I was inspired to write this after talking to a Gloucester City fan on MSN, and explaining our recent history to him, and how the club came to be in the position it finds itself in today. It is something I have had to do several times. Despite only having followed Leamington properly for three years, I have learned the club's history very well, thanks to many factors, but obviously the last twenty years or so are more important to the likes of myself, because it is that part of the history that has determined the present situation.

I think, and I hope I am not offending anybody here as people who supported the club long before I came along have also said it, that the club is in much better shape now than it has ever been, despite the fact that everything has been started from scratch. Everything we see on our visits to the New Windmill Ground has been created by, and is owned by, the club and the supporters, and this will ensure that it can never be taken away from us, as the old Windmill Ground in Tachbrook Road was.

Anyway, I thought to myself, if I ever come across anybody who wants to know how come a club like Leamington, with such a big fan base, is playing at such a low level in the pyramid, I can direct them to this part of our website.

AP Leamington FC had been a founder member of the new top level of English Non-League Football, the Alliance Premier League, when it began in 1979, but their stay only lasted three seasons. They were relegated back to the Southern League after a disastrous season in 1981/82 which saw them finish bottom of the table. However, the seeds were sown during that season for what was to come. Graham Allner became the club's manager, and began to assemble a squad for the future. His team included the likes of Brakes legends such as Cliff Campbell and Kim Casey, who many rate as one of the best ever strikers in Non-League football.

In the 82/83 season the club won the Southern League Championship at the first attempt, but was denied promotion as the Alliance Premier League officials deemed the Windmill Ground facilities inadequate, despite the fact that they had been in the APL twelve months earlier. Another shattering blow to the club, on the same day they won the league, was that their parent company, AP, was selling the Windmill Ground to AC Lloyd, a building company. Runners-up Kidderminster Harriers were promoted instead, and manager Allner and many of his squad departed to Harriers the following season, probably based mainly on the strength of that news. It is interesting to note the fortunes of the two clubs since the 80's - Harriers eventually won promotion to the football league, while Leamington are even further away from it than they were back in May 1982. Had Brakes not been prevented from taking their rightful place back in the APL, who knows, we could have ended up in the Football League! A few of fans who were supporting the team back then took great delight in Kiddy’s relegation last season!

Things got slightly better before they got worse, as in 83/84 Brakes won the Southern League Cup, and also the Champions' Cup, the first team ever to hold all three Southern League Trophies at the same time (the second being Crawley Town more recently), but only finished 13th in the league. There was also an FA Cup First Round tie against Gillingham at the Windmill Ground in front of a crowd of over 2,000, which Brakes were unlucky to lose 1-0. The club were now tenants of the building company, and were given a stay of execution as they attempted to find a new home, but every avenue turned into a dead end, as they were frustrated time and again by Warwick District Council and local residents who did not want a football ground near their homes.

The following season Brakes finished bottom and were relegated to the Midland Division. In 1985 the club disassociated itself from Automotive Products to become Leamington FC. Following two bottom end of the table finishes, the club dropped out of the Southern League and into the Midland Combination for the 87/88 season. They finished 15th, and as they had to leave the Windmill Ground (which was demolished and replaced by a housing estate) by the spring of 1988, they were homeless, and forced to stop playing altogether. Chairman Mick Brady, along with several other dedicated people, including David Hucker and Don Hartwell, continued to register the club's name with the FA every year, until, in 1990 land was located in Harbury Lane, and was purchased in 1992. The rebirth of Leamington Football Club had begun.

Construction of the pitch started in 1993, but it was a long and painstaking process. Finally, in 2000, the New Windmill Ground was ready to host football, and Leamington FC were elected into Division Two of the Midland Combination. The first game played at the new ground exceeded everyone's expectations. A recorded crowd of 730, although it was probably larger, witnessed a 3-1 victory over Enville Athletic, and the crowds continued to come. A new generation of supporters, to add to the returning old ones, cheered the Brakes on to a Championship winning return, with a New Windmill Ground record being set in May 2001, of 1,263 for a match against Rugby Town.

A second successive promotion was achieved in 01/02, in second spot this time – and the battle with Rugby Town continued. They also defeated us in the President's Cup Final, but the season had many highlights, not least the end of season run of 15 wins and three draws in the last 18 games, including ten games in April alone, that had Rugby Town looking over their shoulders until the final couple of matches. The most memorable game though, had to be the thrashing of our rivals, who at the time, had won 20 and drawn one of their league games. Brakes left Webb Ellis Road with that record in pieces, after recording a 5-0 victory.

And so, to the Midland Combination Premier Division, fully equipped with floodlights bought from Halesowen Town. Leamington started the season well enough and sustained their challenge throughout, but just faltered when it mattered most, losing out to Alvechurch despite doing the double over the Worcestershire side. Poor results in the last five games saw Brakes finish third, disappointing really, given how the season panned out. Alvechurch also knocked us out of the Willie Knibbs Memorial Challenge Cup at the Semi-Final stage, and we reached the First Round Proper in our inaugural season in the FA Vase.

The following season brought more heartache, as Leamington finished second by a single point on the final day of the season, losing out to Romulus, who we had also beaten twice in the league. A run to the 4^th round of the FA Vase was a highlight, with higher league Alsager Town and Durham City conquered before we agonisingly lost out to a last minute winner at Studley. Our manager Jason Cadden made some shrewd additions to the squad for 2004/2005, and after an opening day thrashing, 5-0 at Meir Kings Arms, his team lost only twice more all season, romping to the title by 19 points. As you MFA internet users will no doubt grow tired of us telling you, our crowds are higher than any in the Midland Alliance, and we are all looking forward to visiting new grounds and making new friends. Losing a few more games is something Brakes fans will have get used to as well in a higher league. 148 matches won with only 19 defeats illustrates that we have been used to the winning habit, and hopefully that will continue. Don’t think us arrogant though - we know we aren’t going to walk this league, but we are quietly confident that our team will do OK.

We hope to see as many of you from Stourbridge as possible at the New Windmill Ground this season – away fans were rather thin on the ground in the Midland Combination!

This season? Well, you can read all about it here, at North Bank Banter - and on our other excellent websites. Better still, get yourself down to the New Windmill Ground, and marvel at the rebirth of a former Non-League Giant...

© Paul Edwards

Potted History & Honours