By Michael Gahagan and the Amersham Town Football Club
Amersham Town FC was formed in 1890. An inaugural meeting took place at the Crown public house, now a hotel, on 10 October 1890. The Chairman was a local headmaster who was very friendly with W. G. Grace and was, in fact, recommended by that great cricketer. Among the original rules were no bad language on the pitch, that no player should wear any nails, an annual subscription of 1/6d ( or 7.5p ) and an agreement that the club colours would be black and white.
The club originally played at Barn Meadow, down the road from the current ground. Amersham Town moved to Spratleys Meadow in 1920, thanks to the generosity of a local entrepreneur – a Mr Brazil – who founded the famous sausage and pie company bearing his name.
Amersham joined the Hellenic League in 1952 and then the Spartan League in 1972. The Clubhouse, a former school room, was erected in 1968 and extended to its current size in 1983. New floodlights were installed in 1977 In 1998 the Club secured a ninety nine year lease on Spratleys Meadow and built a new stand. In 2000, new pitches were provided across School Lane for the Youth Section.
In 2006/07 the club enjoyed a major refurbishment. The original changing rooms, which were commandeered in the war as an emergency mortuary in the event of an air raid on Amersham, were demolished and modern facilities constructed. The pitch, which had a slope of 11ft 4 inches from touchline to touchline, was levelled and now provides an excellent playing surface. In 2022 the clubhouse was comprehensively remodelled and modern floodlights installed for this season.. Amersham Town was granted Charter Standard Club status in 2013.
The club moved to the Cherry Red Combined Counties League in season 22/23 and was promoted to the Preier Division North for last season. The team is managed by Jason Owens and the club has developed close links with Kings Church FC, a well organised local club which runs more than twenty junior teams.
Images courtesy of the Amersham Town Football Club