Worthing F.C.
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| Full name | Worthing Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Mackerel Men / The Mackerels |
| Founded | 1886 (as Worthing AFC) |
| Ground | The Bibby Financial Services Stadium, Woodside Road, Worthing |
| Capacity | 4,000 |
| Chairman | George Dowell |
| Manager | Jon Meeney / Gary Elphick |
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division |
| 2015–16 | Isthmian League Division One South, 3rd (promoted via play-offs) |
Worthing Football Club are an English association football club based in Worthing, West Sussex, currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club plays at Woodside Road.
The club was formed as Worthing Association Football Club (a name that lasted until 1899) in February 1886 and played friendlies and Sussex Senior Cup ties for the first few years of their existence.
In 1896 the club became founding members of the West Sussex Football League, joining the Senior Division. During their time in the West Sussex league they were league champions on seven occasions. In May 1900 the club absorbed local rivals Worthing Athletic and a year later moved to its current home, then known as the Sports Ground, now as Woodside Road. In 1905 another rival team, Worthing Rovers, was also absorbed.
The club's intriguing nickname of "The Rebels" dates from when it resigned from the West Sussex League over a rule change, prior to becoming a founder member of the Sussex County League in 1920. Previously Worthing had been known as "The Mackerel Men": a reference to the fish on the club crest.
In 1920 Worthing became founder members of the Sussex County League, where once again they won eight league titles, in fact in the twenty seasons prior to World War II they only finished outside the top four on two occasions.
In 1948–49 Worthing joined the Corinthian League but met with little success. In 1963 the Corinthian League disbanded and most of its clubs joined the newly created Athenian League Division One, where Worthing won promotion at the first attempt, although after three seasons in the Premier Division, two successive relegations saw them drop to Division 2.
After managing a return to the top division, Worthing joined the Isthmian League in 1977, initially in Division Two, but by 1983 they had reached the Premier Division under manager Barry Lloyd and in fact finished as runners-up in 1983–84 and 1984–85. After Lloyd's deparature to Brighton & Hove Albion, however, the club soon slipped back down to Division Two, finishing bottom of Division One in the 1990–91 season with only 10 points and having conceded a huge 157 goals.
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