Ashford Town (Middlesex) Football Club are a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Stanwell Stanwell is a village close to two of the three main towns in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, about west of central London. A small corner of its land is vital industrial land serving Heathrow Airport – most of the rest is residential ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Robert Parker Stadium in Short Lane. They are affiliated to both the

Middlesex FA The Middlesex Football Association is an organisation that regulates and promotes football, aiming to increase the quantity and quality of participation in the historic area of Middlesex. History The Middlesex F.A. was founded in 1883 by the Footb ...

and the

Surrey FA The Surrey County Football Association was founded in 1877 and affiliated to The Football Association in 1882, at the same time as a County Senior Cup competition, the Surrey Senior Cup, was established. The organisation administers all levels o ...

.A brief history of the club
Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C.

History

The club was established in 1958 as Ashford Albion and joined Division Two of the Hounslow & District League. They finished second in their first season, earning promotion to Division One. They finished as runners-up again the following season, and were promoted to the Premier Division, adopting their current name in 1964. However, the club pulled out the Premier Division during the 1964–65 season, resulting in their record being expunged. The following season the first team took over from the reserves in Division Two. The club finished third in Division Two in 1965–66, resulting in promotion to Division One. After finishing as runners-up in Division One the following season, the club joined the Premier Division B of the Surrey Intermediate League (Western) for the 1967–68 season. They finished fourth in their first season, earning promotion to Premier Division A. After claiming the runners-up spot in 1972–73, they won the division in 1974–75. Ashford became founder members of the

Surrey Premier League The Surrey County Senior League (previously known as the ''Surrey County Premier League'') was a football competition based in Surrey, England. It operated from 1982 until 2003 when it was absorbed into the Combined Counties League, which had itse ...

in 1982. In 1989–90 they were league runners-up and won the Surrey Premier Cup, beating Farnham Town Reserves 3–0 in the final. In 1990 they were formally renamed Ashford Town (Middlesex) to avoid confusion with the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

club which previously shared the same name, but are now named Ashford United. In the same year they joined the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

. They finished as runners-up in 1993–94, and won the league the following season. They went on to win the league in each of the next three seasons, and again in 1999–2000 (a season in which they also won the

Middlesex Senior Charity Cup The Middlesex Senior Charity Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1901. It was presented in 1901 by C.S. Goldmann, Esq. and was first played for in the 1901–02 season, the first winners being Clapton Orien ...

), after which they were promoted to Division Three of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

. After finishing third in their first season in Division Three, they were promoted to Division Two. In 2002, they were moved to Division One South as a result of league reorganisation and, in 2004, switched to the Western Division of the Southern League. In 2005–06, they finished second in the division, and were promoted, being placed in the Isthmian League Premier Division. In 2006–07 they won the Isthmian League Cup and, in 2008–09, the

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

. At the end of the 2009–10 season, the club were relegated and placed in Division One Central of the Southern League; although they were offered a late reprieve from relegation after

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

were liquidated, the club declined to take it and started the 2010–1 season in Division One Central. In 2011–12 the club won both the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup (beating Northwood on penalties after a 4–4 draw) and the Aldershot Senior Cup (defeating

Badshot Lea Badshot Lea is a small village in Surrey, England, and close to Aldershot. Badshot Lea has access in either direction to the A31 and A331 and is connected to railway stations in the nearby towns with regular bus services. The village is part o ...

3–1 in the final). The 2013–14 saw the club finish bottom of Division One Central, resulting in relegation back to the Combined Counties League. After finishing third in the Premier Division in their first season back in the league, they were runners-up in 2015–16 and were promoted back to Division One Central of the Southern League. The following season saw the club win the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup for the third time, beating

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

2–1 in the final. At the end of the 2017–18 season they were transferred to the South Central Division of the Isthmian League.

Ground

Ashford Town have played home games at Short Lane in

since 1986. The ground has a capacity of 2,550, of which 250 is seated and covered. The ground was renamed the Robert Parker Stadium in 2010 in honour of Bob Parker, who had served as chairman for 28 years.

Honours

*Isthmian League **League Cup winners 2006–07 *Combined Counties League **Champions 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–2000 **League Cup Winners 1998–99 *Surrey Intermediate League (Western) **Premier Division A Champions 1974–75 *Surrey Senior Cup **Winners 2008–09 *Surrey Premier Cup **Winners 1989–90 *Middlesex Senior Charity Cup **Winners 1999–2000, 2011–12, 2016–17 *Aldershot Senior Cup Final **Winners 2002–03, 2011–12 *Southern Combination Cup **Winners 1995–96, 2010–11,Honours list
Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C. 2021–22

Records

*Record attendance: 992 vs

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

Premier Division, 26 September 2006Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2020) ''Non-League Club Directory 2021'', p557 *Most goals: Andy Smith

References

External links