Brook House was formed as a Sunday League Club in 1974 when Saturday clubs Charville and Hayes North combined and joined Division Seven of the Hayes Sunday League. After numerous league and cup successes the club switched to Saturday football in 1982, joining the South-West Middlesex League.

In 1984 they were founder members of the Middlesex County League where they remained until joining Division One of the Spartan League in 1988. Despite only finishing sixth in 1989, they were promoted to the Premier Division.

In 1992 floodlights were erected and inaugurated with a friendly against Chelsea for whom former Brook House player Neil Shipperley scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 win. Shipperley’s father David managed the club during the 1990s. In 1992-3 they entered the F.A. Cup for the first time.

When the Spartan and South Midlands Leagues merged in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midland League Brook House were placed in the Premier Division South and went on to win the league that season. Promotion took them to the Premier Division where they remained until 2004, finishing as runners-up, and were promoted to Division Two of the Isthmian League.

After two third placed finishes, the club were promoted to Division One South & West of the Southern League for 2006-7. After finishing eighteenth in their first season the club renamed themselves A.F.C. Hayes in 2007. They moved divisions again in 2010 when they re-located to Division One Central of the Southern League.

A.F.C. Hayes finished bottom in 2015 and were relegated to the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League. Four years of struggle culminated in 2019 when they were next to bottom and relegated to Division One. Their slide has continued and after finishing tenth last season they are now nineteenth of twenty-one teams with a record of 2-2-9 16-40 and a possible return to County level football.

In the F.A. Vase they reached the fifth round (last 16) in 2005 and the fourth round the following season before their elevation to the F.A. Trophy. Competing once again in the Vase this season they defeated Winslow United of the Spartan South Midland Division 1 before going down 0-6 to Eastbourne Town of the Southern Combination Premier Division.

They play at Farm Park, the southern section of a green oasis in a heavily built-up area of West London. The Yeading Brook which gives the club its name flows behind the lower (Eastern) goal resulting in the ground often being waterlogged.

They have also had to compete for spectators with local rivals Hayes and Yeading, both located within three miles, and now the combined club of Hayes and Yeading United. They have struggled by on average attendances of about fifty. From this season they have reverted to the name Brook House, a reminder of the days when they were in their pomp.

The teams met at Hayes in Jersey’s inaugural league season in late September 2019. The “reserves” played, as it clashed with an Inter-League fixture, and won 2-1, the scorers being Darryl Wilson and Ruben Mendes. The return, four months later at Springfield, saw Jersey win 7-2 with goals from Jay Giles, James Queree, Fraser Barlow (2), Karl Hinds (2) and Kieran Lester.

The under 23s would normally be selected for this notional first team fixture but with the under 23s playing on the same night at Marlow this side contained five of the regular “chiefs”.

Just as the blistering summer temperatures ended on 1^st September so did the mild autumnal ones on 1^stNovember. It was a wet and windy evening and the notoriously wet ground had a very wet strip in front of the grandstand side with patches where the ball stuck. The late arriving referee passed it fit for play and the match eventually kicked off fifteen minutes late with Jersey attacking the clubhouse (Western) end.

Jersey dominated the match with Mendes and Francis Lekimamati having early chances before Lorne Bickley and Lekimamati brought out a fine double save from the Brook House ‘keeper Tom Clark before ten minutes had been played.

Bickley put another chance over before Clark saved well again from Kieren Stephens. Bickley had a penalty claim waved away before a rare Brook House attack saw Amari Adams have a shot cleared off the line by Ben Le Rougetel.

Clark saved from Bickley at the foot of his left post before tipping a Stephens shot around the other post a minute later. Brook House then took an unexpected lead when Shane Kettle put in a shot cum cross from the right which sailed over Robbie Scott and dropped in off the far post.

Clark was finally beaten four minutes before the break when John Lloyd collected a cross field pass from Mendes in the left channel. He cut inside and from twenty-five yards curled a shot into the top right corner. At the interval Brook House made a double substitution with Jake Sobalak and Akeerie Galloway coming on for Joe Weight and injured captain Michael O’Neil with Jake Swain taking over the armband.

Clark saved from Stephens before Jersey eventually took the lead. Galloway skied a clearance out to the right which Stephens chased down and returned across the face of the goal for Bickley to shoot into the roof of the net from five yards. Swain who spent most of the second half niggling at Bickley fouled him again, this time on the edge of the box. Bickley “dusted” himself down and unusually took the free-kick himself. He astutely shot under the wall into the bottom left corner for a 3-1 lead.

With the comfort of two goal cushion Jersey brought on their teenage substitutes. Seaney McColgan-Byrne and then Joel McKinley.

In the closing moments Harrison Moon chased down a Scott clearance, cut inside Swain and beat Clark at his near post for a fourth goal. Then in the last minute Stephens cleverly scooped the ball over the defenders on the edge of the box which substitute McColgan-Byrne seized upon near the penalty spot and half volleyed into the right corner for Jersey’s fifth.

Brook House 1 (Shane Kettle 29)
Jersey Bulls 5 (John Lloyd 41, Lorne Bickley 56 & 72, Harrison Moon 88, Seaney McColgan 90)

Attendance – 36

Programme – none

Brook House – Tom Clark, Shane Kettle, Dominic Jones, Joe Weight, Michael O’Neil (c), Sam Denham, Jake Swain (vc), Jordan McGirr, Ben Bell, Amari Adams, Foday Sesay
Substitutes – 12. Reece Stray (not used), 14. Jake Sobalak (for Weight 46), 15. Jordan Cunningham (not used), 16. Emmanuel Sholola (not used), 17. Akeerie Galloway (for O’Neil 46)

Richard Bell (Manager), Aishah Kamara (Physio.)

Light Blue and White Stripes (Light Blue backs, White sleeves)/Light Blue/Light Blue; GK All Purple

Jersey Bulls – Robbie Scott, Jonny Willows, John “J.J.” Lloyd, Ben Le Rougetel, Luke Campbell (c), Max Thompson, Francis Lekimamati, Kieren Stephens, Lorne Bickley (wore 16), Ruben Mendes, Harrison Moon
Substitutes – 14. Seaney McColgan-Byrne (for Lekimamati 76), 15. Joel McKinley (for Thompson 83) only two substitutes

Red/White/Red; GK All Yellow

Gary Freeman (Manager), Kevan Nelson (Assistant), Richard Hebert (GK Coach)

Formations
Brook House (4-4-2 R to L) 1: 2-6-5-3: 7-4-8-9; 11-10
Jersey Bulls (4-1-4-1 R to L) 1; 2-4-5-3; 6; 7-8-10-11; 16

Referee – Ka-Ho Wong (Finchley) Refereed at Springfield last season for the Redhill match in mid-April. After seventeen years officiating in the Hong Kong Professional League he relocated to the U.K. in the summer of 2020 to take up an appointment as an I.T. teacher at the prestigious Wycombe Abbey Girls School in Buckinghamshire. He registered with the Combined Counties League in January 2021 since when most of his appointments have been in the Premier Division North.

Assistants – Mark Jolley (Ealing) on the dug-out side. His first Jersey match.

Krandeep Grewal (Southall) on the grandstand side. Also on his first Jersey match.

Caution – Jake Sobalak (BH) 74

Corners – Brook House (1) 4; Jersey Bulls (3) 4

Player of the Match Award – Lorne Bickley