FC Cougars Club News
NEWS: Players and Volunteers Wanted for New Season
19 Apr 2024
We have lots of exciting opportunities for young players and adult volunteers ahead of the new 2024/2025 season!
Our community club is run entirely by volunteers are we are looking for more volunteers to help with football coaching. No experience is needed, but you must share our club ethos of making football safe and fun for our young players. The club will help and pay for your qualifications.
The volunteer roles would be perfect if you have a child, grandchild, or relative currently in school years 3 or 4 who would like to join a football team.
Our current U6s and U7s are expanding and looking to each run extra teams next season. Our U11s are looking to add players as they move into competitive football.
FC Cougars are based in Thatcham and Bucklebury and are an FA Accredited club.
We are now welcoming enquiries for all age groups as we begin re-registration for the new season.
NEWS: Presentation Day 2024
18 Apr 2024
We will be holding our end of season presentation day at Bucklebury Recreation Ground on Sunday 16 June. So all our players can get personalised trophies printed with their name and photo we will be holding a photoshoot on Thursday 9 May, also at Bucklebury Rec. Photos will be available for optional purchase.
NEWS: Age Groups for 2024/2025 Season
04 Apr 2024
Our age groups, and their school years from September 2024, are as follows:
- Under 7s (year 2) - PLAYERS WANTED
- Under 8s (year 3) - PLAYERS WANTED
- Under 9s (year 4) - PLAYERS AND COACHES WANTED
- Under 10s (year 5) - PLAYERS AND COACHES WANTED
- Under 11s (year 6)
- Under 12s (year 7) - PLAYERS WANTED
- Under 13s (year 8)
- Under 15s (years 9/10)
- Under 17s (years 11/12)
NEWS: Spaces Available In Our Under 8s
19 Jan 2024
Our current U8s have space for a couple of new players ahead of moving up to 7-a-side next season. If you know a keen footballer currently in school year 3 please get in touch!
NEWS: FC Cougars Club AGM
10 Jul 2023
The Club AGM will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 18 July 2023 at The Cottage Inn, Upper Bucklebury, RG7 6QJ. Please contact graham@fccougars.com in advance if you would like to attend.
NEWS: Presentation Day 2022/2023 Season
28 Jun 2023
Our whole club Presentation Day is this Sunday 2 July 2023 at The Victory Room, Bucklebury Recreation Ground, RG7 6PS, from 10am. We will be running activites on the field for the players (Speedshot, crossbar challenge, football bowling) with £1 entry to take part and prizes for the best scores. Presentations will be by age group in the hall.
There will also be refreshments and cakes on sale and we will be running a raffle. We hope to raise a small amount for the club to be used for training equipment for all age groups. Please bring your change and some cash to take part (the event will be cash only).
Please check the map below for parking - please drive through the main car park and park in two rows on the field in line with the trees. Please take care not to block the entrance to the field!
Out of consideration for our neighbours we ask that the yellow area on the map is not used - please ask children to keep away from the houses. We are welcome to use the rest of the field.
The weather looks great for Sunday so please come along, bring some change, and hopefully it will be a good opportunity to the whole club to get together and celebrate our club's success this season.
10:00 - Event Start
10:15 - U7s presentation
10:30 - U8s presentation
10:45 - U9s Black presentation
11:00 - U9s Red presentation
11:15 - U10s presentation
11:30 - U11s presentation
11:45 - U13s presentation
12:00 - U15s presentation
12:15 - Competition prizes and raffle draw
12:30 - Event end
NEWS: Club Photo Shoot - 11 May
09 May 2023
Our club photo shoot is this Thursday evening 11 May at The Victory Room, Bucklebury Recreation Ground. If the car park is full please park carefully on the field in line with the trees. Times are as follows:
6:30pm U7s
6:45pm U8s
7:00pm U9s
7:15pm U10s
7:30pm U11s
7:45pm U13s
8:00pm U15s
If players have brother or sisters at the club they are welcome to come together at the same time - just let the photographer know the names and age groups.
NEWS: New Player Enquiries
09 Nov 2022
FC Cougars welcome enquiries from new players who are keen to join the club.
Our age groups for the 2022/2023 season, are as follows:
- Under 6s (year 1) - SPACES
- Under 7s (year 2) - SPACES
- Under 8s (year 3) - FULL
- Under 9s (year 4) - FULL
- Under 10s (year 5) - FULL
- Under 11s (year 6) - FULL
- Under 13s (years 7/8) - FULL
- Under 15s (years 9/10) - FULL
If your child is interesting in training with any of our teams that currently has spaces please get in touch by contacting graham@fccougars.com
NEWS: Grassroots Football Cancelled This Weekend
09 Sep 2022
Please note that ALL FA affiliated fixtures this weekend have been postponed as a mark of respect after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
This includes all grassroots fixtures.
