Welling Town
WELLING TOWN
| CLUB NAME | Welling Town |
| CHAIRMAN | Kevin Oakes |
| CLUB SECRETARY | Kevin Oakes
info@wellingtown.co.uk |
| PROGRAMME EDITOR | info@wellingtown.co.uk |
| FIRST TEAM MANAGER | Kevin Oakes |
| MIDWEEK FIXTURES | Wednesday |
| u23s MANAGERS | Uche Ibemere and Michael Talabi |
| u23s FIXTURES | Wednesday |
| CLUB WEBSITE | www.footballwebpages.co.uk/welling-town |
| HOME KIT | Green and Black |
| GOALKEEPER HOME | Red |
| AWAY KIT | Sky Blue and White |
| GOALKEEPER AWAY | Orange |
| PITCH DIMENSIONS | 68m x 102m |
Ground Name and Directions
Erith Leisure Centre Community Stadium
From Erith Roundabout, take Victoria Road, continue to T-junction, turn left onto Avenue Road, and then first right into Leisure Centre.
Do not enter the ground via the leisure centre reception – there is a separate football ground entrance in the car park, with a supporter’s entrance sign next to the turnstile.
Welling Town – A Short History
Founded as recently as 2014, Welling Town FC started out as a Sunday side playing on a Council pitch at Hall Place, Bexley in the London and Kent Suburban League.
Achieving two promotions in as many seasons, the club then expanded to include a second Sunday side with both playing in the Woolwich and Eltham Sunday Football Alliance.
The move to Saturday football was inevitable and we were accepted in to the Kent County Football League in the summer of 2016 despite having no past playing record in Saturday regional football on the basis of our good Sunday record, excellent conduct and professional setup demonstrating ambition and organisation beyond many sides at that level.
Our debut season in 2016/17 saw us win promotion and the West Kent Challenge Shield beating four teams from higher divisions in the process – our first ever silverware.
The 2017/18 season was extraordinary – winning the Kent County Second Division, as well as defending our West Kent Challenge Shield. However, the real peak of the season was winning the Kent Junior Cup, a competition with over 160 entrants, ranking us as the top amateur side in Kent. A rare treble had been achieved, scoring over 130 goals in the process, and losing just one match in 53, over a 21 month period.
Meanwhile, our success on the field, had been mirrored by an application off the field to the FA to move in to the semi-professional ranks for 2018/19. After many months of paperwork, calls and meetings, the agonising wait was over, and we were approved for membership of the Southern Counties East Football League First Division, Step 6 of the non-league pyramid, for the new season ahead.
Not wanting to have gone to such lengths in gaining entry just to make the numbers up, we were determined to prove our worth and be up towards the top of the table pushing for another trophy and promotion. Gaining a huge points advantage early in the season and setting the early pace, we were slowly clawed back as others made up their games in hand, but a strong run in the last two months of the season ensured another historic title win, lifting the Southern Counties East First Division title at the first time of asking, and therefore promotion to their Premier Division for 2019/20. As a result of our new found level we were also drawn in both the FA Vase and FA Cup for the season ahead.
During 2019/20 we made our debuts in the FA Cup losing at the first hurdle to AFC Uckfield, as well as the FA Vase, where we faired better winning four ties before being eliminated by Chatham Town in a 1-0 away defeat in the 3rd Round proper – in front of nearly 300 people.
Our debut league season in the SCEFL Premier started well as we went on an eight game unbeaten run from September through November 2019, which including cup games, saw a significant unbeaten run and a strong top 6 position, before a poorer run from December until the Covid-19 lockdown ending the season prematurely, saw the curtailed season leave us in a highly commendable 9th place above many established sides at this level with decades of history.
Following a disjointed period for the club and football in general due to Covid-19 we briefly topped the table at the start of the 2020/21 season having won all of our first four league games, before that season was too curtailed with us sitting in mid-table.
2021/22 started with a new groundshare at Kent Football United’s Efes Stadium and after a difficult start we finished the season strongly ending up in 14th place in our first completed season at SCEFL Premier Division level (Step 5).
In the Spring of 2022 and agreement was put in place to move in to a groundshare with Chatham Town at their Bauvill Stadium one of the best facilities at this level of non-league football, to create an exciting future for the first team on the field and give them the environment to continue pushing towards further success.
A return to facilities more locally at Phoenix Sports follow for 23/24 which sadly ended with the clubs relegation back to the First Divison – a short stay at Step 5, but having risen from the park, with no foundations, no pathway and no support base, a proud achievement to have got so far so quickly. With so many lessons learned, the motivation and plan to return as quickly as possible with better setup was no the aim.
After a short stay at Phoenix Sports, Erith Leisure Centre has been home since the start of the 24/25 and also for 25/26 ahead. We look forward to a successful season and looking upwards only.
