Wealdstone F.C.
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| Full name | Wealdstone Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Stones, The Royals | ||
| Founded | 1899 | ||
| Ground |
St Georges Stadium (Capacity: 2,387 (315 seated & 568 covered)) |
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| Chairman | Howard Krais | ||
| Manager | Gordon Bartlett | ||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
| 2010–11 | Isthmian League Premier Division, 12th | ||
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Wealdstone Football Club is an English semi-professional football club which was formed in Wealdstone, in the London Borough of Harrow, but is currently based a few miles away in Ruislip, in the London Borough of Hillingdon.[2] At present, the club is a member of the Isthmian League Premier Division. It plays in royal blue shirts and shorts, and is nicknamed "The Stones" or "The Royals". Its most recent trophy success was the Middlesex Charity Cup which it won on 2 May 2011.
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[edit] History
There were, in fact, two separate Wealdstone Football Clubs in existence as far back as the 19th century, but the present club was formed at the start of the 1899-1900 season. It started with a friendly match on 7 October 1899, winning 6-1 at Northwood. Unfortunately, just 7 years later, the club was forced to close down, largely through lack of interest among both players and fans.
It reformed in time for the 1908-09 season, enjoying a successful period before another closedown during World War I, which claimed the lives of a great many of its members. From the 1920s onwards, though now drawing very sizeable crowds for amateur football, the club had little success on the pitch until the 1950s.
Wealdstone took part in the first televised broadcast of a football match in 1946 when it played at Barnet in an Athenian League game. It also participated in the first live showing of an FA Cup tie in 1949 v Colchester United at Lower Mead.[citation needed]
Finally, in 1952 it won its first major trophy becoming champions of the Athenian League. The club then began a period of sustained growth, winning three Middlesex Senior Cup titles, in 1959, 1963 and 1964. Major national success was achieved in 1966 when the club won the FA Amateur Cup at Wembley Stadium, beating local rivals Hendon
[edit] Great success followed by disaster
The club decided to turn semi-professional in 1971, and the Southern League Division One title was won in 1974.
The early 1980s proved to be the club's most successful period to date, to the extent that it became the top non-league side.
Wealdstone comfortably won the both the Southern League Championship and Southern League Cup in 1982.
In 1985 it became the first ever club to achieve the non-league "double". Captained by uncompromising centre half Paul Bowgett it won both the FA Trophy, beating Boston United at Wembley Stadium, and also the Gola League (now the Conference National).
The club has played at Wembley in three finals, and won all of them.
With an experienced and talented squad, which contained future Wimbledon and Wales midfielder Vinnie Jones, the club started the process of application for election into the Football League (the voting system for entry into the Football League was then in its penultimate season, prior to automatic promotion as now happens). However, as the Lower Mead ground was not up to the requirements at the time, Bath City was subsequently selected as Runners Up and Wealdstone lost out narrowly in the vote.
With a change of management in 1987 and an aging team the club was relegated from the Conference three years later, back into the Southern League.
At this point, a severe and long-term downtown in the financial fortunes of the club begun. Together with relegation, it was forced to move out from its Lower Mead stadium in central Harrow when the then chairman, Alan Clifton, controversially sold the land to Tesco supermarkets in dubious circumstances, with the club itself receiving very little money for the sale.
Ultimately, this proved financially disastrous for the club, and left it homeless for the next seventeen years. The club's new owners decided to enter into a prestigious but extremely costly two year ground share agreement at Watford's Vicarage Road stadium, a move which may have destroyed the club entirely had it not been for the fund raising efforts of its fans. A much cheaper ground share at Yeading followed, and then a ten year period sharing with Edgware Town. In 2005, the club moved yet again to share with Northwood.
[edit] Wilderness years
Throughout this long period of homelessness, the club has been run on a very tight budget because of its minimal income sources, as the massive financial damage caused by the sale of the old ground is slowly repaired.
On the pitch, although the team initially slipped rapidly downwards as a result of the severe lack of funds, the decline was eventually reversed. The club requested that the Football Association move it from the Southern League into the equal standard but less geographically widespread Isthmian League, in order to save on travelling expenses. The FA agreed to this but insisted that the club join the Isthmian League at its lowest level, which effectively meant the club voluntarily taking two steps down in playing standard.
The Isthmian League Division 3 title was won in 1997, and then promotion from Division 2 was gained the following season. In 1999, the club finished third in Division One and thereby earned promotion to the Premier Division. However, this was frustratingly denied to them when Edgware Town's ground, at which Wealdstone were then tenants, failed a ground grading inspection. In 2004, the club finally returned to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League, having won the First Division Play-Off Final against Dulwich Hamlet on penalties.
With very little money to spend on wages to attract players, the club found itself relying on a large number of inexperienced youngsters, but narrowly avoided relegation in both 2005 and 2006.
In the summer of 2006, following non league re-organization, the club was very reluctantly reassigned back to Southern League for the 2006-7 season, before re-joining The Isthmian League again the following season.
[edit] Search for a new home
Since being forced to leave Lower Mead, the club and its supporters have sought to be in a position to afford the building of a new home stadium within the London Borough of Harrow. This plan finally found substance when a suitable site was found at the Prince Edward Playing Fields in Canons Park, a facility which had fallen into disuse and disrepair. Planning permission for a new stadium with substantial community amenities was gained and partial funding obtained from the national lottery.
Construction began in 2003, but the project was hindered by various financial problems and the building work halted completely in 2004, when the private company paying the builders went into liquidation. Slow progress was made in sourcing alternative funding, but there were still hopes that the stadium would be completed and opened in 2007.
