Newbury Town F.C. was 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 Newbury,

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. During their long history, they twice won the Hellenic League and in 1994 they won Division 2 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 ...

and reached the Quarter-finals of the national

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 ...

, but within a year had ceased to exist. Since then there have been two successor clubs playing at the same venue.

Club history

Newbury Town were founded in 1887 and initially played only friendly fixtures. In the 1890s they began entering 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 ...

, where they were defeated 0–14 by

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

at the

Antelope Ground The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary's ...

in the 1894–95 season. However, during this time Newbury recorded plenty of success locally as they won the numerous Berks & Bucks Cups, including the Senior Cup in 1897–98. After playing at several different locations within the town, the club settled at Faraday Road but all throughout their existence faced numerous problems such as lease renewals and property development, not to mention problems with the actual pitch itself. In 1914 Newbury Town joined the

Great Western Suburban League The Great Western Suburban League was a football league that was primarily held in the Home counties, founded in 1904. History The Great Western Suburban League was founded on the 18 May 1904, at a meeting called by Mr. W. G. Langdon of Staine ...

winning the league in the 1925–6 season. They remained in the league until 1927 when they joined the

Hampshire League The Hampshire League was a football league in Hampshire, England. During its heyday its constitution consisted of four divisions with over 60 clubs taking part - this included a vast number of semi-professional teams and Reserve/’A’ sides o ...

where they remained for just one season before entering the Reading League. Here the club would become a powerful force, winning the league title five times as well as the Reading Senior Cup in 1931–32. In 1952 Newbury stepped up to the now defunct

Metropolitan League The Metropolitan League was a football league in the south-east of England between 1949 and 1971.Les Gaunt, who previously played for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

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. A tough season in 1961–62 saw Newbury transfer to the Hellenic League, where they took the place of their Reserves who had joined the league as founder members in 1953. Here they soon got back on track and twice won the League Cup in 1959–60 and 1968–69. After relocating the pitch and make numerous ground improvements, the 1970s saw Newbury's fortunes take off. They twice won the Hellenic League title in 1977–78 and 1980–81 (also finishing runners-up in 1977–78). In 1982 the club switched to the now defunct

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 ...

and again enjoyed great success, winning the league title at the first attempt. During this time Newbury enjoyed several good runs in the national cup competitions. In 1979–80 they reached Round 5 of the

and the following season reached the 3rd Qualifying Round of the

. In 1983 Newbury made a successful application to join Division 2 of the expanding

and here they held down a comfortable mid-table position for a number of seasons. In 1993–94 Newbury had a fine season as they won promotion as champions and reached the Quarter Finals of the FA Vase where they were knocked out 0–2 by Taunton Town. The success was short-lived, as they were relegated straight back the following season and, tragically, worse was to follow in the summer of 1995 when a severe financial crisis forced the club to withdraw from the competition and fold.

Honours

Division 2 **Champions 1993/94 *

**Champions 1982/83 * Hellenic League Premier Division **Champions 1978/79 & 1980/81 * Hellenic League Cup **Winners 1959/60 & 1968/69 * Reading League **Champions 5 times *

**Champions 1925/26 *Berks & Bucks Senior Cup **Winners *Reading Senior Cup **Winners 1931/32

Playing records

League history 1952-95

FA Cup (Post War)

