Historic Club
The first club was originally founded as Yiewsley F.C. in 1872, and played on a small area of open ground in Falling Lane, Yiewsley, in Middlesex. In 1951 they were one of the 14 clubs who founded the Delphian League and in the 1953–54 season were promoted to the Corinthian League, which they topped in their third season, 1956–57. In 1958 a decision was made to turn semi-professional, and the club joined the South-East zone of the Southern League. Their most noteworthy achievement until that point was holding Third Division Gillingham to a 2–2 draw on their home ground in the first round proper of the 1956–57 FA Cup. Jackie Milburn (formerly of Newcastle and England) also played for the club briefly when he retired from professional football in the early 1960s.
The club renamed itself as Hillingdon Borough in 1964 in line with the local government reorganisation in London that saw the formation of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The change of name saw their fortunes change, as in their second season they were promoted to the Premier Division of the Southern League after finishing runners up. Their most successful period followed over the next five years. In 1968–69 they finished runners-up to Cambridge United, who were duly elected to the Football League. The following season, they reached the third round proper of the FA Cup beating Wimbledon and Luton Town before losing to Sutton United 4–1 in a replay. In the 1970–71 season, they reached the FA Trophy final at Wembley losing 3–2 to Telford United, after leading 2–0 at the interval.
These achievements were all under the managership of Jimmy Langley (left-back for Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and England), who was himself an ex-Yiewsley player. Other notable managers of the club included Barry Fry, latterly of Birmingham City and Peterborough.
The club failed to build on the success of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Declining crowds and poor financial management eventually saw the club merge with Burnham F.C., before disappearing in 1987. However, this was not before some exciting FA Cup runs in the late 1970s, including a notable win at Fourth Division Torquay United.
Read more about this topic: Hillingdon Borough F.C.
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