Wisbech Town Football Club is a football club based near

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Fenland Stadium.

History

Although a Wisbech Town existed in the 1890s, the current club was established in 1920 by the merger of three local clubs. They initially played in the Peterborough & District League, winning it in 1924–25, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1931–32 and 1932–33. In 1935 the club turned semi-professional and joined the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckinghamshi ...

. Former

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

player Sam Jennings was the first major signing, and the club won the United Counties League Cup in their first season. In 1945–46 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup, but lost to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. The following season they won the league title, a feat repeated the season after. In 1950 they switched to the Eastern Counties League, before joining the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

in 1952. In 1957–58 the club reached the second round of the FA Cup, beating

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

1–0 in the first leg, before losing 2–1 at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

. That season they finished second in the league, and switched again to the Southern League, joining the North-West Division. After finishing ninth and reaching the first round of the FA Cup again (losing 4–1 in a replay at Newport County), the club was placed in the new Premier Division as the league reorganised. They reached the first round again in 1959–60, but lost 4–1 to

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 ...

. They were relegated in 1960–61, but returned as Division One champions in 1961–62. Despite reaching the first round of the FA Cup again, they were relegated back to Division One in 1964–65. In 1965–66 they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the last time until 1995, losing 10–1 at Brighton, their record defeat. In 1970 the club returned to the Eastern Counties League. They won the League Cup in 1971, the league and cup double in 1971–72, and the league again in 1976–77. In 1983–84 the club went 37 league matches unbeaten, but lost the title on goal difference. The following season they reached the semi-finals of the FA Vase, but lost to

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

in a semi-final replay after a draw over the original two legs. They reached the same stage the next season, but lost to

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

. They won the East Anglian Cup in 1988, and in 1990–91 they won the league again, and in 1995 the league cup. In 1995–96 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since the 1960s, but lost 5–1 at Kingstonian. However, after finishing second in the league that season the club were promoted to the Midland Division of the Southern League. Whilst playing in the Southern League, the club's reserve team entered the Eastern Counties League. The club reached the first round of the FA Cup again in 1996–97, losing 2–1 at home to St Albans City. The following season they reached the second round, after beating Billericay Town 2–1, before losing 2–0 at home to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. In the autumn of 2000, Wisbech experienced financial difficulties, leading to the release of six players. The club were relegated back to the Eastern Counties League in 2001–02 after finishing bottom of their division, and the reserve team dropped into the Cambridgeshire League. Having finished the 2012–13 season in second place in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division, the club were eligible for promotion. However, this opportunity was declined in favour of a voluntary lateral movement, rejoining the United Counties League Premier Division instead. They were runners-up in 2017–18, earning promotion to Division One East of the Northern Premier League. After finishing bottom of the Northern Premier League Midland Division at the end of the 2021–22 season, the club were relegated back to step 5 of the National League System into the

Premier Division North.

Stadium

Having previously played on several different grounds after their formation in 1920, in 1947 the club moved to Fenland Park, a former orchard in

Walsoken Walsoken is a settlement and civil parish in Norfolk, England, which is conjoined as a suburb at the northeast of the town of Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire. The parish of Walsoken in the 2001 census, had a population of 1,484 rising slig ...

. At the start of the 1957–58 season, Fenland Park's record attendance of 8,044 was set on 25 August 1957 for a match against local rivals

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 ...

. In the 2000s the club began to make plans for a new stadium. In March 2008 planning permission was granted by King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Borough Council A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

to build a new ground on a site on the northern outskirts of the town. In September 2008 the club left Fenland Park, and started playing at Outwell Swift's Nest ground after installing a seated stand, floodlights and terracing. Construction began on the new ground in January 2010, with the first match, a 5–0 win over St Andrews in the FA Cup extra-preliminary round, taking place on 14 August 2010. Fenland Park was subsequently used for housing, with an estate named Fenmen Place built on the site. On 9 February 2020, the North Stand was destroyed by

Storm Ciara Storm Ciara was a powerful and long-lived extratropical cyclone that was the first of a pair of European windstorms to affect the United Kingdom and Ireland at peak intensity less than a week apart in early February 2020, followed by Storm Denn ...

.Storm Ciara: Wisbech Town Football Club's stand destroyed
BBC News, 10 February 2020

Honours

* Southern Football League Division One **Champions 1961–62 * Eastern Counties League **Champions 1971–72, 1976–77, 1990–91 **League Cup winners 2010–11, 2012–13 *

**Champions 1946–47, 1947–48, 1949–50

Records

*Best

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 ...

performance: Second round, 1957–58, 1997–98 *Best FA Trophy performance: Second round, 1999–2000 *Best FA Vase performance: Semi-finals, 1984–85, 1985–86 *Attendance: 8,044 vs

, Midland League, 25 August 1957Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p649 *Goalscorer: Bert Titmarsh, 246 (1931–37) *Appearances: Jamie Brighty, 731

References

External links