and to continue to try and push the First Team, Reserves and newly formed ‘A’ team forward. A huge thank you in that respect must go to our volunteers and committee who work tirelessly behind the scenes to get every team match ready.

Our opponents for today’s opening fixture are the University of Bristol Athletic Football Club (UBAFC), who are entering their debut season in the Gloucestershire County League. A very warm welcome is extended their way today, along with our congratulations on their successful promotion in the 2025/26 season.

With that in mind I’m looking forward to a highly competitive, energetic and exciting fixture this afternoon, with fair play and respect to the match officials always honoured. Good luck to both teams today, and best of luck to UBAFC for their maiden season ahead.

A final thank you goes out to all of our sponsors, new and old. Your contributions and continued support are enabling us to continue to move the club forward and strive to give our players the best chance they have for success. Thank you all.

Welcome to the players, management team and supporters of University of Bristol FC for today’s opening league fixture. Congratulations to University of Bristol on their promotion to Step 7 — it’s always exciting to welcome a new club into the league, and I’m sure they’ll be looking to make a strong start.

It feels like only yesterday the season finished, yet here we are ready to begin another campaign. With the season kicking off on 1st August, it certainly feels early, but the hard work starts now. Pre-season has been a little disrupted with holidays and the World Cup, making it difficult at times to get everyone together — but that’s now behind us, and our full focus is on the league campaign ahead.

We know we’ll be in for a tough test this afternoon against a young, energetic University of Bristol side. They’ll arrive full of confidence after winning their league last season and securing promotion through the play-offs in impressive fashion. I expect this league to be every bit as competitive as it was last year, with perhaps eight or nine teams capable of challenging near the top — that makes every point important from the very first whistle.

There’s always a special feeling about the opening day of the season. Everyone starts with optimism and ambition, and we’re no different. We’re looking forward to the challenge ahead and hope to build on the foundations we laid last season.

Finally, thank you to everyone who continues to support Filton Athletic. Your backing, both home and away, is hugely appreciated by the players and staff. Let’s get behind the lads and hopefully start the season with a positive result. Enjoy the game.

The University of Bristol Athletic Football Club (UBAFC) has competed in British Universities and College Sport (BUCS) competitions since it was formed in 2008. UBAFC runs six teams across the BUCS Aldi Men’s Western Leagues, from the sixth tier to the first, alongside a Saturday team created in 2023 which now plays in the Gloucestershire County Football League. It is one of the largest, most sociable and most successful clubs at the University of Bristol.

It has been a successful few years. The First Team won BUCS Division 1 in 2020 and 2025, and secured promotion to the Men’s Premier South Division after winning the promotion play-off against the University of Sussex in 2026. In the Saturday team’s debut season in 2023/24 they finished runners-up in Hellenic Division Two West and won the Bateman Sports Chairmans Challenge Cup, beating Letcombe, before losing the Marsh Supplementary Challenge Cup final to FC Stratford on penalties.

In 2024/25 the Saturday side finished 3rd in Hellenic Division Two and reached the quarter-finals of the Marsh Challenge Cup, losing narrowly to Hellenic Premier Division outfit Fairford Town. They also retained the Bateman Sports Chairmans Challenge Cup, beating Swindon Supermarine 5-0 in the final.

The 2025/26 season saw UBAFC win the Hellenic League Alliance West title and beat Iron Acton in the promotion play-off to reach the Gloucestershire County Football League — the highest level in the club’s history.