HISTORY of MALVERN TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB

Malvern Town F.C.’s origins can be traced back to 1920 with the foundation of Barnard’s Green Football Club, later Madresfield & Barnard’s Green F.C, who played under that name until the end of the 1937-38 season. In May 1938 the club changed it’s name to Malvern Town F.C, and entered the Malvern & District League the following season.

Malvern Town’s first competitive match was a league game against Cross Keys Athletic, at Victoria Park, on 27th August 1938 – a game they won 15-0. That season they went on to win the league title, suffering just 1 defeat and scoring 122 goals in the process.

For 1939-40 the club applied for, and was accepted into, the Worcester & District League – but the season was abandoned without a match being played due to the outbreak of World War II.

For two seasons after the war the team re-entered the Worcester & District League, but under the name of Barnard’s Green. From 1947-48 they permanently changed their name back to Malvern Town.

The club moved to their current home at Langlands Stadium before the start of the 1949-50 season. Their first competitive match there was on 3rd September 1949, when they drew 1-1 with Worcester City Colts in a league game.

Ken Lewis became the clubs first manager in 1951. Success soon followed when, in 1952-53, the first team were runners-up in the Worcester League – whilst the ‘A’ team won the Worcestershire Minor Cup.

In 1953-54 the club went on to win the Worcester League, and the following year lifted both the Worcester Junior Nursing Cup & the Kington Town Cup.

The club negotiated the purchase of the Langlands site from the local Council in November 1955.

1955-56 will be remembered as one of the most successful in the clubs history. They joined the Worcestershire Combination, winning the Championship at the first attempt. The club also won the Worcestershire Junior Cup that season, a competition they went on to win on 3 further occasions in 1956-57; 1957-58 & 1961-62, whilst the ‘A’ team again lifted the Worcestershire Minor Cup. Further excitement followed when Malvern entered the F.A. Amateur Cup for the first time and went on an amazing run, getting through 5 qualifying rounds, before finally losing 3-2 away at Norton Woodseats (Dronfield, Sheffield) in the 1st round proper.

In the 1960’s Malvern Town were an attacking, free scoring outfit, but the league success of the previous decade eluded them. The only major honour of the decade was victory in the Worcestershire Junior Cup Final in 1961-62, when they defeated Pershore Town 7-1 in the final.

The 1970’s again saw solid, consistent league performances, but the best position the team could manage was 2nd place in the Worcestershire Combination (behind Highgate United) in 1973-74. Considerable success however was achieved in cup competitions, with Malvern lifting the Worcestershire Senior Urn in 1973-74; 1974-75; 1975-76 & 1978-79. The club won the Border Counties Floodlit League Cup in 1976-77, beating Bromsgrove Rovers 5-4 on aggregate in the final. In 1973-74 they reached the final of the Birmingham Senior Amateur Cup (losing 5-0 to Alvechurch at St.Andrew’s, Birmingham), and in 1975-76 the final of the Midland Combination Challenge Cup (losing 1-0 to Highgate United after a replay).

The 1980’s saw a rapid decline in the club’s fortunes both on and off the pitch. The team frequently finished in the lower reaches of the renamed West Midlands League, including a last place in 1982-83 when the club had to seek re-election. Off the field the club was in a dire financial position and, at one time, was within 2 weeks of closure. Some success however was achieved in the cup competitions, with two more Worcestershire Senior Urn victories in 1983-84 & 1989-90, and a West Midlands League Cup Final defeat to Tamworth in 1987-88.

It was a similar story throughout most of the 1990’s, with relegation to West Midlands Division 1 in 1991-92. In 1993-94, despite only finishing 9th in the league, the club were promoted back to the Premier Division. Another last place finish followed in 1994-95, but the club remained in the Premier Division. Results started to pick up towards the end of the decade with top 8 finishes in each of the final 3 seasons. The only silverware came once again by way of the Worcestershire Senior Urn in 1999-2000.

The new Millennium coincided with an upturn in fortunes, with the club achieving top 10 finishes each season up to and including 2005-06. The pinnacle of success coming in 2003-04 when Malvern Town were the West Midlands Premier League Champions. After that they spent 2 successful seasons in the Midland Alliance, finishing 3rd in 2005-06, and gaining promotion to the Southern League Division 1 (Midlands).

In 2008-09 the club finished bottom of the league and were relegated back to the Midland Alliance. By this time financial difficulties were once again hanging over the club, which resulted in much renewed uncertainty and an inevitable downturn in fortunes on the field. In 2010-11 a bottom place finish in the Alliance saw the club relegated to the West Midlands League, where they finished just below halfway for the next 3 seasons.

In September 2013 Malvern Town were thrown a lifeline when a consortium of local businessmen, led by Chris Pinder & Ted Grizzell, took over the club. Since that point the club has gone from strength to strength both on and off the field. The team achieved top 5 finishes in the West Midlands League in each of the next 5 seasons, scoring over 100 goals in each.

On 7th July 2015 a record Langlands attendance of 2,006 saw a pre-season friendly against the newly reformed Hereford F.C.

Malvern Town also won its first silverware in over a decade, winning the Worcestershire Senior Urn in 2014-15 & the Smedley Croake Memorial Cup in 2018-19.

Late 2019 saw the clubs ambitious ‘Project 2020’ come to fruition, with completion of the ground development; new changing rooms and a state-of-the-art 3G playing surface. The first game at the re-vamped stadium was an F.A.Vase tie against Loughborough University on 13th November 2019, which resulted in a 5-4 victory.

2019-20 saw Malvern transfer across to the Hellenic League Division 1 (West) and, after 22 games they were top of the table and well on course to win the league title, when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the season being abandoned and the competition being declared null and void.

Unfortunately 2020-21 followed a similar pattern. After 11 games they were 12 points clear at the top of the table when, once again, the season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of the season however the league confirmed that the club would be promoted to the Hellenic League Premier Division.

2021-22 saw Malvern finish third in the League. The following season they went one better finishing second to qualify for the play-off match, winning 4-1 away at Highworth Town to secure promotion back to the Southern League Division 1.

2023-24 was the first season back in the Southern League Division1 (South), and saw the club achieve a credible 10th place finish.

The 2024-25 season saw the club secure their highest ever league position (4th in Tier 4), which took us into the play-offs. Following a pulsating 3-2 extra time win at Bishops Cleeve, we encountered a heart-breaking 1-0 defeat in the final at Evesham United in front of a crowd of 2,949.

We set about the task of going one better for the following campaign and after a record-breaking third-place berth, accumilating 95 points along the way, we once more overcame the challenge of Bishops Cleeve in the play-off semi-final after extra-time to set up a home encounter with Shaftesbury in the final.

Watched by a crowd of over 2,000, a pulsating game ended in a thrilling 3-2 victory as we secured our place at Step 3 for the first ever time. It was a day that will live long in the memory of everyone who was part of it.

Support for the club continues to grow. With the redevelopment of the car park, and proposals for additional covered areas at the ground, the future looks bright for Malvern Town.


16	Sholing FC	12	11
17	Basingstoke Town	12	12
18	Hanwell	11	11
19	Malvern	11	13
20	Gloucester City	10	10
21	Havant and Waterlooville	9	13
22	Chippenham Town	9	12

Malvern Town

Match Outlook

Premier South