It was September 1996 when the seeds of Mould FC were sown. Born out of a drunk conversation on Alex Leese's leaving do between Ian Knowles, Leese and his former boss a challenge match was arranged at the Goodwin Pitches, Sheffield. The line up on this fateful day was:

* Simon Dunkley
* Ian Knowles
* Alex Leese
* The Tash
* Steve Roberts
* Steve Plimmer
* Steve Plimmer's Mate
* Nissar

Inevitably we lost and a return fixture was duly arranged to get revenge - where we slumped to another defeat. On the opposing side on both occasions was a certain Paul Owen - a man later to defect to the footballing giant now known as Mould FC.
The Team with no Name

A year after these two embarrassing defeats it was decided that we should get together and exhibit our talents once more. Due to some sterling work by Steve Roberts and Leese by booking the pitches, a hardcore of players emerged.

It was now that new players began to be drawn towards an embryonic Mould, recognising the impending glory era. One of the first arrivals was Ian "Sol" Mirfin who was drafted in to replace Leese while he was busy falling over in Australia. James Sylvester quickly followed and along with a few casuals, regular insults to the great game took place on Wednesdays at Goodwin in the "pig pen".

One of the highlights of this golden era was the rise and fall of "Plump Steve" - an associate of Machells. In not more than five appearances he managed to break his ankle twice and pull his hamstring - all by just walking on to the pitch.

The numbers swelled over the next few months with Paul Knight, Orange, John Ryan, Tom Collins, Tom Bowers, Curly Haired John and countless other Muppets joining the moribund merry band. Indeed, very soon the pig pen was outgrown and new arena was required - so we moved across to the bigger pitches.

It was now the summer of 98 and we were all infected with football fever - even playing on the day England lost to Argentina. What commitment!

During this time revenge was had over Alex's former employers in two classic games with victories of 1-0 and 4-0. The line up for both these encounters was:

* Dunkley
* Knowles
* Leese
* The Tash
* Sylvester
* Tom Collins
* Steve Roberts
* Alex's Mate

Despite the shock departure of Steve Roberts in the autumn of 98 we carried on, asking ourselves on many occasions "what was Orange doing shooting from there?"
The Birth of Mould

By March 1999 Leese, Knowles and Sylvester decided that the next step for our inept skills was to enter a Team in the University's Inter Mural Easter League. With all the details filled in on the application form only one box was left empty - Name of Team.

One Sunday Evening, with the entry deadline looming, a phone call took place between Leese and Knowles to decide on the name of the team. They opted to employ the now patented "Dictionary Method" - two random numbers corresponding to a name and line in Alex's dictionary. The end result was "Caused by Dampness". Mmmmm, not quite what we had in mind, so we opted for the corresponding word - Mould.

Armed with a name we set off to conquer all in our path. However, the first steps were not as successful as anticipated and dismal defeats by Danwood, Chemistry, and SCHARR, were followed by a face saving draw with Firkin. The squad for these encounters was:

* Dunkley
* Knight
* Knowles
* Leese
* The Tash
* Ryan
* Sylvester
* Tom Bowers
* Curly Haired John

This era also gave birth to the infamous Mould Golden boot. Sculpted from the actual boot that managed to top the scoring charts in our first season (if you exclude own goals scored by the opposition) it was decorated in silver and gold, and mounted on a plinth of solid waste wood. It was kindly donated by the owner of the aforementioned boot - Knowles - even though the latter of the two goals he bagged with it was only due to some inept goalkeeping from the Chemistry goalkeeper.

This also was the start of the "Coins" period. In public houses throughout the city, post match analysis was performed using coins of the realm as markers for players. Mostly used to recreate favourable moments in the game and sometimes emailed to people concerned, this gave rise to some truly wonderous tales of the night before. Many a time a simple tap-in was relived as a thirty yard screamer into the top corner, or beating a single man retold as a mazy run beating all the players at least twice. And who could forget the shame of being represented as 5p? The demise of the coins is somewhat of a mystery and a return is well overdue
The Trimac League

Fresh from humiliation we recruited Paul Owen on a free transfer and joined the Trimac League. To reflect our new found professionalism we decided to invest in a new kit, and like Inter Milan we opted to play in blue and black stripes - though sadly that is where the comparision ended.

We began the season convinced that we would lose every game. That was not to be, and vistory in the first game started a winning run that would give us a nosebleed. After six games we sat proudly on top of the league - four points clear of the rest of the field. The last four games, though, were a disaster, although fingers were pointed towards the switch to grass for three of these games. The first game in this losing run was not only notable for an infamous kick-a-thon against Tostem, but was also responsible for the loss of confidence that blighted Mould until the end of the season.
Change of Venue

Season two bought a change of venue after the farse of playing on slippery grass and arguments of "post-and-in". The league was moved to Sheffield Wednesday's Football Academy Astroturf pitches in Hillsborough and restructured into two six-team divisions. Once again we were placed in the top division, and duly continued where we'd left off at Goodwin.

An all time Mould record of Played 10, Lost 10 gave Mould their worst ever sequence of results and meant that relegation was inevitable

Things could only get better...well slightly anyway. The next few seasons were spent in division two, with the odd encouraging performance here and there along with a smattering of truly appalling displays against some very poor opponents. Eventually it took a change in formation to the Mould version of "total football" (everyone playing everywhere and being bollocked for not tracking back and defending), to change the team's fortunes. With one game to go and promotion to the top flight on the cards, several players contemplated throwing the final match in order to remain in the comfortable surroundings of division two. However, to the horror of some and delight of others, a league table was circulated prior to the match which revealed that Mould had already been promoted. Even defeat in the final game (which was spectacularly achieved in a 4-0 defeat) couldn't prevent the inevitable - Mould were back in the "big time".
Back in the Big Time

After losing our first game back, to the all conquering Owls Staff, a first victory was achieved against bitter rivals Bridge (A.K.A. The Rat Catchers, after two of their players appeared on BBC1's "a life of grime"), Mould running out 3-1 winners. A few other decent results (two well earned points from draws against arguably superior opponents), and a dramatic final game victory over former bogey team Tostem, gave Mould a more creditable total of eight points and fifth place (out of six!), a definite improvement on the previous showing in division one. However, it wasn't enough and Mould were looking forward to another promotion campaign in Division two.
Flies, Eighties Shorts, and Shaking one Loose

It was around this time that Mould benefitted from another golden era - sometimes called the "Sol Years". When not dabbling in the used rowing machine business Sol filled his berth in the Mould ranks with a reputation as a draw for the ladies. The reason for this interest can only be put down to the introduction of some of the most revealing shorts and micro-thin T-shirts in existence.

He was also famous for eating HUGE chillies minutes before kick-off and then wondering while it was repeating on him. This gave rise to two incidents that went down in Mould folklore that are still spoken about today - shaking one loose as the match kicked off, and then choking on a fly seconds after coming on as a substitute.
The Introduction of the Master

To follow....
Championship Winners

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Squad Transfers

To follow....