Ware F.C.

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Ware

Full name

Ware Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Blues

Founded

1892 (as Ware Town)

Ground

Wodson Park, Ware

Capacity

3,300

Chairman

Inanc Elitok

Manager

Kem Kemal

League

Isthmian League Division One North

2012–13

Isthmian League Division One North, 19th

Home colours

Away colours

Ware F.C. is a football club established in 1892 and based at Wodson Park in Ware, Hertfordshire, England, currently members of Isthmian League Division One North.

History

The Club was founded in 1892 and although first called Ware Town soon changed its name to plain Ware FC. This unassuming title makes it probably the shortest named affiliate of the Football Association and has caused problems for programme editors and journalists ever since.

In fact, the Club has been anything but unassuming. It has held senior status from its very beginning, entering the Herts Senior Cup for the first time in 1893, and winning the cup on the first of five occasions in 1899 with a 2-1 win over Hitchin at St Albans. By this time Ware had been instrumental in founding the East Herts League and had won its championship on two of the three times it had been competed for. The club was to win it five more times before moving on to the North Middlesex League in 1907 and then also to the Herts County League in 1908. The Championship of the latter came that season in a three-way play off against St Albans City and Welwyn.

After the First World War the Club gained a league and cup double with a second Herts County League Championship and a fourth Herts Senior Cup win in 1922. The scenes in Ware when the team returned with the Senior Cup tell us something about the hold that football had on local loyalties at the time. The local paper reported that "Large crowds awaited the return of the special train to Ware, everybody being in high spirits. The Cup was marched through the town in front of a cheering throng." Indeed, it was later recalled that the cup was taken through the town on subsequent nights and that stops were made outside public houses where it was charged with beer before being drained by the crowd.

Shortly after this Ware joined the Spartan League in which they were to enjoy several successes, winning the Division 2(B) Championship in 1926, Division 1 in 1951 with the highest "goals for" total ever achieved by a club in the Spartan League, and the Premier Division in 1952. In these later years the Club also made significant progress in the old Amateur Cup meeting many famous sides on the way. One of these was Hendon, against whom Ware drew their largest attendance of 3,800 in the 1st Round in January 1957.

Moving on to the Delphian League and then Athenian League, Ware enjoyed another successful period. Two promotions, two league cup wins and two reserve championships paved the way for progress in the FA Cup. In this Ware reached the First Round proper for the first time in 1968 when they travelled to the then Third Division side Luton Town. The opposition had a 100% home record but the game was scoreless with 30 minutes to go before a judicious substitution broke the stalemate and left Ware beaten 6-1 at the final whistle.

In these successful circumstances it was not surprising that Ware pressed for entry to the expanding Isthmian League. This was achieved for season 1975/76 and they have maintained their place in the league ever since. This is thanks most recently to their Division 2 Championship season of 2005/6 which carried them into Division 1 just before Division 2 was disbanded. Another FA Cup First Round appearance in 2007 has added further distinction with a narrow home defeat against Kidderminster Harriers being watched by 2,123 people, a record for the current ground at Wodson Park.

Before that a tenth Herts Senior Cup Final in 2001 and another in 2008 have emphasised the club's long history and continuity. Ware is the first of only three possible candidates to appear in this final in three separate centuries, evidence that it is still one of the county's leading clubs.

Major Honours

East Herts League
- Winners: 1897-98, 1898-99, 1899-1900, 1902-03, 1903-04, 1905-06(shared), 1906-07
Herts County League
- Winners: 1908-09, 1921-22
Spartan League Division Two(B)
- Winners: 1926-27
Spartan League Division One
- Winners: 1951-52
Spartan League Premier Division
- Winners: 1952-53
Isthmian League Division Two
- Winners: 2005-06
Herts Senior Cup
- Winners: 1898-99, 1903-04, 1906-07, 1921-22, 1953-54
- Runners up: 1901-02, 1902-03, 1905-06, 1926-27, 2000-01, 2007-08
Herts Charity Shield
- Winners: 1926-27, 1952-53, 1956-57, 1958-59, 1962-63, 1985-86
East Anglian Cup
- Winners: 1973-74
- Runners up: 1978-79

Records

FA Cup best performance: first round proper – 1968–69, 2007–08
FA Amateur Cup best performance: second round proper – 1953–54, 1954–55
FA Trophy best performance: third qualifying round – 1979–80
FA Vase best performance: fourth round – 2002–03

References

Sources

Ware at the Football Club History Database
An Intention to Play - The History of Ware Football Club 1892-1992

External links

v t e Isthmian League

Premier Division	AFC Hornchurch Billericay Town Bognor Regis Town Bury Town Canvey Island Carshalton Athletic Cray Wanderers Dulwich Hamlet East Thurrock United Enfield Town Grays Athletic Hampton & Richmond Borough Harrow Borough Hendon Kingstonian Leiston Lewes Lowestoft Town Maidstone United Margate Metropolitan Police Thamesmead Town Wealdstone Wingate & Finchley

Division One North	AFC Sudbury Aveley Barkingside Brentwood Town Burnham Ramblers Chatham Town Cheshunt Dereham Town Erith & Belvedere Harlow Town Heybridge Swifts Maldon & Tiptree Needham Market Redbridge Romford Soham Town Rangers Thurrock Tilbury VCD Athletic Waltham Abbey Waltham Forest Ware Witham Town Wroxham

Division One South	Burgess Hill Town Chipstead Corinthian-Casuals Crawley Down Gatwick Eastbourne Town Faversham Town Folkestone Invicta Guernsey Hastings United Herne Bay Horsham Hythe Town Leatherhead Merstham Peacehaven & Telscombe Ramsgate Redhill Sittingbourne Three Bridges Tooting & Mitcham United Walton & Hersham Walton Casuals Whitstable Town Worthing

Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1919 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

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