Southgate Olympic AFC Archive

On 23rd June 1933 Olympic AFC was formed as a junior side by Cyril Brown and D.J. (Jock) Ferguson and completed it's first season without losing a game. The following year a senior side played in the Middlesex County League and the name of the club was changed to Southgate Olympic AFC.

By 1936-37 the first XI had become champions of the Nemean League, and a second team continued in the Middlesex League. In the very next year the minor team established a club record by scoring 200 goals, of which 107 came from Ron Phipps, who later gained fame in senior amateur football as captain of both England and Barnet.

At the outbreak of World War Two the club were running four senior and two junior teams, but nearly all members joined the Forces and it was not until about 1942 that P.J. Cowan made a determined effort to field an Olympic side whenever possible. Mr. Cowan carried on as secretary of the club until his death in 1958. In 1958 Bill Philo, snr. who had been a player joined the club’s committee and would be a major factor in the club for the next 60 years.

Between 1938 and 1939 three teams entered the Southern Olympian League and in the space of 21 years, the sides won 13 league championships and 11 league cups. In 1953-54 the first team became the first SOL team to win the Amateur FA Senior Cup, beating local rivals Winchmore Hill 3-1 at Underhill, the home of Barnet Football Club.

The Club were fortunate to have the use of the Track pitch in Broomfield Park, which was one of the best pitches in the area. (We played there until the mid 70s.) In 1958 the club resigned from the SOL and joined the Southern Amateur League. In the early 1960s we built a club house at Clowes Sports Ground, where we still are located today and play our home games there, sharing the ground with Northampton Exiles Cricket Club.

Over the years many Olympic players have been selected for representative games, including Brian Jeeves, who played for AFA, SOL and SAL; and Ron Steward who captained the SOL team for many seasons and played for the AFA too.

In 1965-66 the first team won the AFA Senior Division 1 for the first time, this feat was repeated in 1971-72, you can find details of these seasons on this website In 1973/74 the club won the AFA Senior Cup for the second time, defeating Old Parkonians 2-0 in the final, with goals from Bob Mackie and John Stockman.

In 2015/16 the club resigned from the SAL and joined the Amateur Football Combination, in 2016/17 another local team Oakhill Tigers merged with them and for one season they had seven teams playing in the AFC.

A new veterans team was set up in 2020/21 and joined the Southern Amateur Vets League, and have won the title in the following three seasons.

On 23rd June 2023 we celebrated our 90th anniversary.

For the 2023/24 season we have rejoined the Southern Amateur League and will have four teams competing on Saturdays as well as the Vets on Sundays. We will also have a walking football team taking part in the Middlesex FA walking football league. We hope to be able to provide Women's football in the near future.