Founded back in 1884 as Nantwich Football Club, the club took up residence at the football pitch off London Road with the Leopard Inn as its headquarters and changing rooms. Early years were spent playing friendly and cup matches but in 1891 the club joined the Shropshire & District League, finishing as runners-up in the first season.

Nantwich moved into the stronger Combination the following season and on 15th October 1892 hosted Liverpool in the Merseysiders’ first ever FA Cup match (Liverpool won 4-0). After the Great War, the club became founder members of the Cheshire County League in which they were perennial strugglers. In 1921, a record home attendance of 5,121 watched the Dabbers play Winsford in the Cheshire Senior Cup at the club’s temporary home at the old cricket ground at Kingsley Fields. Ironically, this is the location of the new club’s new Weaver Stadium.

The club gave Freddie Worrall his first chance in senior football in April 1927, the youngster going to become a pre-war England international as well as playing in two FA Cup finals for Portsmouth. Success for Nantwich, though, came in the Cheshire Senior Cup in 1933 when the Dabbers lifted the trophy, beating ICI (Alkali) 1-0 in the Final. After the Second World War, the Dabbers joined the newly-founded Mid Cheshire League and in 1952, the club entered the inaugural FA Youth Cup competition. Drawn against Manchester United in the second round, the young Dabbers crashed 23-0 on a November evening at the Cliff training ground to a United youth line up including names such as Duncan Edwards, David Pegg, Albert Scanlon and Ron Cope.

In the 1963-64 season the club completed a treble, winning the Mid Cheshire League, League Cup and Cheshire Amateur Cup under Manager Alan Ball (senior) and Nantwich re-joined the Cheshire League for the 1968-69 campaign. In 1976, under long-serving Manager Colin Hutchinson, the Dabbers beat NPL champions Runcorn 5-4 in the Cheshire Senior Cup Final at Crewe in front of 2,237. Five years later in May 1981 a crowd of 1078 saw Jimmy Wallace’s Nantwich side clinch the Cheshire League title by beating eventual runners up Hyde United in the penultimate game of the season 2-1.

1982 saw Nantwich become founder members of the North West Counties Football League. Unfortunately, Nantwich had the unenviable honour of finishing bottom and were relegated to Division 2 where the club remained (except for one season in Division 3) until 1989 when the Dabbers were promoted to Division One. Ex-Stoke City midfielder Nigel Gleghorn was appointed Manager in November 2001 and the club also attained the prestigious FA Charter Standard Community Club award. Gleghorn left the club in the 2004 close season and former Crewe, Burnley and Barnsley defender Steve Davis was appointed as Head Coach.

Davis led Nantwich to FA Vase glory in 2006 when the Dabbers beat Hillingdon Borough 3-1 in the Final at Birmingham City’s St Andrews stadium. Andy Kinsey hit two goals in the Final – and hit the headlines when he dislocated his shoulder celebrating the second! John Scarlett, the club’s post-war leading scorer with 161 goals, made a cameo appearance as a substitute in the Final.

In 2006-07, Nantwich finished third gaining promotion from the North West Counties League so that the move to the new £4m Weaver Stadium at Kingsley Fields in July 2007 co-incided with starting life in the First Division South of the Northern Premier League. Progress continued on the pitch with Cheshire Senior Cup glory as Conference big guns Altrincham were defeated on penalties in the final after supersub Pavol Suhaj netted a hat-trick in a compelling 3-3 draw. In the league, Nantwich finished third and secured promotion after beating Sheffield FC on penalties in the Play Off Final. The 2008-09 season saw the Dabbers narrowly miss out on a third successive promotion, losing the UniBond Premier play- off final 2-1 to Ilkeston Town after extra-time and shortly afterwards Steve Davis was appointed Assistant Manager at Crewe Alexandra.

Nantwich Town celebrated its 125th anniversary season in 2009-10 with the publication of ‘Proud To Be the Dabbers’ - a full colour 128 page book on the club’s history. Further details about the book, the club’s full history and biographies of former players can be found at www.ProudTobeTheDabbers.co.uk

Davis’ assistant Peter Hall, the former Nantwich and Macclesfield striker, stepped up to take over as Head Coach season but after briefly topping the UniBond Premier table, he parted company with the club in March 2010 after the Dabbers slipped to 15th in the table. Senior players Kevin Street and Darren Tinson took over the reins, lifting the club to 10th place and they were confirmed as Joint Managers during the 2010 close season. However, they were unable to build on their initial success and left 12 months later with the Dabbers facing a relegation battle.

The club became a Company Limited by Guarantee in August 2010 and former Reading, Swindon, Shrewsbury and Bournemouth boss Jimmy Quinn was appointed Manager in March 2011, guiding the club to safety on a nail-biting last day of the season. Quinn had been blooded by Nantwich as a lanky 19 year-old back in 1979 and went on to play football at the highest level with Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, gaining 48 caps for Northern Ireland and becoming the fourth highest scorer in his country’s international history. The Dabbers enjoyed a more successful 2011-12 campaign in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier Division, finishing in 10th place.

