Ilfracombe Town Association 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

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay towar ...

, Devon, England. They are currently members of the and play at Marlborough Park, situated high on a hill overlooking the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...

History

The club was established in 1902 as Ilfracombe Football Club.History
Ilfracombe Town F.C. They were founder members of the North Devon League in 1904 and played in the league's first match, a 4–2 win at Pilton Yeo Vale. However, the club left the league at the end of the 1905–06 season. A team under the name Ilfracombe Devonia joined the league in 1908–09 and was replaced by Ilfracombe Town in the following season. Ilfracombe Town finished bottom of the Senior Division in 1919–20. Although they were Senior Division runners-up in 1921–22, the club finished bottom of the Senior Division again in 1922–23, and left to join the East Devon League. Ilfracombe returned to the North Devon League in the mid-1920s, but left before the end of the decade. Returning to the league in 1931, they were runners-up in 1931–32. After

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 ...

, Ilfracombe played in the Premier Division of the Exeter & District League.Exeter & District League 1948–1972
Non-League Matters Despite only finishing twelfth in the division in 1948–49, the club moved up to the Western League, becoming a founder member of its new Division Three. They were runners-up in their first season in the division, earning promotion to Division Two. The club were Division Two runners-up in 1952–53 and were promoted to Division One. However, after finishing bottom of Division One in 1954–55, they were relegated back to Division Two. In 1959, the club left the Western League, returning to the North Devon League in 1960. They were Senior Division champions in 1966–67. The division was renamed the Premier Division in 1969 and the club were champions again in 1970–71, 1981–82 (winning all 26 league matches) and 1982–83.Honours
North Devon League After finishing as Premier Division runners-up in 1983–84,Ilfracombe Town
North Devon League Ilfracombe rejoined the Western League, entering Division One. The club finished bottom of the division in their first season back in the league, and again in 1995–96. However, after finishing third in Division One in 2006–07, the club were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2014, they resigned from the Western League, with the first team replacing the reserves in the Premier Division of the North Devon League.Ilfracombe Town FC to leave Western League
''North Devon Gazette'', 30 July 2014 The club won the Premier Division title in 2016–17, and were promoted to Division One East of the South West Peninsula League. Following league reorganisation at the end of the 2018–19 season, the club were elevated to the Premier Division East. In 2021 they were promoted to the Premier Division of the Western League based on their results in the abandoned 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons. In 2024–25 Ilfracombe finished second-from-bottom of the Western League Premier Division and were relegated back to the South West Peninsula League Premier Division East.

Ground

The club play at Marlborough Park. The site was bought in 1923 and the ground developed during the 1924–25 season. The ground currently has a capacity of 2,000, of which 60 is seated and 450 covered.

Honours

*North Devon League **Premier Division champions 1966–67, 1970–71, 1981–82, 1982–83 **Brayford Cup winners 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84 **Combe Martin Cup winners 1963–64 **Challenge Cup winners 1960–61, 1962–63

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 ...

best performance: Fourth qualifying round, 1952–53 *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 ...

best performance: Third round, 2011–12 *Record attendance: 3,000 vs

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

*Most appearances: Bob Hancock, 459 *Most goals: Kevin Squire

References

External links