The original club initially became members of the Northern Division of the Herts County League, becoming divisional champions in 1920-21, prior to adding the suffix of ‘Town’ to their title as they were placed in the North Eastern Division of the competition.
Town joined Division One of the Bedfordshire & District County League in 1925, going on to lift the title in 1927-28. ‘The Reds’ re-joined the Herts County League after World War Two before moving across to the retitled South Midlands League for the 1947-48 season.
Promotion to the Premier Division came in 1949-50 following the Division One title. A runners-up berth in 1953-54 saw a switch to the Parthenon League where Baldock remained until joining the London League in time for the 1959-60 campaign.
Four seasons later the club reverted to South Midlands League football, where they were crowned as champions in 1965-66, 1967-68 and 1969-70. Four subsequent third place finishes were as good as the teams could muster.
Town joined the Premier Division of the United Counties League at the end of the 1982-83 season after moving from their Bakers Close ground in 1981 to a new venue at Norton Road.
Runners-up spots in their debut season and again in 1986-87 led to promotion to the second tier South Division of the Southern League. The team remained in that division with a young Kevin Phillips, initially a full back, playing for the club from 1991 to 1994 while Ian Allinson was the player-manager before being snapped up by Watford.
The team reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup in 1991-92 going out after a replay to Halesowen Town. In 1994-94 a runners-up place saw Baldock promoted to the Premier Division where they remained for two seasons before dropping down again.
Their section was renamed Division One East in the summer of 1999, with the side led by Gary Roberts again reaching the fourth qualifying round of the Cup, this time bowing out on penalties to Enfield in a replay.
The club finished 2000-01 in fifth place in the league before folding owing to financial problems.
In 2003 a new club, Baldock FC was formed composed of former Baldock Town youth players, becoming members of Division One of the North Hertfordshire League and playing at Knights Templar Sports Centre and Bakers Close while being managed by Percy Davies and Malcolm Ward.
Ward took on the role alone after the debut season as the team was promoted to the Premier Division in 2004-05 prior to becoming founder members of the North & Mid Herts League in 2006 where the management duo of Barry Laurence and Steve King were out in charge as ‘Town’ was added to the club name.
A runners-up place saw the Reds promoted to Division One of the Herts County League when King took sole charge of the team as matches were moved to the County Ground in Letchworth. The title was won at the first attempt leading to promotion to the Premier Division.
A change of title to Baldock Town Letchworth followed before Scott Grant took over from King as manager in August 2010. In 2011 the club returned to the home of the former club on Norton Road, dropping Letchworth from their title at the same time. The ground had been renamed the North Herts Arena and had been converted to a 3G facility for community use.
The 2011-12 season saw Town become Herts County League champions, but promotion was declined because the Arena’s fencing around the pitch and artificial pitch were decided to be unsuitable for step six non-league football.
Baldock were on the move again, this time to become tenants of Hitchin Town at Top Field. A runners-up league place was enough to secure promotion to Division One of the Spartan South Midlands League in 2012-13.
Two mid table finishes ensued as Lee Harman and then Tom Oram put away the goals. Grant resigned in May 2015 as the club were on the move again, this time to share Roker Park with Stotfold as Luke Gregson was appointed as manager.
Performances improved with back to back third place finishes in 2015-16 and 2016-17 before yet another move of venue, when Baldock moved to play at Hitchin Road alongside landlords Arlesey Town.
Promotion to the Premier Division of the Spartan South Midlands League came in 2017-18 with a second place finish. After finishing fifth in 2018-19 Gregson departed for Stotfold with Adam Fisher taking on the role in his place.
Town were in twelfth place when the 2019-20 season was aborted owing to the Coronavirus pandemic struck which also delayed hopes of returning to Baldock where they club were hoping to purchase land on Clothall Road to develop a new home. The following season also ended early.
This was
after Rob Bates; the former assistant of Fisher was named as the Reds manager
in June 2020 before he departed in December 2021 with Dave McAdam being
installed in his place. The team continued to finish in the lower reaches of
the division, including fifteenth in 2023-24.
Baldock Town FC will play in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division in the 2024-25 season.
My visit
Baldock Town 2 St Margaretsbury 2 - 2-4 after penalties (Wednesday 2nd September 2020) FA Cup Extra Preliminarily Round (att: 140)
This turned out to be the third consecutive top ride out with my pilot Tony Foster who had quickly embraced football at Step 5 level as we experienced an open and entertaining encounter.
I was in two minds whether to take in this game with company and a lift or head across town to watch Park View at New River Stadium in Haringey. Common sense prevailed on what turned out to be a very wet evening.
My pal picked me up at Stanmore. The traffic was extremely light on the A1 as we made good time to arrive at Arlesey Town’s New Lawn Meadow ground. Hendon had played a behind closed doors friendly there a few weeks previously, with the club officials who attended being most impressed.
Our names were ticked off at the gate as we’d paid our £7 in advance. The Baldock gent on the Twitter account was most helpful giving updates on ticket availability as the ground capacity was severely restricted owing to COVID regulations.
I grabbed one of the last few and ensured I paid immediately to secure my place. Programmes were available free of charge in online digital form though I think I saw one or two paper issues with other fans inside the ground.
Daz, the Hendon secretary wasn’t wrong. The ground was a belter, even if it needed some TLC and upgrades. To read a full description, click here to visit the Arlesey Town FC page.
We were early so grabbed cuppas for £1 from the hatch by the side of the main stand before going inside the roomy and comfortable clubhouse. We made our way over to the far side and grabbed a decent elevated spot on the covered terrace next to further seating.
Baldock went 1-0 up with a shot from Scott Piggott from outside the box that found St Margs’ goalie Emmanuel Olajide wanting after some early pressure. The forward then lashed out in retaliation to some shirt pulling and was shown a straight red with the show of petulance turning out to have a big bearing on the game as it evolved.
Baldock continued to give it everything in the pouring rain and doubled their lead just after the break when Josh Furness scored from close range. The visitors had plenty of possession without looking too dangerous.
This continued after the interval before their manager Ray Bartlett made a couple of substitutions with a quarter of the game remaining that would change the game as Emmanuel Shoderu and Isaac Stevens offered new energy.
Gradually their pressure paid off as the Town players began to tire. The lead was halved when the ref adjudged a player had been tripped in the box despite the protestations from defenders. Kyle Roberts slotted home the spot kick.
Baldock's central defensive partnership of Furness and Dan Harper were putting in a heroic shift, with one block right out of the top drawer to deny a goal bound shot. The equaliser came when a deflected shot from Jae Partridge went past keeper Adam Harpur.
Both teams went hell for leather for a winner in the final few minutes. It was frenetic and entertaining. It was a shame for either side to go out, but the visitors held their nerve when it came to spot kicks. All the players looked spent at full time. It was probably as well it didn't go to extra time.
We left as the shattered players offered their best to their opponents. I was tired just watching! It had been an inspired choice of Tony’s and I'm glad that I accepted the ride.
I love the FA Cup!
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