About

For the last 40 years in a cold and outdated gym (the building was formerly a stable for the pub) a small group of dedicated sportsmen have been training young boxers. This all looked set to end when Youngs brewery were granted planning permission to knock down the stable/garage block and build a 16 room motel on the site.

If you speak to anyone in the amateur boxing circuit about the Foley ABC they will say small club, great boxers. The Foley has consistently, punched above its weight and produced a long line of amateur champions with many going on to very successful professional careers.

Since the club first started it has continually produced high class sportsmen both on a local and national scale. The original trainers have been succeeded by the next generation many of whom are their sons and now train their own boys. The feeling of the club as a family has continued through the years with many youngsters learning respect and self discipline from the values that are taught there. Lee Cook was once a Foley boy as well as Ross Minter. Two of the clubs trainers Paul Dawson and Gary Ball also did the rounds on the professional circuit which provides an excellent base for training the boys in ring skills.

This is an ideal time for the club to renew its self and become self reliant with a new Managing Committee made up of coaches, parents and friends of the Foley.

The first order was to find new premises which proved a little more difficult than many thought it would but after a phone call from the Weston Green Sports club a new home was found Thanks to a few determined and hard working individuals the future of the club has now been guaranteed. The new premises and a large donation from Youngs Brewery has ensured that the immediate future for the club is secure.

The new club will provide an opportunity for the Foley to expand and develop with the use of a designated training & weights area, changing rooms for both male and female boxers and full use of the main hall and grounds

A cheque for £46,000 was given to the club's Lifelong President and founder coach, Tommy Mills, at the club's annual Dinner Show held at Sandown Race Course in November last year. The club’s new Chairman, Lee Martin, said that the money will go towards providing better training facilities for the boys and also ensuring that the hard working coaches are helped with extra training themselves

There will be no change to the clubs ethics, however the club will be more self funding with the option of raising extra money from local grants and sports funds.

While Tommy, without whom there would be no Foley ABC, has taken on the role of Life Long President, Lee Martin has taken over as Club Chair, taking the club into this new and exciting phase.

Of course, there is one organisation that must be thanked, since without them there would be no Foley past, present or future and that is Youngs Brewery. They have supported the club since its infancy and are continuing to do so into the future. A special thanks to Andy Nash from Youngs who has fought our corner and come up trumps!