Banbury United film premiere: the emotions, passions and challenges
27/11/2025
“One theme came through clearly – the passion for a local football club which is really a community asset”
A new film which documents the important part Banbury United plays in the hearts and minds of local people, and the town, premiered at The Light last night.
Civic dignitaries, including Town Mayor Kieron Mallon, were present for the screening – a forty-five minute look at what makes the club so special, its history, the raw emotion felt by those attending games and the unique challenges faced by the fan-owned club.
‘Our Club, Our Town’ was created by the professional film-maker Glyn McGuire, with support from Banbury & Bicester College media students. It captures the stories of the current custodians of the club, offering a heartfelt demonstration of what Banbury United means to them and the town.
It also highlights the challenges faced by the non-league club, with a limited budget, a problematic short-term lease arrangement for their ground, and general lack of modern sporting facilities in the north of the county.
Claire Dumbreck, Banbury United’s Club Secretary, was one of the first people to see the finished version. “Nothing could have prepared me for the quality of this film,” she said. “Glynn is absolutely amazing! It just blew me away and I cried. I’ve had to watch it a number of times and I cry a bit more every time I watch it. It’s very emotive.
“I feel really lucky that we have this to show off.”
Film-maker Glyn McGuire said telling the Banbury United story required a different approach to making other sport features. “Unlike a lot of sports stories which are usually chronological – so you might get a team going from the first round to the cup final – this was slightly different,” he said. “In there was heritage, there was culture, but the underlying thread all the way through was the challenges, and on the flip side the passions, of being a non-league football club: how important that is to the community, but also how important the town’s community is to the club as well.”
The idea for the film was born from a chance meeting between Claire and Glynn during a night out. She touted the idea of a film on Banbury United and he agreed to make it.
“We wanted to shine a light on the magic of non-league football, to let people see what it is goes on at Banbury United,” said Claire. “A lot of people in Banbury, myself included for a couple of decades, don’t even know really what’s down there behind the station.
“I guess there’s a little bit of a political campaigning message on behalf of not just Banbury United Football Club, but also the other football clubs and hockey clubs and anyone who rely on an artificial surface with floodlights in this town, that the facilities here are absolutely terrible compared to other towns and cities in the UK.”
During filming one thing became very evident to Glynn: “There was one theme that came through and that’s really the passion for a local football club. I’m saying ‘football club’ but really it’s a community asset.
“It didn’t matter whether it was the first team goalkeeper or whether it was someone who travelled 160 mile round trip every week, the theme was the same: that love, that passion for the football club. That’s the theme that ran through it.
“There were other things that came out, but it’s a roller coaster of emotions from the love of it, to the humour and also, sometimes, sadness along the way.”
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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