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 at Baldock Road, Letchworth in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, that resigned from the Spartan South Midlands League and folded in 2002. Originally known as Letchworth Athletic and Letchworth Town, they changed their name to Letchworth Garden City in 1976, before becoming just Letchworth in 1995.
History
After spending their early history in local Hertfordshire leagues, they moved up to the
Delphian League
The Delphian League was an English amateur football league covering Greater London and the surrounding area.
The league was formed in 1951 with 14 clubs and was effectively a level below the Corinthian League.Corinthian League in 1959, and when that league disbanded in 1963, joined the expanding
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 ...
. In the 1974–75 season they won the Athenian League. The following season they joined 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 ...
Division Two, and for the next twelve years were consistent finishing in the top eight on six occasions.Isthmian League in rec.sports.soccer.statistics archive Notable names to emerge from Letchworth during the late 1970s were Paul Bowgett who signed for
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
), Keith Larner (
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
),and in 1989 striker Kevin Smith who signed for
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
. Smith later rejoined the club and was top goalscorer for three seasons before moving on. Particularly memorable matches during the 1980s included a cup semi-final against local rivals
Stevenage Borough
Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...
when Letchworth came out 3–2 winners in front of the biggest crowd at Baldock Road for many years.
By the late 1980s the club had entered a period of decline, and the established close-knit team had begun to break up, age and injuries taking their inevitable toll. From a respectable 11th in 1987–88 they finished one place off the bottom next season and were rock-bottom of Division 2 North in 89–90. Relegation was decided by a two leg play-off against Division Two South
Horsham
Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
played home and away on consecutive nights, they drew the home leg, lost the away leg and their relegation from the league was confirmed.
In 1990–91 the team played in the South Midlands League Premier Division, a step down in standards. They finished 6th in their first season, thereby missing the chance to immediately regain their previous status, and from thereon the decline continued at a dramatic rate. The next four seasons were poor, and they were relegated again at the end of the 1994–95 season. Following a brief rejuvenation with an injection of cash and under the management of ex-Chelsea and England star
Kerry Dixon
Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward.
His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all ...
they reached the 4th round of the FA Vase in 1999-00,FA Vase 1999/2000 in rec.sports.soccer.stats archive but a dispute with the Hertfordshire FA saw the club go under in 2002.{{Citation needed, date=February 2008
The Baldock Road ground has undergone substantial upgrading and refurbishment to a high quality and is currently the headquarters of the Hertfordshire FA. It was announced in April 2008 that the reformed Baldock Town will play there from the 2008–09 season.