Senior football has been played in Tunbridge Wells since 1886 although the Club has had different names. Tunbridge Wells Wanderers might be the best, though un-used, name as eight different grounds have been used around the town. The post war years have, however, seen the town’s team almost entirely based either at the present Culverden Stadium or the Agricultural Show Grounds on what is now the Showfields Estate.
In its heyday Tunbridge Wells played regularly in front of four-figure crowds and was a significant force in non-league football. The 1920s and 30s in particular were heady days when long cup runs were almost an expectation of the supporters and Football League opposition was not unusual in the FA Cup. Tunbridge Wells’ first Kent League fixture took place in 1903 with Sittingbourne providing the opposition. Before World War II, the club also competed in the London and Southern Leagues.
After the war, the Wells briefly resumed playing as an amateur club although success and a return to semi-professional status were not far around the corner. In 1954 during the reign of the former England International, Jim Taylor, the club once more progressed to the first round proper of the FA Cup before being comprehensively beaten by Brighton. Honours in this era included a unique treble of Kent Senior Cup, Kent Senior Shield and Kent League Cup all in the same season. The last time that Tunbridge Wells reached the first round proper of the FA Cup was in 1961 when the team was narrowly edged out by Aldershot.
When England won the world cup in 1966 the football supporters of Tunbridge Wells must have thought everything was rosy with the town’s club also, by now back in the Southern League. However, the club collapsed and in 1967 it was left to the determination of supporters, who knew that they and their town deserved better, to see that the present day club came into being. They entered the Kent Premier League and by the next year the regeneration of the club was so complete that the team finished as Kent League runners up.
The Wells won the Kent League championship in 1985, and have also won the Kent League Cup on four occasions since the reformation of the club, as well as reaching the last 32 of the FA Vase on no less than five occasions.
Floodlights were installed at Culverden in 1992 and the Club gained a 30 years extension to the lease of the ground in 1995. An impressive new bank of terracing was subsequently added behind one of the goals in addition to a new clubhouse. The face of Culverden will continue to be transformed as the Wells seek to prepare for the imminent changes in non-league football.
On Wednesday, 31st August 2005 Tunbridge Wells made European football history by winning the longest penalty shoot-out for a senior cup match. 40 spot kicks were taken with the Wells triumphant by 16-15 over Littlehampton Town in the FA Cup Preliminary Round. A mid-season appointment of Martin Farnie resulted in Tunbridge Wells reaching their first senior cup final for 14 years when the Kent Senior Trophy Final was reached. Unfortunately, The Wells lost the final to VCD Athletic on yet another penalty shoot-out, following a 1-1 draw after extra time. In addition to the on-pitch upturn, a link had been forged with local youth outfit Foresters FC (an FA Community Club) presenting an exciting opportunity for both organisations to work together to ensure the Town has a forward thinking, locally represented football team.
Although the Courier Cup was won in pre-season, with a 4-2 win over Tonbridge Angels, Season 2006/07 never delivered on the promise shown towards the end of the previous season, and a poor start to Season 2007/08 brought about the appointment of a new manager, Mike Robbins, who imediately looked to build a side capable of competing going into Season 2008/09. |
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