Walsham-le-Willows 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 the village of

Walsham le Willows Walsham le Willows is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district, in Suffolk, England, located around 3 miles (4 km) south-east of Stanton. Queen Elizabeth I granted Walsham le Willows to Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Summer Road. The club is affiliated to the Suffolk County FA.

History

Walsham-le-Willows F.C. was founded around 1890, and played at the Summer Road sports ground where there was a pavilion with a thatched roof. During

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 ...

, the ground was ploughed up to grow food and was not returned to sports use until 1951. The club was a founder member of the St. Edmundsbury Football League in 1907 and won the Suffolk Junior Cup in 1988, 1989 and 1990. After winning several league titles, the club switched to the

Suffolk and Ipswich League The Suffolk and Ipswich Football League is a football competition based in Suffolk, England. The league has a total of eight divisions; the Senior Division and Divisions 1–3 for first teams, three divisions (Leagues A, B and C) for reserve tea ...

in 1989. It won the Senior Division in 2001–02 and again in 2002–03. In the following season, the club finished second, but earned promotion to Division One of the

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suffolk ...

. The club finished fourth in their first season in the division, narrowly missing out on promotion. They also reached the final of the

Suffolk Senior Cup The Suffolk Senior Cup is the second level football cup competition organised by the Suffolk FA after the Suffolk Premier Cup. It is currently open to Suffolk–based clubs competing in Eastern Counties League Division One and the top divisions ...

, losing 2–1 to

Needham Market Needham Market is a small town in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, set in the Gipping Valley. Nearby villages include Barking, Suffolk, Barking, Darmsden, Badley and Creeting St Mary. The town is located just east of the A14 road ( ...

.Needham win Suffolk Senior Cup
Evening Star, 6 May 2005 The following season, they reached the final again, this time beating Capel Plough 4–3 after extra time. In 2006–07 the club won Division One, and were promoted to the Premier Division.

Ground

The club play at Summer Road, a sports ground shared with Walsham-le-Willows Cricket Club and Walsham-le-Willows Bowls Club. The ground is managed by Walsham-le-Willows Sports Club.Sports Club – Walsham le Willows
Walsham-le-Willows Parish Council

Honours

*Eastern Counties League **Division One Champions 2006–07 *Suffolk & Ipswich League **Senior Division Champions 2001–02, 2002–03 **League Cup Winners 1999, 2000, 2002 *Suffolk Senior Cup **Winners 2006 *Suffolk Junior Cup **Winners 1988, 1989, 1990

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: Preliminary round, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12 *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: Fourth round, 2023–24, 2024–25

References

External links