Slough

The history of the club began on 10 September 1889 with a meeting in Chalvey 'to consider the advisability of amalgamating the different football clubs in Slough and Chalvey.' Present were members of the Chalvey, Slough Albion and Friendly Society clubs. It was unanimously agreed to amalgamate. A further meeting was held on the 17 September 1889 at the Dolphin Hotel 'with the view of starting definitely a new and stable organisation bearing the name of the town and district'. There was between thirty and forty players present. Mr. Godsal was voted to the chair, Mr. D. P. Hanrahan was appointed secretary, and Mr. F. Parker captain and treasurer. The entrance fee and club colours were decided upon and it was determined the club should enter Uxbridge F.C.'s Henesey Cup competition.

The first recorded game of Slough and District F.C. (Shortened to Slough F.C.) was at home against Maidenhead North Town Excelsior on 19 October 1889 resulting in a 6–0 win. On 2 November 1889 the first team played Cookham Dean at the Dolphin Ground winning the game 7–0. The second team played Eton St. John's in Slough's Church Meadow resulting in a 2–2 draw.

After receiving a bye in the first round of the Henesey Challenge Cup, Slough played Darfield F.C. in the second round, losing 1–0 in a replay at the Dolphin Ground on 11 January 1890. The Dolphin Ground became Slough's home ground replacing the declining Swifts club there.

Slough joined the new Southern Alliance league in the 1892–3 season alongside the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Windsor & Eton. In the 1894–5 season the club entered the FA Cup for the first time. They played Marlow in the first qualifying round on 13 October 1894 at the Dolphin Ground, but were defeated 4–1. In the 1901–2 season Slough joined the inaugural Bucks and Bucks Senior League. Their first game in the league was against Wycombe Wanderers at Loakes Park on 14 September 1901 resulting in a 2–0 defeat. In the 1905–6 season the club joined the Great Western Suburban League.

During this time, Slough developed its first major rivalry, with Windsor & Eton. The rivalry is still known today as the Thames River Derby and is played between Slough and Windsor & Eton (2023). In 1921, Slough attempted to join the Isthmian League but lost out to Wycombe Wanderers in the voting. Instead Slough chose to join the Spartan League.

In 1936, the owners of the now Dolphin Stadium, sold up to a greyhound racing consortium, which ordered the football club to vacate the stadium three years later. After being forced to groundshare with Maidenhead United for several years, the club agreed to a merge with Slough Centre F.C. to return to a ground in their home town. The new club took the name Slough United F.C.

After The Second World War Slough United was reluctant to rejoin the Spartan League and led a breakaway movement to form a new league for the 1945–46 season which became the Corinthian League. It was from this that the club derived its nickname of "The Rebels". After the end of the 1946–47 season the two clubs which had merged to form Slough United separated. The former Slough Centre F.C. returned to their original name, joining the Spartan League Division 1 (Western) on 3 July 1947 for the 1947–48 season. The former Slough F.C. club continued in the Corinthian League as Slough United at the start of the 1947–48 season until changing their name to Slough Town F.C. in November 1947.

Slough Town won the Corinthian League in 1950–51 but in 1964 the league folded and Slough, along with many other former Corinthian clubs, joined an expanded Athenian League. The Rebels were champions of this league on three occasions, with the third win earning promotion to the Isthmian League in 1973. During the 1980s, they were league champions on two occasions, the second of which brought promotion to the Football Conference. Slough lasted four seasons at this level, were relegated back to the Isthmian League, bounced back at the first attempt, and then played three more seasons of Conference football. In 1998, the consortium which had bought the club out of receivership seven years earlier decided that they were not prepared to pay for ground improvements required to remain in the Conference, and so the club was demoted back to the Isthmian League despite having finished in 8th place.

Further relegation to the Isthmian League Division One followed in 2000–01 but the club regained its Premier Division status in 2003–04 and remained there until the end of the 2006–07 season, when they finished bottom and conceded over 120 goals. In the 2004–05 season, Slough knocked Walsall of Football League One out of the FA Cup. Highlights of the game were shown on Match of the Day, though because of the team sharing the Stag Meadow ground at the time, the programme showed overhead shots of Windsor instead of Slough when introducing the rarely featured team. Slough transferred over to the Southern Football League Division One South & West for the 2007–08 season, where they finished 21st out of 22 teams. Although initially relegated (for the second year running), they were one of the teams given a provisional reprieve after Halifax Town went into administration.

In the season of 2004–05, Slough Town beat Walsall to reach the 2nd round of the FA Cup however they then lost to Yeading. Slough Town were also the Isthmian League Cup winners in 2004–05 after they beat Hampton & Richmond Borough 3–1 in the final with 2 goals from Ian Hodges and 1 from Josias Carbon to help them secure the win and the silverware.

Over the next two seasons, and now playing in the Southern Football League Division One Midlands, Slough's performance continued to improve. In the 2009–10 season, Slough Town finish 5th in the table, qualifying the team for the promotion play-off matches. Having beaten second-placed Hitchin Town 2–1 in the play-off semi-final, Slough lost 4–0 to Chesham United in the final, meaning they had to remain in the same division for the 2010–11 season. Once again they finished 5th in the 2010–11 season, but lost to Hitchin Town in the play-off semi-final 4–1.

Having come close to promotion to the Premier Division in the last few seasons, including two play-off final defeats, Slough parted company with manager Steve Bateman following the 2012–13 season after four years at the helm, the last of which saw them miss out on the play-offs by a solitary point. The club looked to take a new direction in 2013–14 and appointed Neil Baker and Jon Underwood, the management duo who had taken league rivals Godalming Town to the play-offs in the previous season. With Godalming forced to relocate to the South & West Division following their failure to win the play-offs, the majority of their squad decided to follow Baker and Underwood to Slough. In their very first season, the new management team steered the club to promotion via the play-offs. Slough claimed a 3–0 victory at Rugby Town in the semi-final before winning the play-off final against Kettering Town in front of 2,331 at Kettering's home of Latimer Park on 5 May 2014. Slough trailed 0–2 at half-time before staging a second half comeback. Two goals from Johnnie Dyer brought the Rebels level before James McClurg scored the goal that ultimately returned Slough Town to the third tier of non-league football after several years away.

The 2017–18 season was one of their best for many years. In December, they reached the second round of the FA Cup against Rochdale at home. The game was televised by BT Sport and Slough lost 4–0. With records broken for points attained and goals scored they went on to finish 3rd in the league. Slough were in play off action again. After a home 3–1 win against Kettering Town, they played away to King's Lynn Town in the final. By virtue of an 89th-minute winner from Manny Williams, they won 2–1 and thus secured promotion to the National League South for the forthcoming season.