The club has its early roots in the Orchard Estate Football and Social Club formed in 1971 in Twyford.  Ray Jones, a resident of Orchard Estate, brought together a squad of eight boys between the ages of nine and ten years to train and compete in six-a-side competitions against other Twyford teams from Hurst Road, Springfield Estate, London Road and Pennfields.  The original Orchard Estate team called themselves the “Orchard Fruits”.

Ray Jones enthusiasm and his team’s successes saw the start of the 1972/3 season with a squad that had grown to fifteen boys of mixed ages.  This was the season in which Twyford Comets was formed. The Comets played friendly matches for the rest of that season against teams of mixed ages from the local area.

In 1973/4 Twyford Comets joined the South Chiltern Minor League to test their skills regularly against teams from within a fifteen-mile radius of Twyford. Today Twyford Comets are still competing in the South Chiltern league but we now field teams from U7 up to U17 age groups and also play in the Berkshire Youth Development League and the East Berks Youth League. Currently we have a total of 18 teams providing football for children from Twyford and the surrounding area. We also have a large squad of younger players who take part in Saturday Morning Soccer School and friendly matches from time to time.

The club is almost wholly self-financing and subscriptions are kept as low as possible.  Local businessmen are encouraged to sponsor teams and over the years several companies and individuals have been kind enough to provide various levels of financial support. Although Ray Jones has now retired from the club, his ideals of teaching football skills and sportsmanship in competition still continue.

Some time ago Twyford Comets ventured into International competition.  A chance conversation between two air traffic controllers at Heathrow and Maastricht in Holland led to the start of an exchange arrangement between Twyford Comets and a Dutch club, R.K.U.V.C. from Ullestraten a village near Maastrecht.  Boys at the under 12/13 age group take part in this exchange which started with the visit of a Dutch team to Twyford in 1981.  The following year Twyford Comets made the return trip to Holland and this arrangement has continued to the present day.  During the visits the visiting team are shown around local sites of general or historic interest, there are some social activities organised for the accompanying parents and the visiting team play several games of football against both their hosts and teams from the local area.  The highlight of this is a cup match played between the two teams.  Originally we obtained sponsorship for this cup from The Twyford Motor Company but since they have left the village various companies have sponsored it.

Originally games were played at the Recreation Ground in the middle of the village.  However, in 1991 the Parish Council had two new pitches prepared at Stanlake Meadow and most teams now use these on a Saturday and Sunday morning. Initially the changing accommodation was a portakabin loaned by Laings who have carried out housing developments in the village.  Thanks to their generous support this was replaced in 1993 by a purpose built brick pavilion. With changes to the FA rules the U7, U8, U9, U10 and U11 age groups now play 7-a side rather than 11 a side.  Some play on pitches in the area hired by the Berekshire Youth Development League others play on small-sided pitches at the Recreation Ground and Stankake Meadow. As a starting point for children from the age of 5  we run training at the Recreration Ground on Saturday mornings between 10.15 and 11.15am. Training for the older league teams is carried out at various times during the week.  During the summer and the lighter evenings at the beginning and end of the season it takes place at Stanlake Meadow or on the Recreation Ground.  In the middle of the winter it is either held under floodlights at the Recreation Ground behind the Twyford Youth and Community Centre or at other venues we hire including The Dolphin School.

Over the years the club has given considerable enjoyment to both the boys who play and the parents and others who watch.  One person who liked to watch our teams playing on the Recreation Ground was a Mr Ralph Slade who lived in Wargrave Road. Sadly he died 1991 but as a reminder of his interest in our club his family kindly donated a trophy to the club. In line with the ideals of the club it was decided that this should be awarded each year to a boy in the oldest age group who has shown the best sportsmanship and the most dedication to the club during his time with us. This has been awarded each year since 1992 and a list of the winners can be found on this website.

At the end of the playing season each year we hold an Annual Presentation Ceremony where each of the boys in the teams receive a medal for playing.  Each manager gives a brief summary of their teams activity during the year and announces the winner of the players’ player that the boys in the team vote for.  Each winner receives a trophy that they keep. In addition any other trophies won by the team are displayed.

The club AGM is held in June each year and parents are invited to attend to discuss the running of the club.

The strength of the club lies very much in the work done by the team managers and the club officials in training and competition.  They put in a lot of time and effort, which is wholly voluntary, to register teams and organise matches and training to make sure the children are given the opportunity to participate in competitive football from under 7 to under 18 years of age.