Oakengates Athletic Football Club was a
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- ...
based in
Oakengates
Oakengates is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The towns parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census.
Etymology
The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" but is derived from the ...
,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
.
History
Earliest records of Oakengates Town are from as early as 1886–87 when they lifted the Shropshire Junior Cup. In 1923–24 they entered the
Birmingham and District League. A cup win was soon to follow in the 1926–27 season when they lifted the
Shropshire Senior Cup
The Shropshire Senior Cup is a county cup football competition that is open for professional and non-professional senior football teams in the English county of Shropshire.
The competition is one of the oldest cup competitions in the world, and ...
. The reserves were also successful in these times with a win in the Junior Cup in 1928–29. The first team won 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 ...
in 1929–30 beating
Kidderminster Harriers
Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...
3–1 and nearly won the Birmingham and District League in 1930–31 only to lose the title on goal difference. They went on to lift the Shropshire Senior Cup again in season 1930–31 and retained it in 1931–32.
Oakengates won the Commander Ethelston Cup in season 1978–79, a feat which they repeated in the 1988–89 season. They won a
Shropshire County League and cup double in the 1978–79 season and retained the cup in the 1979–80 season. A sole County Cup win was achieved in 1992–93. In the 1995–96 season Oakengates Town won a
Shropshire County League and Cup double again.
At the start of the 2005–06 season the club was in serious debt, the clubhouse was derelict through
vandalism
Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.
The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...
and neglect and Oakengates Town was near extinction. A few locals decided to retain the history of the club and save it. The club was renamed Oakengates Athletic and moved away from its old ground in Oakengates (School Grove) to a new ground at
Hadley via a short stay at Oakengates Athletic Stadium.
The club were champions of the
Shropshire Premier League
The Shropshire Premier League was an English association football league based in the county of Shropshire. It was formed as the Mercian Regional Football League for the 2012–13 season, with all member clubs of the dissolved Shropshire County ...
in 2013–2014, 2016–17 and 2017–18. In the summer of 2018 they merged into
Wellington Amateurs.
Wellington Amateurs are aiming high after Athletic merger
Shropshire Star, 18 June 2018
Managers
Honours
*Shropshire Premier League
**Champions 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18
*Shropshire County League
**Premier Division champions 1978–79, 1995–96, 2016–18, 2017–18
**Premier Division Cup winners 1978–79, 1979–80, 1995–96, 2017–18
*Commander Ethelston Cup winners 1977–78, 1988–89
*Shropshire Senior Cup
The Shropshire Senior Cup is a county cup football competition that is open for professional and non-professional senior football teams in the English county of Shropshire.
The competition is one of the oldest cup competitions in the world, and ...
**Winners 1926–27, 1930–31, 1931–32
*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 ...
**Winners 1929–30
*Shropshire County Cup
**Winners 1992–93, 2016–17, 2017–18
*Shropshire Junior Cup
**Winners 1886–87, 2011–12
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
Defunct football clubs in England
Association football clubs established in 1886
1886 establishments in England
West Midlands (Regional) League
Sport in Telford
Mercian Regional Football League
Shropshire County Premier Football League
Association football clubs disestablished in 2018
2018 disestablishments in England
Defunct football clubs in Shropshire