Wellingborough Town F.C.

Infobox Football club
clubname = Wellingborough Town


fullname = Wellingborough Town Football Club
nickname = The Doughboys
The Cornies
founded = 2004
ground = Dog & Duck
London Road
Wellingborough
Northamptonshire
NN8 2DP
capacity =
chairman = Dave Clingo
manager = Jason Burnham
league = United Counties Football League Premier Division
season = 2007/08
position = United Counties Football League Premier Division
10th
pattern_la1= |pattern_b1= |pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FFFF00|body1=FFFF00|rightarm1=FFFF00|shorts1=0000FF|socks1=FFFF00
pattern_la2= |pattern_b2= |pattern_ra2= |pattern_sh2= |pattern_so2=
leftarm2=000000|body2=000080|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=000000|socks2=000080

Wellingborough Town F.C. is a football club based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England.

History

The current club, Wellingborough Town 2004, was reformed in 2004 after the previous club bearing the name had folded.

The club was originally formed in 1867. It is claimed that this makes it not only the oldest club in Northamptonshire, but also the sixth-oldest in the country. The club played originally under the part-handling code, until becoming a genuine soccer club in 1869, playing at Broad Green, wearing an old gold and black strip. In 1879 Wellingborough Town became the first club to play under floodlights, when they entertained Bedford at the Bassett's Close, using lights powered by generators either end of the pitch.

The club joined Division One of the Southern League in 1901-02, moving to their current ground at the Dog & Duck in London Road. In 1905 the club changed name to Wellingborough Redwell but resigned at the end of the season after finishing bottom of Division One, continuing to be called Wellingborough Redwell until reverting to Wellingborough Town in 1919.

Wellingborough joined the Metropolitan League in 1968/69, finishing seventh. They won the title the following season and joined the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division, finishing third. In 1971/72 they joined the Southern League Division One North. A reorganisation of the league saw it split into Southern and Midland Divisions, with Wellingborough playing in the Midland Division. However, they struggled, until in 1988/89 they were relegated tothe United Counties League.

The club struggled for thirteen seasons in the UCL, narrowly avoiding relegation from the Premier League in a number of seasons. However, they could hold out no longer than 2001/02 when the club folded and they resigned from the League.

Rebirth

Wellingborough had been without a senior football team for two years when three friends got together to set about re-establishing a football club. Together they assembled a group of twenty-four people who worked to get a new club up and running. Included among the number was World Champion snooker player Peter Ebdon, a local man. The Dog & Duck ground had substantially survived, despite becoming the site of a Travelodge motel.

The Doughboys spent their comeback campaign in the Northamptonshire Senior Youth League. Their application for readmission to the UCL was approved by the FA. The club finished runners-up in Division One for the loss of just one game in 2005/06 and were promoted back to the Premier Division. Improvements to the ground have seen it graded as suitable for Southern League football.

In the 2008–09 season, Wellingborough Town 2004 F.C. are playing in the United Counties Football League Premier Division, led by manager Jason Burnham, pursuing their ambition for a higher level of football.

Notable former players

The most famous former Wellingborough player is former Liverpool and England player Phil Neal. Neal started his career at the club before moving to Northampton Town and on to Liverpool.

Nickname

Wellingborough Town’s traditional nickname is "The Doughboys", which is thought to derive from the local speciality "’ock ‘n’ dough". A hock of bacon is an economy cut taken from the front of the leg of the beast. It is cooked slowly in the oven [ [http://www.deliaonline.com/messageboard/8/34936/thread.html Delia Smith ‘ock ‘n’ dough recipe] ] [ [http://www.ukresident.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=334 ‘Ock ‘n’ dough recipe using left-over meat or braising steak rather than ham] ] , typically with onions and carrots in a pastry case. There is a notable local public house called the Ock ‘n’ Dough.

Club statistics

{| class="wikitable"{| border="1" cellpadding="1" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
- style="background:blue; color:white; color:white;" color=white align="center"
width="80px" | Season
width="250px" | Division
width="50px" | Points
width="50px" | Position
width="50px" | League Cup
width="50px" | F.A. Cup
width="50px" | F.A. Vase
width="300px" | Notes
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1990 – 1991
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
49
16/22

1 QR
Pre

-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1991 – 1992
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
26
22/24

Pre
Pre

-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1992 – 1993
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
20
21/22

Pre
Pre

-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1993 – 1994
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
41
16/22


Pre

-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1994 – 1995
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
25
18/19

Pre
Pre

-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1995 – 1996
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
36
17/20

Pre
R 1
Pre = Preliminary round
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1996 – 1997
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
36
15/20

Pre
1 QR
1 QR = First Qualifying round
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1997 – 1998
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
38
15/21

Pre
2 QR
2 QR = Second Qualifying round
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1998 – 1999
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
54
11/20

1 QR
R 1
R 1 = First Round
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 1999 – 2000
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
37
15/20

2 QR
2 QR
R 2 = Second round
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2000 – 2001
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
33
18/21

Pre
2 QR

-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2001 – 2002
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
10
21/21

Pre
2 QR
Wellingborough Town folded
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2002 – 2003







-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2003 – 2004






No club exists for three seasons
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2004 – 2005







-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2005 – 2006
bgcolor="#DDA0DD"|UCL First Division
77
2/18
R 1


Re-established as Wellingborough Town 2004
-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2006 – 2007
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
82
3/21
R 2

R 1

-
bgcolor="#FFFF00"| 2007 – 2008
bgcolor="#DA70D6"|UCL Premier Division
56
10/21
R 1
Pre
R 1

-
-}

Source: Football Club History Database (www.fchd.info)

References

External links

* [http://www.wellingboroughtownfc.co.uk/ Wellingborough Town official website]
* [http://www.fchd.info/WELLINBT.HTM Wellingborough Town at Football Club History Database]
* [http://www.ebucl.com The Eagle Bitter United Counties League official website]
* [http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?leagueid=1625657 United Counties League at FA Full Time online]
* [http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/News.cfm?LeagueCode=UCL2008 United Counties League at football.mitoo]