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1931 to 1969:
Banbury United`s genesis is to be found in Spencer Villa,a works club formed in 1931.Friendly matches were played on a ground on the town`s Middleton Road.
The club joined the Banbury Junior League for the 1933-34 season,and easily won the championship at their first attempt.
They amassed 37 points out of a possible 44,winning their last ten games without conceding a goal.
Changing their name to Banbury Spencer in 1934,they moved to their current ground for the start of the 1934-35 season when they competed in the Oxfordshire Senior League.This too they won at the first attempt.
During the season they were elected to the Birmingham Combination for the start of the 1935-36 season,taking the place of Rugby Town.
Along with many other league and cup competitions, the Birmingham Combination was suspended at the outbreak of the war.Some competitions continued to operate,however,including the Oxfordshire Senior League,to which Banbury returned in the 1939-40 season,winning 18 of their 22 games to again finish as champions.
After the war, Banbury resumed in the reformed Birmingham Combination and turned professional in the 1946-47 season.Their manager at this time was Jimmy Cringan,who joined them in 1936 and was to remain'The Boss'for no less than 25 years until his retirement in 1961. In 1947-48 Banbury entertained crowds averaging 3,500.They finished runners-up in the league and reached thefirst round proper of the FA Cup for the first time,losing 2-1 at Colchester United,who were at that time a Southern League club.The next season the ground attendance record was broken when 7,160 turned up to see Oxford City beat Banbury 3-2 in an FA Cup third qualifying round tie.The same season also saw Banbury reach the final of the Birmingham Senior Cup,losing 1-0 to Nuneaton Borough.The status of the Birmingham Combination began to decline in the early 1950`s as the clubs defected to the stronger Birmingham District League and to other regional leagues.
At the end of the 1953-54 season,the Birmingham Combination disbanded and Banbury joined the BDL.In 1959-60 they reached the final of the Birmingham Senior Cup for the second time,again losing to Nuneaton Borough by a single goal.In 1961-62,Banbury reached the first round of the FA Cup for the second time,travelling to Third Division Shrewsbury Town and losing 7-1. The BDL was strengthened by further expansion and it renamed itself the West Midland League for the start of the 1962-63 season.This coincided with a declning interest in Banbury Spencer from the club`s owners such that in 1965,a group of local businessmen bought the club.Banbury Spencer became Banbury United.The new owners were ambitious and were looking to a higher grade of football.Former Chelsea,West Ham,Arsenal and England player Len Goulden was installed as manager.United finished third in the league in 1965-66 and during the summer were elected to the Southern League,taking the place of Deal Town.The famous old railway coaches that had been used as changing rooms were ripped out and a new clubhouse and changing facilities erected.The new look ground was equipped with floodlights and was regarded as one of the better non-league grounds of the time. United then embarked on an unbroken 24 season run as members of the Southern League.They came close to league honours in 1967-68,when they finished in seventh place in the First Division,just two points and three places behind Rugby Town,who were promoted to the Premier Division.In that season,they won the prestigious Midland Floodlit Cup,and TonyJacques scored 62 goals in all competitions,a club record that still stands.
1970 to 2000:
The first round of the FA Cup was reached twice more;in 1972-73,United lost 2-0 at home to Barnet,then a Southern League club,and the following season,in arguably the club`s finest hour,they lost 3-2 away to Fourth Division Northampton Town in a replay after a 0-0 draw at home,Northampton`s winner coming very late in the game after Banbury had twice levelled the scores.United twice reached the third round of the FA Trophy(only three games from Wembley),losing 1-0 in a replay to the mighty Hereford United in 1970-71 and,in 1973-74,by the same score in a second replay to eventual Southern League champions Dartford. From the late 1970`s onwards,however,United`s fortunes declined sharply as debts mounted.Financial losses became so serious that by the summer of 1984 the club was all but bankrupt and the ownership of the ground was given up as security against the club`s debts.
On the field,the team was also struggling and on the 5th of May 1990,United finished 21st of 22 and were relegated for the only time in their history. During the summer of 1990,the owners of the ground threatened to sell and the club faced extinction.The threat was withdrawn,the club was rescued by a tiny band of volunteers and United started the 1990-91 season in the Hellenic League.Those fans who expected a quick return to the Southern League were to be disappointed.Except for season 1993-94,when United finished third,a serious promotion challenge looked unlikely.
From 1997 onwards,however,a revived and expanded commitee successfully negotiated sponsorship deals and the return of ownership of the clubhouse,which was extensively refurbished.The improved financial circumstances gave the club the confidence to aim for promotion.Former Oxford,Newcastle and QPR player Kevin Brock was appointed first team manager for the 1999-2000 season and he quickly assembled a strong squad of players.
