Falmouth Town Association 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

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; kw, Aberfala) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,797 (2011 census). Etymology The name Falmouth is of English or ...

, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach 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 ...

, which they have done on three occasions; 1962–63, 1967–68 and 1969–70.

History

The club was established in 1949 and joined the Cornwall Senior League for the 1950–51 season.Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) ''Non-League Club Directory 2017'', Tony Williams Publications, p. 492 History
Falmouth Town A.F.C. In 1951 they were founder members of the

South Western League The South Western Football League was an English association football league composed of clubs from Cornwall and west and north Devon. It consisted of a single division at the eleventh overall tier of the English football league system, the seven ...

.South Western League 1951–1987
Non-League Matters They finished bottom of the league in 1952–53 and again in 1954–55, but won their first trophy in 1957–58, beating

Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...

1–0 in the League Cup final. They were league runners-up the following season, also retaining the League Cup with a 6–3 win over Truro City in the final. In 1961–62 they won the league for the first time, also winning the League Cup and the

Cornwall Senior Cup The Cornwall County Football Association Senior Cup, commonly known as the Cornwall Senior Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football for clubs based in Cornwall, run by and named after the Cornwall County Football Association. It is ...

, thrashing

St Blazey St Blazey ( kw, Lanndreth) is a small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. St Blaise is the civil parish in which St Blazey is situated; the name St Blaise is also used by the town council. The village of Biscovey and the settlements of ...

7–1 in the Senior Cup final. The following season saw them become the first club from Cornwall to reach the first round of the

, winning through four qualifying rounds before eventually losing 2–1 at home to

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

in front of a record crowd of 8,000. In 1964–65 the club missed out on a second league title by one point after being deducted two points. However, they won the league the following season. In 1967–68 Falmouth reached the first round of the FA Cup for a second time, this time losing 5–2 at Third Division

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. The season also saw them win the South Western League title for a third time. Another appearance in the first round in 1969–70 resulted in another defeat to Peterborough, this time losing 4–1 at home. The club went on to win the four consecutive South Western League titles between 1970–71 and 1973–74, also winning the League Cup and Cornwall Senior Cup in 1970–71, a season in which they remained unbeaten in all three competitions; over the next three seasons they only lost five league matches. Their dominance in local football led the club to move up to the Western League in 1974. The club's first season in the league saw them win the league and League Cup double without losing a game. They then won the league for the next three seasons, marking eight consecutive league titles. This included a 58-match unbeaten stretch in the league that saw them go unbeaten in the Western League until January 1976. In 1978–79 Falmouth finished eighth in the Western League and the following season saw them finish in the bottom half. In 1983 the club withdrew from the league due to increased travelling costs. However, an application to rejoin the South Western League was rejected and they dropped into the

Cornwall Combination The Cornwall Combination League is a football competition based in the western half of Cornwall, England, formed in 1959. The current league sponsors are drinks retailers LWC. The league has a single division of 20 clubs, being larger than any ...

. After winning the Combination at the first attempt, they were allowed to rejoin the South Western League. The club went on to win back-to-back league titles in 1985–86 and 1986–87 and again in 1988–89 and 1989–90. Further league titles followed in 1991–92, 1996–97 and 1999–2000. When the South Western League merged with the

Devon County League The Devon County Football League was a football competition based in England. It consisted of 20 clubs and sat at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. History The league was formed in 1992 in order to form an intermediate level bet ...

to form the

South West Peninsula League The South West Peninsula League (SWPL) is a football competition in England, which was formed in 2007 from the merger of the Devon County League and the South Western League. The league is restricted to clubs based in Cornwall, Devon and West D ...

in 2007, the club were placed in the Premier Division of the new league. In 2017–18 they won the League Cup, beating

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

4–2 after extra time in the final. At the start of the following season the club won the league's Charity Bowl with a 2–1 win over Plymouth Parkway. Following league reorganisation at the end of the 2018–19 season, Falmouth were placed in the Premier Division West. In 2021–22 they won the Cornwall Senior Cup and were Premier Division West champions, earning promotion to the Premier Division of the Western League.

Ground

The club initially played at the Recreation Ground, before moving to Union Corner when they joined the South Western League. Over 1,200 spectators attended the club's first South Western League match on 18 August 1951, the game ending in a 3–3 draw. The ground was a farmer's field with players initially having to change in a nearby YMCA and then travel to the ground by bus.Cornwall's greatest ever side?
The Packet, 1 November 2012 Shortly afterwards the club bought two fields at Ashfield, where a new ground was built. However, this was soon sold to

Shell-Mex and BP Shell-Mex and BP Ltd was a British joint venture between petroleum companies Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) and BP. It was formed in 1932 when both companies decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations,Reference and contact details: GB ...

for £20,000, with the club moving back to Union Corner for a season in 1956. The money allowed them to build a new ground at Bickland Park, which opened in August 1957 with

the first visitors. In the early 1960s the club played a home game at Falmouth Docks' Mongleath/Boslowick as Bickland Park was being used for a Cornwall FA match. Bickland Park has covered stands on all four sides of the ground, with the 350-seat main stand on one side of the pitch sent into banking. The other three sides of the ground have covered standing areas. Floodlights were installed in 1973, although their first use was on 10 April 1974 for a match against

Porthleven Porthleven () is a town, civil parish and fishing port near Helston, Cornwall, England. The most southerly port in Great Britain, it was a harbour of refuge when this part of the Cornish coastline was infamous for wrecks in the days of sail. The ...

Honours

*Western League **Champions 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78 **League Cup winners 1974–75Honours
Falmouth Town A.F.C. **Alan Young Cup winners 1975–76 (shared with

Taunton Town Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...

), 1977–78 *South Western League **Champions 1961–62, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1996–97, 1999–00 **League Cup winners 1957–58, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1998–99 *South West Peninsula League **Premier Division West champions 2021–22 **League Cup winners 2017–18 **Charity Bowl winners 2018–19 *Cornwall Combination **Champions 1983–84 *Pratten Cup **Winners 1973–74 *Cornwall Senior Cup **Winners 1961–62, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1996–97, 2018–19, 2021–22 *Cornwall Charity Cup **Winners 1959–60, 1999–2000 *St Austell Brewery Cup **Winners 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98 *Aubrey Wilkes Trophy **Winners 1988–89, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1995–96, 2011–12, 2018–19

Records

*Best

performance: First round, 1962–63, 1967–68, 1969–70. *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: Second round, 1977–78 *Best

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 ...

performance: Quarter-finals, 1986–87 *Record attendance: 8,000 vs

, FA Cup, 1962–63 *Record transfer fee received: £12,000 for

Tony Kellow Tony Kellow (1 May 1952 – 20 February 2011) was an English professional footballer. He played as a forward and made over 400 Football League appearances in the 1970s and 1980s. Early career He was born in Budock Water, a village near Fa ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in 1976 *Most appearances: Keith Manley, 580 *Most goals: Joe Scott, 205Players with over a hundred goals
Falmouth Town A.F.C.

References

External links