Wellingborough Town F.C.

Wellingborough Town
Full name Wellingborough Town Football Club
Nickname(s) The Doughboys
The Cornies
Founded 2004
Ground Dog & Duck
London Road
Wellingborough
Northamptonshire
NN8 2DP
(Capacity: 2500)
Chairman Martin Potton
Manager Rob Gould
League United Counties League Premier Division
2010–11 United Counties League Premier Division, 5th
Home colours
Away colours

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

Contents

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 to the 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. Laurie Owen played a huge part in reforming the club and still plays an active part on the club's committee today.

The Doughboys spent their comeback campaign in the Northamptonshire Senior Youth League. Their application for re-admission 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.

Under the leadership of chairman Martin Goode, the club ended the 2007/08 season in 10th position, having been on the fringes of promotion throughout the season until a poor run of defeats saw them fall away. Goode resigned in May 2008 with local businessman David Clingo taking over the role. Manager Jason Burnham left in October 2008 to be replaced by Joe Smyth. Clingo, however, stepped down in November 2008 with former Doughboy Manager and Chairman Martin Potton taking over the helm with the club in extreme danger of going out of business due to the lack of sponsorship from local businesses. Also departing the club at the time was Director of Football Steve Whitney, the Reserve Team Manager Simon Anderson and a number of players meaning that new recruits Joe Smyth and his assistant Kevin Fox had to recruit new players for both teams.

In December 2008 the club signed former Premier League striker and Jamaica international Trevor Benjamin arguably one of the most experienced and famous players who has played for the club.

Smyth and his management team kept the club in the Premier Division of the UCL and played a big part in stabilising the club during a rocky financial period in early 2009 before stepping down for personal reasons in May 2009. The club then appointed former Northampton Town player Rob Gould as first team manager and assistant Nick Verity alongside Craig Adams. Reserve Team manager is Jamie Chatfield assisted by Johnathan Lucas and Matt Brown.

Players

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Shaun Markie
5 DF Adam Sturgess
6 DF Dan Spaughton
2 DF Luke Cray
3 DF Paul Smith
4 MF Martin Flannigan
11 MF Phil Cassidy
No. Position Player
7 MF Mark Redding
14 MF Ben Johnson
12 MF Dan Webster
8 MF Michael Boyle-Chong
10 FW Chris DiFante
15 FW Tom Liversedge
9 FW Jason Turner
16 FW Dan Surridge

Notable former players

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,[1][2] typically with onions and carrots in a pastry case. There is a notable local public house called the Ock ‘n’ Dough.

Club statistics

Season Division Points Position League Cup F.A. Cup F.A. Vase Notes
1990–1991 UCL Premier Division 49 16/22 1 QR Pre
1991–1992 UCL Premier Division 26 22/24 Pre Pre
1992–1993 UCL Premier Division 20 21/22 Pre Pre
1993–1994 UCL Premier Division 41 16/22 Pre
1994–1995 UCL Premier Division 25 18/19 Pre Pre
1995–1996 UCL Premier Division 36 17/20 Pre R 1 Pre = Preliminary round
1996–1997 UCL Premier Division 36 15/20 Pre 1 QR 1 QR = First Qualifying round
1997–1998 UCL Premier Division 38 15/21 Pre 2 QR 2 QR = Second Qualifying round
1998–1999 UCL Premier Division 54 11/20 1 QR R 1 R 1 = First Round
1999–2000 UCL Premier Division 37 15/20 2 QR 2 QR R 2 = Second round
2000–2001 UCL Premier Division 33 18/21 Pre 2 QR
2001–2002 UCL Premier Division 10 21/21 Pre 2 QR Wellingborough Town folded
2002–2003
2003–2004 No club exists for three seasons
2004–2005
2005–2006 UCL First Division 77 2/18 R 1 Re-established as Wellingborough Town 2004
2006–2007 UCL Premier Division 82 3/21 R 2 R 1
2007–2008 UCL Premier Division 56 10/21 R 1 Pre R 1
2008–2009 UCL Premier Division 29 18/21 R 1 Pre R 2
2009–2010 UCL Premier Division 56 11/21 R 1 Ex Pre R 2 Ex Pre = Extra Preliminary Round
2010–2011 UCL Premier Division 73 5/21 R 2 1 QR R 1

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

Reserve Team

Current Reserve Team squad for 2011/2012 season

Ben Hughes (GK) Stuart Plow (GK) Adrian Langley (GK) Johnathan Lucas (M) Nathan Heycock (M) Ryan Lee (D) Guy Chatfield (M) Nicky Charlton (M) Jim Kilpatrick (D) Martyn Fletcher (F) Ashley Hunt (D) Jamie O'Keefe (D) Jared Newman (F) Adam Kirkup (D) Matt Brown (D) Henry Blencowe (M) Jamie Chatfield (F)

Current Season

The Reserve team are managed and coached by Jamie Chatfield, along with Assistant Manager and player Johnathan Lucas, Also assisting in a coaching role is Matt Brown. The Captain of Wellingborough Town Reserves is Nathan Heycock.

The team currently play in the UCL Reserve Division One.

Statistics

Season Division Points Position
2005–2006 UCL Reserve Division Two 47 5/14
2006–2007 UCL Reserve Division Two 53 4/14
2007–2008 UCL Reserve Division Two 62 2/16
2008–2009 UCL Reserve Division One 44 10/17
2009–2010 UCL Reserve Division One 27 15/16
2010–2011 UCL Reserve Division One 41 8/15

Wellingborough Town Youth Section

Wellingborough Town Football Club is a Charter Standard Development club and have a successful junior setup. Wellingborough Town Youth Section has been running mini soccer, boys and girls football teams since 2004. The purpose of Wellingborough Town Youth Section is for boys and girls to have fun playing football, develop their football skills and progress into senior football within the Wellingborough Town Under 18, Reserve and First Teams.

References

External links