History

St Albans City Football Club, established in 1908, have a storied history marked by early successes in regional leagues and national competitions. After winning the Spartan and Herts County leagues pre-World War I, the club joined the Athenian League, winning two titles before advancing to the Isthmian League in 1923. Remarkably, St Albans became the first team to win championships in the Spartan, Athenian, and Isthmian leagues, with the 1920s heralded as a golden era. The club achieved three Isthmian titles, made three Amateur Cup semi-final appearances, and saw numerous players earn representative honours, including Wilfred “Billy” Minter, their all-time leading scorer with 356 goals in 365 games.

Post-war, St Albans faced mixed fortunes, including relegation in 1974 and again in 1983, but the appointment of former player John Mitchell sparked a revival with two promotions in three years. Despite a setback in 1993 due to stadium issues, the club became a founding member of the Conference South in 2004, achieving promotion to the Conference National in 2006 before returning to Conference South. Struggles in subsequent years led to relegation and financial penalties, but the team rebounded under various managers. In recent seasons, under David Noble’s leadership, the club made the 2023 play-off final in the National League South, but fell short against Oxford City.

Alongside league achievements, St Albans has a rich cup history, winning 49 finals, including 13 Herts Senior Cups and 25 Herts Charity Cups. Despite never reaching an Amateur Cup final, they boast memorable victories like defeating Brentford in the 1924 FA Cup and Forest Green Rovers in 2021.

Form

The 2024/25 season has been a bit of a struggle so far for the Saints, as they find themselves in the relegation spots after 20 matches. Having won just two league matches this season, David Noble left the club by mutual consent three weeks ago and he has been replaced in the dugout by former Boston United Manager, Ian Culverhouse.

Since Culverhouse’s appointment as Manager, St Albans have played just two matches. They picked up a point away at Maidstone United in his first game in charge on 30th November, before falling to a 3-0 defeat at local rivals Boreham Wood this past Tuesday.

Last Six
10/12 – Boreham Wood (A) – Lost 3-0
30/11 – Maidstone United (A) – Drew 1-1
25/11 – Aveley (A) – Lost 6-3
23/11 – Chippenham Town (H) – Lost 0-2
19/11 – Bishop’s Stortford (A) – Won 1-2 (Herts Senior Cup)
16/11 – Basford United (H) – Lost 1-2 (FA Trophy)

The Manager

Former Boston United, King’s Lynn Town, Grantham Town, and Kettering Town manager, Ian Culverhouse, was appointed as the Saints’ new first-team manager following the departure of David Noble last month.

Culverhouse most recently managed Boston United in the National League. He took on the role in September 2022, helping the club to retain their National League North status in his first season, before guiding the Pilgrims to promotion through the play-offs in May of this year. He has also previously managed Kettering Town and King’s Lynn Town, where he took the club from the Southern League Central Premier to the National League North before gaining promotion to the National League.

Culverhouse is a highly respected UEFA Pro-Licensed coach, a role he initially took at Brighton & Hove Albion after finishing his playing career. As well as the above-named clubs, he has coached and assisted in managing, Wycombe Wanderers, Colchester Utd, Norwich City and Aston Villa. As a player, he played at right-back, starting at Spurs but he is most well known for his time at Norwich City and then Swindon Town.

The Captain

Joe Partington was the Saints club captain before his move to Worthing earlier was completed earlier this week. Goalkeeper Michael Johnson took the armband in the first game following Partington’s departure.

Johnson joined St Albans City from Dagenham and Redbridge in the summer of 2020. He has made well over 100 appearances for the Saints across all competitions.

He started his career at Stotfold, before moving to Hitchin Town. Here he impressed during his 184 appearances for the Canaries earning him a move up the non-league pyramid to Dagenham via Braintree Town.

Key Player

Ken Charles has been the danger man for the Saints this season and is their top scorer in the National League South, with eight goals to his name after signing for the club in the summer.

Charles spent the 2018/19 campaign with Colchester United’s Under-23s side, before a spell at Enfield Town, where he scored 13 goals in 40 appearances.

He then joined Braintree Town, netting three times in three matches before Covid-19 cut short his stint in Essex. He then joined Cheshunt for the 2021/22 season, finding the back of the net seven times in 15 games.

His performances attracted the interest of King’s Lynn Town, who he joined in November 2021, but he played mainly as a substitute and scored once in 13 appearances in the remainder of the campaign.

Charles made 14 appearances for King’s Lynn after their relegation from the Vanarama National League, scoring twice, before he returned to Cheshunt, striking nine times in 24 matches during the second half of last season.