Marlow Sports Club
Our Story
Marlow Sports Club (MSC) was originally founded in 1949. Between 2006 and 2011 , the site owner Whitbread (who had acquired the site from the historic Marlow brewing family Wethered) decided that the site should be auctioned off, potentially for new housing. Marlow Sports Club fought a lengthy battle to secure ownership of the site and became a charity in January 2011, with the site finally being secured in March 2011 incurring debts of over £1m.
The land and facilities are now protected for sport and leisure use to ensure Marlow’s rich sporting legacy continues. Our purpose is and remains to:
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Be open to the community
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Include everyone in our sports, irrespective of age, background or physical ability
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Create a vibrant centre for the community to meet, socialise, get and stay fit and enjoy life
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Promote physical and emotional growth, well being and self-belief to fulfil individual potential
With a lengthy heritage, we continue to operate as a multi sports hub for the community in Marlow and nearby, preserving a green space within 400 metres of Marlow High Street for current and future generations including an undeveloped grass and woodland area.
We have grown to become one of Marlow’s biggest sports facilities promoting sport for everyone, with collective membership of around 2,500 members of which over half are juniors (under 18); this excludes large sporting participation and events participation (e.g. Marlow Half Marathon, Red Kite Ride and the annual Marlow Monster Fireworks). At the time of notice from Whitbread in 2006, collective membership was only some 500.
We operate an umbrella type organisation that owns, maintains and manages the 15.5 acre site at Pound Lane for our member Clubs - Marlow Cricket; Marlow Hockey; Marlow Riders (Cycling); Marlow Striders (Running); Marlow Tennis; Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School (fully integrated through a long term usage agreement) for the purpose of school sports, and our affiliate Marlow Petanque.
We are proud to offer a first class floodlit hockey pitch, four flood-lit all-weather tennis courts, petanque terrains, and an excellent cricket pitch and outfield with practice nets. Our two Pavilions are also home to a Pre-school Nursery (Jellitots) and to Horizon Rehabilitation Ltd (an expert provider of physiotherapy, sports injury management and neurological rehabilitation services).
We are delighted to have as Patrons of the Charity: Alex Danson, Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Andrew Strauss, Sir Clive Woodward, and most recently Naomi Riches and Tom Kerridge.
Our operating / maintenance costs and the continued repayment of debt that was used to acquire and develop the site are met by payments from the member Clubs/affiliates plus commercial income generated from events and usage/hire of our facilities as well as from charitable donations. Our indebtedness has reduced over time from over £1m to a very much reduced loan portfolio and a repayment plan to clear the remaining due debt in early 2026.
MSC Commercial manages the bar and catering for the Sports Club as well as hiring of our facilities; if you want to learn more about what can be offered please look at our Hire facilities page.
We have worked with the Environment Agency to provide key elements of the Marlow Flood Alleviation Scheme. This provides the flood defences and groundwater pumps installed on our site to reduce the risk to local residents from flooding by the river and from the overwhelming of groundwater and local drainage systems.