Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex.

History

Early days

Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C.'',''Staines Albany F.C.'', 'Staines Lagonda F.C.', and 'Staines Town F.C.', until it folded in 1935. However, prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the club re-formed as ''Staines Vale''. In 1953 Staines Town were founder members of the Hellenic League, where they finished runners-up in 1956. In 1958 they joined the

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establish ...

and won the title two years later. After finishing second in 1971, Staines Town advanced to the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...

, where they won the Second Division title at the first attempt, amassing a record number of points.

Isthmian League

The club were elected to the new Isthmian League Division One in 1973. In their second season, the club finished top and were promoted to the Premier Division. In a nine-year stay, the club's best finish was fourth. However, a ground grading ruling meant that the club were demoted in 1984. The club bounced back five years later only for its Premier Division status to be lost again in 1993 when the club were relegated for the first time in 63 years. Again the club were promoted in 1996 and again it was quickly lost, with the club returning to Division One after only a year. Having lobbied Spelthorne Council on and off for 20 years, planning permission for a £6.5m conference and health facility was granted in April 2000 and finalised a year later. During construction, Staines groundshared with Walton & Hersham and Egham Town before the return to Wheatsheaf Lane on 22 February 2003. During 2002–03 and 2003–04, Staines played in Division One South of the Isthmian League and on the last day of season 2003–04, under Steve Cordery, they secured a place in the Premier Division in the newly re-structured pyramid. The Swans spent five seasons in this division before winning promotion to the Conference South in 2009. They had finished second in the league and therefore gained promotion through the play-offs, beating Carshalton Athletic 1–0 in the final at Wheatsheaf Park on 2 May 2009. Louis Wells saved a Carshalton penalty in the 85th minute with Scott Taylor scoring the winning goal in extra time. Staines had also finished as runners up in the previous season, but had lost 2–1 to AFC Wimbledon in the playoff final after taking a first half lead but conceding two late goals in the last seven minutes.

Life in the Conference South

The 2009–10 campaign marked the Swans' first ever appearance in the Conference South and they began their journey brightly, defeating

Weston-Super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

0–1 and Dorchester Town 3–0. A home defeat, 1–2, to Havant & Waterlooville was then followed by five consecutive draws and then a 1–3 victory away at St. Albans City. Two significant victories in late October 2009 were beating first place, and at the time unbeaten, Newport County 1–0 at home followed four days later beating third place Thurrock 1–2 away. On Boxing Day 2009, Staines won 4–1 away to rivals Hampton and Richmond Borough, following this up by beating them 4–0 at the Wheatsheaf on New Years Day 2010, with Ali Chaaban scoring a hat-trick. Another significant victory was away at Chelmsford, winning 0–1 through a Marc Charles-Smith goal, Charles-Smith's third goal in a little over 48 hours having scored twice at Dorchester only two days previously. Steve Cordery was named the Conference South manager of the month for January, 2010. Despite a magnificent February and March when Staines Town were in the play-off places, they finished in a very creditable eighth place in their first season in the Conference South.

Cup history

The club have reached 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 ...

first round proper on six occasions, in 1879, 1880, 1984 (losing 2–0 at a Neil Warnock-managed Burton Albion), 2007, 2009 and 2015. In 2007 Staines were drawn away against League Two outfit

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

. A crowd of 3,460 saw Staines go behind to a Matty McNeil header but a 76th-minute equaliser from Charles-Smith earned a replay. It was announced on 12 November that the replay would be shown on Sky Sports, resulting in a £75,000 windfall for each club. Staines Town completed the improbable upset as they won the match in penalty kicks (4–3, two magnificent saves by Swans goalkeeper Shaun Allaway, the winning penalty scored by Dave Sargent) after drawing 1–1 in extra time, after having taken the lead in the eighth minute with an Adrian Toppin goal. In the next round they faced Peterborough United at home, and were beaten 5–0. Sir Alex Ferguson (father of Peterborough manager Darren) and Sir Trevor Brooking were among the guests of Staines Town FC on the day. On 7 November 2009 they beat

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

0–1 at the

Prostar Stadium New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5. It serves the ho ...