FA Trophy

FA Vase

{, class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style=text-align:center !Season !Round !Opponents !Result , - , 1974/75, , Round 1, , A v Brockenhurst, , L 0–1 , - , 1975/76, , Round 1, , A v Winsor & Eton, , L 0–2 , - , 1976/77, , Preliminary Round, , H v Thatcham Town, , L 1–3 , - , 1977/78, , Round 1, , A v Sholing Sports, , W 4–2 , - , , , Round 2, , H v Hounslow, , W 4–3 , - , , , Round 3, , H v Gosport Borough, , W 2–1 , - , , , Round 4, , H v Burnham, , L 0–1 , - , 1978/79, , Round 1, , A v Sholing Sports, , W 1–0 , - , , , Round 2, , A v Abingdon Town, , W 3–1 , - , , , Round 3, , A v Winsor & Eton, , L 2–4 , - , 1979/80, , Round 2, , H v Fleet Town, , W 3–1 , - , , , Round 3, , H v Devizes Town, , W 1–0 , - , , , Round 4, , H v Almondsbury Greenway, , W 2–1 , - , , , Round 5, , A v Cray Wanderers, , L 0–1 , - , 1980/81, , Round 2, , A v Farnham Town, , W 1–0 , - , , , Round 3, , A v Friar Lane Old Boys, , L 3–4 , - , 1981/82, , Round 2, , A v Swanage Town & Herston, , W 2–0 , - , , , Round 3, , H v Brockenhurst, , L 0–1 , - , 1982/83, , Round 2, , A v Sholing Sports, , W 3–2 , - , , , Round 3, , H v Eastleigh, , L 2–4 , - , 1983/84, , Round 2, , A v Chippenham Town, , W 2–1 , - , , , Round 3, , H v Yate Town, , W 3–1 , - , , , Round 4, , H v Bristol Manor Farm, , L 0–1 , - , 1984/85, , Round 2, , H v Exmouth Town, , L 5–6 , - , 1985/86, , Round 2, , H v Exmouth Town, , L 1–4 , - , 1986/87, , Round 1, , H v Supermarine, , L 0–2 , - , 1987/88 , , Preliminary Round, , H v Bashley, , D 1-1 , - , , , ''Replay'', , A v Bashley, , L 0–5 , - , 1988/89, , Preliminary Round, , H v Romsey Town, , L 2–3 , - , 1989/90, , Preliminary Round, , A v Bicester Town, , W 3–1 , - , , , Round 1, , A v Headington Amateurs, , D 1-1 , - , , , ''Replay'', , H v Headington Amateurs, , W 1–0 , - , , , Round 2, , A v Wimborne Town, , W 2–0 , - , , , Round 3, , A v Falmouth Town, , L 1–2 , - , 1990/91, , Preliminary Round, , H v Bishops Cleeve, , L 0–1 , - , 1991/92, , Preliminary Round, , H v AFC Totton, , W 3–0 , - , , , Round 1, , H v Eastleigh, , W 3–0 , - , , , Round 2, , A v Yate Town, , L 0–3 , - , 1992/93, , Preliminary Round, , H v Romsey Town, , W 6–2 , - , , , Round 1, , A v Thatcham Town, , L 2–4 , - , 1993/94, , Preliminary Round, , H Westbury United, , W 4–1 , - , , , Round 1, , H v Sandhurst Town, , W 2–0 , - , , , Round 2, , A v Chertsey Town, , W 3–0 , - , , , Round 3, , A v Bracknell Town, , W 2–1 , - , , , Round 4, , A v Canvey Island, , W 2–1 , - , , , Round 5, , A v Hinkley Athletic, , W 3–0 , - , , , Quarter-Final, , A v Taunton Town, , L 0–2

Successor clubs

Football soon returned to Faraday Road when in 1996 a new club, A.F.C. Newbury was formed. This new club was formed from three different local teams along with the ashes of the defunct Town club and took the place of the ambitious

Ecchinswell Ecchinswell is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green, in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 295. The Church of England pari ...

in Division 1 of the

and within a year had won promotion to the

Wessex League The Wessex Football League, known as the Velocity Wessex Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English regional men's football league in southern England. Its members are primarily from Hampshire and Dorset, but clubs from adjoining co ...

where they would enjoy great success. Sadly 10 years later history would repeat itself as they too would suffer badly from financial and ground problems and after being demoted from the league's top flight they folded and withdrew from the competition early in the 2006–07 season. Football still continues at Faraday Road today as upon taking up residence in 2006, Reading League side Old London Apprentice FC changed their name to

Newbury F.C. Newbury Football Club are a football club based in Newbury, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of the Thames Valley Premier League and play their homes games at Faraday Road. History The club was originally formed in 2002 as Old Lon ...

In 2007–08 they won promotion to Division 1 East of the Hellenic League. They have since taken the previous clubs youth sides under their umbrella and are ambitious to progress further.

References

External links

*Newbury Town League Record – https://www.fchd.info/NEWBURYT.HTM *Stadium Aerial View – http://wikimapia.org/52664/ Association football clubs disestablished in 1995 Defunct football clubs in England Isthmian League clubs Metropolitan League Athenian League 1887 establishments in England 1995 disestablishments in England Association football clubs established in 1887 Defunct football clubs in Berkshire Great Western Suburban League Sport in Newbury, Berkshire