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STFC Club History
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Club History
by Nathan on 06/07/2003
A history of Slough Town Football Club from foundation in 1890 to the present day. |
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Slough
Town FC Club History
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The
Early Years & Slough United
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The
original Slough Football Club were formed in 1889 as the product
of a merger between Slough Albion and the Young Mens' Friendly Society.
The club played one match in the Hennessey Cup in 1889 before
joining the Southern Alliance in 1890.
In
1921, Slough joined the Spartan League and competed in this competition
until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. During
this period, Slough had their player, Alec Grant selected to play
for England against France in Paris, becoming the Club's first full
international. It was also in the twenties and thirties that E.J. Norris set the Club's all time goalscoring record, notching
up a staggering 343 goals in 224 appearances.
They
had been runners-up in the Great Western Suburban League in 1919/20
and in the Spartan League in 1920/21, 1921/22, 1931/32, 1932/33
and 1938/39.
The
thirties saw considerable upheaval after six players were deemed
to be professional by the FA and banned from playing amateur football.
The ironic thing is that this was merely down to poor book
keeping on behalf of the Club.
Shortly
after this, the Club foolishly turned-down the opportunity to buy
their Dolphin Stadium (click
here for a map) from
George Bennett, the landowner. This had repercussions for
the Club in many ways. Not least of these was the fact that
the Greyhound Racing Authority took over the lease of the ground
and the Football Club were relegated to tenant status.
The
outbreak of war three years later and the enforced blackouts forced
Greyhound racing to be held on Saturday afternoons and left the
Football Club without a home. The Club spent a little time
playing at the Cricket Club (click
here for a map)
in Chalvey Road before moving in with Maidenhead United at York
Road (click
here for a map).
 In
1943, Slough Centre FC moved to the newly built Centre Stadium
in Belfast Road (click
here for a map)
and invited Slough FC to join them in a merger to become Slough
United FC The first match at the Centre saw United demolish
St Albans 7-0. The merger signalled a new period of success
for Slough.
The
arrangement only lasted four seasons but, during that time, United
played against some of the top amateur sides in the country. They
started in the Herts & Middlesex League, finishing as runners-up
one season and third place in the other before moving into
the newly formed Corinthian League.
Their first season in the Corinthian
League saw them finish as runners up to Grays Athletic and also
reach the 1st Round proper of the FA Cup. The following season,
they repeated their runners up place, losing out to Walton &
Hersham and bowing out of the FA Cup at the 2nd Qualifying Round
stage.
The
decision to abandon the Spartan League in favour of the Corinthian
League earned the Club the nickname "The Rebels", a nickname
adopted by Slough Town after United split again into its component
parts in 1947.
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No
Longer United
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 The
first season after the split, the Rebels only
managed a lowly 13th place in the Corinthian League. They
showed some improvement in the following two seasons, finishing
in 6th and 8th place, and beating their former colleagues of
Slough Centre in the FA Cup in 1949/50.
However,
it was in 1950/51 that the Rebels first made their mark in amateur football,
winning the Corinthian League for the first time.
 Despite
increasing their points total by three the following season, they
were only able to achieve a third place finish and something of
a lean spell ensued with a 10th and 13th place finish in 1952/53
and 1953/54 and only a losing FA Amateur Cup Quarter-Final appearance
against Pegasus in 1952/53 to look back on.
The
Rebels managed two 4th place finishes in 1954/55 and 1955/56 and
a 6th place in 1956/57 before securing the runners-up slot in 1957/58,
missing out to near-neighbours, Maidenhead United. 3rd place
was secured the following season and a disappointing 7th in 1959/60
but in 1960/61, the Rebels suffered their worst season to date,
finishing 16th out of 16 teams in the Corinthian League.
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Wembley
& The Athenian Years
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 8th
place was secured for the next two seasons and the Rebels then switched
to the newly enlarged Athenian League on the abolition of the Corinthian
League.
Their
first season in the Athenian League's 1st Division saw a respectable
5th place and this was bettered in some style when the Rebels took
the Division 1 title in 1964/65, losing only three matches and scoring
81 goals in 30 games! The following season, the Rebels
managed to take 8th place in the Athenian League Premier Division
and went one better to finish 7th in 1966/67. There was disappointment
in the FA Amateur Cup though, with the Rebels losing at Skelmersdale
United in a Quarter-Final replay.
