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by | Dec 19, 2023 | Zinnia

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Welling Town Football Club is a football club based in Welling, London, England. They are currently members of the Southern Counties East League Division One

History

The club was established in 2014 by Kevin Oakes and friends as a Sunday league club.[1] They joined Division Two of the London & Kent Suburban League, and finished third in the division in their first season, resulting in promotion to Division One.[1][2] After finishing fourth in Division One the following season,[3] the club switched to Saturday football,[1] joining Division Three West of the Kent County League.[4] The Sunday side continued for another two seasons.

Welling won the Barry Bundock West Kent Challenge Shield in 2016–17 and were Division Three West runners-up, earning promotion to Division Two West.[5] They went on to win Division Two West and the Kent Junior Cup the following season, also retaining the Barry Bundock West Kent Challenge Shield.[5] The club then successfully applied to join Division One of the Southern Counties East League for the 2018–19 season,[5] a jump of three divisions.

In their first season in the Southern Counties East League, Welling were Division One champions, earning promotion to the Premier Division. However, after finishing 3rd bottom of the Premier Division in 2022/23, & then finishing in bottom place in 2023–24, they were relegated back to Division One, conceding the most goals ever recorded within a SCEFL calender season of 132 league goals.

Ground

The club moved to Bayliss Avenue in Thamesmead in 2017 after Thamesmead Town left the ground.[6] In 2021 they was removed from Peasbody Stadium, & they relocated to Kent Football United's Efes Stadium in Dartford. For the 2022–23 season they moved to Chatham Town's Bauvill Stadium in Chatham for 1 season.[7] They relocated once again at the end of the season, moving this time to Phoenix Sports FC for 1 season. A move to the K Sports Cobdown complex in Aylesford was agreed on paper, but was cancelled within 2 weeks of the deal. A brief stay at Holmesdale FC ended before it had ever begun, & Welling Town now search for there 7th ground within the last 5 seasons. [8]

Honours

  • Southern Counties East League
    • Division One champions 2018–19
  • Kent County League
    • Division Two West champions 2017–18
    • Barry Bundock West Kent Challenge Shield winners 2016–17, 2017–18
  • Kent Junior Cup
    • Winners 2017–18

References

  1. ^ a b c History Welling Town F.C.
  2. ^ 2011–2015 Second Division (Adults) London & Kent Suburban League
  3. ^ 2015–2016 First Division (Adult) London & Kent Suburban League
  4. ^ Welling Town at the Football Club History Database
  5. ^ a b c Welling Town chairman Kevin Oakes: We were required to provide considerable documentation and a business plan to outline our past, present and future. This is not something that has been thrown together in a few weeks! Kentish Football, 25 May 2018
  6. ^ Let's be quite clear I am not killing the club by moving it to Dartford, insists Thamesmead Town chairman Paul Bowden-Brown Kentish Football, 9 March 2017
  7. ^ "A new home for 2022/23". Welling Town FC. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Finally – A Home". Welling Town FC. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.

51°22′7.439″N 0°31′17.940″E / 51.36873306°N 0.52165000°E / 51.36873306; 0.52165000

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