Amersham Town F.C.

Amersham Town
Full name Amersham Town Football Club
Nickname(s) The Magpies
Founded 1890
Ground Spratleys Meadow
Ground Capacity 1,500 – 66 seated
Chairman Lawrence Lipka
Manager Chris Martin
League Spartan South Midlands League
Division Two
2014–15 Spartan South Midlands League
Division One, 21st

Amersham Town F.C. is an English association football club based in Amersham, England. Amersham Town F.C. are currently in the Spartan South Midlands League Division Two, which is the 11th tier of English football.

History

The club was formed in 1890 on 13 October in the Crown Hotel at Amersham, best known now as the location for the hotel scenes in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.[1] Four days later the club created its rules which included:

i. that the club be called Amersham Town Football Club (its name to this day);

ii. that the subscription be one shilling and sixpence (7.5p in today's currency);

iii. the bad language on the field be strictly prohibited;

iv. that no member shall wear any nails, iron plates or gutter perches on the soles of his boots;

v. that the club colours be black and white (leading to their nickname “The Magpies”).[2]

The club then played in various local leagues and cups, with notable success being winners of the Wycombe and District Combination League at the end of the 1902–03 campaign.[1] After the war the club had more success in the Wycombe and District Combination League, when they became champions again in the 1919–20 and 1920–21 campaigns. In 1920, the club moved to its current home of Spratleys Meadow.[1]

After the Second World war the club joined the Spartan League in the 1946–47 season.[1] While in the Spartan League the club would go on to make its debut in the FA Cup in the 1950–51 season, losing to Wycombe Wanderers 13–0 in the extra preliminary qualifying round.[3] The club would then become one of the founder members of the Hellenic Football League Premier Division for the start of the 1953–54 competition.[4] The club became the first winners of the Hellenic League cup, when they beat the league champions Didcot Town in the Final.[5] At the end of the 1960–61 campaign the club finished bottom of the Premier Division but instead of being relegated the club switched to the London League.[3] However, after just a single season in the London league the club jumped back to the Hellenic league and Division one.[3] The first season back in the Hellenic league was a success as they were promoted back to the Premier Division as Champions, and more success was repeated in the next season as they finished Champions of the premier Division.[4] The club followed this up with the runners-up spot in the next two seasons.[6][7] The club continued in the Premier Division until the end of the 1970–71 season when they were relegated to the newly formed Division One B.[4]

After a single season in Division One B the club swapped leagues and joined the Spartan League in 1972.[8] The club finished bottom of the league for the first three seasons and when the League merged with the Metropolitan–London League to form the London Spartan League the club was placed in the second tier of the league, Division two.[9] The club regained its position in the top tier of the London Spartan League for the start of the 1978–1979 campaign, and finished runners up the season afterwards.[9] For the next seventeen seasons the club remained in the Spartan League's top tier.[3]

The club in 1997 became one of the founder members of the Spartan South Midlands Football League and was placed in the Premier Division South.[10] After the first season in the league the club was placed in the Senior Division of the league, which was renamed as Division one in 2001.[10] However the change of name for the division did not do the club any favours as they finished bottom and were relegated to Division Two at the end of the 2001–02 campaign.[10] The club was awarded FA chartered Standard status in 2004 and were promoted to Division One in the same year, not due to success on the field but because their ground had floodlights, and the league was short of clubs in Division one that met this criteria.[2][11] The club has since remained in Division one of the league.[3]

In December 2012 the club was kicked out of the FA Vase & banned from FA Competitions for 3 years, as they tried to field two ineligible players under assumed names in the second round, when they played Rye United.[12] The club was also forced to return its prize money of £1,200.[12] The investigation also uncovered that the club had played players under assumed names in at least two league matches and they were deducted 7 points and given a hefty suspended fine.

In the aftermath of a indifferent run of results during the 2014/5 season, Amersham was relegated to the second division of the Spartan South Midlands League.

Ground

Amersham Town play their home games at Spratleys Meadow, School Lane, Amersham, Bucks, HP7 0EJ.

The ground is on lease to the club until 2097.[2] A new stand was opened by ex-England manager Graham Taylor in 1997, to replace the one that was blown down in 1989.[2]

Ground redevelopment

The refurbished Spratleys Meadow was official announced open on 12 August 2007. To celebrate the new ground Amersham Veterans team took on the Celebrity XI featuring Luther Blissett.[13] Amersham Town Vets lost 5–3.[14]

Honours

League honours

Cup honours

Records

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Clubs". Goalrun. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History". Amersham Town FC. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 AMERSHAM TOWN at the Football Club History Database
  4. 1 2 3 "Hellenic League 1953–1972". Nonleaguematters.net. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  5. 1 2 "The History of Didcot Town Football Club". Didcot Town FC. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  6. ↑ "Non League Tables for 1964–1965". NonLeagueMatters. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  7. ↑ "Non League Tables for 1965–1966". NonLeagueMatters. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  8. ↑ Steven (13 January 2012). "The Travelling Fan: Amersham Town vs Buckingham Athletic (02/01/12)". Thetravellingfan.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  9. 1 2 "Spartan League 1955–1983". Nonleaguematters.net. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  10. 1 2 3 "Spartan South Midlands League 1997–2004". Nonleaguematters.net. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  11. ↑ "Amersham promoted – without kicking a ball (From This Is Local London)". Thisislocallondon.co.uk. 4 August 2004. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  12. 1 2 "Nervous Amersham await FA decision". Buckinghamshire Examiner. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  13. ↑ "Amersham Town F.C. Video | Football (Soccer) Game Highlights". Ovguide.com. 12 August 2007. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  14. ↑ "Celebrity United Official Website". Endofyourrainbow.co.uk. 12 August 2007. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
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