About the club

FC Samba was formed in the summer of 1997 by a group of school friends who wanted a regular game of football every week. Initially this began with the forming of a 5 a side team that competed successfully at Nottingham Power League for many seasons, winning promotion through the divisions in rapid succession. Eventually several members of the team yearned again for the passion of the 11 a side game and so the blueprint was laid out for the formation of an FC Samba Sunday team. These plans came to fruition in the summer of 2003 when the original group, together with several new players who were invited down for trials, began training for their first season in the Notts Combination league. Samba were out of the blocks quickly and fought a tough 3 way battle for the title, and eventually came out victorious to lift the Division 3 championship at the first time of asking. The second season proved to be a wake up call as Samba started the season poorly and despite rallying mid season, could only manage a 3rd place finish. Talks had taken place throughout the season as to the future of FC Samba. The point of contention being whether Samba should seek a stronger challenge in Saturday football, or continue their excellent progress on Sundays. It was decided that Saturdays were the way to go, and after an awful season the Forest fans in the side were not too disappointed at having to give up their season tickets. Once this had been decided there was just one more issue that needed to be resolved before Samba could plan for the season ahead...... the management team. After initially rejecting several job offers from the Samba board during the close season, it took a barbeque at Chez Wilford, combined with copious amounts of alcohol, to finally convince the managerial dream team of Rod Bassett and John Wilford that there future lay at the doors of Samba. After 12 memorable seasons, two league titles and one Senior Cup, the club played its last match at Eagle Valley. Many thanks to everyone who pulled on the shirt and supported the Sandboys along the way!