As an FA affiliated club all of our fixtures on Sunday 11 September 2022, for all age groups, will not be played.
NEWS: FC Cougars Ready For New Season!
02 Sep 2022
Welcome back to all our players, coaches, parents and supporters as we get set to start a new season! We are running 10 teams across the club this season with most of our teams taking part in the Reading and West Berkshire League, and our U10s in the Peter Houseman Youth League. All of our teams will be back in training next week, with matches starting across September 2022. Please see our individual team pages for training, and match, times and locations.
We would like to thank club sponsors McDonalds, EPC, and Oscura who continue to provide such valuable support to the club. We also very grateful to Co-op and Howdens who have provided funds to club. Their support enables the club to continue to provide fun football for a large number of local children with low membership fees. Please support our sponsors!
NEWS: 2022/2023 Season
13 Jul 2022
Registration for the 2022/2023 season has now finished for existing players, and we are opening up limited spare places for new players.
All our teams are at capacity with the exception of our Under 7s and Under 9s.
We are running two teams at Under 7s, Under 8s and Under 9s.
Our age groups, and their school years from September 2022, are as follows:
- Under 7s (year 2) - SPACES
- Under 8s (year 3) - FULL
- Under 9s (year 4) - SPACES
- Under 10s (year 5) - FULL
- Under 11s (year 6) - FULL
- Under 13s (years 7/8)
- Under 15s (years 9/10)- FULL
If your child is interesting in training with any of our teams please get in touch by contacting graham@fccougars.com
NEWS: Club AGM
06 Jul 2022
The club AGM will be held at 8pm on Tuesday 12 July 2022 at The Cottage Inn, Upper Bucklebury. Please contact graham@fccougars.com in advance if you would like to attend.
NEWS: Presentation Day
21 Jun 2022
Our full club presentation day will be held on Sunday 3 July 2022 at Bucklebury Recreation Ground, RG7 6PR, from 10AM.
All our children in all our age groups will receive their end of season trophies and all members, parents, grandparents, carers and supporters and very welcome to attend!
We will run some activities on the recreation field and will run refreshment sales and a raffle.
Please let us know if you might be able to donate any cakes, refreshments or raffle prizes!
NEWS: Photoshoot Times - 19 May 2022
19 May 2022
A reminder that it is our whole club photoshoot this Thursday 19 May evening at Bucklebury Recreation Ground. Please can everyone come along in full playing kit for the photos. If you have children in more than one age group they are welcome to come together at either of the times for their photos.
U7s: 18:00
U8s: 18:20
U9s: 18:40
U10s: 19:00
U12s: 19:15
U14s: 19:35
Please let me know if you can't make it as the photos will be used for our end of season trophies: graham@fccougars.com
NEWS: Year One Children Wanted!
18 May 2022
We are after current year one children who are keen to start playing regular football. If your child is in year one, or you know someone who might be interested, please get in touch by e-mailing graham@fccougars.com
NEWS: FC Cougars At Parkway This Sunday
20 Apr 2022
FC Cougars and Thatcham & Newbury Town Ladies & Girls FC are hosting a fund-raising penalty shootout and skills sessions at Parkway Shopping Centre Newbury, on Saturday April 23rd 2022 between 10am and 4pm. We would like to invite all our players, players from other clubs and members of the public to come along and have some fun, to help continue getting football “back to normal” and help encourage shoppers back to Parkway.
NEWS: Updated Training Times
29 Mar 2022
Light evenings are here and we have some new midweek training times for our teams starting today:
U6s: TBC!
U7s: Tuesdays, 6:30pm, Bucklebury Recreation Ground
U8s: Saturday mornings, Thatcham Memorial Ground
U9s: Tuesdays, 6:30pm, Bucklebury Recreation Ground
U10s: Thursdays, 6:30pm, Bucklebury Recreation Ground
U12s: Thursdays, 6:30pm, Bucklebury Recreation Ground
U14s: Thursdays, 6:30pm, Bucklebury Recreation Ground
NEWS: FA Play Safe
17 Nov 2021
NEWS: Co-op Select FC Cougars For Local Community Fund!
27 Oct 2021
We are delighted that we have been selected by Co-op to benefit from their local community fund! From 24 October 2021 to 22 October 2022 Co-op members can choose to help raise funds for FC Cougars.
For every £1 members spend on selected Co-op branded products and services, 2p will go into their membership account. The same amount will go to the club if you support us on your Co-op account!
To sign-up as a Co-op member or to link your account to FC Cougars please use our page at Co-op - and remember to swipe your membership card when you shop in-store:
https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/55925
NEWS: Presentation Day
24 Sep 2021
Our presentation day for the 2020/2021 season will be held on Saturday 9 October 2021 at Bucklebury Primary School from 10:00 to 12:00.
