Stratford 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 representing the town of

Stratford upon Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-wes ...

, Warwickshire, England, but currently based in nearby Tiddington. They are currently members of the and play at Knights Lane.

History

The club was formed in 1941 as Stratford Rangers, changing their name in 1949. After playing in various local leagues they joined the Worcestershire Combination (which later became the

Midland Football Combination The Midland Football Combination was an English football league covering parts of the West Midlands. It comprised five divisions, a Premier Division, Divisions One and Two and two Reserves Divisions. The league was one of three official feeder le ...

) in 1954. In 1957 they switched to the Birmingham and District League, which became the West Midlands (Regional) League in 1962, but rejoined the Combination in 1970. In 1975 they took the unusual step of joining the Hellenic League, which does not normally include teams from Warwickshire. After two unsuccessful seasons they rejoined the Midland Combination once again, where they remained until becoming founder members of the Midland Football Alliance in 1994. The club entered financial difficulty in 1998 and were reformed to become Stratford Town F.C. On 20 April 2013, a 1–1 draw with

Stourport Swifts Stourport Swifts Football Club are a football team from Stourport-on-Severn, and one of the oldest non-league teams in the country. The Swifts currently play in the , and play at Walshes Meadow in the town. History Stourport Swifts was formed ...

sealed the Midland Alliance title and promotion to the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

for the first time in the club's history, where they initially played in Division One South & West. After two seasons in the Division One South & West, Stratford Town earned promotion to the Premier Division via the play-offs with a 3–2 win against

Larkhall Athletic Larkhall ( sco, Larkhauch, gd, Taigh na h-Uiseig) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the ...

on 4 May 2015. They successfully retained their status the following season. The 2021–22 season saw The Bards reach the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, defeating National League North side Boston United 3–2 in a fourth qualifying round replay after an initial 1–1 draw at the Boston Community Stadium. Stratford were drawn at home to League One side Shrewsbury Town, with the match televised on ITV4. Despite scoring first, they were eventually defeated 5–1 in front of a sell-out 2,800 spectators at Knights Lane.

Stadium

Stratford Town moved into the Knights Lane ground, Tiddington in the 2007–08 season. They played their first league match there against

Barwell Barwell is a civil parish and large village in Leicestershire, England, with a population of 8,750 residents, Increasing to 9,022 at the 2011 census, the name literally translates as "Stream of the Boar" and is said to originate from a boar that ...

on 16 February 2008, losing 1–0 to a Stuart Spencer goal.Stratford Town match report
The record attendance is 2,800 for the FA Cup first round match against Shrewsbury Town on 7 November 2021.

Players

Current squad

''The

does not use a squad numbering system.''

Management and coaching staff

Boardroom

Current staff

Managerial history

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 52, 11, 38.94, N, 1, 40, 34.90, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Southern Football League clubs Midland Football Alliance Association football clubs established in 1941 Football clubs in Warwickshire 1941 establishments in England Football clubs in England Stratford-upon-Avon