Welwyn Garden City Football Club - A Brighter Future
Founded in 1921, Welwyn Garden City Football Club started their days in the Metropolitan League. The Club then moved to the Spartan League for the first two spells in 1927.
During the 1927 - 28 seasons the club gained its first honour, winning the Herts charity Shield beating Hoddesdon Town 5-2. In 1952 Welwyn Garden City joined the London League, later becoming the Greater London League. At this time Harry Hibbs, one time England goalkeeper with 25 caps, managed the club. Harry was one of the two ex-internationals to be in charge of the 'Citizens', the nickname for the Club, the other was Alex Massie who was capped 18 times for Scotland.
In 1945 the club return to the Spartan League and two years later it was elected to become an associate member of the Football Association. The next stop was County Football with a move to the Herts County League in 1959. The club then moved to its present home at Herns Lane in 1968 and staged its first senior level fixture against Knebworth in the Aubrey Cup on 16th September that same year. In 1973 Welwyn joined the South Midlands League and won the Premier Division Championship at its first attempt. The following season it reached the final of the League Trophy Cup, only to be denied the honours by Barton Rovers who won 3-1 on aggregate.
In the 1976-77 season the club lost its top flight status and so began a five year battle to recover it playing in the First Division of the league. During these wilderness years the club finished no lower than fifth place. In the 1981 - 82 season it reclaimed its Premiership status and en route accumumulated over 100 league goals. During the Championship year, the club once again reached the final of the League Challenge Trophy Cup, only to be denied again, this time losing to Stotford 3-0 on aggregate.
The 1984-85 season brought the cup success at last, when under the management of John Sneddon, Welwyn beat Pirton 2-0 to lift the first ever Herts Senior Centenary Trophy. At the end of this memorable season John Sneddon decided to call it a day and he was replaced by ex Sudbury Court boss Ray Sullivan, whose first job was to rebuild the side. Twelve months later the club finished runners up in the league, only being pipped to the post by some erratic form in the closing games of the season. The club lifted the Herts Charity Shied twice consecutively in seasons of 1986-87 and 1987-88, to become only the sixth club in the history of the tournament to retain the shield. The close of the 1988-89 season also saw the installation of floodlights at Herns Lane. In the 1988-89 season the club gained a top six league finish as well as an appearance in two Cup Finals, the League Challenge Trophy and the Herts Centenary Trophy. However, the club lost both finals within the space of five days. In 1990-91 Ray Sullivan stepped down from his managerial role and so began the lean spell in which the club tried several combinations of managers which included Dave Lawrence, Jock Bruce and also former players Paul Malsen and Ian Priest. The closest the club came to ant silverware was a final\'s appearance in the Herts Charity Shield against Sawbrdgeworth Town, the trophy slipped through our hands as we were beaten in the penalty shoot out after a 2-2 draw. In 1996-97 Welwyn looked to local man Malcolm Doctor, who the previous year had guided the Citizens arch rival and nemesis, Hatfield Town, to second place in the South Midlands League. Everyone at the club was looking forward to the long lost glory days returning to Herns Lane. They were left empty handed again at the last hurdle. Upon the departure of Malcolm Doctor, the Citizens forged a link with their Conference neighbours Stevenage Borough FC they strengthened their squad with Boro\'s EFCO youngsters along with the management pairing of Dave Bullock and Bill Bannister. However, despite reaching the third qualifying round of the FA Cup, the season collapsed mid way through and with the break up of the squad a battle with relegation followed. In 2001-02 Welwyn Garden City were relegated to the first Division and after a late rally at the end of the season the club had its lowest ever finish of sixteenth place, just avoiding relegation to the lower league thus avoiding relegation in consecutive seasons. At the end of the 2001-02 season Guillermo Ganet was appointed as manager and after two seasons in Division One Ganet steered his side to promotion finishing in third place. The 2004 - 05 season saw the side sustaining third place in the league table. However, the season ended with the news that Guillermo Ganet was leaving to move to Berkhamstead Town as Chairman/Manager, taking 10 or so of last seasons squad with him in the process. After receiving many applications for the Managers role, the management committee appointed Howard Cowley as the new manager of the first team for the 2005-06 season. He brought with him a wealth of experience from not only the South Midlands League but in all divisions of the Ryman league. During his tenure the club had an unparallel 19 game run in all competitions and also equalled their best ever FA Cup run when losing narrowly to the then Conference South leaders Histon. The club also exceeded its best ever run in the FA Vase Competition by reaching the fifth round proper only for an administrative error to deny us the chance to go even further. Players Joe Devera, Nick Brindley and Harry Hunt were offered contracts with Barnet FC and season top scorer, Bradley Woods-Garness went to Conference side Farnborough Town. In the 2006 -07 season the club reached fourth spot in the league, becoming the only side to beat eventual league and Cup champions Edgware Town at their White Lion ground whilst doing the double over local rivals Hertford Town with two fine victories. Following the departure of Howard Cowley a succession of managers have tried to revive the fortunes of the club and when Paul Tomkins left at the end of September the club appointed Del Deanus and Steve Newing to take on the job. The two had a short spell at Leyton at the start of the 2008-09 season following their many success\'s at Edgware Town. Many of the players from the treble winning Edgware squad have followed the pair to Welwyn and they look to keep the Citizens out of the relegation zone this season and build on this next year.