Godalming Town Football Club is a semi-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
Godalming
Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...
, Surrey, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Bill Kyte Stadium.
History
The club was established in 1950 as Godalming United by former pupils of
Godalming Grammar School.
[History]
Godalming Town F.C. When Godalming & Farncombe United folded in 1970, the club moved to their Weycourt ground and were renamed Godalming & Farncombe.
[ In 1979 they joined 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 ...
, and in 1980 were renamed Godalming Town. League restructuring saw them placed in the Eastern Division of the league for the 1981–82 season, with the league reverting to a single division in 1982.[ In 1982–83 they won the league's Concours Challenge Trophy, and in 1983–84 the club were league champions.
In 1992 the club was renamed Godalming & Guildford,] after the Guildford Football Appeal donated money for a set of floodlights.[ However, they changed back to Godalming Town in 2005.][ In 2005–06 they won the Combined Counties League and the league's Premier Challenge Cup, earning promotion to Division One South 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 ...
. Although they finished bottom of the division in the following season, they were reprieved from relegation and instead transferred to Division One South & West of the Southern League.[ At the end of the 2007–08 season the club were moved back to Division One South of the Isthmian League.
A fourth-place finish in 2009–10 saw Godalming qualify for the promotion play-offs. However, after defeating ]Worthing
Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...
2–1 in the semi-finals, they were beaten 2–1 in the final by Folkestone Invicta. They also won the Surrey Senior Cup
The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...
, beating 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, ...
2–1 in the final. In 2011–12 the club finished fifth, losing 5–3 on penalties to Bognor Regis Town
Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks’, the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently co ...
in the play-off semi-finals following a 4–4 draw. They were transferred to Division One Central of the Southern League for the following season, and a third-place finish resulted in another play-off campaign, this time losing 2–1 to Biggleswade Town in the semi-finals. The club also won the Surrey Senior Cup for a second time, again beating Sutton United in the final. They were subsequently transferred to Division One South & West for the 2013–14 season, then back to Division One Central in 2014, before returning to Division One South of the Isthmian League for the 2016–17 season. After finishing bottom of the table, they were relegated to the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League.
At the end of the 2020–21 season Godalming were transferred to Division One of the Southern Combination League.Non-league shake-up: Lancing, Littlehampton, Bexhill among Sussex teams promoted
Sussex Express, 18 May 2021
Ground
Godalming initially played at the Recreation Ground, before moving to the Weycourt ground, taking over the tenancy from Farncombe.[ Improvement works at the site included moving the pitch to the site of a former rubbish tip. During the works, the club temporarily played at Broadwater Park.][ In 1985 the main stand from Addlestone & Weybridge Town's Liberty Lane ground was purchased for £225 after the club folded.][ The ground was renamed the Bill Kyte Stadium in 2018 in honour of a former president.
]
Honours
*Combined Counties League
**Champions 1983–84, 2005–06
**Premier Challenge Cup winners 2005–06
**Concours Challenge Trophy winners 1982–83
*Surrey Senior Cup
** Winners 2009–10, 2012–13
Records
*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, 2011–12[
*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: Third qualifying round, 2009–10[
*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: 2nd round, 1987–88, 1993–94, 1995–96[
*Record attendance: 1,305 vs ]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 ...
, 2002[
*Most appearances: Shaun Elliot, over 360][
]
See also
* Godalming Town F.C. players
References
External links
*
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Football clubs in England
Football clubs in Surrey
Association football clubs established in 1950
1950 establishments in England
Godalming
Combined Counties Football League
Isthmian League clubs
Southern Football League clubs
Southern Combination Football League