Please note that parking is limited at the school. All Saints Church is a short walk to the school and the church have kindly allowed us to use their car park. Please do not park on the entrance road and be considerate of local residents.
We will be running some competitions on the field with prizes for our age groups. Please bring along plenty of £1 coins for entry into the competitions, raffle, and to buy refreshments!
If you would like to help out on the day or make a donation please e-mail graham@fccougars.com
NEWS: Wembley!
02 Aug 2021
Our Under 14s are looking forward to a trip to Wembley this Saturday for the Community Shield sponsored by McDonalds. We have been picked for guard of honour duty and will be out on the Wembley pitch before kick-off!
NEWS: FC Cougars AGM
06 May 2021
The club AGM will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 1 June 2021 at the Cottage Inn, Upper Bucklebury. If you are a club member who would like to attend please confirm ahead of the AGM to graham@fccougars.com
NEWS: Under 9s Receive Winners Medals
12 Apr 2021
Some of our teams played their first games back after lockdown on Sunday - and our U9s finally got their medals for winning their Autumn trophy event! Congratulations!
NEWS: FC Cougars Back In Action!
31 Mar 2021
All our teams are back this week following the relaxation in restrictions that allows outdoor sports to restart. Our U7s begin training at Thatcham Memorial Recreation Ground this evening (31 March 2021) and will be regulars on Wednesday evenings. Our other age groups will all be training Thursday evenings starting on 1 April 2021. Please see our age group pages to confirm locations for training and our friendly fixtures, which begin from Sunday 11 April.
NEWS: FA Guidelines On Returning To Football
24 Mar 2021
The FA have released guidelines for the return of football from 29 March 2021.
Please note the following key points for our parents/guardians:
- No spectators are allowed at grassroots football as part of step one of the Government’s roadmap. One parent or guardian per child is permitted.
- If you choose for your child to take part, you will need to give your written consent to the club and or coach. Ensure you are comfortable with the club's Covid-19 planning arrangements before doing so.
- You may already be aware that the period of isolation may have resulted in your child becoming anxious or unsure whether to resume previous activities, such as football. Please only support their return to football activity when they feel confident to do so and you feel the activity is safe and right for them.
- Your child should arrive changed and ready to exercise.
- Ensure your child takes their own water bottle and their own hand sanitiser, both clearly marked with their name. They must not share these with anyone else.
- Please ensure your child/children know how to maintain good hygiene and hand washing;
- Young children may struggle to maintain social distancing. Please continue to do your best to help your child recognise what ‘social distancing’ looks and feels like for example, relating to arm spans or standing jumps for example;
- Despite the changed circumstances the organiser of the activity still has a responsibility to implement The FA’s safeguarding requirements.
FA Guidelines for Restarting football from 29 March 2021
Please see our calendar page for training and match times and locations for your age group.
NEWS: Football To Return From 29 March
23 Feb 2021
Grassroots football is set to return from 29 March 2021 - and all our age groups will resume training during that week. League games will re-commence shortly afterwards.
The FA have confirmed the season will be extended until the end of June to give leagues time to complete fixtures.
We look forward to welcoming back all our players, parents and supporters!
NEWS: January 2021 Update
02 Jan 2021
Please see an update below with our plan to delay our return to football due to the numbers of virus cases in our area:
The new year begins with our area in "tier 4". In tier 4 outdoor youth football is permitted by the government; and the FA guidance, when followed correctly, allows us to train and play matches.
The fact that we are allowed to play youth football suggests that the government and FA consider the many benefits of organised outdoor sport for children outweigh the risk of virus transmission. As an FA affiliated club we will follow that guidance and look to continue playing football in due course.
However, we are aware of cases in our area, and the closure of some schools, and believe it is sensible to temporarily suspend playing.
FC Cougars currently plan to return to training and matches from the weekend of 16/17 January. This date is immediately before secondary schools re-open with testing in place for pupils. This short delay will give further time to assess the situation. Hopefully we will see a reduction of cases in the coming weeks which will allow us to safely provide football for those who feel happy to play.
Some of our age groups have games scheduled by the league for Sunday 10 January, but we have asked for matches involving our teams to be postponed. If you have any questions or comments please direct them to your age group manager or club officer using the contact details on our website.
NEWS: McDonalds Sponsor FC Cougars
04 Dec 2020
We are delighted to announce that McDonalds have become a key sponsor of the club. McDonalds have supplied our U13 team kit, training kit, and will be helping FC Cougars to provide FA qualifications for our coaches and volunteers.
"As a local McDonald's Franchisee and as someone who played on the very same pitches as a child, I'm extremely proud to sponsor FC Cougars and support them with the kit and access to coaching qualifications they need to get all the fun and enjoyment that is possible from grassroots football" - Richard Forte, Fortress Operations Ltd.