Wormley Rovers FC vs. Harpenden Town FC

Welcome to our opponents

Harpenden Football Club was established in 1891 and were founder members of the Herts County League in 1898. In 1908, the club added Town to the name and joined the Herts County League Western Division. The club won the Herts County League Western Division championship in 1911, 1912 and 1921.

In the 1950s, Harpenden Town won the Herts County League title three times (1951, 1953 and 1955) before joining the South Midlands League in 1957.

Two South Midlands League titles followed in 1961-62 and 1964-65 and the club added the Herts Charity Shield and South Midlands League Shield in 1968.

In 1981-82, Harpenden were relegated to Division One and it wasn’t until 1989-90 that they won the title and returned to the Premier Division.

In 1991 the Centenary Stand was built and floodlights were installed at Rothamsted Park for the first time. The club were founder members of the Spartan South Midlands League’s Premier Division when the two leagues merged in 1997 and Harpenden Town entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1998-99, beating Burnham in their first tie.

After relegation in 2005-06, the club spent 11 seasons in Division One, gradually getting closer to regaining Premier League status. They were eighth in 2013-14, then sixth, then fourth before edging out Baldock Town by a single point to finish runners-up to Biggleswade and claim promotion in 2016-17 under manager Danny Plumb.

The team’s impact on the Premier Division during the 2017-18 season was immediate as they challenged Berkhamsted for the runners-up spot behind runaway champions Welwyn Garden City. Harpenden fell just short, missing out on promotion to Step 4 by three points. The club also won the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division Cup. Hopes of another promotion push faded the following season with a 14th-place finish, then came two seasons curtailed by the Covid pandemic.

Micky Nathan, who was appointed manager shortly before lockdown, then steered Harpenden to fifth place in 2021-22 and 11th in 2022-23.

To mark the 130th anniversary in 2021, the team adopted green and gold stripes – which had been the club’s colours in its early days – as the new home kit.

Oaklands Ladies joined the club in summer 2022, becoming Harpenden Town Women. They reached the first round proper of the FA Cup in the 2023-24 season before losing to Luton Town and missed out of the promotion to the Eastern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division by a single point when Dussindale and Hellesdon Rovers pipped them to the title.

In summer 2023, the club embarked on the biggest project in its history, overseen by chairman Roman Motyczak, who has been at the helm for a decade. Harpenden Town played their final game on the grass pitch at Rothamsted Park in March before installation of a state-of-the-art 3G pitch. The creation of terracing, a covered standing area and new seating in the Centenary Stand have transformed the ground. Six months after their final home game on grass, Harpenden Town welcomed Dunstable Town for our first match on the new pitch in September 2023. A big crowd of 427 enjoyed sun-kissed conditions and a 4-0 home win.

Harpenden Town finished the 2023-24 season with a run of seven consecutive league games to finish third in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division equalling their highest finish since the league was founded in 1997

Season 2024-2025 was not quite so successful, the club finishing just below the play-off places but the Team had success in the West Herts St Mary’s Cup, retaining the Trophy by defeating Tring Athletic 2-1.