Hadley Football Club were founded in the 1882/83 season. A notable achievement during the early years was a 1-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur, although Tottenham then was not of the calibre that it is now. The 1880's and 1890's were glamour times for Hadley when the club used to attract crowds of several hundred to Hadley common. With regret however, the progressive Barnet FC etc. drew players away from Hadley. This was at about the turn of the century. Club activities became low key around 1912 with Barnet FC becoming more prominent. Between these years and 1922 the club was up and down like a yo yo. Club fortunes again changed close to World War II and thereafter, with the emergence from the Hadley ranks of the famous Lester Finch who went on to play for Barnet FC and become a full amateur international. Records show an upturn in Hadley FC activities after World War II. The club became a member of the Barnet and District League and, from about 1947, played at Wrotham Park at the Barnet end of Kitts End Road. Hadley played there until about 1955 when it then moved to Barnet Playing Fields in order to "have some better facilities". The club played in the North Suburban Intermediate League at this time.

Still playing at Barnet Playing Fields, the club then joined the Mid Herts League and with Peter Gray as 1st team manager, we were Premier Division Winners in 1975/76 and 1976/77. We also won the Mid Herts Premier Division Shield in 1976/77. Having won the Mid Herts Premier Division twice, the club wanted to progress to the Herts Senior County League so therefore moved to a pitch with better facilities in St. Albans Road, Barnet (current home of The Shire London Golf Club). We had one season at this pitch before being told that it was no longer available to hire. We won the Herts Senior County League Division Three at our first attempt during this season. However, we had to find a new home and played at a sports ground in Chandos Avenue, Whetstone (a training base for the England National team at the time), until 1985. The club left the Herts Senior County League to join the Southern Olympian League and moved grounds again to play at the Woodside Park Club, Southover, Totteridge.

In 1992 the club moved to a ground in Brickfield Lane, Arkley, Barnet and re-joined the Herts Senior County League in the 1999/00 season. Under the management of Ian Gray, the 1st team won the Division One championship in 2001/02 to move up to the Premier Division in 2002/03, where we finished mid-table. Mick Hore was appointed manager in 2003/04 and we enjoyed a very successful season with the 1st team winning the Herts Senior County League Premier Division and the Herts Senior Centenary Trophy. 2004/05 was also very successful with the 1st team retaining the Premier Division title. Success continued into 2005/06 with the 1st team winning the prestigious Aubrey Cup.

In 2006-07 the 1st team finished Runners Up in the Herts Senior County League Premier Division. An application to join the Spartan South Midlands league was blocked by the Herts County League, so the following season (2007-08) the club played all of its football in the West Herts Saturday League. During this season, all Hadley teams (3 teams) won their respective leagues for the first time in the clubs history. This included the 1st team winning the Premier Division of the West Herts League with Guy Slee in charge, having taken over from Mick Hore at the start of the season. We again applied to join the Spartan South Midlands League and our place in Division Two was accepted for the start of the 2008-09 season.

The move to the Spartan South Midlands League saw the 1st team begin groundsharing at Potters Bar Town FC, and the reserves and 3rd team continued to use the ground in Brickfield Lane. Ian Gray replaced Guy Slee as manager at the start of the season, with Guy having stepped up into the role of Chairman, joined on the committee with the arrival of Bob Henderson as Secretary. Our first season in the Spartan South Midlands League turned out to be a very successful one with the 1st team gaining promotion to Division One at the first attempt after finishing one point behind The 61 FC (Luton). We also won the Division Two Cup after beating Totternhoe in the final.

Our second season in the Spartan South Midlands League (2009-10) surpassed everyone’s expectations when we achieved another promotion after finishing in second place behind Holmer Green. We also won two matches in our first attempt at the FA Vase, beating Harpenden Town and then Leverstock Green, eventually being knocked out in a tight 1-0 defeat at Stanway Rovers. The 2010-11 season saw us again playing at the highest level in the club’s long history (Step 5 of the National League System), and we also enjoyed our first ever outing in the FA Cup, drawing 0-0 with Barking before losing 1-0 in the replay. Another highlight of the season was playing against Barnet in the 2nd round of the Herts Senior Cup, drawing 1-1 after 90 minutes before losing 4-1 in Extra Time.

In January 2012, long-serving manager Ian Gray stepped down from the role of 1st team manager after 3½ successful years in charge, having guided the team from Division Two to the Premier Division of the Spartan South Midlands League with back-to-back promotions. A new management team was appointed who were previously with St Albans City reserves. An influx of new players and the guidance of player-manager Alexis Nicholas saw us achieve our pre-season aim of staying in the Premier Division, as we ended in 15th position out of 22 teams. The start of the 2012-13 season saw Franco Sidoli join as 1st team manager having also left St Albans City during the summer. Franco was supported by a coaching team of Alexis Nicholas, Lewis Dommett and Hector Varela as we enjoyed a successful season with a comfortable mid-table finish and our first ever win in the FA Cup following a 2-0 victory over Hertford Town. We also reached the final of the Premier Division Cup when we were unlucky to lose 3-2 against Aylesbury United (After Extra Time), having taken the lead twice in the match.

At the end of the 2012-13 season, Franco Sidoli stepped down as 1st team manager due to a change in work circumstances for 3 out of 4 people in the management team, including himself, which would not have allowed them to give 100% commitment to the job during the forthcoming season. The club appointed Geoff O'Vell as the new 1st team manager, who had previously been 1st team manager at Colney Heath, Hoddesdon Town and Broxbourne Borough. Geoff was joined by Assistant Manager Paul Surridge and coach Mark Mezen. A highlight during this season was drawing Watford FC in the 1st Round of the Herts Senior Cup. We lost 2-0 with goals from Luke O'Nien and Bernard Mensah securing the win for Gianfranco Zola's Championship side. We had mixed fortunes during the 2013-14 league campaign and although an improved end to the season saw us make a late climb up the league table to finish just below mid table, the club decided that a restructuring of the team management was required at the end of the season. This saw Geoff O'Vell and his management team leave the club.

