Welling Town F.C.

Welling Town
Full nameWelling Town Football Club
Nickname(s)The Boots
Founded2014
GroundErith Leisure Centre, Erith
ChairmanKevin Oakes
ManagerKevin Oakes
LeagueSouthern Counties East League Division One
2023–24Southern Counties East League Premier Division, 21st of 21 (relegated)

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 and play at the Erith Leisure Centre in Erith.

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 bottom of the Premier Division in 2023–24, they were relegated back to Division One.

Ground

The club moved to Bayliss Avenue in Thamesmead in 2017 after Thamesmead Town left the ground.[6] In 2021 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,[7] and then relocated to the Mayplace Ground of Phoenix Sports for the 2023–24 season.[8] The club planned to move to the K Sports Cobdown complex in Aylesford on a five-year tenancy from the start of the 2024–25 season,[9] but the agreement was later cancelled and the club started the 2024–25 season at the Erith Leisure Centre.[10]

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. ^ "Welcome to the Mayplace Ground Welling Town!". Phoenix Sports Club. 2 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Finally – A Home". Welling Town FC. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Welling Town". Southern Counties East League.

51°28′35″N 0°10′47″E / 51.47641°N 0.17984°E / 51.47641; 0.17984