history

In 1946, Wootton and Dry Sandford F.C. was founded (then Wootton and Sandford Utd) and entered the North Berks Football League in what was then known as Division Two, which would be the lowest division by today’s standards. Up against familiar names such as Didcot, Wantage and Appleton, the club finished a respectable 6th place (out of 10) with 20 points in its first competitive season of 1947/48. One season later, Wootton had excelled to the point of competing for the War Memorial Cup, only to lose 3-0 to Didcot Athletic in the final. By this point, the club had secured itself as a permanent fixture in the North Berks League for many years to come. The following outlines the clubs biggest successes (and failures!) to date. A season by season league table analysis can be viewed on the North Berks Football League website.

The 1950’s
With the reorganisation of the league structure, Wootton began the decade at the bottom of the pile, starting their new campaign in the lowly Division 3. However, 1951/52 saw them promoted to Division 2 by finishing runners up. A mid table run was all the team could muster until they were thrust back in to Division 3 after a poor 1955/56 season saw them relegated. In 1956/57, the team picked themselves up and turned their fortunes around by achieving promotion by finishing Champions, and also reigning victorious by winning the League Cup. Their good run did not end there, as finishing 2nd in 57/58 was enough to win promotion into Division 1. 58/59 was a closely fought season. Too close in fact as the title had to be settled via a play off between Wootton and Aston Tirrold, both equal on points, wins, draws and losses. Wootton lost the game 4-1, but still got promoted to the dizzy heights of the Premier Division as runners up. The decade was ended on not such a high note, as the team just could not compete in the top flight, and were relegated back to Division 1 the following season.

The 1960’s
With peace and love in the air, the early sixties brought little in the way of success, or indeed excitement for Wootton. A series of mid table finishes eventually culminated in a win – champions of Division 1 no less. The team were promoted once again to the Premier Division in 65/66. Obviously spurred on by their success, the committee decided to expand and enter a reserve team into the league, who debuted in Division 2 in 66/67. This reserve team did themselves and the club justice by finishing the season off as champions of Division 2 and thus launching themselves into Division 1. Not to be outdone in anyway, the 1st team managed to end up runners up in both the North Berks Cup and the Charity Shield. However, what goes up must come down, and this proved in an almighty fashion as both the 1st team and Reserves got themselves relegated in 68/69, finishing the decade off in Division 1 and 2 respectively.

The 1970’s
Wootton’s 1st team facilitated an exciting start to the era of Disco and Pele. Finishing joint top of Division 1 in 70/71 meant another play-off for the title of league champions, and this time their opponents were rivals Saxton Rovers. Wootton saw off Saxton with an emphatic 2-0 victory and progressed to the Premier Division once again as champions. A second time lifting the War Memorial Cup for the club, added to the great start to the decade. The mid 70’s saw another reorganistaion of the league tables, with the Premier Division becoming Division 1 and so on. The 1st team lost their “Premier” status through relegation in 74/75 and regained it in 77/78 – the same season the reserves were relegated to Division 4! It didn’t get any better in 79/80 as both the 1st team and reserves received relegation to Divisions 2 and 5.

The 1980’s
Things began to improve slightly by 82/83 when the 1st team won promotion into Division 1 as Division 2 runners up, but it took the reserves up until 84/85 before winning anything. They were rewarded with Division 4 status after topping Division 5. 86/87 saw a massive decline in the 1st teams performance as they were relegated to Division 2 and then again to Division 3 in 87/88 – their lowest league position for nearly 30 years! Still, it wasn’t all doom and gloom as the 1st team finished the decade off on a high winning promotion to Division 2 in 89/90.

The 1990’s
The decade started off promisingly enough with the 1st team winning runners up trophies for the War Memorial Cup in both 91/92 and 92/93, although there was not a great deal of action for either teams in the league. Until, that is, the 1st team were relegated to Division 3 in 95/96. Things got dramatically worse and relegation into Division 4 soon followed in 97/98, with a total of 7 points on the board, from 22 games! It was decided by the committee to pull the reserves for the time being and concentrate on the 1st team from this point on, so they would not feature until 99/00 season. Still, at least Wootton the 97/98 and 98/99 fair play awards, and club linesman Phil Knight won Club Linesman of the season 95/96! In 99/00, the reserves re-entered the league in Division 5, and finally things started to happen – the 1st team finished Division 4 champions and started off the new millennium in Division 3.

The 2000’s
The first half of the decade was spent carefully building the club back up from the dissappointment of the 90’s, and as such not a lot happened for Wootton. They didn’t go up, they didn’t go down, they didn’t win cups, they didn’t feature in any finals. Then, in 05/06 – BOOM!! The 1st team finished champions of Division 3 and runners up in the War Memorial Cup. The reserves finished champions of Division 5. In 06/07, the clubs most successful season to date, the 1st team finished champions of Division 2 and this time ensured they won the War Memorial Cup with a memorable 5-1 victory over Harwell Village. The reserves won the Nairne Paul Cup and finished runners up in the League Cup. In 07/08 the reserves finished 3rd place in Division 4, earning themselves a spot in Division 3. The last season 09/10 saw both teams finish 6th in their respective leagues, vowing to achieve more than a mid table finish this season…….. To date the 1st team, managed by Rick Viner remain in Division 1, and the reserves managed by Warren Ireson in Division 3.