The 2011-12 season also saw the club embark on its most successful run in the FA Cup – reaching the First Round Proper for the first time in the club’s history. Victories over Ramsbottom United, Northwich Victoria, Kendal Town and Nuneaton Town gave Nantwich an enticing tie at MK Dons and although the Dabbers went down 6-0 on the day, their brave performance earned many plaudits. The club also won their second Cheshire Senior Cup in four years, beating Stalybridge Celtic to pick up their 4th honour in the competition.

When the club parted company with Quinn in March 2013, Darren Moss had a spell as caretaker manager as the Dabbers finished the season in 14th place in the 2012-13 season. Danny Johnson was appointed Manager ahead of the 2013-14 campaign and the former Ashton United boss quickly named Earl Davis as player/assistant manager. They finished 19th that season.

For the 2014-15 campaign, former Stalybridge Celtic striker Phil Eastwood stepped up from his role as coach to replace Earl Davis as assistant manager, but following a poor run of results and with the club fighting relegation, Danny Johnson was relieved of his duties in early February 2015. Former player Phil Parkinson was appointed the new manager on 4th February 2015. Parkinson had become a club hero during his time as a player, as he was part of the side Nantwich Town to FA Vase victory in 2006 and had been a integral player of the team as they won back-to-back promotions only a few years earlier.

Parkinson appointed Neil Sorvel as assistant manager, Danny Griggs as first team coach and Chris Parkes as goalkeeping coach. The management team turned things around in the 2nd half of 2014-15 season, gaining enough points to remain in the NPL Premier Division relatively comfortably with a few games remaining. Parkinson and his management team were able to develop and build upon the strong end to the 2014-15 season with an excellent 2015-16 season.

They started the season in terrific form, scoring an incredible 41 goals in their first 12 games and picking up 24 from a possible 36 points from the first two months of the season. They carried their good league form over into the cup competitions, progressing to the FA Trophy 1st round with wins over Salford, Kings Lynn and Stockport. The Dabbers league form took a slight dip in January and February but their FA Trophy run kept going. They progressed past Ashton, Matlock and Stourbridge to reach the quarter finals of the competition for the first time in their history. In front of a crowd of 892 at the Weaver Stadium, the Dabbers beat Conference Premier side Dover 2-1 with a late winner from Liam Shotton to progress to the semi-finals and sit just two games away from a trip to Wembley. In the semi-final, they faced FC Halifax over two legs and gave it their all, but came up short, losing 6-4 on aggregate. The first leg at home attracted a bumper crowd of 2,078, a record for the club at the Weaver Stadium. It was a fantastic effort and run from Parky’s side and one they can feel immensely proud of.

The team finished the 2015-16 season strongly, losing just three of their last 14 games, but were unable to make up the ground on the play offs, finishing a more than respectable eighth with 75 points. They also scored an incredible 94 goals, the second highest total in the league behind only league champion’s 1883 Darlington.

The club enjoyed a fantastic 2016-17 season. In the cup competitions, they reached the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup for just the third time in their history and made it to the 1st Round of the FA Trophy. In the Cheshire Senior Cup, they made it all the way to the final and finished as runners-up to Crewe Alexandra, losing 3-2 at Gresty Road. In the league, they had an excellent run which led to them finishing fifth on 81 points, their highest finish in eight years. They made the play-offs, but went on to lose 2-0 to Spennymoor Town in the semi-final, nevertheless enjoying an outstanding campaign.

The 2017-18 season saw the appointment of Dave Cooke after Parkinson moved to Altrincham. In what was a rebuilding job for Cooke, the side had a fine season, reaching the first round of the FA Cup before losing to Stevenage. A mid-table finish in the league was then followed by success in the Cheshire Senior Cup as a 3-0 win over Stockport Town saw the Dabbers lift the cup for the fifth time.

Club Honours
FA Vase Winners 2005/06
FA Trophy Semi-Finalists 2015/16
Qualified For The FA Cup First Round Proper November 2011, 2017
Cheshire Senior Cup Winners 1932/33, 1975/76, 2007/08, 2011/12, 2017/18. Finalists 1889/90, 1897/98, 1903/04, 1913/14, 1929/30 2007/08, 2008/09, 2011/12, 2016/17
Northern Premier League Premier Division Play-Off Finalists 2008/09
Northern Premier League Division Play-Off Semi-Finalists 2016/17
Promoted to Northern Premier League Premier Division 2007/08
Promoted to Northern Premier League Division 1 (South) 2006/07
Cheshire County League Champions 1980/81
North West Counties League Cup Winners 1994/95. Finalists 1992/93
Mid-Cheshire League Champions 1963/64. Runners-Up 1950/51, 1961/62 & 1964/65
Mid-Cheshire League Cup Winners 1961/62 & 1963/64. Finalists 1948/49 & 1964/65
Crewe Amateur Combination Champions 1946/47
The Combination Runners-Up 1902/03
Cheshire League Division One Runners-Up 1900/01
Shropshire & District League Runners-Up 1891/92
Manchester League Runners-Up 1966/67