Kendal Town

Kendal Town Football Club is a football club based in Kendal, Cumbria, England. The club are currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One West and play at Parkside Road.

History

The club was established in 1919 by employees of the Netherfield Somerfield Brothers factory and was initially named Netherfield. They won the Westmorland County Cup in 1924–25. They joined the West Lancashire League in 1936, where the club remained until World War II. In 1945 they joined the Lancashire Combination, finishing as runners-up in their first season. The season also saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 3–2 on aggregate to Barrow. When the league gained a second division in 1947 the club were placed in Division One, which they won in 1948–49, a season which saw another FA Cup first round appearance, this time losing 3–0 at Gateshead.

Netherfield went one better the following season, beating North Shields 4–3 in the first round, before losing 6–0 at Watford in the second. In the 1952–53 FA Cup the club lost 3–0 to Gainsborough Trinity in a first round replay. They were league runners-up again in 1953–54 and another FA Cup first round appearance the following season ended with a 4–0 defeat to Wrexham in a replay. In the 1955–56 FA Cup the club lost 5–1 at home to Grimsby Town in the first round in front of a record crowd of 5,184. Later that season they won the Lancashire Combination Cup. The club won the Cup again in 1960–61 and were league runners-up the following season. Another FA Cup run in 1963–64 saw them beat Loughborough United 6–1 in the first round, before losing 4–1 to Chesterfield in a second round replay. The following season they lost 3–1 at home to Barnsley in the first round.

The Lancashire Combination title was won by Netherfield for a second time in 1964–65, and their consistent form led to them becoming founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968. However, after their success in the Lancashire Combination, the club strug