Aylestone Park F.C.


Aylestone Park Football Club is a football club based in Leicester, England. They are currently members of the and play at Saffron Lane.

History

The club was established as Aylestone Park Youth in 1968 and became founder members of the Leicestershire Youth League. In the late 1970s the club was playing in the Charnwood Sunday League, winning the Division Three title in 1978–79. In 1980 they joined Division Two of the Leicester & District League as Aylestone Park Old Boys. The club won the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One. The following season saw them finish as runners-up in Division One, resulting in promotion to the Premier Division. The club were subsequently Premier Division runners-up in 1983–84 and 1984–85. In 1989 they joined Division One of the Leicestershire Senior League. After finishing as runners-up in 1994–95, they were promoted to the Premier Division, where they remained until being relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season. The 2003–04 season saw them finish as runners-up in Division One, earning promotion back to the Premier Division.
In 2007 the club was renamed Aylestone Park. After finishing third in Premier Division in 2011–12, the club moved up to the East Midlands Counties League. They won the Leicestershire and Rutland Senior Cup and 2012–13, beating Ashby Ivanhoe. In 2015–16 they won the League Cup, beating South Normanton Athletic 2–1 in the final. At the end of the 2017–18 season, the club were transferred to Division One of the United Counties League.

Ground

The club initially played at the Recreation Ground in Aylestone Park, before obtaining a new site in 1972 when they were granted a lease on five acres of land on Saffron Lane by Leicester City Council. A grant from the Sports Council enabled the club to build a new ground, including a wooden hut, and they moved to the site in 1973. Floodlights were installed in 1974, with Gary Lineker playing for Aylestone in their first game under the lights against Nottingham Boys. A new clubhouse opened in 1994. The ground was also used by Leicester City Ladies.

Honours