Droitwich Spa

August 26, 2012

There has been Saturday senior football, as well as thriving Sunday and Junior League football for many years now in the historic brine town of Droitwich Spa. The records date back to 1896 when Droitwich Town won the Worcester Saturday Junior Cup.

Other sides representing the town over the years included: Droitwich United, Droitwich Sports, Droitwich Comrades and Droitwich Juniors and Droitwich St. Peters.

Droitwich Spa FC were formed in 1985 (originally as a Sunday side) as an open aged team when the then Under 16's Droitwich Spa Boys side had no other junior league to participate in.

The club spent its early years in the Worcester Leagues and in 2000 joined the Midland Combination Division 2 after 3 successful seasons at the top of the Worcester Premier League.

The first season under the new name saw the club attain a respectable 7th placed mid-table finish.

In their 3rd season (2002-03), the club finished 3rd - narrowly missing out on promotion, however 4 years later the Spa repeated that feat and with the necessary facilities in place were promoted to Division 1. The first team remained in Division 1 for the next 7 seasons, mainly flirting with relegation with an occasional mid-table finish.

In 2004-05 season, Spa reached the Worcestershire Junior Cup Final for the first time in their history, however lost 1-0 to Bewdley Town.In the same season, a Droitwich Spa Reserve team was started- competing in Division 3 of the Midland Combination.

In season 2013-14, after a long yet eventually successful struggle against relegation, the club did the Cup double - winning both the Worcestershire Junior Cup and the Evesham Nursing Cup.

The club has been run and continues to be run today, by a group of volunteers. Without these individuals' vital work both on and off the field, the club could not have functioned. Pivotal names in the clubs recent history which will go down in DSFC folklore and to whom a large debt of gratitude is due - including (but is not limited to): Dave and Nick West, Richard Goode, John Williamson, Andrew and Ben Pheasant, Tom Goss, Tom Sanders, Chris Hartshorne, Andy Dyer and Barry Shuck.

The re-structuring of the Leagues saw the Saltmen placed in the Midland Football League Division 2 in 2014-15, where a poor start to the season culminated in Colin Rudge being replaced by the management team of Worcester City legend Mark Owen and Wayne Oliver, who had previously managed at (amongst others) Pershore Town, Malvern Town and Bromyard Town.

When the new managers took over, they found the club at the foot of the table. In a remarkable turnaround, the Saltmen ended the season in their highest ever league position (8th) and points tally (46) and reached the Worcestershire Junior Cup Semi Finals only to be knocked out by local rivals Fairfield Villa.

The decision was taken to dissolve the struggling Reserve side to focus all efforts on the fortunes of the first team and, as a result, The Saltmen have achieved their highest ever finish in season 2015/16.