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THE EARLY YEARS
Tring Athletic Youth FC was formed in March 1958 by a group of local men who contributed towards the purchase of 3.4 acres at Miswell Lane. The cost of providing changing rooms, fencing, equipment and ownership of the ground was approximately £2,000, a lot of money in those days. Committee members, players and friends carried out most of the work, including the building of the changing rooms and during the early days the team had to play on another pitch in Tring. Originally the Club was formed to provide football for youngsters aged under 21 and despite playing against adult teams we won many trophies in the West Herts Saturday League during the early 1960's including the Division 1 title 3 times in 5 years.
THE 70's/80's
We then went through a lean spell and in 1971 decided to scrap the upper age limit and drop youth from our name. Many former players returned and we had another successful period during the early 1970's. Over the years many fine players appeared in our shirts and many went on to play for professional/senior clubs.
In the mid-seventies the Miswell Lane ground was sold to the Council and we had a bad time and but for the efforts of a few loyal members would have certainly folded. The Reserves were disbanded and the First Team dropped down to Division 3. We decided to turn to youth again and gradually forced our way back up through the league and by 1986 we were competing in the Premier Division and running a Reserve side again.
SOUTH MIDLANDS - THE 90's
In 1988 we joined the South Midlands and as a result gained senior status with the Herts FA. In 1989 we entered into a 3 year ground sharing arrangement with Isthmian League side Tring Town moving back to Miswell Lane in 1992 where the Reserves had continued to play. We established ourselves in the South Midlands by gaining promotion to the newly formed Senior Division in 1993. In 1994/95 the First Team reached the final of the Senior Division Cup whilst the Reserves were finalists in the Apsley Junior Cup for the second year running. In 1996/97 we led the Senior Division throughout the season and looked favourites to win the title. However, some unlucky defeats in the last few games saw us drop down to 3rd place. In addition to our impressive league form we also had some terrific cup runs during that season, reaching the semi-final of the Herts Charity Shield and winning the prestigious St. Marys Cup, the first time we had ever achieved such heights. In 1997/98 we just missed out on the Senior Division title by the narrowest of margins to New Bradwell St Peter - a goal difference of just 2! We finished the season in fine style, suffering just 1 defeat in our last 21 league games which included a terrific run of 14 straight wins for which we won a special award from the League. The Reserves went one better by winning their league by a clear 10 points and in doing so achieved 100% success in their league games at home. In 1998/99 we picked up our first major South Midlands trophy when we won the Senior Division Cup. We also won the St Marys Cup for the 2nd time in 3 years. In the league a terrific run of just 1 defeat in our last 28 games saw us finish in 3rd place, 4 points behind champions Holmer Green. During this magnificent run we went 15 hours without conceding a goal. The Reserves also did well finishing 5th in their first season in the top division. The 1999/2000 season proved to be one to remember. During the summer we spent over ?50k on building new changing rooms and extending the social and bar area. That meant a total of over £90k had been spent on improving the facilities at Miswell Lane since 1993. To mark the opening of the new changing rooms we played a Watford XI in front of a huge crowd of about 1,000 people. The game was Refereed by Graham Poll and Graham Barber. We also expanded on the playing side with a third team being set up to particularly attract young players, a veterans side for ex-players and a Ladies side. The season turned out to be the most successful in the Club's history. In addition to winning the Senior Division title by 11 points we also reached 5 finals. We won the Herts Charity Shield (beating Potters Bar Town 2-1), Herts Senior Centenary Trophy (Wormley Rovers 2-0) and the Cherry Red Books Trophy in its inaugural year (Bedmond Sports & Social on penalties after a 1-1 draw). We were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Letchworth in the Senior Division Cup and although we also reached the St Marys Cup final it was never played because of the backlog of fixtures. Our achievements were recognised by the South Midlands who awarded us the Houghton Regis Cup for achievements in outside competitions and Mick Eldridge, Ray Brimson and Richard Vincent were voted Managers of the Season. In 60 games in all competitions we lost on only 6 occasions, a remarkable achievement. Our other teams also enjoyed success with the Reserves reaching the Final of the Herts Intermediate Cup and the A Team in their first season finishing runners up in the West Herts Division 3.
