Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1887, they entered the Southern League in 1896. They switched to the Great Western Suburban League in 1908 and then the Spartan League in 1919, before joining the Isthmian League after winning the Spartan League in 1919–20 and 1920–21. They spent 64 years in the Isthmian League, winning eight league titles and one FA Amateur Cup title. Having rejected numerous invitations to join the Alliance Premier League (now National League), they finally accepted an offer in 1985 and eventually found success in the fifth tier of English football under the management of Martin O'Neill, winning promotion into the Football League as Football Conference champions in 1992–93. They also lifted the FA Trophy in 1991 and 1993, and won the Conference League Cup, Conference Shield (three times) and Conference Charity Shield.
The exact details of the formation of Wycombe Wanderers F.C. have largely been lost to history. A group of young furniture trade workers started a team to play matches which led to a meeting, held at the Steam Engine public house in Station Road, High Wycombe in 1887 which saw the formation of Wycombe Wanderers F.C. It is highly likely the club was named Wanderers after the famous Wanderers, winners of the first FA Cup in 1872. The club played friendly matches between 1887 and 1896. It first entered the FA Amateur Cup in 1894 and the FA Cup in 1895. In 1895 the club moved to Loakes Park, which would become its home for the next 95 years. In 1896 the club joined the Southern League and competed in the Second Division until 1908.
In the summer of 1908 the club declined the invitation to retain their membership of the Southern League. The club decided to pursue amateur instead of professional football and joined the Great Western Suburban League and remained there until the outbreak of the First World War. After the hostilities had ended the club joined the Spartan League in 1919 and were Champions in successive years. In March 1921 the club's application to join the Isthmian League was accepted.
The club remained a member of the Isthmian League until 1985, when they finally accepted promotion to the Alliance Premier League. For over sixty years the Wanderers sought to be the greatest amateur club in the country. One of the club's greatest achievements came in April 1931 when it won the FA Amateur Cup. The Wanderers beat Hayes 1–0 in the final at Highbury, home of Arsenal. The club also reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in November 1932, losing to Gillingham in a replay at Loakes Park.
The club remained active during the Second World War, competing in the Great Western Combination, which was won in 1945. In 1947 Frank Adams, who had captained the club to its double Championship victories in the Spartan League and made 331 appearances for the Wanderers, scoring 104 goals, made arguably his greatest contribution when he gave Loakes Park to the club. It provided the basis for a period of unprecedented success in 1950s.
