Tring Town Football Club
	1904-2003

Club History

Tring Town AFC was reconstituted in 1996, but the original club dated back to the turn of the century. Tring Town competed in local junior leagues until 1951, when the club moved into its Pendley ground, donated by Mr Dorian Williams, the BBC show jumping commentator. The club gained senior status and joined the Spartan League in 1953. Their best period in this league was the late 1960's, with the championship being won for the only time in 1967/68, and Tring were runners-up the following season. In 1975 Tring joined the Athenian League and were runners-up in Division Two in 1976/77, also reaching the last 16 of the FA Vase in one of their best ever seasons.

The addition of floodlights and a new clubhouse meant that Tring were geared up to join the Isthmian League's new Division Two in 1977. Tring were among the promotion contenders in their first season, but the period 1983-1989 saw Tring's best form in the Isthmian League to date. In season 1988/89, Tring missed out on promotion by two points, having led the table by nine points with games in hand a week before Christmas. Early in the following season the club hit crippling financial problems, and this was reflected in a staggering decline on the field, with Tring playing an astonishing 50 league games without a win between March 1990 and April 1991. Not surprisingly they finished rock bottom of Division Two (North). The following season, after a league reorganisation, Tring began life in Division Three, where they have remained ever since.

In 1992, Roger Payne, who had been a benefactor to the club since the mid 70's, took a higher profile and attempted to revive Tring's fortunes, but the managerial teams he selected failed to produce the results that would have been expected from the significant budget being spent on the team. Two 12th place finishes and a place in the last 32 of the FA Vase were the best that was achieved before Roger Payne stunned the club by quitting in January 1996.

This left Tring Town in desperate straits, and matters came to a head in November 1996 when the club was just days away from being evicted from its Pendley home, which would have meant certain extinction. The club was saved at the eleventh hour by the intervention of a new chairman and committee.

The club was reconstituted as Friends of Tring Town Association Football Club (i.e. Tring Town AFC), and the new committee successfully fought off numerous court orders from creditors of the previous regime. In order to get the club on a sound financial footing, a local manager Paul Burgess was brought in to run a team on a zero budget until the end of the season, and the team he assembled were not disgraced, even managing to win a few games in that period.

For season 1997/98 the club was able to give Burgess a small budget to work with, and improved results followed. Tring even topped the table for a short time in September, the first time that had happened in nine years. The team couldn't maintain that form, but remained competitive throughout the season and hopes were high for a significant promotion challenge next season.

Things rarely go to plan for Tring Town, though, and the club soon suffered another setback. Paul Burgess' desire to take the vacant managerial post at neighbours Leighton Town led to his departure in the summer of 1998, along with most of the playing squad. The club brought in former Camberley Town manager Danny McGranaghan to take over the reins, but he proved to be a disappointment. Admittedly McGranaghan was faced with the task of rebuilding the squad from scratch, but many of the players he brought in seemed unable to reach the required standard, even with the assistance of such an experienced coach as Alf Coulton. At the end of October, with the club winless and one place off the bottom of the table, McGranaghan called it a day.

A month later Denis Bainborough was appointed as his successor, and he brought in virtually a new team, and achieved instant success with a win in his first game in charge. However, by the end of the season the club was unable to avoid finishing bottom of the table and conceding a record number of goals, although the shortage of teams in Division Three ensured that Tring were not in danger of losing their Ryman League status through relegation.

The club parted company with Bainborough at the end of the season and hoped to put a dreadful season behind them with the appointment of Mick Vipond as manager. A local man with a wealth of experience and contacts, Vipond put together a team of local players with a combination of youth and experience. There was an upturn in results with the club finishing 18th in the league and achieving some notable cup scalps, including Conference side Stevenage Borough who were beaten 3-2 in the Herts Senior Cup. Season 2000/01 saw further improvements on the field, as the team challenged near the top of the table for much of the season until a late slump saw them finish 12th. Mick Vipond was sacked at the end of the season after he made some disparaging comments about the club in the local press, but his former assistant Howard Cowley took over as manager, and kept the team together, leading them to their best season for 13 years.

Tring finished in 9th place in Division Three, and amongst their impressive stats were an unbeaten run over the last ten away league games of the season, and only two defeats in their last 21 league games. Had Tring been able to attain a Ryman League 'B' ground grading, the club would have been promoted to Division One (North) in the new league structure.

However, Tring had to settle for a place in Division Two, and began season 2002/03 with a much-changed and youthful squad. After struggling for much of the season, finally the right blend of youth and experience was found, and Tring took 20 points from their last 10 league games to eventually finish 10th.

Once again, though, Tring's plans suffered a massive setback when their 30-year old clubhouse was destroyed by fire on March 15th 2003. With the help of their neighbours at the rugby club, Tring were able to stage their last four home matches, but faced a huge challenge to reinstate facilities of their own.

Two months of inactivity during the summer did nothing to help the club's cause. Grants were being talked about, but no immediate funds were available to get the ground into a state which would satisfy the Ryman League, nor to arrange a temporary groundshare elsewhere.

Tring Town's fate was sealed when South Midlands League club Tring Athletic came in with an offer which would see all of Town's debts taken care of, but would mean the aprupt demise of the 99-year old club, as Athletic would take over the Pendley ground. The Town directors felt they had no alternative but to accept their offer.

At a stroke the history of Tring Town was at an end. Stunned management, players and supporters, who had no idea that negotiations were going on, were left without a club, and the shock waves were felt all over the Isthmian League, of which Tring Town had been a member for 26 years.