In the summer of 2014 Welling Town was formed as a traditional Sunday morning side by Chairman Kevin Oakes and some friends and former teammates.

The club was formed on the basis of friends enjoying their football and the priority of fun rather than excellence.

That said, we were fortunate that our friends were also fairly decent footballers, and it became apparent fairly quickly that we could achieve some wins along the way without losing the fun element. We duly found ourselves elected to, and then promoted from, the London and Kent Suburban Football League (LKSFL) Second Division in our first season (2014/15).

Similar progress and success followed in the second season (2015/16) where we were promoted from the First Division into the LKSFL Premier Division for the start of 2016/17.

With the unexpected success of the club, and swelling with players, plans were made to start a second team within the club, which played in the Woolwich and Eltham Sunday Football Alliance (WESFA) in 2016/17 also in their Premier Division.

Having seen how quickly we had developed, and with two Sunday sides of decent standard, a move into Saturday football was the next natural step.

In the summer of 2016 an application was made to the Kent County Football League (KCFL) for entry into their competition. A number of the senior Sunday players had voiced a desire to continue progression wherever possible. Applying more in hope than expectation given our lack of previous Saturday playing record and being told by many managers and officials not to bother wasting our time, we were delighted even to be called for interview, and even happier and slightly shocked to be recommended for membership and then elected at their AGM.

This was without doubt our proudest moment to date, as it was the first real proof and confirmation from people in authority outside Welling Town, that we are a well run club off the field with the structure, organisation, discipline and professionalism way beyond our years.

In our debut season in the KCFL we were promoted from their Division Three West at the first time of asking, as well as winning the West Kent Challenge Shield final at Sevenoaks Town in April 2017.

With the continuation of the Sunday sides during 2016/17 the Sunday football reverted to being fun, with a real drive and focus on the Saturday side to develop the club and move it up the pyramid as quickly as possible.

Over the Christmas period of late 2016 and early 2017 it became known to club officials that a pending change to the National League System would potentially open opportunities for clubs to progress up the non-league ladder if they could demonstrate they met all of the required criteria on and off the field.

During the course of 2017 improvements have been made to management, club structure, playing facilities, playing strength, finance and support staff, and all has been with a view to applying for the National League System for 2018/19.

On the field the 2017/18 season just ended was extraordinary – winning the Kent County Second Division, as well as defending our West Kent Challenge Shield. However, the real peak of the season was winning the Kent Junior Cup, a competition with over 160 entrants, ranking us as the top amateur side in Kent. We’re proud to have achieved a rare treble, scoring over 130 goals in all competitions in the process.

Our success on the field was mirrored by the application off the field to the FA to move in to the semi-professional ranks, and after 18 months hard work, we were delighted to be informed in May 2018 we had been successful. We'll therefore start 2018/19 as a semi-professional side, and in 12 months time potentially be playing in the FA Cup.

In the last 12 months we’ve also branched out with reserve sides, an under 23s, and several youth sides to help the further growth of the club long term.

Welling Town

Safeguarding for Committee Members Certificate

Safeguarding for Under 14s Manager Steve Perry