Leamington

Leamington FC are the senior football club of the town of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire.

The club were formed as Leamington Town in 1891 before the club were voluntarily wound up in 1937 owing to financial troubles. Their Windmill Ground was sold to Coventry City FC for their reserves to use.

Lockheed, the company situated opposite the Windmill Ground, formed a club in 1946 called Lockheed Leamington and bought the ground back from Coventry City to house their team. They became members of the Birmingham Combination in 1949-50 following the appointment of Les Latham as player-manager.

My interpretation of The Windmill, the old crest and kits

A move to the Birmingham & District League followed in 1954-55, where they ended as Southern Division runners-up, before becoming champions of the competition in 1961-62. They retained the title the following year after it had been renamed the West Midlands (Regional) League, going on to join the Midland League.

The success continued as they lifted the championship in 1964-65. The Lockheed company was renamed Automotive Products, with the club adopting the title AP Leamington in 1973. The 'Brakes' moved to Division One North of the Southern League for the 1971-72 season. 1974-75 saw a packed crowd attend The Windmill as Southend United won the FA Cup first-round tie.

Main Stand, The Windmill

The following season saw Leamington promoted to the Premier Division before becoming a founder member of the Alliance Premier League, now the National League, in 1979-80. The side went down after three seasons, but in Graham Allner, the club had an excellent young manager.

His side won the Southern League Premier Division in 1982-83 before he headed off to Kidderminster Harriers, with Jim Watson replacing him after the club was denied promotion owing to increased ground-grading issues that they were unable to correct. Relegation to the Midland Division followed at the end of the 1984-85 season.

Time to say goodbye to The Windmill

Financial support from the company over the road ceased, with the club being renamed Leamington FC in 1985. A further demotion saw them playing in the Premier Division of the Midland Combination. They left the competition in April 1988 as they were evicted from The Windmill and went into abeyance.

The final league match at the ground was on 16th April, 1988 against Walsall Wood. The match ended 2-2, Duncan Gardner and Tony Graham the scorers for Leamington. The honour of being the last scorer at the Windmill in a "proper" game fell to a Walsall player, Roper, who equalised at 4.13 pm in front of the 500 crowd.

Demolition time at The Windmill

Where the ground once stood, there is now a housing development. The turnstiles were sold to VS Rugby, and some of the Main Stand went to Stratford Town. The floodlights, originally from Manchester City's Maine Road ground, were sold to a security firm.

This was after plans to build a new ground or move to Edmonscote Athletics Stadium proved unsuccessful. Fans continued to register the club with the FA, purchasing land in Harbury Lane, about three miles from town, in 1990, where a basic ground was begun to be developed, which was named The New Windmill.

The remoteness of The New Windmill

In 2000-01, Leamington became members of Division Two of the Midland Combination, under joint-managers Jason Cadden and Barry Proctor, winning the title and promotion at the first attempt. They went up from Division One twelve months later to reach the Premier Division, where they were playing before their enforced spell of absence. 

After finishing runners-up in 2003-24, after Cadden took sole control, they won the title the following year. The same season saw a first-round appearance in the FA Cup, with Colchester United proving far too strong. The title win led to promotion to the Midland Alliance, which they won in 2006-07, resulting in promotion to Division One Midlands of the Southern League.

All the time, their new home was upgraded whenever cash became available. The playoffs were reached in 2007-08, with a defeat in the final against Stourbridge after a victory against Rushall Olympic. The league title and promotion to the Premier Division were achieved in 2008-09.

Paul Holleran arrived as manager in October 2009, with the side reaching the playoffs in 2020-11, where they lost their semifinal to Hednesford Town. The 2012-13 campaign saw the Brakes win the title and reach the Conference North, as the step-two competition was known at the time, before they went back down at the end of the 2014-15 season.

Playoff agony followed twelve months later, as the final ended in defeat to Hungerford Town after Redditch United had been defeated. There was to be no mistake in 2016-17. Slough Town and Hitchin Town were beaten as Leamington returned to the second-tier, National League North.

Colby Bishop earned a move to Accrington Stanley with his goalscoring, before the team went down again in 2022-23. The club's resiliency shone through once again, as the Southern League Premier Division playoffs were reached at the first attempt. This time, Redditch United and AFC Telford United were defeated to complete the promotion campaign.

How the proposed new stadium might look

The side consolidated, while off the pitch, the club looked to move back to a new ground in town. Plans continued with a site at Gallows Hill being earmarked. In the meantime, the Brakes Trust, along with the club, continued to provide transport out to home games. 

Leamington FC will play in the National League North in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

AP Leamington 2 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 27th December 1980) Alliance Premier League (att: 460)

I travelled down to Leamington on the supporters' coach to watch Scarborough play in the Alliance Premier League. Boro played reasonably well but went one down, rallied and looked as they they might equalise. An older Boro fan who I'd never seen before said in true Scarborian gloom that AP would score the next goal, and they duly did completely against the run of play.

The ground had a Main Stand that ran half the length of the Tachbrook Road side, with changing rooms alongside it. To the right, and extending behind the northern goal, was terracing. The terracing gradually faded into a gently sloping gravel bank that continued around the other two sides of the pitch. 

The North or Windmill Road End was covered, as was a small section of the embankment opposite the stand. The Southern End had just a wire fence dividing it from the street behind, offering many locals who were interested a free view.

I was unfortunate to lose a fiver somewhere that day, which was quite a sum for a schoolboy, and couldn't find it on the bus. A director of the time, Derek Watson, saw my plight and told me not to worry about the coach fare. That was what Boro were like at that time. One happy, kind family. 

Sadly, Derek, a great club servant, is no longer with us.  His son, Barrie, became a mate at Scarborough Athletic games, and we would have a beer together occasionally. We retired to the clubhouse after the game whilst the directors enjoyed the hospitality offered by our hosts.

The images used on this page have been taken from the internet.