, Shrewsbury in the 1st Round proper of the F.A. Cup to reach the second round of the competition. The Second Round draw saw Staines Town drawn at home to the winners of the following evening's First Round game of

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

vs AFC Wimbledon, which Millwall won 4–1. On 28 November 2009 they earned a place in the 3rd Round Draw for the first time ever after a 1–1 draw against

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Millwall, Ali Chaaban scoring a 79th-minute penalty to level the score after having gone behind ten minutes earlier, in front of a 2,753 crowd. The replay at the New Den was on 9 December and was broadcast live on the FA.com website. A home tie against Championship side

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 ...

in the 3rd Round awaited the winners of the replay, which Millwall won 4–0. There have been two appearances in the last 32 of the FA Trophy, the first back in 1976, losing to Morecambe in a 2nd replay and then in a replay to

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

in 2004 after drawing 1–1 at

The Shay The Shay is a sports stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is owned by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and leased by the Shay Stadium Trust, a not-for-profit company set up to preserve the ground as a sports stadi ...

in the first match. Another significant match in the club's history was in 1975 when they beat Italian Amateur cup winners Banco di Roma 3–0 on aggregate (1-0 in Rome, 2–0 in Wheatsheaf Lane) for the Barassi Cup. Staines have also lifted the

Middlesex Senior Cup The Middlesex Senior Cup is the most prestigious football cup competition in the historic county of Middlesex, England. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although league clubs have been known to enter the compe ...

on no fewer than ten occasions. In 1997 under Chris Wainwright, beating

Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning "the ...

in a penalty shoot out, whilst the

Middlesex Charity Cup The Middlesex Senior Charity Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1901. It was presented in 1901 by C.S. Goldmann, Esq. and was first played for in the 1901–02 season, the first winners being Clapton Orie ...

was lifted in 1994 with a 4–0 win over Northwood. The latest victory in the

was in 2013 with a 2–0 win over Ashford Town (Middx). The Carlsberg Cup (an Isthmian League tournament now abolished) was lifted in 1995 against

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

where the Swans scored a last minute equaliser from the last experimental 'kick in' in English football. In the London Senior Cup, Staines were runners up in both 1977 and 1981, the earlier final went to a replay versus Wimbledon which 'The Dons' won in their last match as a non-League club.

Recent history

Staines have been involved in a protracted and bitter dispute over the club's land since 2018 with a London-based Investment firm Downing LLP, the club's current ownership has actively defended the club's position using its financial resources. In December 2020, the club's ownership group launched a multimillion-pound bid to buy out the investment firm, believed to be in the region of £2.5 million. In March 2022, the club said it has suspended its operations due to a dispute with its landlord. The club made several accusations against the investment firm, including breaches of the

Modern Slavery Act 2015 The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is designed to combat modern slavery in the UK and consolidates previous offences relating to trafficking and slavery. The act extends essentially to England and W ...

which were denied by the firm, the club suspending all primary operations as a result. Staines were due to take up a place in the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

Premier Division North following relegation from Step 4. However, it was announced in July 2022 that their place was taken by Combined Counties Division One side Hilltop. On the same day, the club's website, Twitter account and all other associated social media pages were removed; all but ending 130 years of existence.

Records

*Isthmian League Premier Division Play-Offs, 2008–09 *

best performance: Second Round Proper, 2007–08 and 2009–2010 * FA Trophy best performance: Fourth Round, 2003–04 *Record attendance: 2,860 vs

, FA Cup first round replay, 22 November 2007Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2020) ''Non-League Club Directory 2021'', p564 *Biggest victory: 14–0 vs

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, Isthmian League Division One, 19 March 1994 *Heaviest defeat: 1–18 vs

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

Great Western Suburban League The Great Western Suburban League was a football league that was primarily held in the Home counties, founded in 1904. History The Great Western Suburban League was founded in 1904, drawing its membership from the Home counties to the west of Lo ...

, 27 December 1909 *Most appearances: Dickie Watmore, 840 *Most goals: Alan Gregory, 122

Stadium

Wheatsheaf Park Wheatsheaf Park is a association football, football stadium in Staines-upon-Thames, England. It was the home ground of Staines Town F.C., Staines Town between its opening in 1951 and the club's disbandment in 2022. The stadium was renovated in Ma ...

