The Early Years – The first mention of forming a football club in Hungerford was in the parish magazine of November 1873 when those interested were invited to send in their names. But it was not until October 1886 that Hungerford Town Football Club was officially founded. The club has come a long way since with a vast number of volunteers, supporters and players contributing to its 134-year history. The club’s original name was Hungerford Swifts. Matches were originally played on “the Downs” (now Hungerford Common) and then subsequently on the western edge of the town, an area known locally as “the Marsh”, before the club moved to its present ground in Bulpit Lane shortly after WW1. Initially the club played only friendly matches but soon became a powerful force in local football and won its first recorded trophy in 1905 when winning the Newbury Graystone Cup. Hungerford won its first league title, the Newbury & District League, in 1912/13, before all competitive football ceased between 1914 and 1918. The club picked up where they left off and was immediately successful when the Newbury League restarted in 1919 and Hungerford were league champions in both 1920 and 1921. That era saw the emergence of Reverend Denning, known locally as ‘the old man,’ as a driving force and benefactor of the club and the team included surnames still familiar in the town to this day. It was in 1948 when another legend of the club, Ron Tarry, attended his first game. Ron went on to fill every position at Hungerford including 1st Team Manager, Chairman and eventually Club President. He sadly passed away in 2022 but will forever be remembered as ‘Mr Hungerford Town’. Hungerford Town continued playing at intermediate level with mixed fortunes in the Newbury & District and the Swindon & District Leagues before senior status was finally achieved in 1958 when joining the ranks of the Hellenic League.

The 1970s & 1980s – After a period of team rebuilding in the 1960’s Hungerford began the new decade in fine form and won the Hellenic League Div. 1 and League Cup double in the 1970/71 season. The 1970's were a “golden” decade for the club and we entered the F.A. Cup for the first time in 1973. The facilities were improved with the opening of a new clubhouse in 1974 and new changing rooms and floodlights added in 1975. The club reached three Berks & Bucks Senior Cup Finals in four years and although defeats by Chesham United, Slough Town and Wycombe Wanderers were disappointing it was a sign that the club was making significant progress on and off the field. In 1974 Don Revie brought his England side, featuring the likes of Kevin Keegan, Mick Channon, Trevor Brooking and Ray Clemence, to Bulpit Lane for a training session. The 1977/78 season saw Hungerford finish 3rd in the Hellenic League, win the League Cup and produce a fairy tale run in the F.A. Vase, eventually losing out to Barton Rovers in a SF replay. These achievements enabled the club to gain election to the Isthmian League in 1978. Hungerford Town soon established themselves as a force in the higher level and just missed out on promotion by finishing third in 1979 and 1980 whilst creating club history in 1979 be reaching the 1st round proper of the FA Cup for the first, and so far, only time, losing 3-1 away to Slough Town. That same season they reached their second FA Vase SF but were again denied a place at Wembley when losing to Guisborough Town 5-3 on aggregate. 1980/81 brought more disappointment with yet another 3rd place finish in the league but there was some consolation when the club was invited to compete in the prestigious Anglo Italian Semi-Pro tournament, alongside Bobby Moore’s Oxford City. 1982 finally brought success and a major trophy when Hungerford defeated Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 at Wokingham Town to win the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup. Promotion was again narrowly missed in 1984/85, but the club then entered a rather turbulent period when after 9 successful years as manager Jim Kelman left the club. 1988/89 saw a return to prominence under joint managers Gary Goodwin and David Dodds who guided the club to sixth place in the table and a third FA Vase Semi Final appearance. This time it was Sudbury Town who denied Hungerford its much-deserved trip to Wembley.

The 1990s & 2000s – The club finished in the top ten of the league table in 1991, 1992 and 1993 under Gary Goodwin and later ex-Manchester United player Wilf Tranter (RIP) before a dismal start to the 1992/93 season saw the departure of Tranter at Christmas. Former Hungerford goalkeeper Jimmy Greenwood briefly returned to the club as manager and achieved Division 2 safety before former players and brother-in-law Cabbie Smith and Norman Matthews combined to keep the club ticking over in the Isthmian League for the next two seasons. 1996/97 brought the club its highest finish for several seasons but the club entered a transition phase for much of the late 1990s and although former Swindon Town legend Don Rogers took over as manager the league form was

disappointing, and Rogers resigned just after the start of the 1999/00 season. Gary Ackling took over as manager and sought to change the emphasis of the club by looking for local youth talent and produced a strong mid table finish in 2002. Unfortunately for the club, the deadline for ground improvements was not met at the end of the 2001/02 season, and a relegation to the newly restructured Isthmian Division 2 followed. For the long-term benefit of the club, the decision was taken to re-join the Hellenic League for the 2003/04 season and the process of rebuilding on and off the pitch began. Former player Tim North kept things ticking along nicely before Alan Clark was appointed manager in 2006. The league and cup form gradually improved and a push for promotion was mounted once again. The election of Nigel Warrick as Chairman in 2008 kick started a refurbishment program for the club’s facilities and fresh impetus for the team. Despite a sticky start in the league the team went on a 22-match unbeaten run and won the Hellenic League title and promotion to the Southern League.