 The
Rebels won the Athenian League Premier in 1967/68, scoring an incredible
93 goals and losing only 2 matches. They were runners-up the
following season and again lost at Skelmersdale United in an
FA Amateur Cup Quarter-Final replay.
They
managed 4th and 3rd places in the following seasons and reached
the Semi-Final of the FA Amateur Cup for the first time, beating
Aveley at Mill Field in the Quarter Final and holding Dagenham to
a 3-3 draw at The Valley before bowing out 2-1 at Craven Cottage
in the replay. They also made the second round proper of the
FA Cup, losing 1-0 at home to Barnet.
 The
Rebels took the Athenian League title in both 1971/72 and 1972/73
and came agonisingly close to completing a memorable "double",
losing 1-0 to Walton & Hersham in the FA Amateur Cup final at
Wembley Stadium in front of 41,000 spectators thanks to a last minute
goal after defeating amateur giants, Blyth Spartans and Bishops
Stortford on their way to the final.
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Tight
Shorts & The Isthmian League
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 1973/74
saw the Rebels join the newly formed Isthmian League Division 2
where they were runners-up to Dagenham. They were promoted
with the Daggers to the 1st Division and finished 9th in their first
season in the top-flight. The last match of the season saw
a single goal enough to beat Horsham in the final match ever to
be held at The Dolphin Stadium. With the Dolphin destined
to become a supermarket, the Rebels moved to Wexham Park Stadium.
The next few seasons saw them maintain
a midtable position before romping to the Isthmian League title
in 1980/81. They also made the 2nd Round proper of the FA
Cup in 1979/80, losing by the only goal to Yeovil Town at Huish.
There was more disappointment in the FA Trophy where the Rebels
made it as far as the Semi-Finals in 1976/77, losing 6-2 on aggregate
to Dagenham. However, they did win the Isthmian League Cup
in 1975/76 and 1980/81 when they also won the Berks & Bucks
Senior Cup for the tenth time.
Finishing
in 8th and 7th in 1981/82 and 1982/83, the Rebels again made the
2nd Round proper of the FA Cup, losing 4-1 to Bishops Stortford
at Wexham Park after a memorable 1-0 win over Third Division
Millwall.
 The
following season saw the Rebels finish 3rd behind Harrow Borough
and Worthing but they only managed 14th place in 1984/85 and 6th
in 1985/86. The latter of these seasons also saw another FA
Cup 2nd Round proper appearance with the Rebels holding Leyton Orient
to a 2-2 draw at Brisbane Road before bowing out 3-2 in the replay.
They
made the 2nd Round again the following year, losing 3-0 against
Swansea City at Vetch Field and came third in the Isthmian
League, behind Wycombe Wanderers and Yeovil Town. The Rebels
showed amazing consistency, taking third place for the next two
seasons, firstly behind Yeovil Town and Bromley and then behind
Leytonstone Ilford and Farnborough Town.
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The
Isthmian Title & The Conference
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 The
1989/90 season saw the Rebels pip Wokingham Town to the Isthmian
League title and gain promotion to the Conference for the first
time in their history. The FA Cup saw disappointment though
when the Rebels made it to the 1st Round proper, only to lose at
home to Woking.
The
first two seasons in the Conference saw the Rebels struggle to avoid
the drop, finishing 19th in 1990/91 and 20th in 1991/92. Despite
finishing in the relegation places, they were reprieved by the Football
League's increase in numbers. They made the FA Cup 1st Round
proper in 1991/92, losing 2-1 to Reading in a replay at Elm Park.
They
finished in an excellent 5th place in 1992/93 and again made the
1st Round proper of the FA Cup, this time losing to Colchester United
at Layer Road.
During
1993, the Club was bought by Alan Thorne, former chairman of Millwall
and Dave Kemp was appointed as manager.
 The
following season, they could only manage a 21st place finish and
were relegated back into the Isthmian League Premier Division but
they again made the 1st Round proper of the FA Cup, losing to Torquay
United at Wexham Park.
1994/95
saw the Rebels bounce straight back into the Conference, finishing
as runners-up to Enfield in the Isthmian League. Slough were
promoted due to Enfield's inability to go up. This season
saw yet another FA Cup 1st Round exit to a league side, this time
falling 4-0 to Birmingham City in a home match switched to
St. Andrews.
