Penn vs Hillingdon Borough

Founded in 1872 following a meeting of eight local businessmen, Yiewsley FC was the forerunner of the modern-day club, changing its name to Hillingdon Borough in 1964 following the formation of the London borough councils.

The club flourished in the sixties and seventies with its main achievements being FA Trophy finalists in 1970/71 and the Southern League runners-up to Cambridge United in 1968/69. The 1984/85 season saw a major downturn in the club’s fortunes with the sale of the Leas Stadium.

In 1985/86 a merger with Burnham FC was not enough to save the club from extinction and in 1987 the name of Hillingdon was lost completely. A gap of almost four years left Borough in the wilderness with no ground and no effective leadership or finance.

Hillingdon Borough FC was reformed in 1990 when officials of Chiltonian League side Bromley Park Rangers took over the Ruislip FC ground at Breakspear Road and together with four of the former Hillingdon Borough directors formed the new club Hillingdon Borough (1990) FC. One of the first major projects was to develop plans which turned the pitch through 90 degrees and removed some 50 trees, repositioned three of the floodlights, and redrained and relayed the lower half of the pitch.

On the football side, the work in the first season in 1990 was towards gaining entry into the London Spartan League which was achieved. Honours for the club have been hard to come by, however a purple patch in the late nineties saw the club winning the Spartan League Cup in 1997 while being runners-up in the London Senior Cup a few weeks later. In consecutive seasons of ’95/96 and ’96/97 Hillingdon Borough were runners-up in the Spartan League, just missing out on the championship by the smallest of margins.

The amalgamation of the Spartan and South Midlands Football Leagues in the late nineties produced a stronger football League and finally the first major success for the club was achieved at the end of the 2004/05 season when they defeated London Colney in the final of the Spartan South Midlands League Challenge Trophy by 4-1 at Hanwell Town FC. This was coincidentally achieved exactly eight years to the day of their last cup success.

Progress since has been slow and sure. Red tape problems reared their ugly head, and progress was temporarily halted pending several open inquiries and council approvals. Finally, the official go-ahead was given and previous directors of the club worked tirelessly to push this project forward and raise the necessary finances.

This was completed in November 2004 when a local benefactor assisted the club. By helping launch ‘Astro 1’, on the additional land to the side of the stadium, HBFC opened a full-size astroturf pitch. The summer of 2005 saw work to improve the changing rooms and new physio room plus the installation of new seats in the main stand to accommodate up to 240 persons. In addition, new turnstiles were purchased and installed along with improved security systems to bring the ground up to a minimum grade standard. Work went on that year in progressing the ground to have sufficient space around the pitch, including a new stand.

In 2006, Hillingdon Borough reached the FA Vase final at St. Andrew’s, Birmingham, after an 11-game qualification route starting in the competition as early as the second qualifying round. In the final of the FA Vase, Borough lost 3–1 to Cheshire club Nantwich Town. Also in that year, they finished second in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, losing on goal difference to Oxford City.

During the 2007/08 season, captain Danny Tilbury led Steve Ringrose’s side to lift the Errea Cup (Southern League Cup) with a 4–1 aggregate win against Premier side Clevedon Town. Following the departure of Ringrose, Borough were transferred to the Isthmian League Division One North. They struggled under new manager Steve Hale and in their first season in the Isthmian League, finished bottom of the division and were relegated back to the Spartan South Midlands League in 2009.

In 2010, Gamdoor Dhaliwal resigned as chairman and Borough were on the brink of liquidation until local businessman Mick Harris stepped in to save the club. Gary Meakin, aged 26 years old, took over in 2010 and was in the process of building a competitive team before leaving for Northwood in March 2011. Jesse Smith, an experienced coach on the Middlesex scene, was appointed as Meakins’ successor before his departure in 2012 and achieved a 10th-place finish and a cup final in his only season in charge. Then it was the turn of 2005 Football Icon winner Sam Hurrell to take charge in September 2012, then only 24 years of age, alongside co-manager Jason O’Connor.

Following relegation from the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division in 2015, the club appointed former Harefield United boss Ian Crane who would be in charge until November 2017. At the end of the 2020/21 season, the club were transferred to Division One of the Combined Counties League. The Hillmen were saved from relegation that season by Ali Abdulkadir and his Under-18s, two of whom – Makael Scott and Kade Smith – provided the goals to ensure their safety. The following season was another campaign of struggle, with Ali being replaced in February 2024 by Pedro Pesqueira. In the summer of 2025, Pesqueira left the club by mutual consent with current boss Gary Pitt taking over as manager.