The History of Leighton Town Football Club

Leighton Town, who were known as Leighton United between 1922 and 1963, were formed in 1885. They were mainly involved in local leagues until the outbreak of the Great War and were winners of the Leighton and District League on several occasions.

Leighton were one of the original members of the South Midland League in 1922 – which at the time was known as the Bedfordshire County. They were also members of the Spartan League between 1922/23 and 1951/52, but their only successes being the Spartan League Division 2 title in 1923/24 and 1927/28. They were Bedfordshire Senior Cup winners in 1926/27. League

In 1952, they became a founder member of the Hellenic League, but after two disappointing seasons, moved to the South Midlands League. In 1965/66 season however, the Premier Championship sat in the Leighton Town Boardroom. The club then rejoined the Spartan League in 1967/68.

Leighton proceeded to consolidate their League success by winning the Bedfordshire Senior Cup for three successive seasons in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Unfortunately, some of the successful players moved on to other clubs, and Leighton’s fortunes again declined. A move to the United Counties League proved disastrous and after just two seasons, the club rejoined the South Midlands League. During the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, Leighton were unable to capture the success of the ‘60’s.
In 1990/1991 the First Team won the South Midlands League Challenge Trophy and the O’Brien’s Premier Division Cup, both for the first time in the club’s history.
The 1991/2 season was one of the club’s best. The South Midlands Premier Division title, which had eluded the club for so long, was won, and with it a place in the Isthmian League.
1992/3 saw the Club’s success continue when they won the Bedfordshire Senior Cup for the first time since 1970. The Club missed out on promotion in their first Isthmian League season by just a single point but the Youth Team retained the County Cup.
1995/6 saw the First Team win promotion to Division 2 of the Isthmian League, whilst at the same time retaining the Buckingham Charity Cup.
In the 1996/7 season, Leighton won the Isthmian League Associated Members Trophy for the first time. 1998/99 saw the return of the Associated Members Trophy and the Buckingham Charity Cup.

Season 2003/04 Leighton won the Ryman Isthmian Second Division title. They were also named Ryman Division Two Team of the Year, and Paul Burgess was awarded Manager of the Year. They also reached the Fifth round of the FA Vase, and the final of the Beds Senior Cup, before losing to Andover and Arlesey Town respectively.
The 2004-05 season saw the club placed in The Southern League East Division and finished in a creditable tenth place. They also won the Buckinghamshire Charity Cup. The Reserves won the Bedfordshire Intermediate Cup and the U18’s won the SCYFL League Shield.

The 05-06 Season saw the Club progress again, improving on the year before, as they finished 8th in The Southern League Western Division. After a poor start, League results improved and the side only suffered four defeats from the start of November until the end of March, a play-off place just eluding them.
After three excellent victories interest in the FA.Trophy competition ended with a single goal defeat to eventual semi-finalists, Borehamwood.
The Club also reached the Beds Senior Cup Final, but sadly they again finished as Runners Up.
The Club were relocated to the Southern League Midland Division for 06-07 season but only one League win in the first six games and early exits in the two FA Competitions cost Paul Burgess his job in September. He was replaced by former Wycombe professional Keith Scott, results did improve but it was a disappointing season, although Town did win the Bucks Senior Charity Cup.

The 07-08 started brightly with the first League defeat not coming until mid-October. Three wins in the FA Cup saw the Club reach the 4th Qualifying Round for the first time in it’s history. A 3-0 defeat to Conference South, Havant and Waterlooville finally ended the run. Keith Scott then left in December to join Windsor and Eton. In January 2008, Assistant Manager Sean Downey was appointed as First Team Manager and did a splendid job as the Club ended their League season in 9th place, winning the Bucks Charity Cup and reaching the final of the Beds Senior Cup once more.

The 08/09 Season the First Team finished 8th in the Southern League, Midland Division, achieving their highest points total to date at that level.
The 09/10 season saw Leighton once again finish in the top half of the table, when they finished in 9th place and they also lost the Bedfordshire Senior Cup Final to Southern League rivals, Arlesey Town after penalties.
Season 2010/2011, saw Town finish in 7th place in the League, gaining 69 points,their best performance since joining the Southern Football League.

The 2011/2012 a poor season saw Leighton finish in their lowest position for several years. 2012/13 was also very disappointing for the First Team as they finished in 20th place.
2015/2016 After 3 disappointing seasons Leighton finished the season in the bottom two of the Southern League Central Division and were relegated to the Spartan South Midlands League where they had last played in the 1991/92 season.
2016/2017 This was a disappointing season with the club struggling for much of the time after yet another Managerial Change. Things did pick up towards the end of the season and we eventually finished in 16th place.
2017/18 The club retained Scott Reynolds as Manager and finished 4th in the League and reached the Quarter Finals of the FA VASE. Gates improved and it was our best season for about 8 years,
2018/2019 Manager, Scott Reynolds resigned in the close season and Danny Nicholls was appointed as Manager but left in October due to work commitments. The Club then appointed Joe Sweeney and Paul Copson, who had previously won the Premier division title with London Colney as the new Management Team. They steadied the ship and it was town’s best season for many years and and we finished in mid table.
2019/2020 Was a good season for the Club as we again reached the Quarter Final of the FA Vase and after a slow start in the League the team started to find some good form as we slowly climbed up the table. The team were also awarded the Team of the Month twice.
2020/2021 Town for the third time in 4 seasons reached the Quarter Final of the FA Vase but sadly lost out to 2 late penalties. An indifferent start in the League meant we could not quite gain the points needed to gain promotion in a Covid affected season.
2021/2022 We eventually finished 4th in the table after a mid season Management change Lee Bircham was appointed Manager and after the disappointment of losing our previous 4 Beds Senior Cup Final we won the Trophy by beating Southern League Div 1 Champions, Bedford Town on penalties after the game had ended in a 2-2 draw.

2022/2023 season was our best for many years with First Team winning the Spartan South Midlands Premiership Title and completing a double by winning the Premier Division League Cup. Our Development team in their first season also gained promotion from Spartan League Division 2. The Under 18 made it a great season for the club by winning the Corinthian Division of the Cup SCYFL and then winning the Beds Under 18 Cup.
After winning the Premier Division Cup Manager, ,Lee Bircham announced that he was leaving the club to join Bedford Town along with his assistant Tony Joyce and coach Sam Pateman. Sean Downey and John McLoughlin were quick to start interviewing suitable applicants for the job and eventually Gary Flinn and Gary Chance were appointed,after steering Newport Pagnell to 2 consecutive FA Vase Finals in 2022/2023.

We know things will be more competitive in the Southern League but hope our new Management team will be successful in their new jobs.

Season 2023/2024
The season ended with us just above the relegation places after some disappointing results in the last couple of months when injuries and a loss of form saw us drop from mid table to the lower end of the table, our managers have been working hard in pre season to attract players to the club and we are sure that the new season will be better with a few additions to the side

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