Cricket arrived in Nottingham in the middle of the 18th Century, initially being played on the country estates of Clumber, Thoresby and Welbeck.  By 1770, the people of Nottingham had taken to the game and within 20 years reports of village cricket matches were being printed in the newspapers.

Attenborough had a village team around this time but the earliest report to hand was in the Nottingham Journal of October 5th, 1827, which read: “A cricket match was played on Wednesday at Attenborough between eleven of Mr Morris’s’ factory, Nottingham and eleven of the parish of Attenborough for 11 sovereigns a-side, which was won by the latter.”

Thomas Broughton Charlton, the son of the Sheriff of Nottingham, helped to finance Nottinghamshire inter-county matches in the 1840s and played for Nottinghamshire himself. He is buried in Attenborough churchyard and, as the local squire, is thought to have influenced the development of Attenborough cricket.

There is further evidence of cricket in the village with newspaper reports of a match against Chilwell in 1842; then later in 1848 when, by “superior bowling and fielding”, Attenborough beat Wilford.

It appears that cricket was getting stronger locally in the 1850s with several reports of Attenborough beating local opposition.  The following notice appeared in 1857: “The Attenborough players are ready to play Kegworth for any sum of money at Trent Bridge. Apply Secretary, Blue Bell, Attenborough.”
In the 1880s, an Attenborough United team was in being but what seems the prelude to the Attenborough Cricket Club as we now know it was the Attenborough Juniors team of 1892.  When the side played Beeston Amateurs that year, the team comprised a number of members of the church choir.

The official birth of Attenborough Cricket Club is 1905 although they appear in the Notts Cricket Association Handbook of that year as “Chilwell & Attenborough”.  From 1907 to 1914, Attenborough CC stood alone in the Handbook with Percy J Clarke as Secretary and it was he who had attended and became a Committee member of the inaugural meeting of the Notts Cricket Association in 1896.

To this day, the Clarke family has been a leading light in Attenborough Cricket Club affairs where Graham ‘Gay’ Clarke was a Club Life Member being a part of the club since it reformed in the late 1950’s as a player, supporter, critic, committee member but most of all the club groundsman for over 40 years. The club was his life!

One of the club’s leading early players was Walter Speak who lived in Elm Avenue, Attenborough from 1896 to 1912.  His most famous record was taking all ten wickets (10 for 22) in a match against Dixon & Parker’s in July, 1910.

Along with most village sides, cricket ceased at Attenborough with the advent of the Second World War but it is believed that the famous Hedley Verity appeared in a wartime game, arranged on the village green just before his premature death at the age of 38.

The Club was officially re-formed in 1955 when the former President Ken Royston began his long association with the Club.  The present ground on the Village Green was acquired in 1957 through the generosity of local residents and club members.  Considerable work since then has made it one of the best in the county, set in beautiful surroundings adjacent to the Attenborough Nature Reserve, with excellent facilities.  In 1990, it was awarded first prize in the Ground Development competition organised by the Institute of Groundsmen and the Nottinghamshire Cricket Association. The Club opened its second ground in 2007 on the nearby Long Lane Sports Ground and now uses it for Saturday 3rd and 4th XI matches and Youth Section activities.

The senior club is established as one of the top county clubs, at present running four Saturday league sides and two Sunday sides. The Club celebrated its centenary in 2005 and has since enjoyed significant success both on and off the field. The 1st XI finished 2nd in Division 1A of the South Nottinghamshire Cricket League in that year and followed that up with victory in the Popkess Cup in 2007. In 2008 the 1st XI took this on a stage further by winning Division 1A and achieving promotion to the NCB Premier League or the first time. It  also retained the Popkess Cup and was successful in the Champion of Champions match before capping the season off by winning the SNCL Fair Play Award.

The club also boasts an excellent youth set-up providing matches, practise and coaching for boys and girls aged from 7 to 19. In 2019, our Women & Girls section was re-formed and will be playing in the East Midland Softball League in 2021. The Club is Clubmark Accredited.

The continuing improvement throughout the club’s history is testimony to the efforts of a hardworking Committee, a good supporting band of ladies and a number of stalwarts past and present, including the Clarke family, Bill Evans, Michael Hammond, Geoff Gooch and Michael Dandy.  Honorary Life Members are M Dandy,  MJ Hammond, J Mangham, I Murray, Mrs S Dandy, Mrs A Clarke, M Evans, R Kitching, D Williams, K Sperry, J Birkin, M Aplin, N Allcoat, Mrs E Allcoat, A Aplin, M Brick, P Shoemaker, Mrs J Shoemaker and G Brookes from the club.

At the start of 2012 the club, led by Nick Allcoat (Chairman) and Paul Shoemaker (Vice Chairman) embarked on an ambitious “Inclusion Project” to redevelop the pavilion and ground such that the Club became able to welcome people with disabilities and to enable the changing facilities for males / females and the clubroom / social area be much improved. The improvements to the pavilion that resulted owed much to the huge contribution from club volunteers and supporters from the local business community. The club will always hold a special memory and be indebted to those who gave their time and effort to see the planned building improvements be delivered and result in such an excellent conclusion.

