Wokingham & Emmbrook F.C. are a football club based in

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may als ...

, Berkshire, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Wokingham Town and adopted their current name in 2004, following a merger with Emmbrook Sports. Their nickname is "The Satsumas", a reference to the team's colours. They currently play in the .

History

Wokingham Town were founded in 1875 and moved to the Finchampstead Road ground in 1906. After success in local league football, they joined the

Metropolitan League The Metropolitan League was a football league in the south-east of England between 1949 and 1971.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 The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (from Greek Ἑλληνικός ''Hellenikos'', "pertaining to Greece and Greeks"), was a confederation of Greek states created by Philip II in 338–337 BC. The League was created ...

and

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur 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 Museum, Preston). but this ...

followed before they joined the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

in 1973. They were promoted to the Premier Division in 1982. They reached the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

in 1982–83 taking

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

to a replay and the semi-finals of the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

in 1987–88. Among their former players were

Darren Barnard Darren Sean Barnard (born 30 November 1971) is a former professional footballer, manager and coach. Barnard was a wing-back and midfielder from 1989 until 2010 in the Premier League for both Chelsea and Barnsley. He also played in the Footba ...

, Terry Brown,

Paul Bence Paul Ian Bence (born 21 December 1948) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 250 appearances in the Football League playing for Brighton & Hove Albion, Reading, Brentford and Torquay United. He played as a defensive m ...

and Phil Alexander. However, they declined throughout the 1990s due to financial difficulties and were relegated from the Premier Division in 1995, and then from Division One in 1998. Finchampstead Road was sold to raise funds and the club left the ground in 1999 before it was demolished, moving on to a ground share with Windsor & Eton. They were relegated from Division Two in 2001 and following further ground shares with

Flackwell Heath Flackwell Heath is a village in the civil parish of Chepping Wycombe on the outskirts of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. With an elevation of about , in the Chiltern Hills. It has a population of around 6000. History The name 'Flac ...

and

Egham Town Egham Town Football Club is a football club based in Egham, Surrey, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Runnymede Stadium. History The club was originally formed as Runnymede Rovers in 1877, before reforming as Egham i ...

, the club decided to take demotion to the Hellenic League in order to return to Wokingham at Emmbrook Sports's Lowther Road ground, who, having been founded in 1989, had a much more modest history, being long-term members of the

Reading League The Thames Valley Premier Football League is a football competition based in England. It has a total of five divisions – the Premier Division, then Divisions One to Four. It was founded in 1989 as the Reading Senior League, as a merger of the ...

. Wokingham & Emmbrook started in Division One East of the

Hellenic Football League The Hellenic Football League, currently known as the Uhlsport Hellenic Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English men's football league covering an area including the English counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, southern Bu ...

for the 2004–05 season. In November 2007, Wokingham Borough Council submitted a planning application to improve the facilities at Wokingham & Emmbrook's Cantley Park home. This would include a small stand accommodating 250 people and also flood lighting. At the end of the 2008–09 season the club won its first silverware by picking up the Reading Senior Cup with a 3–0 win over Woodley Town at the Madjeski stadium.Wokingham & Emmbrook FC 3 Woodley Town FC 0
Get Bracknell In December 2009, the club agreed a ground share with near neighbours

Bracknell Town Bracknell Town Football Club is a football club based in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association and nicknamed ''The Robins'', they are currently members of the and play their home matches at Botto ...

which ensured that after winning promotion in season 2009–10, they were able to compete in the Hellenic League Premier Division. At the start of the 2011–12 season the club made its debut in the FA Cup reaching the first qualifying round. During October 2011 Woodley Town announced plans to join forces with Wokingham and Emmbrook to create a 'super-club' for the region. However, the plan was not fully confirmed. Wokingham believed this plan would allow them to upgrade their pitch at Cantley Park, after trying for several years, but the council have insisted that the park should remain in public use in its entirety and not sold off to private clubs. On 22 May 2012 Wokingham and Emmbrook F.C. won the Reading Senior Cup 2012 defeating Highmoor Ibis 3–1 at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the ...

Herridge challenges players to win more silverware after Wokingham & Emmbrook win Reading Senior Cup
Get Wokingham On 21 May 2013 Wokingham and Emmbrook F.C. were able to retain their status as Reading Senior Cup winners, defeating Marlow United 2–1 at the

After a tough opening to the 2013/14 campaign for Wokingham & Emmbrook in August, the Sumas went unbeaten all season at home in the league at Lowther Road. As a result of this great form, in the end of the season Wokingham ended up 2nd place in the Hellenic Division One East. On 15 May 2014 Wokingham were able to retain the Reading Senior Cup for the 3rd season running with an emphatic 5–0 win against local rivals

Finchampstead Finchampstead is a village and civil parish in the Wokingham Borough in the shire of Berkshire, England. Its northern extremity is south of Wokingham, west of Bracknell, south-east of Reading, and west of Central London. It is an affluent ...

at the

. In May 2015 the Sumas won the Reading Senior Cup for the 4th time on the bounce, beating local rivals Binfield 2-1 after extra time. The season was a historic one for Wokingham & Emmbrook, winning the Hellenic Division One east securing their first ever league title. In 2021 the club were promoted to the Premier Division South of 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, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and ...

based on their results in the abandoned 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons.

Ground

Wokingham Town played at Finchampstead Road between 1906 and 1999, when it was demolished. The merged club started out at Lowther Road in Wokingham but as FA ground grading became more stringent for step 5 and 6 clubs they were forced to groundshare again at

and Henley Town. They also played at Cantley Park in Wokingham for which planning permission was granted for a 250-seat stand, but the plan fell through after the council refused to extend the club's lease on the ground. Planning permission was later granted for a 100-seater stand and floodlights at Lowther Road in 2016. Lowther Road has now been upgraded with floodlights and a stand which enables the club to continue in the Hellenic League.

Club honours

*Isthmian League ** Premier Division runners-up 1989–90 ** Division One winners 1981–82 *Hellenic Football League Division One East: ** Runners-up: 2009–10, 2013–14 *Reading Senior Cup: ** Winners (5): 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15

Club records

*Highest League Position: 2nd in Isthmian League Premier Division 1989–90 *

best performance: First round 1982–83 *

best performance: Semi-final 1987–88 *

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...

best performance: Second round 1998–99, 2000–01, 2003–04 *Highest Attendance (as Wokingham & Emmbrook):Club Details
Hellenic Football League 305 v

Binfield Binfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 8,689. The village lies north-west of Bracknell, north-east of Wokingham, and south-east of Reading at the westernmost extremity of ...

28 March 2005

Staff

*President: Mark Ashwell *Chairman: Steve Williams *Secretary: Bob Good *1st Team Manager: Matt Cronan *Assistant Manager: Jamie Shepherd *Reserve Team Manager: Ian Narraway and Mark Best

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wokingham and Emmbrook F.C. Hellenic Football League Association football clubs established in 1875 Association football clubs established in 2004 1875 establishments in England 2004 establishments in England Great Western Combination Metropolitan League Delphian League Corinthian League (football) Athenian League Isthmian League Football clubs in England Wokingham Football clubs in Berkshire Combined Counties Football League