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 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 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. They were twenty-one points clear of the third placed Kettering Town. 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 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 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.

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.

Prediction Corner:
Despite our esteemed manager tipping Wycombe as a likely team this season we're not so sure. They drew far too many matches last season, and although obviously having to deal with lower quality defences this season it's not clear to us who is going to score all those winning goals. Off the pitch the major restructuring of the club to try and sort out its finances is making progress, but we suspect it may take another season before the benefits of that are seen on the pitch. Final position 12th.

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FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name

LGE

FAC

FAT

LGC

CC

Total

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 0, vs ,
Lowest League Attendance: 999999, vs ,
Average League Attendance: Not Applicable

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	0		Games Without A Home Win:	0
Games Without An Away Win:	0		Games Without Defeat:	0
Games Without A Home Defeat:	0		Games Without An Away Defeat:	0
Games Without A Draw:	0		Games Without A Score Draw:	0
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	0		Games Without Scoring:	0
Games Without Conceding:	0		Home Results Sequence:
Away Results Sequence:			Overall Results Sequence:

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800 capacity car park at the ground with 26 spaces on a first come first served basis available to blue badge holders with a field site used as an overflow. With a single route in and out expect long delays after the game, makes getting out of the Huish Park car park look like a trifling inconvenience in comparison.

Charges: £5 per car, reducing by a £1 for every passenger down to a minimum charge of £2. Now start moaning about the £2 charge per car at Huish Park...

By Rail

Nearest Railway Station to the ground is High Wycombe on the Network South East line. This line connects to London Marylebone to the east or Birmingham Snow Hill, Banbury, Bicester or Aylesbury to the North-West. The station is in the Town Centre and therefore over two miles from the ground. Two buses depart from the station on match days or take a Taxi (cost about £5 one way). Allow about 45 minutes to walk to the ground from the Railway Station.

By Bus

There are several alternative ways to get from the centre of Wycombe to Adams Park by bus - see the appropriate page on the Chairboys on the net website.

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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 :

George & Dragon: For those looking for an out-of-town experience - though as repeatedly mentioned there are no pubs close to Adams Park anyway - West Wycombe is a couple of miles drive away. Almost the whole village seems preserved in a time warp. This hostelry is a three hundred year old coaching inn, owned by the National Trust. The food is top notch - and not cheap. Expect to pay around £10 for a main course, £3-£4 for a pudding. The beers are Adnams Broadside, Wells Bombardier and Courage Best. The wine list is exceptional, with a vintners on the premises, and they have a fine range of malt whiskies. If you want to stay the night they can provide rooms with four-poster beds. There's a garden with children's play area. Haven't been to West Wycombe for around ten years, but I recall the other pub in the village, The Litten Tree, also in the High Street, as being rather good too. George & Dragon, High Street, West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP14 3AB. Tel: 01494 464414. 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. Away fans allowed except for the occasional big match or derby. Usual range of keg plus a couple of fairly unappealing real ales. Pool table and dart board. Simple menu. Hour Glass, 144, Chapel Lane, Sands, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4BY. Tel: 01494 525094. Map: Click Here.

Hungry Horse pub © Hugh Gleave The Turnpike: Pushing towards a mile and a half from the stadium, but there are no pubs very close. This is from the Hungry Horse chain - huge meals, and a small selection of mainstream beers : usually Abbot, Old Speckled Hen and Greene King IPA. Some in the chain carry a guest. Large pub with its own parking. Children welcome. Very friendly staff but two significant problems when we were there: 1) despite a sign outside saying it opened at 11.00 a.m. it didn't bother opening until noon; 2) most of the ales were off - and that's from lunchtime on a Saturday, and they weren't back on by the evening either. Simply not good enough. The Turnpike, New Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4RQ. Tel: 01494 529419. 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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