Wycombe Wanderers, a.k.a. the Chairboys, were formed in 1887. The nickname 'Chairboys' comes from (surprise!) the local furniture-manufacturing industry, and from which businesses their first players came. They had a sojourn in the Southern League Second Division from 1896-1908, but then disappeared after finishing bottom three seasons in a row. It's not too clear whether they managed to maintain a continuous history as we don't find them in the records again until 1921-22, when a club bearing the same name joined the amateur Isthmian League. And there they stayed through the Twenties and Thirties, consistently mid-table and rarely troubling anyone at the top or the foot. The one piece of significant silverware was as F.A. Amateur Cup Winners in 1931.

Such were their amateur traditions that they didn't have a manager or coach until 1951, James McCormack becoming the first. Once this er, oversight was addressed their fortunes began to improve and they were back-to-back Isthmian League Champions in 1955-56 and 1956-57 under Sid Cann. Still, one revolutionary step at a time. It took them until the arrival of Brian Lee in 1969 before the manager was allowed to choose the team. Until then the players were selected to play on the following Saturday by a Match Committee meeting on the Monday evening - notification going out by post. Once this madness was gotten out the way Lee took Wycombe to four Championships in five seasons between 1970 and 1975. They were runners-up in 1975-76, and repeated that the following season, after Lee had moved on, under Ted Powell.

Wycombe would probably have been a shoe-in for the new Alliance Premier League that started in 1979, but the Isthmian League's administrators refused to have anything to do with it until two leading clubs, Dagenham and Enfield, forced their hands by unilaterally jumping ship in 1981. However the suits were still inching towards agreement when Wanderers won the Isthmian title for the seventh time in 1982-83, so they missed their reward of any promotion. After a moderate season the following year they finished third in 1984-85. Champions Sutton United and runners-up Worthing turned down the opportunity to go up, so it was Wycombe Wanderers who became the first club to be promoted out of the Isthmian League into the by now renamed Gola League. The club they replaced was Yeovil Town.

After a good start in the Gola the Chairboys spiralled into an appalling run at the back end of the season, not aided by terrible fixture congestion, and managed only one win and three draws in their last fourteen league games. They still seemed safe in 19th when they entered the last weekend of the season three points clear of Dagenham and then gleaned a point from Kettering Town on the Saturday. However Dagenham had a double-header away at Northwich Victoria on the Saturday, then Runcorn on Sunday. The Gola was operating 3 points for an away win, two for a home. Dagenham won at The Drill Field, and when goalkeeper John Jacobs scored direct with a wind assisted punt from his area at Canal Street the Daggers knew The Force was with them and hung on for a draw. Wycombe were relegated straight back to the Isthmian on goal difference. Yeovil had finished second there, but on this occasion Sutton United, the Champions, chose to go up.

In the 1986-87 season there were only two teams in the title race in the Isthmian (Vauxhall-Opel) League Premier Division, Wycombe Wanderers and Yeovil Town. A poor run by the Glovers over the New Year period saw manager Gerry Gow depart and Brian Hall arrive. Although Wycombe didn't run away with it until the very end it would have been extraordinary if their total of 101 points could have been topped. Yeovil were left on 92 points, with the very minor satisfaction of having beaten the Wanderers in all four meetings, twice in the league and once each in the G.M.A.C. and A.C. Delco Cups. Third club Slough Town finished 15 points behind Yeovil and 24 behind Wycombe.

In the 1987-88 season Wycombe found life in the Conference tough once more, eventually finishing 18th. Yeovil meanwhile won the Isthmian at the third time of asking, so the 1988-89 campaign would see the teams meeting again.

The Main Stand at Adams Park, also named after Frank Adams. Photo © 2005 Ciderspace

The next three season saw Wanderers consolidating as a top half of the table side and also move out of Loades Park to a new stadium, Adams Park. They won the F.A. Trophy in 1991. These were the seasons that the Conference was mostly being dominated by brief visits from ex-League clubs in the shape of Lincoln City, Darlington and (for slightly longer) Colchester United. In 1991-92, as the O'Neill regime began to deliver, Colchester and Wycombe fought out a title battle so tight that both broke the then Conference points record, and in the end could only be separated on goal difference, the U's going up by virtue of +58 to Wycombe's +49. They were twenty-one points clear of the third placed Kettering. No club came down from the Football League that season as Aldershot had folded during the campaign, and the way was open for Wycombe to walk the next title. This they duly did, opening the next season with eight wins and two draws and clinching the Championship by fifteen points. Rather greedily they did the double and won the F.A. Trophy as well.