was the home of the Staines Town Football Club, situated in Wheatsheaf Lane, Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex, TW18 2PD. It had been the home of the club since it was purchased in 1951. Like many football stadia, it had changed greatly over time; the most recent of these changes was the development of the main stand in the Wheatsheaf Lane End. Planning permission for this was granted by Spelthorne Council in March 2000, and Staines Town returned to the revamped ground on 22 February 2003. The club boasted a brand new sports bar with Sky Sports football each week and refurbished changing rooms. Wheatsheaf Park was one of the most developed stadiums in its league. Wheatsheaf Park had a total capacity of 3,009, with 300 seated and 800 in covered terrace. The record league attendance for a match at Wheatsheaf Park was 2,285 vs AFC Wimbledon in 2006. However, one year later Staines had an F.A Cup match against Stockport County and the attendance just crept over the 2,860 mark, setting the club's overall attendance record. Wheatsheaf Park was also previously the home stadium of Chelsea Ladies Football Club before their move to

Kingsmeadow Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2,2 ...

in 2017. In 2015 the ground received its UEFA Stadium Category 1 approval and hosted Chelsea L.F.C home fixtures in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

Club honours

League *

Division Two ** Winners: 1971–72 * Great Western Suburban League Division Two ** Winners: 1920–21 * Isthmian League Division One ** Winners (2): 1974–75, 1988–89 * Isthmian League Premier Play-offs ** Winners: 2008–09 *

** Winners: 1959–60 * West London Alliance Division One ** Winners: 1899–1900 * West London League Division One ** Winners: 1900–01 * West Middlesex League ** Winners:

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Cup * Barassi Cup ** Winners: 1975–76 * El Cañuelo Trophy ** Winners (4): 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 * Geoff Harvey Memorial Vase ** Winners:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

* George Ruffell Shield ** Winners:

* Jim Lawford Memorial Cup ** Winners: 1999–00 * John Livey Memorial Trophy ** Winners (2): 1993–94, 2013–14 * London Senior Cup ** Runners-up (2): 1976–77, 1980–81 * Lord of Ashford Charity Bowl ** Winners (2): 2001–02,

* Melksham Middlesex Charity Shield ** Winners: 1997–98 *Merthyr Middlesex Charity Shield **Winners:

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

*Middlesex Junior Cup **Winners (2): 1901–02,

1903–04 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

*Middlesex Senior Challenge Cup **Winners (10): 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1996–97, 2009–10,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

*Middlesex Senior Charity Cup **Winners: 1993–94 *

Southern Combination Challenge Cup The Southern Combination Challenge Cup is a football competition contested by non-league clubs. An independent cup, it was directly affiliated to the Football Association until 2015, when a change in FA Rules required such competitions to affil ...

**Winners (3): 1964–65, 1966–97, 1994–95 *

Challenge Cup **Winners: 1968–69 * Staines Cottage Hospital Cup ** Winners: 1925–26 * West Middlesex Cup ** Winners: 1924–25

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club. * Adrian Clifton * Ahmed Abdulla *

Joe Aribo Joseph Oluwaseyi Temitope Ayodele-Aribo (born 21 July 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Southampton and the Nigeria national team. He began his club career at Staines Town then spent four ...

* Jordaan Brown * Andy Driscoll *

Dom Dwyer Dominic James Dwyer (born July 30, 1990) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward. Born in England, he represented the United States national team. While in England, Dwyer represented, among other teams, Norwich City as a youth ...

Jerel Ifil Jerel Christopher Ifil (born 27 June 1982) is an English footballer who plays as a defender who plays for Swindon Supermarine. He is the elder brother of fellow footballer Philip Ifil. Born in Wembley, Greater London, to a Greeks mother and ...

* Joe O'Cearuill * Gary MacDonald * Andre Scarlett * Steve Scrivens * David Silman * Tim Soutar * Stephen Wilkins *

Mohamed Bettamer Mohamed Abdelkadir Bettamer (born 1 April 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for Concord Rangers on loan from Hayes & Yeading United. Born in England, he represents Libya at international level. Early and persona ...

James Younghusband James Joseph Younghusband (born 4 September 1986) is a former professional footballer who played mostly as a right midfielder and sometimes as a forward. Born in Surrey, England to an English father and Filipino mother, Younghusband played fo ...

* David Wheeler * Gordon Hill, who went on to play for Manchester United.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Coord, 51, 25, 11.0202, N, 0, 30, 7.4412, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Association football clubs established in 1892 Association football clubs disestablished in 2022 National League (English football) Isthmian League Parthenon League Athenian League Defunct football clubs in Surrey 1892 establishments in England 2022 disestablishments in England Southern Football League clubs Defunct football clubs in England