Wallingford & Crowmarsh 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 based in Wallingford,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. They are currently members of the and play their home matches at The Hithercroft.

History

The club was founded in 1995 as the result of a merger of two local teams: the original Wallingford Town, a Hellenic League side at the time, founded in 1922, and neighbours Wallingford United, who had been founded in 1934. The newly merged club was named AFC Wallingford. In 1997–98, the club became champions of the

Chiltonian League The Chiltonian League was an English football league, existing from 1984 until its merger with the Hellenic League in 2000. While never having a defined place in the English football league system The English football league system, al ...

, and gained promotion into the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half of Greater Lond ...

. In 2001–02, AFC Wallingford won the Combined Counties League championship comfortably, and then were runners-up to Withdean 2000 and

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

in the succeeding two years. However, the facilities at their ground, Hithercroft, did not meet the standards of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

and thus they were denied further promotion. A

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

grant of £100,000 was used to fund ground improvements which would make promotion possible if they were to again win the Combined Counties League. However, after disruption caused by heavy player turnover (with several leaving for Didcot Town, who then won the

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 ...

), the 2004–05 season saw AFC Wallingford unable to avoid last place and relegation. The 2005–06 season saw an upturn in fortunes for the club, with a runners-up finish in the Combined Counties League Division One, which resulted in a promotion and with it a switch to the Hellenic League Premier Division, a league deemed better suited to AFC Wallingford's geographical location in

. In 2011, Wallingford set up its first junior teams. During the close season of 2013, the club reverted to its former name, to become Wallingford Town AFC, as part of its bid to become more synonymous with and representative of the town itself and switched from the red and black kits of the past 40 years back to the original 1922 club colours of red and white stripes. After numerous seasons in the North Berks League, the club was successful in their application to move into the non-league pyramid. In the 2016–17 season, the club resumed competing in the Hellenic League. Manager Mitchell moved into the vice chairman role and was replaced by Glenn Goudie. After three seasons of mid-table finishes, the club moved back to the Combined Counties League after the FA performed a re-structure of Step 5 and 6 leagues. Goudie stood down to take on the chairman's role after COVID-19 halted the season and the club installed Lee Matthews as manager for the 2021–22 season. In May 2022, the club finished 3rd and earned a place in the play-offs. After defeating

Rayners Lane Rayners Lane is a suburban district in the London Borough of Harrow that forms the western part of Harrow, London, Harrow in northwest London. Located between Pinner and West Harrow, it takes its name from a road in the area, also called Rayners ...

2–0 at home in the semi-final, the team won the final 2–1 after extra time defeating 2nd placed Hilltop. For the 2022–23 season, the club will compete in the Combined Counties Premier North. In June 2022, Wallingford Town amalgamated with Crowmarsh Youth F.C. to become Wallingford and Crowmarsh F.C.

Stadium

Wallingford Town play their home games at The Hithercroft at Wallingford Sports Park.

Honours

*Combined Counties League Premier Division: Champions 1998–99, 2001–02 *Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy: Runners-up 2000-01 *North Berks Charity Shield: Winners 2014–15 *Combined Counties Division One Play Off Winners 2021–22

Records

* Best league position: 1st in

(then level 9), 1998–99, 2001–02 * Best

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 ...

performance: 2nd qualifying round in 2000–01, 2002–03 and 2003–04 * Best

performance: 3rd round in 2001–02, 2021–22

Sources

References

External links

Official site with ForumOfficial site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallingford Association football clubs established in 1995 Football clubs in Oxfordshire 1995 establishments in England Wallingford, Oxfordshire Football clubs in England Chiltonian League Combined Counties Football League Hellenic Football League North Berks Football League