IT’S always important to remember where we come from...to look back and see how far we’ve come.

This is exactly what the Lawford Football Club has done and it has certainly come a long way,

This month, the club is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Lawford Lads, which combined with Lawford Junior in 2015 to form one club – Lawford Football Club.

Based in School Lane, the club offers outstanding facilities including prized pitches and a modern clubhouse.

The senior section fields two men’s teams and a women’s team.

The youth and junior membership comprises teams with boys and girls aged from six to 18 from the many surrounding villages.

Becoming one club in 2015, combining Lawford Lads, Lawford Ladies and Lawford Junior, proved to be a great success.

Club chairman John Duchars said: “It was a huge step forward and symbolic of a commitment to promote football at the highest level we are able to, working together, across all sections of the club.

“Central to the vision of one club was to provide a clear pathway from junior to youth and ultimately senior football.

“The reality is that junior teams sustain youth teams and they sustain senior football.

“Integration across the club goes from strength to strength.”

Lads was included in the club’s name as most of the original players were under 18 and the team was playing in a minor league.

The club was founded in 1949 and the Lads played their first match on October 7, 70 years ago.

While searching for old photographs, members discovered Lawford Football Club, as we know it today, is the second club to bear that name.

The original Lawford Football Club was founded in 1935, competing in the Harwich Junior League.

Its home ground was at Lawford Home Park behind the Kings Arms pub. The club was disbanded in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War.

Originally, back in the 1950s the Lads were based behind the Ogilvie Hall, where pitch access involved negotiating a high fence, meaning that Teddy Prike, who was a player living nearby, would bring a stepladder so the team could get over without injury.

As cows grazed the field on which matches were played on, it often had furrows and cows would sometimes interrupt the play.

Teddy also cleared up what cows left behind and used it on his allotment, always making the best out of every bad situation.

Players often had to make sacrifices and cycled to away fixtures, sometimes miles away.

It was hard work but demonstrated the ambition and dedication of the players.

The club moved to the current site, called the John Lyall Pavilion, in 1967.

For many years the football clubs had played out of an old wooden pavilion and while this had served them well, it needed to be brought up to modern standards.

It was decided this wasn’t practical and a fundraising operation was put into place to try to build a new pavilion.

Following many years of hard work, by countless volunteers and individuals, the funding target of £590,000 was achieved in late 2010, leading to completion and an official opening of the pavilion in September 2011.

Now, the John Lyall Pavilion provides a well-used, modern facility, which will serve future generations of Lawford footballers.

The club is now looking into the potential of adding an all-weather pitch.

To see the club’s pictures through the years visit lawfordfc.co.uk/past-teams.