[citation needed] They achieved their highest league-finish in 1999, ending the season in third place just seven points away from promotion to the Football League, via a Conference championship.

[citation needed] In 1999 they missed out on a lucrative third-round tie with Chelsea after defeat in extra time to Hull City.

[citation needed] Church Road saw the start of the career of a number of players who went on to higher levels, among them Les Ferdinand, Cyrille Regis, Blackburn Rovers striker Jason Roberts, Crewe Alexandra's Justin Cochrane and French goalkeeper Bertrand Bossu, who famously scored an injury time equaliser at St Albans City in February 2003.

The club's last manager was Kevin Hill, who got the job on a full-time basis after successfully steering the team clear of relegation after the departure of Willy Wordsworth towards the end of the 2006–07 season.

Wordsworth had been unable to emulate the success of his predecessor, the highly regarded Terry Brown, who left to take a vacancy at Aldershot Town in 2002.