Club Officials

Year	President	Chairman	Secretary	Treasurer
1956	W Potter	ABM Clarke	K Royston	H Hackney
1957	FE Gregory	ABM Clarke	K Royston	WL Evans
1958	FE Gregory	ABM Clarke	K Royston	SR Bramley
1959	FE Gregory	ABM Clarke	K Royston	SR Bramley
1960	FE Gregory	ABM Clarke	K Royston	T Caine
1961	FE Gregory	ABM Clarke	AJ Marshall	T Caine
1962	FE Gregory	ABM Clarke	AJ Marshall	T Caine
1963	FE Gregory	ABM Clarke	AJ Marshall	J Lowndes
1964	ABM Clarke	GJ Williams	AJ Marshall	J Lowndes
1965	ABM Clarke	GJ Williams	AJ Marshall	M Hammond
1966	ABM Clarke	GJ Williams	AJ Marshall	M Hammond
1967	ABM Clarke	GJ Williams	WL Evans	M Hammond
1968	ABM Clarke	GJ Williams	WL Evans	M Hammond
1969	ABM Clarke	GJ Williams	WL Evans	M Hammond
1970	ABM Clarke	H Beadsworth	WL Evans	M Hammond
1971	ABM Clarke	H Beadsworth	WL Evans	M Hammond
1972	ABM Clarke	G Vickers	WL Evans	M Hammond
1973	ABM Clarke	G Vickers	WL Evans	M Hammond
1974	ABM Clarke	G Vickers	WL Evans	M Hammond
1975	ABM Clarke	G Vickers	WL Evans	M Hammond
1976	ABM Clarke	GJ Williams	WL Evans	M Hammond
1977	ABM Clarke	GH Harding	JL Mangham	M Hammond
1978	ABM Clarke	GH Harding	JL Mangham	M Hammond
1979	ABM Clarke	WL Evans	JL Mangham	M Hammond
1980	ABM Clarke	Wl Evans / AB Aplin	DT Wells	M Hammond
1981	ABM Clarke	GG Gooch	DT Wells	M Hammond
1982	ABM Clarke	GG Gooch	DT Wells	M Hammond
1983	ABM Clarke	GG Gooch	DT Wells	M Hammond
1984	ABM Clarke	GG Gooch	H Davis	M Hammond
1985	ABM Clarke	GG Gooch	H Davis	M Hammond
1986	K Royston	GG Gooch	H Davis	M Hammond
1987	K Royston	GG Gooch	H Davis	M Hammond
1988	K Royston	GG Gooch	H Davis	M Hammond
1989	K Royston	GG Gooch	M Swann	M Hammond
1990	K Royston	GG Gooch	M Swann	M Hammond
1991	K Royston	GG Gooch	R Fowkes	M Hammond
1992	K Royston	GG Gooch	R Fowkes	M Hammond
1993	K Royston	H Bowles	R Fowkes	M Hammond
1994	K Royston	H Bowles	R Fowkes	G Brookes
1995	K Royston	R Kitching	R Fowkes	P Chambers
1996	K Royston	JL Mangham	R Fowkes	P Chambers
1997	K Royston	JL Mangham	P Nightingale	P Chambers
1998	K Royston	JL Mangham	P Nightingale	P Chambers
1999	K Royston	JL Mangham	P Nightingale	P Chambers
2000	K Royston	JL Mangham	P Nightingale	P Chambers / M Dickinson
2001	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	M Dickinson
2002	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	M Dickinson
2003	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	M Dickinson
2004	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	M Dickinson
2005	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	M Dickinson
2006	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	M Dickinson
2007	GG Gooch	M Brick	M Firbank	M Dickinson
2008	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	A Aplin
2009	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	A Aplin
2010	GG Gooch	P Chambers	M Firbank	A Aplin
2011	GG Gooch	N Allcoat	P Hallam	A Aplin
2012	GG Gooch	N Allcoat	P Hallam / G Shaw	A Aplin
2013	GG Gooch	N Allcoat	G Shaw	A Aplin
2014	GG Gooch	N Allcoat	G Shaw	A Aplin
2015	D Williams	N Allcoat	G Shaw	A Aplin
2016	D Williams	N Allcoat	G Shaw	A Aplin
2017	D Williams	N Allcoat	R Bhabra / C Hatton	A Aplin
2018	D Williams	N Allcoat	C Hatton / R Kitching	A Aplin
2019	D Williams	N Allcoat	R Kitching	A Aplin
2020	D Williams	P Shoemaker	R Kitching	A Aplin
2021	D Williams	P Shoemaker	R Kitching	L Jones
2022	D Williams	P Shoemaker	R Kitching	L Jones
2023	D Williams	M Firbank	R Kitching	L Jones
2024	D Williams	M Firbank	R Kitching	L Jones