Stafford Town F.C.

Stafford Town Football Club is an English football club based in Stafford. The club's senior men's team play in the Midland League Division One. Their nearest rivals are fellow Stafford clubs Stafford Rangers and Brocton. The club has over 30 teams in men's, women's, and several junior teams.

Stafford Town
Full nameStafford Town Football Club
Nickname(s)Reds, Town[1]
Founded1976
GroundEvans Park
Riverway
Stafford[1]
Capacity550
ChairmanPaul Beedell
ManagerJake Robinson
LeagueMidland League Division One
2019–20Midland League Division One (season abandoned)

History

The club was founded in 1976 as Stafford and joined the Midland Combination Division two for the 1977–78 season, winning the league at their second attempt. They changed their name to Stafford Town in 1981[2] and left the Midlands Combination the following year before entering local football in 1984 when they became a founder member of the Staffordshire Senior League. They remained in that competition until 1993 and for two of those seasons the club was known as Stafford MSHD following the merger with Sunday League team MSHD. They joined the West Midlands Regional League for the 1993–94 season and won Division One in their debut season, earning them promotion to the Premier Division. They were champions of the Premier Division in 1999–2000 and earned promotion to the Midland Football Alliance and in their debut season at that level they got to the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, going down 3–1 to Harrow Borough in a replay having achieved a 0–0 draw at Harrow's ground. The club finished bottom in 2003–04 and were relegated back to the West Midlands Regional Alliance Division One, getting back into the Premier Division in 2009–10 as runners-up, losing the title on goal difference.[3][4]

The team transferred to the Midland Football Combination Premier Division at the beginning of the 2012–13 season, for which the club appointed Adam Cunningham from Stone Old Alleynians as manager after Steve Dockerty had resigned.

Cunningham left the team in May 2016, after winning the Les James Challenge League Cup. Dave Downing was then appointed as manager in the summer of 2016.

Downing departed the club in February 2018 with the club rooted to the bottom of the division. Jake Robinson and Paul Snape took the helm and guided the club to what was believed to be safety in a 20th place finish. The club fell foul to the restructure of step 6 and 5 and were relegated to the Staffordshire Senior League Premier. During close season Snape departed leaving Robinson working alongside long term club servant Calvin Bailey to rebuild the squad and adapt to a new division. Robinson, assisted by Bailey and Luke Williams then led Stafford to a top 5 finish the following season, and a League Cup win over Leek CSOB, prompting a return to the Midland Football League Division One ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

Ground

The club has moved into its first permanent stadium (having rented other clubs' and municipal grounds up until now) at Riverway, close to the centre of Stafford. The stadium is named after chairman Gordon Evans. The ground was turned into a 3G facility in the summer of 2016, with a joint partnership with the Stafford Borough Council.

Honours
  • West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division[3]
    • Champions 1999–2000
  • West Midlands (Regional) League Division One
    • Champions 1993–94
    • Runners-up 2009–10
  • Midland Combination Division Two[2]
    • Champions 1978–79
  • Staffordshire Senior League[5]
    • Runners-up 1991–92
  • Les James Challenge Cup
    • Winners – 2013–14
  • Staffordshire Senior League Premier Division Cup
    • Winners - 2018-19

Records
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References
  1. Pyramid Passion
  2. Football Clubs History database – Stafford
  3. Stafford Town at the Football Club History Database
  4. Club Website – History page
  5. Stafford MSHD at the Football Club History Database

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