After a modest start to the season,United`s form improved during the autumn but when they lost for the second time in their last league game of 1999,they entered the New Year no less than nineteen points behind leaders Highworth Town.What followed broke many of the club`s playing records.In just eight weeks,United overhauled Highworth with a run of 13 consecutive victories.They remained unbeaten until the end of the season,winning 20 out of 22 games.A 3-1 victory at Wantage Town on the 26th of April clinched the Hellenic League championship with two games remaining.United`s final total of 92 points was a Hellenic League record,as was their winning margin of 13 points.
Meanwhile,rapid progress had been made off the field. A secure lease was negotiated for the continued use of the ground and plans were drawn up for improvements,including the construction of a new stand.This was built in just seven weeks,with work being completed on the same day that the Southern League inspection team were due to visit.Their decision was favourable and promotion was guaranteed if the team could win the league.They did and Banbury United were back in the Southern League almost ten years after leaving it.
2000 to promotion to the Premier Division:
After securing promotion United found the first two seasons difficult finishing thirteenth in 2001 and fifteenth in 2002, narrowly avoiding relegation by just 4 points. Hopes of a better 2002-3 season were dealt a blow when Matty Gooderick, United`s leading scorer for the previous three seasons,broke a leg in a pre-season friendly. Kevin Brock used his Oxford United connections to secure the services of Oxford United reserve team striker Norman Sylla.
However the 19 year old Frenchman found goals hard to come by , scoring just once in his first five games, but things were to change following an F A Cup replay at Berkhampstead where he scored 4 times to turn the game and United`s season around. Norman then went on a scoring spree as United went on an 18 match unbeaten run,a club record in the Southern League, and soared up the table,topping the Eastern Division table on two occasions, not since 1973-4 had United led a Southern League table.United`s success on the field was matched by success on the terraces as attendances rose to an average of over 400 per game with a record attendance of over 1,000 for the midweek visit of Salisbury City. Despite a slump in the latter part of the season United still finished a creditable eighth in the table, their best finish in 25 years with Norman scoring 41 goals in all competitions, the best since Tony Jacques record breaking season some 35 years earlier.
The following season saw the long awaited re-structuring of the league and United were guaranteed promotion to the Premier Division should they finish in seventh or eighth and win a play-off.The season started badly for United, however,when Sylla left the club to play Conference football and United took just one point from their opening four games.Their form picked up and by December they had risen to fifth in the league but a run of bad results over Christmas and the New Year saw the team slip to ninth, just outside the play-offs.United needed to win at least 8 of their final 12 games and victories over their nearest rivals Bashley,Burgess Hill, Stamford and an injury time winner against Folkestone Invicta in their final home game saw United up to eighth. Victory in their final game at Erith would guarantee United a play-off spot,they lost the game and supporters then had an anxious wait to find out how results had gone elsewhere. The results were in their favour and United were in the play-offs,with a home tie against Western Division side Sutton Coldfield Town.
The game was played on May 3rd, 2 days after United`s defeat at Erith and 4 days after United`s triumph in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup final.United showed no signs of tiredness and more than matched their Western opponents but neither side could find the net in 90 minutes and the game went in to extra time.In the second period of extra time Sutton Coldfield took the lead, with United supporters thinking that it was all over Jason Allen equalized with less than five minutes to go.
A penalty shoot-out looked likely until Wayne Blossom headed United in front in the second minute of injury time to secure promotion to the Premier Division.
Life in the Premier Division:
 The 2004-05 season was anticipated as keenly as any in the history of the club. Although the Premier division was not as strong as it had been before the summer’s restructuring,it was nevertheless a considerable step up from the Eastern division and presented the club with its biggest challenge since joining the Southern League for the first time in 1966. United were equal to that challenge – just. Despite reaching ninth place in the autumn, by February United had sunk to within one place of the relegation zone. A late improvement saw them to safety with a game to spare.
With a squad strengthened significantly by signings in the summer of 2005, Banbury started the 2005-06 season well and although suffering setbacks with some serious, long-term injuries, they remained in with a genuine chance of making the play-off places until the beginning of March when they fell away. Nevertheless, their final position of seventh was an improvement of no fewer than ten places on the previous season and one that gave them great hope for 2006-07. However, the season was a big disappointment. After a promising start, form was erratic The worst losing streak for more than 16 years took United close to the relegation zone in March before a late run of good form saw them to safety, but it was troubles off the field that made the headlines. Club accounts showed a large deficit and big cuts were made to the playing budget. Notice to quit was given by the ground’s owners. Shortly after the end of the season, manager Kevin Brock resigned, citing the budget cuts as his reason for leaving. Several players followed him out. Long-serving defender and captain Kieran Sullivan was appointed manager for the 2007-08 season and was faced with the daunting task of running the team on the much reduced budget. The tenancy is guaranteed only until 2009, and although the local authority has offered support over the possibility of a new stadium, the club faces a difficult future.