[edit] Moving in at The Vale
However in early 2008, the club issued a press release stating that the chairman and vice-chairman of Wealdstone FC had acquired a majority shareholding in Ruislip Manor Sports and Social Club (RMSSC), which owned the lease to the Grosvenor Vale stadium, then used by Ruislip Manor F.C. and also by Wealdstone's Youth Team.
With the ground share agreement at Northwood coming to an end and no specific finish date in sight for the club's Prince Edward Playing Field development, Wealdstone instead decided to invest in the Grosvenor Vale stadium to upgrade the playing facilities as a priority, in order to meet the necessary ground grading requirements to play Isthmian League Premier Division football in the 2008-09 season.
Since moving to Grosvenor Vale, Wealdstone have had steadily increasing home attendances year on year, and currently have the highest average home attendance for a Non-League club in the entirity on North London. The Stones have several allegances with other clubs across the country, including several Premiership/League clubs who have used The Vale as their "base" whilst visiting Wembley Stadium, including Manchester City F.C., Swansea City A.F.C. and Aston Villa F.C., many of whom have unofficially adopted Wealdstone as their "second club".
[edit] Notable former players
[edit] England internationals
[edit] Wales Internationals
[edit] English Premier League
[edit] Football League
- Scott Donnelly
- Terry Dyson
- Colin Franks
- Mick Ferguson
- Kieron Forbes
- Simon Garner
- Ray Goddard
- Carl Martin
- Thomas McGhee
- Graeme Montgomery
- Marvin Morgan
- Marvin McCoy
- John-Joe O'Toole
- Theo Robinson
- Marvin Sordell
- Steve Walford
- Phil White (Leyton Orient)
[edit] England amateur internationals
- John Ashworth
- Hugh Lindsay (and Football League)
- Charlie Townsend
[edit] England semi-professional internationals
- Paul Bowgett (and Football League)
- Alan Cordice
- John 'Willie' Watson
[edit] England and Middlesex cricket
[edit] Stadium
Wealdstone moved to Grosvenor Vale in 2008 and re-named the stadium "The Vale" for games. Since the summer of 2008 the ground has been improved considerably, with the introduction of new terracing, safety barriers and in 2009 a new covered stand. There are plans to improve the ground further over time but currently the ground has a capacity of 2387, with 315 of those seated and 568 covered.
[edit] Rivals
Wealdstone's main traditional local rivals are Barnet and Enfield which comes from Wealdstone's time playing in the Athenian League in the 1950s and early 1960s and in the Conference during the 1980s. However, Wealdstone have not played either of these teams for many years due to Barnet's rise to League 2 and Enfield having plunged down the football ladder. Hendon F.C. were also often considered as traditional local rivals.
Most Wealdstone fans would now consider Harrow Borough to be their biggest rivals currently, purely due to their geographical proximity. Until recently, the clubs only ever met if they were drawn together in cup competitions as they operated in different leagues, but for the past four years they have both been members of the same league and now play each other regularly.
[edit] Current squad
- As of 24 January 2012
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] Management staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Gordon Bartlett |
| Assistant Manager | Leo Morris |
| Coach | Mark Gill |
| Coach |  Mickey Johnson |
| First Team Physio | Gary Strudwick |
[edit] Honours
- 1905/06: Willesden District League Division 1 Champions
- 1912/13: Willesden District League Division 1 Champions
- 1912/13: London League Division 2 Champions
- 1912/13: Middlesex Junior Cup Winners
- 1929/30: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1929/30: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 1930/31: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 1937/38: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1937/38: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 1938/39: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 1940/41: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1941/42: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1942/43: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1945/46: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1949/50: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 1951/52: Athenian League Champions
- 1958/59: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1962/63: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1963/64: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1963/64: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 1965/66: FA Amateur Cup Winners
- 1967/68: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1967/68: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 1973/74: Southern League (First Division South) Champions
- 1977/78: FA Cup Best (Third Round Proper) v QPR
- 1981/82: Southern League (South) Champions
- 1981/82: Southern League Cup Winners
- 1981/82: Southern League Championship Shield Winners
- 1981/82: Southern League Championship Cup Winners
- 1984/85: Football Conference Champions
- 1984/85: FA Trophy Winners
- 1984/85: Middlesex Senior Cup Winners
- 1984/85: Capital Football League Champions
- 1996/97: Isthmian Division Three Champions
- 1996/97: Isthmian League Associate Members Trophy Runners Up
- 1997/98: Promoted to Isthmian Division 1
- 2003/2004: Promoted to Isthmian League Premier Division as Play-off Winners
- 2003/2004: Middlesex Premier Cup Winners
- 2003/2004: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
- 2007/2008: Middlesex Premier Cup Winners
- 2008/2009: Middlesex Premier Cup Winners
- 2009/2010: Isthmian League Cup Runners Up
- 2010/2011: Middlesex Premier Cup Winners
- 2010/2011: Middlesex Charity Cup Winners
Middlesex Senior Cup Runners Up - 7 times. Middlesex Charity Cup Runners Up - 6 times.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.wealdstone-fc.com/index.php?id=27
- ^ WFCSC. "Wealdstone FC Supporters Club". WFCSC. http://www.wfcsc.co.uk/page.php?HomeGround.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
[edit] External links
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Coordinates: 51°34′09.85″N 0°24′59.90″W / 51.5694028°N 0.416639°W
