Formed in 1978 from a youth club team and originally called ‘Vikings’ the team entered the Gloucester Sunday League Division 6. After an initial couple of seasons adjusting to league football, the club embarked on a spree of Divisional Championships and runner-up places. This was crowned in 1987 with promotion to the Sunday League Premier Division.

During this phenomenal period, the club in 1983 applied to join the Saturday Stroud and District Football League and were entered into Division 4, which they subsequently won. Divisional championships and promotion in subsequent seasons culminated with Barnwoods promotion to Division 1. The 1985/86 season saw Barnwood United amass an impressive 5 trophies, through Saturday and Sunday football. The driving force behind this success was player manager Bruce Cherette, supported by an outstanding squad of players, most notably the strike partnership of John Newman and Steve Brown (now reserve team manager) who during the season amassed over 100 goals between them. 1985/86 also saw the formation of a reserve side that entered the Stroud and District Football League.

The 1987/88 season the first team won the GFA Junior County Cup beating their old rivals Blakeney 3-1 at Harrow Hill. The 1988/89 season saw one of the clubs most proud moments to date, the SDFL Division 1 championship and promotion to Division 2 of the Gloucester Northern Senior League, this also promoted the change of club name to as it is now.

The 1991/92 season saw an ever developing first team managed by Colin Palmer, find its feet and win promotion to Division 1 of the Northern Senior League. The success of promotion was added to with the defeat of Shortwood United, 3-0 at The Lawn, to win the ‘Forest Green supporters trophy’. Barnwood also narrowly missed out on another cup when unlucky defeated by Cheltenham Saracens 4-3 after extra time, in the GFA Senior Amateur Cup final. The success the club enjoyed was not limited to the first team, the reserves also prospered, winning the Stroud and District League Division 6,5 and 4 titles in the seasons 1987/88, 1992/93 and 1994/95 respectively.

During the middle to late 90’s the club found itself facing its first dilemma, aging playing squad, player retirement and lake of youth talent. With these factors continuing to plague the club, and a lack of players as a whole, the unfortunate decision was taken to withdraw its first team from the Northern Senior League in 1999/2000. This decision also coincided with the reserve teams’ relegation to Stroud and District League division 3.

The following season saw the influx of several new, young, talented players. Under the guidance of two of the clubs longest serving members, Phil Powell and Herbie Ellis these players flourished, gaining instant promotion back to SDFL Division 2.

At the third time of asking Barnwood captured the SDFL Division 2 title in 2004 and the very next season won SDFL Division 1. Meanwhile the newly formed reserve side flourished with 3 promotions in successive seasons elevating them to SDFL Division 5. Barnwood were unable to be promoted to the Northern Senior league in 2005 but the squad remained together and celebrated a double success during the 2006/07 season, winning both the GFA Junior Cup and SDFL Charity Cup, whilst the reserve side captured the SDFL Divison 5 title.

The 2007/08 season brought a new challenge. The previous seasons GFA Junior Cup triumph led to Barnwood entering into the GFA Senior Amateur Cup, competing against Gloucestershire Northern Senior League sides. Barnwood more than held their own and defeated several established Northern Senior sides before narrowly missing out 1-0 to Sharpness in a competitive semi-final. This astonishing cup run did not distract the players and they soon wrapped up the SDFL Division 1 title for the second time in 4 years – this time gaining promotion to Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 2.

The future of Barnwood United is extremely exciting as we begin a new era in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League and the reserve side continue to progress through the SDFL ranks. The big challenge currently, surprisingly considering all the success the club has enjoyed since 2000, is lack of sponsorship. The financial running of the club is becoming a real problem and it would be a travesty if the lack of funding began to affect results.