There was no stopping O'Neill and his Wanderers side now, and their first season of League football saw them finish fourth and enter the play-offs. Carlisle United were disposed of in the semis, and then at Wembley founder members, and first Football League Champions, Preston North End were defeated by the newest members 4-2. Into Division Two, and Wycombe finished sixth. Unfortunately for them one of the regular tinkerings with numbers in the divisions saw just one club going up as of right from Division Two that season, meaning only clubs 2nd to 5th made the play-offs. But a much greater, if inevitable, disappointment was that manager Martin O'Neill moved on at last after a five year stint that had transformed the club.

Snappily named The Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College Stand Photo © 2005 Ciderspace

In the league it has never got better than that to date for Wycombe. They held their own in mid- and lower mid-table as managers came and went quite swiftly. Lawrie Sanchez took over in February 1999 and saved them from relegation on the final day of the season after six wins in the final eight games hauled them out of a seemingly impossible position. Two years later, in 2001, he was leading them out in a semi-final of the F.A. Cup. It was the culmination of a titanic run, with three replays on the way. At Villa Park Wycombe held Liverpool for 78 minutes, and it took the introduction of Emile Heskey on the hour mark to finally tip the tie in favour of Gerard Houllier's side........er, where have we come across something similar?! Wycombe eventually went down 2-1 in a flurry of late scoring.

2001-02 saw Wycombe finish 11th and the following season 18th. With money getting tight and gates falling the Board was becoming fidgety. However despite a poor start to the 2003-04 season they gave Sanchez a vote of confidence in September - then sacked him before the month was up. It took until November to install the new manager, Tony Adams. There was no transformation and the club struggled throughout the season, only winning six games and finishing bottom.

What do many fans do when they get a choice? Stand! The home fans ignore all those nice seats at the other end and have stuck with their terrace. Photo © 2005 Ciderspace

So 2004-05 saw us meeting up with the Chairboys once again. Despite our esteemed then manager, Gary Johnson, tipping Wycombe to bounce straight back we were not so sure, predicting 12th. Obviously this site knows more about football than the great man, as they finished 10th. However Adams was not there to see it, departing the club on the back of a late winner from Yeovil's Bartosz Tarachulski at Adams Park in November. The Glovers went on to take the League Two title and promotion, while Wycombe took another four years to climb back out, mostly starting seasons like a train then fading badly in the back end of campaigns, John Gorman and Paul Lambert coming and going in the meantime. In 2008-09, having been first or second for most of the season, they looked like they were going to blow it again, but eventually scrambled over the line in third place on goal difference. Having got them back up at last one might have thought Peter Taylor would have been cut a bit of slack if they didn't take League Two by storm, but such is the madness of boardrooms for instant success he was soon dumped as Wycombe (quite predictably) found the higher level hard going. Gary Waddock was brought in after his success in getting Aldershot Town into the Football League the previous season.

Although Ivor Beeks remains in situ in his longstanding role as chairman, the power at the club has shifted to Steve Hayes as owner and managing director. Hayes is very much in the mold of many owners of football teams today, a man in a hurry with a riding roughshod attitude to club finances. It remains to be seen if the restructuring of Wycombe's finances, forced through despite the concerns of many fans, is a recipe for success or will be a legacy waiting to bite them in the future.

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RECENT RESULTS

06/02/2010	Yeovil Town	Home	CCL1	L	1-4	4793		Harrold 50
13/02/2010	Brentford	Away	CCL1	D	1-1	5740		Betsy 27
20/02/2010	Millwall	Home	CCL1	W	1-0	5774		Kelly 45
23/02/2010	Southampton	Home	CCL1	D	0-0	6232
27/02/2010	Stockport County	Away	CCL1	L	3-4	3740		Phillips 67, 70, Fon Williams 85
06/03/2010	Carlisle United	Home	CCL1	D	0-0	4876

