Crest of Wellingborough Town Football Club

Wellingborough Town

The Doughboys

Wellingborough Town FC main seated stand
© Yorkshiregroundhopper, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0

Wellingborough Town Football Club, nicknamed “The Doughboys,” is a non-league football club based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

Established in 2004, they currently compete in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, which is part of the eighth tier of English football. The team calls Dog & Duck Ground their home ground.

Originally playing a handling code before switching to association football in 1869, the side staged an early floodlit match in 1879. It entered Southern League Division One in 1901–02, briefly rebranding in 1905 before withdrawing a year later. A Metropolitan League title in 1969–70 preceded spells in regional competitions, but the club dropped into the United Counties League in 1989.

Wellingborough Town endured thirteen seasons in the UCL and folded after 2001–02. A group of twenty-four, including snooker champion Peter Ebdon, revived the club two years later, retained the Dog & Duck, and secured readmission to the league. Runners-up in Division One in 2005–06, the Doughboys returned to the Premier Division with ground improvements certified for Southern League standards.

From 2007 changes in chairs and managers, including Martin Goode, David Clingo, Martin Potton and Craig Adams, aimed to steady finances and results. Highlights were the signing of ex-Premier League striker Trevor Benjamin in 2008, survival after a poor start in 2012–13, a clubhouse fire in 2015–16, and a threatened but averted eviction from the Dog & Duck in 2017. United Counties Premier Division South champions in 2023–24, Wellingborough will play in the Northern Premier League Midland Division in 2024–25.