The 2010s – The decade began with a new man in charge, Bobby Wilkinson, and so began the club’s most successful decade in its 125-year history. Undeterred by a play-off defeat in 2012, the team finished as runners-up to Poole Town in 2013 and this time there was to be no heartache in the play-offs as Hungerford beat Paulton Rovers and Merthyr Town to win promotion to the Southern League Premier Division. The surge continued and a run of ten wins on the bounce between March and April 2014 took the club to within a point of the play-offs and a magical run to the last 16 of the F.A. Trophy evoking memories of the wonderful F.A. Vase runs of the 70s and 80s. The 2014/15 season saw another strong challenge in the league and a place in the play-offs but this time the bid for promotion was ended by defeat to eventual promotion winners Truro City. The 2015/16 season began indifferently with an early F.A. Cup exit and some inconsistent league performances but a run to the 2nd Round of the F.A. Trophy, only bowing out to National League side Chester, augured well for the season. A strong second half of the campaign resulted in yet another crack at the play-offs. Things looked bleak in the semi-final when the team were two goals down at Hitchin Town on the hour but came back to win 3-2 and on a never-to-be forgotten rainy Bank Holiday Monday at Bulpit Lane another great comeback saw Hungerford beat Leamington FC 2-1 to achieve promotion to the Vanarama National League South. Hungerford’s first season in the National League proved that the team could survive at this level despite “punching well above their weight” as a club. At one stage Hungerford were in the play-off places but eventually finished in 6th position and the team reached the final of the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup for the first time in 35 years, losing narrowly to National League South champions Maidenhead United. The 2017/18 season began with much optimism but in August long serving manager Bobby Wilkinson resigned along with his entire backroom staff. Senior players Jon Boardman and Ian Herring stepped up as joint managers and steadied the ship before the departure of Chairman Nigel Warrick, and necessary cuts in the club’s playing budget, forced a re-structure and Herring being handed sole charge of the team. Two seasons of fighting relegation on and off the field ensued but despite the difficulties Herring and his players kept the club in the National League against the odds with successive final day results against East Thurrock United keeping them up. In March 2019, Patrick Chambers stepped forward to become the new Chairman and together with his wife Nicky, provided a welcome boost to the club. With the team struggling at the bottom of the league, and with an albeit slim but mathematical chance of staying up yet again, the Covid-19 worldwide pandemic struck and all football in the UK was suspended. In unprecedented circumstances Hungerford were handed a reprieve and lived to fight another day at their hard earned highest high level of football.

The 2020s – In the close season of 2020, with the pandemic causing worldwide chaos, Ian Herring departed as manager and the club moved swiftly to appoint former Thatcham Town Manager Danny Robinson. Robinson had won the Hellenic League title and F.A. Vase double in 2018/19, and Thatcham were leading Division one South of the Southern League when the season was curtailed. Despite the usual predictions of relegation from those outside the club, and there being no supporters allowed into games, the Crusaders quickly began to surprise many and were in a healthy 7th position in the table when the season was again ended by the pandemic. With recent ground improvements completed, including new changing rooms and the completion of a 400-seater stand in 2021, the team quickly took up where they had left off and were once again challenging for a play-off place before fading towards the end of last season and eventually finishing 12th in the table. Alas, Hungerford Town, with the smallest resources in the league, could not repeat the trick for a 7th successive season in the National League and they were relegated, for the first time in living memory, back to Southern League. Unperturbed, Danny Robinson assembled a new squad of players which finished in 8th position, missing out on the playoffs by only five points, and a similar squad of players repeated that trick last season, this time finishing in 7th place having had a strong second half of the season. The 2025/26 was a huge disappointment for the club, with relegation to step 4, but hopes are high that a return to step 3 can be achieved at the first attempt.


2	Swindon SM	37	17
3	Westbury	35	18
4	Dorchester	34	16
5	Hungerford	30	16
6	Hartpury	27	17
7	Sporting Club Inkberrow	25	16
8	Falmouth Town	25	16

Hungerford Town

Match Outlook

Division One South