Malvern Town FC were established in 1946, and have been based at Langland Stadium ever since. Their league record reads thus:
1955-1961 - Members of the Worcestershire (now Midland) Combination.
1961-1968 - Members of the Worcestershire Combination 1st Division. The league changed its title to 'Midland Combination' in 1968.
1968-1979 - Members of the Midland Combination. In 1979, Malvern Town switched leagues and joined the West Midlands Premier League
1979-1992 - Members of the West Midlands Premier League (now West Midlands Regional League). Relegated at the end of the 1991-92 season.
1992-1994 - Members of the West Midlands League First Division. Promoted back to the West Midlands Premier League in 1994 despite only finishing in 9th place.
1994-2004 - Members of the West Midlands Premier League. Promoted to the Midland Alliance League in 2004.
2004-2006 - Members of the Midland Alliance League. Promoted to the Southern League Midlands Division in 2006.
2006-2009 - Members of the Southern League Midlands Division. Relegated at the end of the 2008-09 season.
2009-201? - Members of the Midland Alliance.
FA Cup - Twice reached the 3rd Qualifying Round (1981-82 and 1986-87). FA Vase - Reached 4th Round in 1974-75.
In 2006, Malvern Town FC were celebrating promotion from the Midland Alliance to the Southern League Midlands Division.
The club had enjoyed recent successes, winning promotion from the West Midlands Regional League Premier Division in 2004, after finishing in the top half of that league for the previous seven seasons. Two top half finishes in the Midland Alliance in 2005 and 2006 meant that the club was on the up and going places, and the club had a good cup run reaching the 1st Qualifying round of the FA Cup before being beaten 4-1 at home by Histon.
Season 2006-07 was a steep learning curve for Malvern Town, and they did well to finish outside the relegation zone finishing in a comfortable and respectable 17th place out of 24 teams. Things looked good for the next campaign, and it was hoped that Malvern could 'kick on' from there.
The following season would see the start of a three year nightmare for Malvern Town in the league.
Under then manager Paul Molloy, Malvern won only ONE home game in season 2007-08, against Sutton Coldfield Town, and amassed a paltry 18 points from 40 games, scoring 34 goals and conceding 95! Only Berkhamsted Town, who went out of business at the end of that season, had a worse record of 10 points with 126 goals conceded. The worst result coming in a 11-0 away loss to Chesham United on November 24th 2007, a game that no Malvern fan will sadly ever forget. Molloy was sacked in January 2008 and replaced with Joe Rawle (now at Westfields).
Against the odds, we were saved from demotion back to the Midland Alliance and started season 2008-09 in the Southern League Midlands Division. This time, there would be no reprieve as we finished bottom of the league with 16 points and conceding 119 goals along the way! Painful defeats to Romulus (7-0), Marlow (9-1), Atherstone (7-1), Bury Town (7-0) and the league champions of that season Leamington (8-0) sent poor old Malvern back down into the Midland Alliance for season 2009-10.
After two painful seasons, it was hoped that a fresh start in the Midland Alliance could act as a springboard to get Malvern Town promoted at the first attempt. A new manager was appointed, in the shape of former player Chris Palmer. It seemed that there would be investment in the club from outside the area, but this interest came to nothing and Malvern continued the poor form of recent seasons by finishing a very disappointing 18th place in the Midland Alliance. A 7-1 away defeat at Coleshill Town before Christmas 2009 showed how far Malvern had fallen. Poor performances and little interest in the club off the pitch underlined a very disappointing season. Palmer and former Chairman Richard Bond left the club on the eve of the 2010-11 season - the official reasons for this remain something of a mystery, but could easily be down to poor results (Palmer) and ineffective leadership (Bond).
Season 2010-11 is only five games old, at the time of writing, and Malvern are already bottom of the league after losing four games and drawing 0-0 at Alvechurch. The only win to date being against Cradley Town in the FA Cup.
Recent changes in the playing, managerial and committee staff have not helped to stop the rot, and there is a real danger that the club will not attract fans in the future. There are plans to build a new stadium for Malvern Town, but with very little money and a fanbase which is small even compared with Midland Alliance standards it is hard to make a case for a new stadium and the club may in future cease to exist.
Malvern is a lovely town with straight, honest, caring, decent people who I'm sure would back and support the club if only those at the club cared more. There is no marketing of the club within the town, there are no signposts to tell people where Langland Stadium is (it's in Sherrard's Green, on the east side of the town - in case you didn't know!) and there is only minimal mention of the club on the Malvern Gazette and Worcester News websites and in their associated newspapers.
Malvern Town is a club with heart, soul and potential. Yet, since 2007 the club has been slowly dying. If we are not careful, we risk losing the club altogether in the future - remember that every season that goes by at least one non-league club goes to the wall. Let us hope that in 2010-11 Malvern Town is not one of them.
