Who are Telford United?
Formed back in 1872, the club started out as Parish Church Institute – before changing name to Wellington Town in 1879. This reflected the locality in which they were from. It was also the name by which you’d have called them right up to 1969. For those of you who may not know, Wellington is one of the areas that would come together to form Telford New Town. So, in some ways, it’d be much the same if Boro’ initially formed as something like Shephall Rovers, Broadwater Wanderers, or Chells City.
Anyway, Wellington Town started as founder members of the Shropshire League in 1892. In the years after, they would also compete in The Combination in-between two spells in the Birmingham and District League. And despite being close to the West Midlands region, the club also has two Welsh Cup titles to their name. Dim understandio. Meh. Between 1919 and 1936, the Bucks finished second three times and as champions three times; the last two coming back-to-back in 1935 and 1936.
In 1938, the Bucks joined the Cheshire County League for one season – before returning to the Birmingham and District League and winning the title again. It’s hard to know what they were thinking at the time though. After World War Two, they were back in the Cheshire County League yet again. This time, they stayed much longer; 13 years in fact. There were three title wins in this time, adding to the rollcall of honours. But a bigger challenge soon came with the Bucks joining the Southern League in 1958.
The Bucks’ best Southern League finish came in 1979, running in a distant third behind Worcester City and Kettering Town. It was also their last time in the competition; the Alliance Premier League unveiled that year and taking the now-called Telford United into their fold. The 1980s were a strong time for them too. On two occasions, they won the FA Trophy – adding to a previous triumph in 1972. But the peak of this new league was beyond them; only ever finishing in what would now be playoff positions at their peak.
The original Bucks were three-time FA Trophy winners and founder members of what went onto become the Conference; finishing third in the 1981-2 campaign. They weren’t shy of a FA Cup run either; reaching the fourth round in their final season after accounting for Brentford and Crewe Alexandra on the way.
