Baldock 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 based in

Baldock Baldock ( ) is a historic market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The River Ivel rises from springs in the town. It lies north of London and north northwest of the county town of Hertford. Nearby towns inc ...

, Hertfordshire, England. Having originally been established in 1905, the current version of the club was established in 2003. They are currently members of and groundshare with Arlesey Town at their Hitchin Road ground.

History

The club were founded in 1905 as Baldock Football Club,Baldock
The Lilywhite and joined the Northern Division of the Herts County League for the 1905–06 season. They won the division in 1920–21 and finished as runners-up in the championship play-off. In 1921 they were renamed Baldock Town, and league reorganisation saw them placed in the North Eastern Division.Hertfordshire County League 1898–1927
Non-League Matters The league was reduced to a single division in 1923, and the 1924–25 season saw the club finish as runners-up. However, the league was disbanded at the end of the season, and the club joined Division One of the Bedfordshire & District County League (later renamed the South Midlands League), with the reserves playing in Division Two.South Midlands League 1922–1950
Non-League Matters They won the league in 1927–28, and although they finished bottom of Division One in 1929–30, they avoided being relegated to Division Two. They remained in Division One until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war Baldock rejoined the Herts County League, finishing bottom of Division One in 1946–47. They then switched back to the South Midlands League, winning Division Two in 1947–48 and earning promotion to Division One; the reserves subsequently joined Division Two. The club won Division One in 1949–50 and were promoted to the Premier Division. After finishing as runners-up in 1953–54, they left the league, switching to the

Parthenon League The Parthenon League was a association football, football league covering Greater London and the surrounding area. History The league was formed in 1951 with 11 clubs, nine of which had come from the Middlesex Senior League.

.Parthenon League 1951–1966
Non-League Matters They remained in the league for five seasons, before joining the Senior Division of the London League, finishing bottom of the division in 1959–60. However, after four seasons they rejoined the Premier Division of the South Midlands League. They subsequently won the league in 1965–66, 1967–68 and 1969–70. In 1983 Baldock switched to the Premier Division 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, ...

, finishing as runners-up in their first season. After finishing as runners-up again in 1986–87, they were promoted to the Southern Division of the Southern League. They remained in the division until the end of the 1994–95 season, which saw them finish as runners-up, earning promotion to the Premier Division. However, they were relegated back to the Southern Division at the end of the 1996–97 season. In 1999 the club was transferred to the Eastern Division when the league was restructured. After the 2000–01 season they left the league and folded. In 2003 the club was reformed as Baldock, with the team composed of former members of the Baldock Town youth team.History
Baldock Town F.C. They joined Division One of the North Hertfordshire League. After finishing third in 2004–05, they were promoted to the Premier Division. The club were founder members of the North & Mid Herts League in 2006, and were placed in the Premier Division. During the year the club was renamed Baldock Town. After finishing as runners-up in the Premier Division, they were promoted to Division One of the Herts County League. They won the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2008 they were renamed again, this time becoming Baldock Town Letchworth following a move to playing home matches in Letchworth. However, they reverted to being Baldock Town in 2011 after returning to Baldock. The club won the Premier Division in 2011–12 but were denied promotion due to their ground failing the necessary ground grading. After finishing as runners-up the following season, they were promoted to Division One of the Spartan South Midlands League after agreeing a groundshare in nearby Hitchin. After finishing third in Division One in 2015–16 and 2016–17, they were Division One runners-up in 2017–18, earning promotion to the Premier Division.

Ground

The original club played at Elmswood Manor on William Road, Walls Common on Penthouse Lane, Elm park and then an enclosed ground at Bakers Close until 1981, when they moved to the Norton Road ground.Peter Miles (1997) ''The Non-League Football Grounds of Hertfordshire'', p6 A 250-seat grandstand was built in 1983 at a cost of £8,000; two covered terraces were erected on either side of the grandstand, which became known as 'Charlie's Cowshed'. Another stand with bench seating was built on the other side of the pitch, with uncovered terraces behind both goals. After reforming in 2003 the club played at Knights Templar Sports Centre and Bakers Close. However, following their Herts County League Division One title in 2007–08, the club moved to the County Ground in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

. In 2011 they returned to Baldock to play at Norton Road, which had been renamed the North Herts Arena. The club were denied promotion in 2012 due to the

3G pitch Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

and perimeter fence not meeting the grading requirements for the Spartan South Midlands League. As a result, the club agreed a groundshare with Hitchin Town to play at Hitchin's Top Field ground. In May 2015, the club announced they would move to Stotfold to play at Stotfold F.C.'s Roker Park. After two years at Stotfold, they relocated to Arlesey Town's Hitchin Road ground in 2017.Reds agree two-year groundshare deal with Arlesey Town
The Comet, 2 May 2017

Honours

*South Midlands League **Champions 1927–28, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70 **Division One champions 1949–50 **Division Two champions 1947–48 *Herts County League **Premier Division champions 2011–12 **Division One champions 2007–08 **Northern Division champions 1920–21 * Herts Charity Shield **Winners 1957–58, 1969–70 * Herts Senior Centenary Trophy **Winners 2012–13, 2017–18 *Anagram Records Trophy **Winners 2011–12, 2012–13

Records

*Highest league position: 18th in the Southern League Premier Division, 1994–95 *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: Fourth qualifying round, 1991–92, 1999–00 *Best

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 ...

performance: Second round, 1998–99 *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: Fifth round, 1983–84

References

External links