At the start of the next season (2014-15) Micky Hazard was appointed as the new 1st team manager. As a player, Micky was a member of the Tottenham team that won the 1982 FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 1984. He also went on to play for Chelsea, Portsmouth, Swindon Town and then Tottenham for a second spell. Since the end of his playing career, Hazard was Youth Academy Coach at Crystal Palace and was also involved on the management team of Sevenoaks Town and Hoddesdon Town. Micky was joined by the return of Franco Sidoli, Lewis Dommett and Hector Varela who were all well-known to the club as, along with Alexis Nicolas, they formed our 1st team management team during a successful 2012-13 season. The first season in charge for our new management team was very successful as we ended in 9th position in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division - our highest ever finish. We surpassed this in the following season (2015-16) as we ended in 6th position in the league and we also won the Herts Charity Shield for the first time following a 3-1 victory over Tring Athletic in the final at the County Headquarters, Letchworth.

The 2016-17 season saw the return of our 1st team to Brickfield Lane in Barnet following over £500,000 worth of facilities improvements and eight years of groundsharing with Potters Bar Town. Ground improvements included the installation of floodlights, a spectator stand, new fencing and pathways, pitch drainage installation, a new car park and the refurbishment of the pavilion clubhouse and changing rooms. This was made possible thanks to grants and donations from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund, Sport England, the Peter Harrison Foundation, the Happy Charitable Trust, Village Healthcare and the Back2Barnet campaign. A highlight of our first season back in Barnet was an outstanding FA Cup run, eventually being knocked out in a Third qualifying round replay against Eastbourne Borough who went on to beat Aldershot Town in the next round.

The 2017-18 season saw a change of first team management with Anthony Clark being appointed in October 2017. As a player, Anthony appeared for Southend United before playing at a high standard of non-league football with teams including Hendon and Wealdstone. A very strong end to the season saw us finish in sixth place, our joint highest ever finish. The 2018-19 league campaign was our most successful in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, finishing in 3rd place, missing out on the Runners Up spot by goal difference.

In the summer of 2019, following correspondence with the Football Association, a lateral movement saw Hadley FC moved to the Essex Senior League for the 2019-20 season after 10 seasons in the Spartan South Midlands League. This move was part of the Football Association's ongoing restructuring of the National League System and their move towards a "pure pyramid". A highlight of the 2019-20 season was reaching the Third qualifying round of the FA Cup, equalling our best ever run from the 2016-17 season. We eventually lost at Havant & Waterlooville, but getting that far in such a prestigious competition was an excellent achievement by Anthony Clark's team. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season then ended early and was declared null and void. Similarly, the 2020-21 Essex Senior League season was also curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but we had a fantastic run in the FA Vase, reaching the Fifth Round for the first time in the club's history. We were unfortunate to lose on penalties to Binfield who went on to reach the final at Wembley.

In the summer of 2021, the Football Association again carried out some restructuring of the National League System and we were moved from the Essex Senior League back into the Spartan South Midlands League. It was a shame that we could not complete a full season in the Essex Senior League, and we enjoyed our time in that league.

The 2021-22 season turned out to be the most successful in the club's history. An excellent FA Cup run saw us narrowly lose 2-1 at home against Enfield Town in a replay having drawn 1-1 away against the Isthmian League Premier Division side. We then went on to reach the final of the prestigious Herts Senior Cup having beaten higher opposition Royston Town and Ware in the semi final and quarter final. We faced Cheshunt in the final (who went on to gain promotion from the Isthmian League Premier Division into the Vanarama National League South at the end of the season) and two late goals gave our opponents the win. We finished our league campaign in third position and due to Risborough Rangers (who finished second) not meeting the relevant FA ground grading criteria, we were promoted to Step 4 of the National League System for the first time, an outstanding achievement from Anthony Clark, his management team and players. The 2021-22 season was topped off by us winning the Gladwish Challenge Trophy following a 3-1 win against Stotfold in the final.

Our first season in the Southern Football League Division One Central saw us finish in 9th position - another excellent achievement. We went one step better in our second season at Step 4 with an 8th placed finish, again in the Southern League Division One Central. We also recorded our first ever win in the FA Trophy with a 4-1 victory against Ware FC at Brickfield Lane.

Our third season at Step 4 exceeded all expectations when a fifth placed finish in the league saw us reach the playoffs where we lost to eventual playoff winners Berkhamsted FC. This had followed an outstanding FA Trophy Run with wins against Grays Athletic, Ipswich Wanderers, Carshalton Athletic, Hastings United and AFC Telford United seeing us reach the Third Round of the Competition and losing in a narrow 2-1 defeat away at Conference South side Oxford City. We added some silverware to our collection at the end of a fantastic season by beating Welwyn Garden City 4-2 in the final of the Herts Charity Cup.

2025-26 was another credible finish in the Southern League Division One Central, finishing just above mid-table in 10th position. A highlight of the season was an FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying win against Dartford - another big non-league club who we have defeated in the competition. We look forward to the 2026-27 season.


16	Leverstock Green	15	15
17	Barton Rovers	15	16
18	BiggleswadeTown	13	14
19	Ware	12	13
20	Hadley	11	15
21	Aylesbury Utd	10	14
22	Flackwell Heath	8	14

Hadley

Match Outlook

Division One Central