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name	LGE	FAC	FAT	LGC	CC	Total
Jon-Paul Pittman	6	0	0	2	0	8
Matt Harrold	7	0	0	0	0	7
Scott Davies	3	0	0	0	0	3
Matt Phillips	3	0	0	0	0	3
Kevin Betsy	2	0	0	0	0	2
Stuart Beavon	2	0	0	0	0	2
Chris Westwood	2	0	0	0	0	2
Chris Zebroski	2	0	0	0	0	2
Julian Kelly	1	0	0	0	0	1
Craig Woodman	1	0	0	0	0	1
Ashley Chambers	1	0	0	0	0	1
John Akinde	1	0	0	0	0	1
John Mousinho	1	0	0	0	0	1
Josh Payne	1	0	0	0	0	1
Alex Revell	1	0	0	0	0	1
Own Goals	1	0	0	0	0	1

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 8400, vs Leeds United, 15/08/2009
Lowest League Attendance: 3899, vs Tranmere Rovers, 29/09/2009
Average League Attendance: 5459

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	3		Games Without A Home Win:	2
Games Without An Away Win:	2		Games Without Defeat:	1
Games Without A Home Defeat:	3		Games Without An Away Defeat:	0
Games Without A Draw:	0		Games Without A Score Draw:	4
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	0		Games Without Scoring:	1
Games Without Conceding:	1		Home Results Sequence:	LLLWDD
Away Results Sequence:	LDDWDL		Overall Results Sequence:	LDWDLD

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This is where the away fans head - The Roger Vere (current sponsor name 'Dreams') Stand Photo © 2005 Ciderspace

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Club Bar :

Most recent information is that away fans stopped being allowed to use the bar facilities at the stadium a couple of seasons ago. If we find evidence this has changed again we'll let you know.

Local Pubs :

Small backstreet local © Hugh Gleave Belle Vue: A hundred yards from the railway station (platform 3 exit), with four real ales stocked. Newish landlord when we called who seemed intent on bettering the pub and expanding the real ale. St Austell Dartmoor Best Bitter is the house beer, plus varying guests from the Punch Taverns approved list - with a tendancy to select some slightly more unusual ones. No food. Popular with commuters weekdays and the rugby crowd when Wasps are at home. Also live music. Opening is noon - 2.30 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. - 11.00 p.m. weekdays, noon - midnight Saturday, and noon - 10.30 p.m. Sunday. Street smoking. Belle Vue, 45, Gordon Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP13 6EQ. Tel: 01494 524728. Website: Click Here. Map: Click Here.

Half Moon: West of the town centre in the back streets. Refurbished in 2006, it is an all round local, with pub games and sports screens. Food served lunchtime and evening. Real ales are Taylor Landlord and Shepherd Neame Spitfire plus one or more guests. Opening is noon - midnight Monday to Thursday, noon - 1.00 a.m. Friday and saturday, noon - 11.30 Sunday. Has some parking and a covered heated outside smoking area. About a 25 minute walk to the ground. Half Moon, 103-105, Dashwood Avenue, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 3DZ. Tel: 01494 441558. Website: Click Here. Map: Click Here.

Closest pub to the stadium © Hugh Gleave Hour Glass: Nearest pub to the ground - and that's close to a mile away - on the A4010, positioned virtually on the junction of the one road up to the stadium. Away fans allowed except for the occasional big match or derby. Usual range of keg, plus a couple of fairly unappealing real ales when we were last there. Did a simple basic menu then, but no mention whether it still does. Couple of pool tables and dart board. Shows sports. Large beer garden. Hour Glass, 144, Chapel Lane, Sands, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4BY. Tel: 01494 525094. Map: Click Here.

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You :

Odd bunch in Bucks. Obviously 50% of the people are multi-millionaires to be able to afford to live there, with a two-up two-down cottage in the villages starting at £10,000,000. The only ones from this part of the population who go to 'soccer' matches fly to Old Trafford in their private jets. But mostly they prefer to watch rugger, rowing and gymkhanas. The other 50% hold, on feudal tenure, red-brick terraced houses they were born into in the small towns, and make their living in the service-retail sector providing for that wealthy 50%. It's from this group that the small numbers who follow local football teams are drawn.

Top-Tip :

Take your hiking boots, a map and a compass. It's a looooong walk.

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