Arlesey Town Football Club is 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

Arlesey Arlesey ( ) is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire. It is near the border with Hertfordshire, about three miles north-west of Letchworth Garden City, four miles north of Hitchin and six miles south of Biggleswade. Arlesey railway station pr ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Affiliated to the

Bedfordshire County Football Association The Bedfordshire Football Association, also simply known as ''Bedfordshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Bedfordshire, England. Founded in 1894, the Bedfordshire FA run a number of cups at different levels for teams a ...

, they are currently members of the and play at Hitchin Road.

History

The club was established in 1891. They initially played in the Biggleswade & District League, before joining the Bedfordshire County League in 1922. They were runners-up in the league's first season, and runners-up in the subsidiary competition in 1923–24.South Midlands League 1922–1950
Non-League Matters After finishing bottom of Division One in 1925–26, they left the league before returning to Division One for the 1927–28 season. Although they left again after finishing bottom of Division One, the club rejoined the league in 1929, this time in Division Two. The club rejoined the (renamed)

South Midlands League The South Midlands League was a association football, football league covering Bedfordshire and some adjoining counties in England. It was founded in 1922 as the Bedfordshire County League and merged with the Spartan League in 1997 to form the ...

in Division Two in 1929–30, winning the Division at the first attempt and earning promotion to Division One. However, they were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the following season. Arlesey won the Division Two title in 1931–32, but were not promoted and Division Two was not played the following season. They returned in 1936, winning a third Division Two title in 1936–37, resulting in promotion to Division One. Division One became the Premier Division in 1947. The club were Premier Division runners-up in 1950–51 and won the division the following season. They retained the league title in 1952–53, but left to join the

Parthenon League The Parthenon League was a football league covering Greater London and the surrounding area. History The league was formed in 1951 with 11 clubs, nine of which had come from the Middlesex Senior League.London League.London League 1950–1964
Non-League Matters After leaving the London League in 1960, the club returned to Division One of the South Midlands League in 1961. Despite finishing in the bottom three of Division One in 1961–62, Arlesey were promoted to the Premier Division. They finished second-from-bottom of the Premier Division the following season and were relegated back to Division One. However, a third-place finish in 1963–64 resulted in an immediate return to the Premier Division. In 1982–83 the club transferred to the Premier Division of the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckinghamshi ...

, which they won in 1984–85. However, rising costs forced the club to resign from the United Counties League in 1992, moving back to the Premier Division of the South Midlands League in 1991–92. The 1994–95 season saw the club win the Premier Division with a record 107 points, as well as beating

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

2–1 in the final of the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. Following the merger of the South Midlands League with the

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establish ...

to form the

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

, the club were placed in the Premier Division North, and following league reorganisation at the end of the season, became members of the Premier Division for the 1998–99 season. In 1999–2000 Arlesey won the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, earning promotion 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 ...

. Their first season in the new division saw them win the title scoring an Isthmian League record 138 goals with a record 100+

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

, earning promotion to Division Two. In 2002 league reorganisation saw them placed in Division One North. They were transferred to the Eastern Division of the Southern League in 2004, before being moved back to Division One North of the Isthmian League in 2006. Another move in 2008 led to the club playing in Division One Midlands of the Southern League, which became Division One Central in 2010. The 2010–11 season saw the club win Division One Central, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2011–12 Arlesey reached the first round proper 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, where they lost 3–1 at Salisbury City. They repeated the feat the following season, losing 3–0 to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

at the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to footb ...

. The club were relegated back to Division One Central at the end of the 2014–15 season after finishing second-from-bottom of the Premier Division.

Ground

The club plays at Hitchin Road. The ground has a capacity of 2,920, of which 150 is seated and 600 covered.

Honours

*FA Vase **Winners 1994–95 *Isthmian League **Division Three champions 2000–01 *Southern League **Division One Central champions 2010–11 **League Cup winners 2012–13 *United Counties League **Premier Division champions 1984–85 **Premier Division Cup winners 1987–88 *Spartan South Midlands League **Premier Division champions 1999–2000 *South Midlands League **Premier Division champions 1951–52, 1952–53, 1994–95, 1995–96, **Division Two champions 1929–30, 1931–32, 1935–36 **Challenge Trophy winners 1979–80 **Premier Shield winners 1964–65 **Premier Division Cup winners 1993–94 **Floodlight Cup winners 1990–91 *Bedfordshire Premier Cup **Winners 1983–84, 2001–02 *Bedfordshire Senior Cup **Winners 1965–66, 1978–79, 1996–97, 2003–04, 2009–10 *Bedfordshire Intermediate Cup **Winners 1957–58 *Hinchingbrooke Cup **Winners 1977–78, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1996–97 *Biggleswade Knockout Cup **Winners 1977–78, 1980–81

Records

*Best

performance: First round, 2011–12, 2012–13 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

performance: Fifth round, 2003–04 *Best

performance: Winners, 1994–95 *Record attendance: 2,000 vs Luton Town reserves, Bedfordshire Senior Cup, 1906 *Most appearances: Gary Marshall

References

External links