THE NEW MILLENNIUM
After finishing the old millennium in style we continued our success into the new one (2000/01) by retaining the Herts Senior Centenary Trophy (again beating Wormley Rovers 2-0) and the Cherry Red Books Trophy (Virginia Water 1-0). The Reserves won the League title and a newly formed B Team claimed the runners-up spot. The following season (2001/02) we won the Herts Charity Shield for the 2nd time beating Letchworth 4-1. The A Team reached the Apsley Junior Cup final and the B Team won the sporting award.
SEASON 2002/03 - More success followed as we capture the Herts Senior Centenary Trophy for the 3rd time, to become the first club to do so. We finished 3rd in the table and won the League Cup for the 2nd time, to make 12 major trophies in 7 years. We were also finalists in the Cherry Red Books Trophy. The A Team finished runners up as did the Under 16's in their first season, the B Team won the sporting award for the 2nd year running and the Ladies had a great run in the Women's FA Cup. For the 3rd year running Darrel Bodimeade won an award for the best playing surface, which is just reward for the tremendous job he does for the club.
SEASON 2003/04 - Following our failure to secure floodlights at Miswell Lane we entered into an historic alliance with Tring Town to play our first and reserve team football in season 2004/05 at Pendley where lights are already in place. The main focus was to be to raise the funds needed to build a new Clubhouse, the previous building burnt down in March 2003. Miswell Lane will be retained and will be used by our A, B, Under 18's and Ladies sides. This new arrangement with Tring Town secured senior level football in the town.
SEASON 2004/05 - New season at a new ground in a new division with fantastic facilities. First team finished 6th in the Premier Division and also won the St Mary's Cup for the 3rd time defeating Hemel Hempstead in the Final. We were also Runners Up in the South Midlands Floodlit Cup Final losing on penalties to Oxhey Jets. Played in the F A Vase for the first time.
SEASON 2005/6 - The Club entered the F A Cup for the 1st time in its history but was defeated in the prelim round. In a disappointing season the highlight was a victory over Watford in the Herts Senior Trophy with a large crowd enjoying a 1-0 win. Defeat in this competition came at the hands of Stevenage Borough of the Conference league.
CLUB HONOURS
WEST HERTS LEAGUE
1961/2 Champions Division 1
1962/3 R/U Division 2 (Res)
1964/5 Champions Division 1
1965/6 Champions Division 1
Winners Challenge Cup
1971/2 R/U Division 1
R/U Apsley Senior Cup
Champions Division 2 (Res)
1972/3 R/U Premier Division
R/U Premier Res (Res)
Winners Marsworth Cup (Res)
1983/4 R/U Division 3
1985/6 R/U Division 1
1986/7 R/U Watford Peace
1987/8 R/U Apsley Senior Cup
1993/4 R/U Apsley Junior Cup (Res)
1994/5 R/U Apsley Junior Cup (Res)
1999/0 R/U Division 3 (A Team)
2000/1 R/U Division 3 (B Team)
2001/2 R/U Apsley Junior Cup (A Team)
2002/3 R/U Division 2 (A Team)
SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE
1994/5 R/U Senior Division Cup
1996/7 Winners St Marys Cup
1997/8 R/U Senior Division
Champions Reserve Division 2 (Res)
1998/9 Winners St Marys Cup
Winners Senior Division Cup
1999/0 Champions Senior Division
Winners Herts Charity Shield
Winners Herts Senior Centenary Trophy
Winners Cherry Red Books Trophy
R/U Senior Division Cup
R/U Herts Intermediate Cup (Res)
Finalists St Marys Cup (not played)
Houghton Regis Cup
Managers of the Year
2000/1 Winners Herts Senior Centenary Trophy
Winners Cherry Red Books Trophy
Winners Reserve Division 1 (Res)
Best Playing Surface
2001/2 Winners Herts Charity Shield
Best Playing Surface
2002/3 Winners Herts Senior Centenary Trophy
Winners Division 1 Cup
R/U Cherry Red Books Trophy
Best Playing Surface
2004/5
Winners St Mary's Cup
Finalists of South Midlands Floodlit Cup
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