Again,
the Rebels failed to make much of an impact on the Conference and
17th and 16th place finishes were achieved in 1995/96 and 1996/97.
The first of these seasons saw the Rebels lose out to league
opposition in the FA Cup 1st Round proper for an incredible 5th
successive year with them losing 2-0 to Plymouth Argyle at Wexham
Park.
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Seats
& Controversy
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 Controversy
struck the Rebels in 1997/98 when, despite finishing in a creditable
8th place in the Conference, they were ejected from the league.
The Rebels had completed an excellent season, reaching the
Semi-Finals of the FA Trophy for the second time where they lost
2-1 on aggregate to Southport and holding Cardiff City to a 1-1
draw at Wexham Park in the FA Cup 1st Round before bowing out of
the competition 3-2 in the replay at Ninian Park.
Following
a long period of dispute between the Club and the Council, Chairman,
Alan Thorne, resigned his chairmanship of the Club. His son
elected not to install the additional 49 seats required by the Conference.
He went on to sack manager, Brian McDermott and placed the
entire playing squad on the transfer list.
 There is
much dispute as to the real reasons for Slough's ejection from the
Conference. Whilst the official reason is the issue of the
seats,
there has been much talk that there were severe financial irregularities
at the Club and that these were the real reason for the Conference
expelling the Rebels.
August
13th 1998 saw a new consortium take over the Club, only nine days
before the start of the 1998/99 season. With former Scottish
international, Alan Brazil installed as Director of Football, things
looked promising for the Rebels.
1998/99
saw the Rebels yet again in the 1st Round of the FA Cup, this time
losing to Division 2 side, Macclesfield Town in an amazing penalty
shootout at Wexham Park after a 2-2 draw at Moss Rose. The
League saw them finish 11th.
 The
1999/00 season showed a little improvement on League form with the
Rebels finishing 9th but all was not well at Wexham Park and repeated
financial crises were beginning to take their toll on the Rebels
and the 2000/01 season saw the Rebels drop out of the Isthmian Premier
League, finishing 20th.
Finding
themselves in the Isthmian League Division 1, the Rebels failed
to make much of an impact on the league despite their large budget
and having been installed as pre-season favourites. They finished
in 8th place.
The
2002/03 season saw the Isthmian League reorganise divisions 1 and
2 and The Rebels participated in the Isthmian League Division 1
North and, despite showing some signs of challenging, failed to
take one of the two promotion places. The FA Cup saw the Rebels
reach the 1st Round proper, but they were surprised by Harrogate
Railway Athletic at Wexham Park after having beaten Isthmian Premier
sides, Hampton & Richmond Borough and Canvey Island in earlier
rounds.
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Wexham
Park & The Future
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 The
future is somewhat uncertain at the moment for the Rebels. The
situation with their Wexham Park ground (left) means that a ground share
with Windsor & Eton will see the Rebels start their 2003/04 season at Stag Meadow, although it is by no means certain that Wexham Park
has seen its last ever Slough Town match.
Chairman,
Martyn Deaner, is reported to be attempting to negotiate a deal that
will see the Rebels return to Wexham Park in the near future, but
nobody appears to be saying much.
Manager
Steve Brown stepped down at the end of the 2002/03 season and has
now joined Boreham Wood, taking a large number of the Rebels' squad
with him.
In
the long term, it can only be hoped that a new permanent home can
be found within Slough for the Club and that a new Football League
standard ground can be built.
 In
the interim, the Slough fans will need to travel some distance to
watch the boys in amber and blue.
Eddie Denton took over as
manager at the beginning of season 2003/04, and despite a shaky
start to the season, managed to secure fourth position in the Ryman
League division One South and "promotion" to the Ryman Premier
Division.
The 2004/05 season
has to be arguably one of the best in the club's recent history.
Despite a league finish of only 13th, Slough managed to reach the
2nd Round Proper of the FA Cup, having beaten League One side Walsall out
of the competition in the 1st Round. They also reached the 5th Round of the FA Trophy and won the
Bryco (Isthmian) League Cup.
Slough spent much
of the 2005/06 season hovering in and around the relegation zone,
but secured their safety with a few games to spare. The Semi-Finals
of both the Westview (Isthmian) League Cup and Berks & Bucks Cup
were reached.
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