Brackley Town Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club in

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, England. They are currently members of and play at St James Park. The club won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

in 2018.

History

Established in 1890, the club spent much of the pre-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

era in the

Oxfordshire Senior League The Oxfordshire Senior Football League is an association football competition based in Oxfordshire, England. The league has three divisions; the Premier Division comprising clubs' first teams, whilst the other two divisions are reserve and deve ...

.Brackley Town Corporate Brochure
The Park Suite After the war they switched to the North Bucks & District League, where they remained until transferring to the Banbury & District League. However, they rejoined the North Bucks League in 1974. In 1977 the club joined Division One of the Hellenic League. They won the league's Knock-Out Cup in 1982–83, after which they switched to Division One of the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''GCE Hire Fleet Ltd. United Counties League'') is an England, English association football, football league covering an area including the English Counties of the United Kingdom, ...

in 1983. They went on to win the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division. Although they finished as runners-up in 1988–89, the following season saw them finish twentieth, and after finishing bottom of the division in three successive seasons between 1991–92 and 1993–94, the club rejoined the Hellenic League and were placed in the Premier Division. Although Brackley finished third-from-bottom of the Premier Division in their first season, the 1995–96 season saw them end the season as runners-up. The following season the club were league champions, earning promotion to Division One Midlands of the Southern League. After one season they were transferred to Division One South, but were relegated back to the Hellenic League at the end of the 1998–99 season, which saw them finish bottom of the division. In 2003–04 Brackley won the Hellenic League for a second time, as well as the Supplementary Cup, and were promoted back to the Southern League, this time to Division One West. A third-place finish in 2005–06 saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs. However, after beating Marlow 2–1 in the semi-finals, they lost 3–2 to Hemel Hempstead Town in the final. The club were transferred to Division One Midlands for the following season, and went on to win the division, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2008–09 they reached the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for the first time, losing 2–1 at

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

. After finishing fifth in 2009–10 the club qualified for the promotion play-offs again, but lost 6–0 to

Nuneaton Town Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

in the semi-finals. The 2011–12 season saw Brackley win the Premier Division, earning promotion to the

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

. They finished third in their first season in the division. In the subsequent promotion play-offs, they beat

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

4–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals before losing 1–0 to

FC Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League (division), National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replac ...

in the final. The following season the club reached the first round of the FA Cup again, and after drawing 1–1 against Gillingham at Priestfield, they won the replay 1–0. In the second round the club lost 3–2 at

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

. Brackley reached the first round again in 2015–16, losing 4–1 to Newport County in a replay after a 2–2 draw in the first match. The

2016–17 FA Cup The 2016–17 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 136th edition of the oldest recognised football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates, and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. 736 clubs were acc ...

saw the club reach the second round after again beating Gillingham 4–3 in a first-round replay. In the next round they lost 1–0 at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. In 2017–18 Brackley won the

, beating

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

5–4 on penalties in the final after the game had ended 1–1. They also finished third in the National League North and reached the play-off final after defeating

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

1–0 in the semi-finals, before losing 3–0 in the final to Harrogate Town. In

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

the club reached the second round of the FA Cup again; after defeating

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

3–2 on penalties after a 3–3 draw in the first round, they lost 1–0 at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

in the second. In 2021–22 the club were runners-up in the National League North, subsequently losing 1–0 to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

in the play-off semi-finals. They finished fourth in the division in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, going on to beat Gloucester City 5–3 on penalties in the play-off quarter-finals (after a 2–2 draw) and then

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

1–0 in the semi-finals, before losing 2–0 in the final to

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. A third-place finish in 2023–24 was followed by another play-off campaign, in which the club beat

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

1–0 in the semi-finals and then lost 2–1 to

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

in the final. The 2024–25 season saw the club win the National League North title, finally achieving promotion to the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Reserve team

The club's reserve team played in the Hellenic League between 2015 and 2020. They joined Division One East of the league in 2014 under the name Brackley Town Development. After finishing as runners-up in their first season, they were promoted to the Premier Division and were renamed Brackley Town Saints. The team left the league at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Ground

Brackley Town Football Club - St James Park

The club played at Manor Road from their establishment until 1968, when they moved to Buckingham Road, where the players changed in the nearby Plough pub.Brackley Town
Pyramid Passion In 1974 they moved to St James Park on Churchill Way. Floodlights were installed during the 1988–89 season. During their first spell in the Southern League a 300-seat stand was built on one touchline. The ground currently has a capacity of 3,500, of which 300 is seated and 1,500 covered.Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p177

Current squad

Current staff

Management board

Football management

Honours

*FA Trophy **Winners 2017–18 *National League **National League North champions 2024–25 *Southern League **Premier Division champions 2011–12 **Division One Midlands champions 2006–07 *Hellenic League **Premier Division champions 1996–97, 2003–04 **Knock-Out Cup winners 1982–83 **Supplementary Cup winners 2003–04 *United Counties League **Division One champions 1983–84 *Northamptonshire Senior Cup **Winners 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15 *Maunsell Cup **Winners 2011–12, 2012–13

Records

*Highest league position: First in the

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

, 2024–25 *Best

performance: Second round, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2024–25 *Best

performance: Winners, 2017–18 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

performance: Third round, 1987–88 *Record attendance: 3,074 vs

, Conference North play-off final, 4 May 2024 *Most appearances: Glenn WalkerFearsome front two strike to earn Brackley Town a point
Northampton Chronicle, 14 November 2020 *Most goals: Paul Warrington, 320 *Record transfer fee received: £2,000 from Oxford City for Phil Mason, 1998

References

External links

* {{Authority control Football clubs in England Football clubs in Northamptonshire Association football clubs established in 1890 1890 establishments in England Oxfordshire Senior Football League North Bucks & District Football League Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA Hellenic Football League United Counties League Southern Football League clubs National League (English football) clubs Brackley