Hempnall Football Club is long established, and over the years has gained a lot of respect throughout local football as a club with a high level of discipline mainly through a good management and administrative structure. There are several members who have served the Club for longer than some care to remember!
Jim Rodger, a life member, has been part of the club since 1945, and Secretary, Ray Youngman, for 56 years. President Bernard Talbot, whose generosity is second to none, has been associated with the Club for in excess of 40 years and Neville Day for 50 years plus.
Of the slightly more modern generation, long standing personnel include Nick Page, Tim Clarke, David and Dennis Beckett, David Pointer, Stanley Youngman and Trevor Shurmer, all with between 30 and 40 years service.
We have a very loyal Committee capably led by David Pointer and Stanley Youngman.
Out team managers and coaches are second to none in local football, and names like Tim Clarke, Paul Franklin and Bob Briggs are both well known and well respected in the game.
Our general manager, Nick Page, works tirelessley for the Club and has always had the club at heart despite spending some of his playing career at Newton Flotman and Wroxham.
Our Sponsorship Manager, David Beckett, seems to have been around forever, and his fundraising and sponsorship efforts are unbelievable.
The Club has run up to 12 teams over the past season, and the youth section all play at Talbot Park, at the edge of the village, so generously donated by the Talbot family.
The Senior sides contain over 20 members that have progressed through the youth section, and most have been with the club since they were eight years old! For the new season, we have a team of young men aged sixteen, who will be playing in men's football.
Each week we produce a match programme edited by Trevor Shurmer, and we feel it is a creditable effort for a local football club.
At our Bungay Road ground, we have the most loyal band of supporters, many ex-players, known as the BRF (Bungay Road Faithful), who support the club in all weathers, and help in the fundraising. For many of the games, you will see in excess of a hundred people lining the pitch.
Teas and light refreshments are available, with the Secretary's wife, Jill, always there to serve the fans.
The new season sees the First Team playing in the Premier Division of the Anglian Combination, something of which we can be proud, but something that will cause a degree of financial strain, as our costs rise significantly.
In this Division, we have to pay three officials at each home game, which can be up to £100. All in all, with rent, affiliations and insurance, cost per home game will be about £150.
Sponsorship will continue to be a very important aspect, and David Beckett works hard to obtain these funds. We are most grateful to those of you who support the club with sponsorship and programme advertising, as without this, we would find it very difficult to survive.
All of the playing kit over the years has been sponsored by various local businesses for which we are eternally grateful. We have a new addition to our fundraising this year - advertising boards around the ground - cost is £235 for three years. The Club will supply the boards and have them printed, so any company that would like further information, please contact General Manager, Nick Page either on match days, or via the contact on this website.