Atherstone Town Community Football Club is a football club based in

Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire w ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, England. They are currently members of the and play at Sheepy Road.

History

The original club was formed in 1887. They reached the semi-finals of the FA Amateur Cup in 1907–08, losing 3–0 to Stockton. The following season saw them reach the semi-final stage again, this time losing 3–0 to Clapton. After playing in several local leagues, they joined the

Birmingham Combination The Birmingham Combination was an English football competition for teams in Birmingham and the surrounding areas, which was active from 1892 until 1954. It was founded as the Birmingham & District Junior League, and changed its name in 1908. The ...

in 1911, and were runners-up in their first season in the league. Birmingham Combination 1892–1915
Non-League Matters The club finished bottom of the league in 1923–24 and again in 1928–29.
Non-League Matters Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, they were league champions in 1947–48, also winning the

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest county cup competition still active. The Birmingham Senior Cup is ...

. When the Combination folded in 1954, all but one of the clubs joined the Birmingham & District League, with Atherstone placed in the transitional Northern Division. A fourteenth-place finish in 1954–55 saw them placed in Division Two for the following season. They went on to finish as runners-up in Division Two, and were promoted to Division One. Atherstone finished bottom of Division One in 1957–58 and were relegated back to Division Two. However, they finished third in Division Two the following season and were promoted to Division One. The league was reduced to a single division in 1960, and was renamed the

West Midlands (Regional) League The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has tw ...

in 1962. When it expanded in 1965, Atherstone became members of the Premier Division. They were runners-up in the division in 1971–72 and were promoted to Division One North of the Southern League. After finishing as runners-up in Division One North the following season, the club were promoted to the Premier Division, where they remained until folding at the end of the 1978–79 season. The club was immediately reformed as Atherstone United, taking the reserve team's place in Division One of the West Midlands (Regional) League. They were Division One champions in 1981–82, earning promotion to the Premier Division. After winning the Premier Division title in 1986–87, the club were promoted to the Midland Division of the Southern League. The following season saw them reach the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for the first time, eventually losing 2–0 to VS Rugby in a first round replay. They were Midland Division runners-up in 1988–89, securing promotion to the Premier Division. In

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

the club reached the FA Cup first round again; after beating Fleetwood Town 3–1 in the first round, they lost 1–0 at Third Division

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in the second round. Another FA Cup first round appearance the following season saw them hold Fourth Division

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

to a 0–0 draw at Sheepy Road, before losing the replay at

Edgar Street Edgar Street is a football stadium in Hereford and was the home of Hereford United Football Club from the club's formation in 1924 until December 2014, when the club was wound up. It is now the home of Hereford FC, a phoenix club formed to rep ...

3–0. Atherstone finished bottom of the Southern League Premier Division in 1999–2000 season and were relegated to the Western Division. They subsequently folded midway through the 2003–04 season. The club was then reformed under the name Atherstone Town, joining Division One of the Midland Combination for the 2004–05 season. After winning Division One and the President's Cup in their first season, they were Premier Division champions and League Cup winners in 2005–06 and were promoted to the

Midland Alliance The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and Not ...

. The club were Midland Alliance champions in 2007–08, earning promotion to Division One Midlands of the Southern League. In 2008–09 they finished third in the division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, but lost the semi-final 5–0 to

Chasetown Chasetown is a village in the town of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. It is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich. History Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village wa ...

Division One Midlands was renamed Division One Central in 2010, and Atherstone were relegated back to the Midland Alliance at the end of the 2010–11 season after finishing second-from-bottom of the division. They suffered a second successive relegation after finishing second-from-bottom of the Midland Alliance the following season, returning to the Premier Division of the Midland Combination. When the Combination merged with the Midland Alliance to form the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

in 2014, Atherstone were placed in Division One.

Season-by-season record

Honours

*Midland Alliance **Champions 2007–08 *West Midlands (Regional) League **Premier Division champions 1986–87 **Division One champions 1981–82 *Midland Combination **Premier Division champions 2005–06 **Division One champions 2004–05 **League Cup winners 2005–06 **President's Cup winners 2004–05 *Birmingham Combination **Champions 1947–48 *Birmingham Senior Cup **Winners 1947–48, 1974–75 * Walsall Senior Cup **Winners 1969–70, 1983–84

Records

*Best

performance: Second round, 1990–91 *Best FA Amateur Cup performance: Semi-finals, 1907–08, 1908–09 *Best FA Trophy performance: Third round, 1975–76, 1977–78 *Best FA Vase performance: Quarter-finals, 1982–83, 2019–20, 2022–23

References

External links