Boreham Wood Football Club is a professional

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

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...

, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently members of the , the fifth tier of

English football Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first football league, the oldest ...

, and play at Meadow Park. Established in 1948, they are known as "the Wood".

History

The club was established in 1948 as a merger of Boreham Wood Rovers and Royal Retournez, and began playing in the Mid-Herts League.Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p269 In 1951 they joined 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.

, and finished as runners-up in 1953–54 and 1954–55 before winning the title in 1955–56.Parthenon League 1951–1966
Non-League Matters After finishing as runners-up again in 1956–57, they joined the Spartan League.
Non-League Matters They finished as runners-up in 1963–64 and again in 1965–66, after which they switched to Division Two of the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an England, English amateur association football, football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football ...

. The 1968–69 season saw Boreham Wood win Division Two, earning promotion to Division One. The following season they finished as runners-up in Division One and were promoted to the Premier Division. After the division was disbanded in 1973, the club were placed in Division One for the 1973–74 season, in which they were league champions and 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, eventually losing 3–0 at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. At the end of the season the club joined Division Two 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 ...

. They won the division in 1976–77 and were promoted to the renamed Premier Division. The following season saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup again, losing 2–0 in a replay to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

after a 0–0 draw at home. The club remained in the Premier Division until being relegated to Division One at the end of the 1981–82 season, in which they finished bottom of the table. In 1994–95 they were Division One champions, and were promoted back to the Premier Division. The 1996–97 season saw them reach the second round of the FA Cup for the first time after they beat

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

3–2 in a first round replay. In the second round they lost 2–1 at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. In the same season they also won the

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, also known as the Velocity Cup under a sponsorship deal, formerly the Isthmian League Cup, is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and Presiden ...

.A Brief History of the Club
Boreham Wood F.C. They repeated their FA Cup feat the following season, beating

Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Hay ...

in the first round before losing 2–0 to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

in a replay. In 1998–99 they reached the first round again, losing 3–2 at home to Luton. After being relegated in 1999–2000 they won Division One at the first attempt to make an immediate return to the Premier Division. However, they were relegated again at the end of the 2002–03 season, although the season did see them reach the FA Cup first round again, where they lost 5–0 at

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. After one season in Division One North (and another FA Cup first round appearance, a 4–0 defeat 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 ...

), they were transferred to Division One East of the Southern League. After winning Division One East in 2005–06, a season in which they also reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy, losing 3–0 on aggregate to

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, the club were promoted to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League. A fourth-place finish in 2009–10 saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs, and after beating

Aveley Aveley is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England, and forms one of the traditional Church of England parishes. Aveley is 16 miles (26.2 km) east of Charing Cross. In the 2021 United King ...

1–0 in the semi-finals, a 2–0 win over Kingstonian in the final resulted in promotion to the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

. The

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and 2013–14 seasons saw the club reach the FA Cup first round again, losing at home to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

and away at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

in a replay. In 2014–15 Boreham Wood finished as runners-up in the Conference South. In the subsequent play-offs, they beat Havant & Waterlooville 4–2 on aggregate before defeating

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

2–1 in the final to earn promotion to the renamed National League. Their first season in the National League saw a tenth FA Cup first round appearance, ending with a 2–1 defeat at home to

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

. In the

2017–18 FA Cup The 2017–18 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 137th 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. 737 clubs were acc ...

Boreham Wood beat

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

opposition for the first time, defeating

2–1 at home in the first round. In the second round they lost 3–0 at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. The club went on to finish fourth in the National League at the end of the season, qualifying for the play-offs. After beating

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

2–1 and

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

3–2, they lost 2–1 to

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 Wembley final. In 2019–20 the club finished fifth and again qualified for the play-offs. After defeating Halifax Town 2–1 in the quarter-finals, they lost 1–0 to Harrogate Town in the semi-finals. The club reached the first round of the

2020–21 FA Cup The 2020–21 FA Cup was the 140th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the Football Association Challenge Cup. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners qualified for ...

, in which they defeated League Two club

4–3 on penalties after a 3–3 draw. They went on to beat

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...

3–0 in the second round, earning a third round tie with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

, which they lost 2–0. In the

2021–22 FA Cup The 2021–22 FA Cup was the 141st season and marked the 150th anniversary of the first FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest Association football, football tournament in the world, started in the 1871–72 FA Cup, 1871–72 se ...

, the club reached the fifth round for the first time after beating

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

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 third round and

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

in the fourth. They lost 2–0 to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Everton in the fifth round. The 2022–23 season saw them finish sixth in the National League; in the subsequent promotion play-offs, they defeated

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

2–1 in the quarter-finals, before losing 3–2 after extra time to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in the semi-finals. The following season they finished fourth-from-bottom of the National League and were relegated to the National League South. However, in 2024–25 they secured an immediate return to the National League, finishing fifth in the league before going on to defeat Maidstone United 1–0 in the play-off final.

Ground

The club initially played at Eldon Avenue until moving to Meadow Park in 1963.Boreham Wood
Pyramid Passion

Current squad

Management staff

Honours

*Isthmian League **Division One champions 1976–77, 1994–95, 2000–01 **League Cup winners 1996–97 *Southern League **Division One East champions 2005–06 *Athenian League **Division One champions 1973–74 **Division Two champions 1968–69 *Parthenon League **Champions 1955–56 *Herts Senior Cup **Winners 1971–72, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19 *Herts Charity Cup **Winners 1980–81, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1989–90 *London Challenge Cup **Winners 1997–98

Records

*Best league performance: 4th in 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 ...

, 2017–18 *Best

performance: Fifth round, 2021–22 *Best

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

performance: Third round, 1970–71 *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: Semi-finals, 2005–06 *Record attendance: 4,101 vs St Albans City, FA Cup second round, 6 December 2021 *Most appearances: David Hatchett, 714 *Most goals: Mickey Jackson *Record transfer fee paid: £18,000 to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

for Morgan FerrierMorgan Ferrier apologises to Boreham Wood after transfer saga
The Non-League Football Paper, 25 July 2018

References

External links

* {{Coord, 51, 39, 43, N, 0, 16, 20, W, region:GB, display=title Borehamwood Football clubs in England Football clubs in Hertfordshire Association football clubs established in 1948 1948 establishments in England Mid-Herts Football League Parthenon League Spartan League Athenian League Isthmian League clubs Southern Football League clubs National League (English football) clubs