Witney Town F.C. (known at various times as Witney F.C., Witney United F.C. and Witney Town A.F.C.) was a football club in
Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
,
Oxfordshire. The club was founded in 1885 (as Witney Football Club) and adopted the name Witney Town in 1922. The club's most successful period was in the 1970s and 80s when they competed in the Southern League Premier Division, finishing 5th in 1983–84. The club folded in 2001, but a
phoenix club
The Phoenix Building and Cincinnati Club are two historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The membership of these two clubs was chiefly Jewish.
Located at 812 Race Street, the Phoenix Building was constructed in 1893, desi ...
arose under the name Witney United in 2002 and obtained the lease of the former club's ground. The club readopted the Witney Town name in 2011, but was dissolved during the
2012–13 season while playing in the
Hellenic League Premier Division.
History
1885–1922: Early years as Witney F.C.
The club was founded in 1885 as Witney Football Club and within 15 years of their formation had won the
Oxfordshire Senior Cup three times.
Herbert Smith, a successful full-back who moved to
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.
...
, later played for
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
and
Stoke City, appeared four times for the
England national football team
The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...
in 1905 and 1906, and helped win a goal medal for his country as a left-back at the
1908 Summer Olympics.
1922–1973: Witney Town F.C. in the Oxfordshire Senior and Hellenic Leagues
The club re-formed as Witney Town in 1922, playing in the Oxfordshire Senior League and finishing as champions five times.
Frank Clack, a goalkeeper from this era, went on to play for
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
and
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
in the 1930s and 40s.
In 1953 they were founder members of the
Hellenic League, winning the league in
the 1954–55 season, its second year.
They topped the Premier Division for three successive seasons in the 1960s (1965–67) and repeated the feat the following decade (1971–73).
1973–1987: Southern League success
After twenty years of success at Hellenic League level, they applied for membership of the
Southern League and were admitted at the first attempt to Division One North. Their first season at this level was in
1973–74, and they won the league in
1977–78 and were promoted to the Premier Division.
At the end of their first season (in which they finished 10th),
the league was reorganised and Witney were placed in the Midland Section of the Southern League for
1979–80.
Another reorganisation placed them in the Premier Division for
season 1982–83, where they remained for six seasons
(with reprieves from relegation in
1984–85 when
Hastings United folded, and in
1985–86 when the league was expanded
). Their highest finish was 5th place in
1983–84.
In 1979,
Trevor Francis
Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player foll ...
, Britain's first £1m player, made his first appearance for his new club
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
in a testimonial held at Witney Town's ground, a match arranged by
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits.
Nic ...
, the then-manager of
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
, who had coached at Witney during the 1970s.
1988–2001: Relegation and closure
They suffered the first relegation in their history, to the Southern League South Division,
at the end of the
1987–88 season. In 1992, the club moved from Marriotts Close to a purpose-built stadium near
Curbridge, initially named Oakey Park after a former chairman, Aubrey Oakey, and later renamed the Marriotts Stadium after the family who sold the old ground to the club.
Witney Town were to remain in the second tier of the Southern League until their demise 13 seasons later (although the Northern and Southern divisions were renamed Eastern and Western in
1999–2000). During this period they survived a winding-up petition and were converted to a limited company in 1993,
and local businessman Brian Constable was appointed as chief executive.
They finished no higher than 3rd,
through they narrowly missed out on promotion in
1993–94 (losing the final match of the season 2–1 to
Sudbury Town, who thereby pipped them to second place and promotion to the Premier Division
) and won the Oxfordshire Senior Cup three times in the 1990s (in 1994,
1995
and 1998
).
Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...
, later manager of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, spent two months on loan at Witney in 1994–95. Witney finished 14th in the Southern League Eastern Division in 2000–01.
In the close season, chairman/owner Brian Constable folded the club, amid protests from a supporters' group known as 1885 who claimed that credible bids to buy the club were dismissed.
2001–2012: Rebirth as Witney United
The club was reformed as Witney United F.C. by a group of Witney Town supporters. The Witney United name was registered with the
Oxfordshire Football Association
The Oxfordshire County Football Association, also simply known as the ''Oxfordshire FA'', is the sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in the county of Oxfordshire.
References
External links
*
County foo ...
in 2001, with the aim of returning to Southern League football within five seasons. In 2002 the club obtained a lease on the original Witney Town stadium and were accepted into Division One (West) of the Hellenic League for the
2002–03 season. In its first year the club finished 15th of 20 in the division, but in
2003–04 they finished 5th and, with
Ardley United (4th) were promoted to the Premier Division, ahead of the teams in the top three.
The club finished 11th in the Premier Division in
2004–05 and finished in the top 10 for the next five seasons.
The
2010–11 season saw a decline in their fortunes, and they finished 18th, one place above the relegation places. In
2011–12 the club, now under its former name of Witney Town, finished in 19th place; only the forced demotion of
Henley Town (whose ground did not meet league requirements) kept them in the division.
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
leader
David Cameron was the club's patron.
2013: Liquidation
The club was evicted from their stadium in February 2013 because they were unable to pay the rent. A plan to groundshare with
Carterton F.C. fell through, and following lengthy discussions between the Hellenic League and the club's trustees, no persons came forward to offer their services to take over responsibility as officers and the club's resignation was tendered. The club then liquidated and folded.
Ground
Witney Town played their home games at Marriotts Close in Witney, and later at Downs Road,
Curbridge (known successively as Oakey Park, the Marriotts Stadium, and Witney Community Stadium).
Honours
Cup honours
* Hellenic League Premier Division Challenge Cup:
** Runners-up (1): 1965–66
References
External links
*
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Hellenic Football League
Association football clubs established in 1885
Defunct football clubs in Oxfordshire
Southern Football League clubs
1885 establishments in England
Association football clubs disestablished in 2013
2013 disestablishments in England
Witney and District League