Beaufort hold a unique position in the Bristol & District Sunday League as they are the only founding members left in the league.

Fourteen clubs were at the meeting that formed the league on June 14, 1966. It was chaired by former Post sports writer Robin Perry who, along with two other Post employees David Hughes and Dave Shelton, were the driving forces in setting up the League.

League chairman Dave Tanner said: "Beaufort are a club who have always been a credit to the league and it shows how strong the club are that they are the only club still members of the league, who were among the first teams who got the league underway 43 years ago.

"They are a model for all clubs as their discipline is superb and their secretary Bob Trow is a member of the league management committee, who has done a lot of valuable work for the league over the years besides being one of the main driving forces behind the club."

The driving force behind the foundation of the club and the decision to join the newly-formed league was Dave Pearce, who saw a story in the Post asking if there were any clubs interested in becoming members of the new Sunday league.

At that time it was difficult to get pitches, as games on a Sunday could only be played on private grounds because Bristol Corporation-owned pitches in parks were not available.

In fact, it was pressure from the newly-formed league that led to local Corporation pitches eventually being made available.

Pearce worked hard to get the team together and they joined the league as Beaufort Hunt which was based on the public house of that name in Chipping Sodbury.

The club officials were Roger Hawkins, Terry Tansley and Pete Lewis, who all had close connections with Yate YMCA, who went on to become Yate Town.

They quickly established themselves as one of the leading clubs in a league that had many players playing top class non-league football on a Saturday as well as playing for Sunday league sides the following day.

Bob Trow joined the club in the early 1970's as secretary and has held the position ever since. The club enjoyed success in the 1970's winning the Gloucestershire South Sunday Premier Cup on two occasions in the 1976-77 season when they were known as Beaufort Lions and again in 1979-80 when they had become known as Tabular Beaufort following a change in sponsorship.

Around this time the club established themselves as one of the top Sunday sides playing in the Bristol area, winning the Premier Division title and there was also successes in the league cup competition.

They took the decision to enter the Football Association National Sunday Cup competition and twice reached the quarter-finals in what was the premier competition for Sunday clubs.

They changed their name to Beaufort FC for the 82-83 season and achieved a treble success of Gloucestershire FA Sunday Premier Cup winners, Bristol Sunday League Premier division champions and Sunday League Cup winners.

During this time, John Burns was manager of the club leading them to 13 trophy successes – a record no one has beaten since.

During this time leading marksmen for the side were strikers Kevin Prue and Steve Moore, while Pete Jackson, who is now chairman of Yate Town, was also among the goals on a regular basis.

Following Burns decision to stand down, the club unfortunately went into a period of decline as the players Burns had brought to the club left and the club were relegated to the senior division of the league in 1993.

Without the continued commitment of Bob Trow and Dave Pearce the club could well have folded but the appointment of Gerry Mogg as manager was a turning point as he brought in a crop of talented young players.

A few seasons were spent in the senior division before they won the championship and returned to the premier division in 1997-98 and Lee Barlass, the present manager, took over in 2000.

Barlass, well-known on the local circuit as a defender with Almondsbury Town, Mangotsfield United and Yate Town, took the club to two Gloucestershire FA Cup Premier finals and two League Cup finals.

In 2007, the club was rocked with the sudden death of founder and club chairman Dave Pearce, who was a great character and clubman and is sorely missed by everyone associated with the club to this day.

The chairman is now Pete Cozens, who has supported the club for 15 years, who with secretary Bob Trow, is determined to drive the club forward in their search for further honours.

The club still has a close association with Yate Town and until recently Lee Barlass was assistant manager of the Southern League club with many of the players playing for both clubs.

Lee Barlass and Mark Power are now in their 17th season with the club and hold the appearance records and another long-serving player is goalkeeper Darren Shellard, who has been with the club for 15 years, as has midfielder Mark Cozens.