Club History:
Witney in Oxfordshire, made world famous for its production of blankets, is a thriving market town and with over 22,000 residents it is the largest town in West Oxfordshire. The town of Witney dates backs to AD969 and gained its name from the Saxon term ‘Witan’ that meant King.
Witney United FC (WUFC) was formed by a group of Witney Town supporters following the demise of their beloved club. Intent on bring senior football back to the town the group registered Witney United FC with the Oxfordshire Football Association in 2001.
For almost a year they had little else other than the name! There was no ground, team or manager. That year was all about raising funds and the profile of the club. The club set itself a challenging business plan that targeted a return to Southern League football within 5 seasons. Finally after much hard work it all came together.
In 2002 WUFC gained a lease on the original Witney Town stadium and were accepted into Division One (West) of the Hellenic League. In it’s first year the Club struggled to attract local players and finally finished 15th in the Division.
The second season saw the club move forward finally finishing the season in 4th place and gaining a surprise, last minute, offer of promotion to the Premier Division.
The challenge of promotion was compounded by the fact that the Club would start it’s third ever season with it’s third ever manager! But under the management team of Alan Clark, Steve Paish and Spencer Keyes the team proved it could hold it’s own – finally finishing a creditable 11th out of 22. The Club also competed, for the first time, in the F.A. Vase winning through the first three rounds – eventually losing to Deal Town away. Further success was achieved in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup where Witney finally fell to Oxford City in the semi-finals.
The 2005/06 season saw United enter the FA Cup for the first time and were very unlucky to bow out after a replay against Southern League high-fliers Clevedon Town. The FA Vase brought similar disappointment as they went out to Truro City at the second hurdle.
In October 2005 Alan Clark resigned as 1st Team Manager and Spencer Keyes stepped up from Assistant Manager to replace him. Spencer’s first management move was to recruit Pete Lamont as his No2.
The side went from strength to strength and a top 6 finish was claimed on the very last day of the season to round off an excellent season.
United enter 2006/07 with a certain amount of optimism as the bid to bring Southern League football back to West Oxfordshire. A lack of consistency and too many draws saw them slip away from the leading pack and eventually finish 6th for the second season running. The club did however reach the Challenge Cup Final before losing 2-1 to Hungerford Town.
In the close season Keyes stood down as Manager and United moved quickly to appoint Andy Lyne. Lyner had two spells as manager at Witney Town in the nineties and his homecoming was well received by the fans who hoped he could work his magic for a third time at Marriotts Stadium.
This saw United have their best ever season since formation finishing an excellent 4th place in the league and pushing the promotion contenders for long periods of the season.
The season 2008-09 saw United push on again and finished an excellent 3rd place with a record number of points for the club. Striker Ben Thompson also ended up with the Hellenic League Golden Boot winning the award on the final day of the season.
In the FA Vase it was the club's best ever run as we reached the national stage of the competition only to very unluckily go out 1-0 to Lowestoft Town who finally bowed out in the semi-finals.
