Chippenham Town Football Club is a semi-professional

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

club based in

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. They are currently members of and play their games at Hardenhuish Park.

History

The club states it was established in 1873,Club History
Chippenham Town F.C. although local newspaper reports state the club was founded on 3 December 1884, with the first game played on 17 December 1884 against

Melksham Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement af ...

. In 1894 they were founder members of the

Wiltshire League The Wiltshire Football League is a football league in England, formed by amalgamation in 1976. All clubs are affiliated to a County Football Association. The area covered by the competition is the county of Wiltshire and 15 miles beyond the co ...

. The 1901–02 season saw them finish joint top of the table with Warminster Town, but the club lost the championship play-off replay 1–0, following a 1–1 draw in the first match.Wiltshire League 1901-1955
Non-League Matters They joined Division Two of the Western League in 1904, but also continued to play in the Wiltshire League. The 1904–05 season saw them finish bottom of the Western League and second in the Wiltshire League. At the end of the 1905–06 season the club withdrew from the Western League, and went on to win the Wiltshire League in 1907–08 and 1908–09, before finishing as runners-up in 1909–10. They were runners-up again in 1912–13, 1921–22 and 1922–23, before winning the league in 1928–29. In 1930 Chippenham rejoined Division Two of the Western League. The league was reduced to a single division in 1939, and the club were runners-up when the league resumed in the 1945–46 season. The 1951–52 season saw them win the Western League for the first time, and they also reached 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, losing 3–0 at

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

. They were Western League runners-up again in 1954–55. However, they left the Western League at the end of the 1964–65 season, dropping back into the Wiltshire League. In 1968 the club joined the Premier Division of the Hellenic League, where they played until rejoining the Western League in 1973. When the league gained a second division in 1976, the club were relegated to the new Division One. They were Division One champions in 1980–81, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 1999–2000 the club reached 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 ...

, eventually losing 1–0 to Deal Town at

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 ...

. After finishing as runners-up in 2000–01, Chippenham were promoted to Division One West of the Southern League. Their first season in the division saw them finish as runners-up, resulting in promotion to the Southern League Premier Division. In 2004–05 they were Premier Division runners-up, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. However, after beating Bedford Town 5–4 on penalties following a 2–2 draw in the semi-finals, they lost the final 1–0 to

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

. The following season saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup for a second time, eventually losing 1–0 at

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

in a replay. They also qualified for the promotion play-offs again after finishing fourth, beating

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

3–1 in the semi-finals before losing 3–2 to Bedford Town in the final. Another fourth-place finish in 2007–08 led to another play-off campaign, this time ending with a 2–1 defeat to

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

in the semi-finals. In 2009–10 the club finished third, and after beating Hednesford Town 2–0 in the play-off semi-finals, lost the final 2–1 to

Nuneaton Town Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton to ...

. In 2016–17 Chippenham won the Southern League's Premier Division with a league record 103 points, earning promotion to the

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

. They reached the first round of the FA Cup again in 2019–20, losing 3–0 at home to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. The 2021–22 National League South season saw the club achieve their highest league finish in history, reaching the play-offs after ending in seventh place. In the play-off eliminator, they knocked out

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

3-2 on penalties following a goalless draw before their campaign came to an end with a 1-0 semi-final defeat at

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

after extra time. In

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

the club reached the FA Cup first round again; after beating Lincoln City 1–0, they lost 6–1 at

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

in the second round.

Ground

The club moved to Hardenhuish Park in 1919, having previously played at at least four other grounds.Chippenham Town
Pyramid Passion A main stand was erected and subsequently added to on several occasions. A clubhouse was opened in 1979, which has since been turned into hospitality suites, and floodlights were installed in 1986. Additional covered standing is, as of 2021, now provided behind one goal whilst covered standing is along the opposite side of the pitch to the main stand. This was built in 1993, replacing an earlier stand that had been damaged by storms. The pitch at Hardenhuish Park has a noticeable slope, downwards towards the Town End. A new, bigger clubhouse at pitch level was opened in 2020, housing a bar and is a year-round community facility. The ground currently has a capacity of 3,000, of which 300 is seated.

Current squad

''As of 11 December 2022''

Out on loan

Honours

*Southern League **Premier Division champions 2016–17 *Western League **Premier Division champions 1951–52 **Division One champions 1980–81 **League Cup winners 1999–2000, 2000–01 *Wiltshire League **Champions 1907–08, 1908–09, 1928–29 *Wiltshire Premier Shield **Winners 1965–66, 1986–87, 1988–89, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2017–18

Records

*Highest league position: 7th in the National League South, 2021–22 *Best

performance: Second round, 2022–23 *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: Third round, 2022–23 *Best

performance: Finalists, 1999–2000 *Record attendance: 4,800 vs Chippenham United, Western League, 1951Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p460 *Biggest win: 9–0 vs Devizes Town, FA Cup, 1945–46; 9–0 vs Dawlish Town, Western League; 9–0 vs Moneyfields, FA Cup, 2015–16 *Heaviest defeat: 10–0 vs

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

, Western League *Most appearances: Ian Monnery *Most goals: Dave Ferris

References

External links

* {{coord, 51, 27, 56.182, N, 2, 7, 43.540, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in Wiltshire Association football clubs established in 1873 1873 establishments in England Chippenham Western Football League Hellenic Football League Southern Football League clubs National League (English football)