Early years In 1889 Truro City became one of the founding members of the
Cornwall County Football Association (CCFA). Later in 1889, they played their first game at
Truro School against
Penzance, winning 7–1. They then switched to Tolgarrick for their future games. Six years later in 1895, they won their first silverware, the
Cornwall Senior Cup, beating
Launceston 5–0. In the 1930s Truro left Cornish football for a time, joining the Plymouth and District League, which they went on to win in 1936–37. However, as a result of this switch, they were barred from competing the Cornwall Senior Cup, although were later re-admitted in 1938. Truro were founding members of the
South Western League in 1951, but stumbled in the initial years, requiring re-election in both of their first two seasons to remain in the league and were also forced to drop down to the
Cornwall Combination league between 1975 and 1978 after losing their home ground due to road widening. After returning to the South Western League in 1978, the club required a further two re-elections in 1982 and 1983 to remain in the league. However they did enjoy some success during their time in the South Western League, going on to win five championships, including a notable successful period throughout the 1990s, winning titles in 1992–93, 1995–96 and most recently in 1997–98.
The 2000s At the start of the new millennium, the club entered a period of decline, both on and off the pitch, with mounting financial issues and stagnating performances which saw them finish amongst the bottom clubs of the South Western League for several consecutive seasons. City's fortunes changed in 2004 when the club was purchased by a local property developer, Kevin Heaney. The new ownership immediately cleared all debts and set their sights on propelling Truro up the
non-league pyramid and establishing them as the first professional Cornish-based football team in the
National Football Conference. In the 2005–06 season, they finished runners-up in the South Western League and were promoted to the
Western League Division One for the first time in their history, and went on to become champions at the first attempt with an impressive season record of 37 wins, 4 draws and only 1 loss. City also enjoyed a successful run in the 2006–07
FA Vase competition, beating
AFC Totton 3–1 in the final and becoming the first Cornish football club to win a national trophy. The final was notable as only the second match to be held at the newly constructed
Wembley Stadium and took place in front of an FA Vase record crowd of 36,232 fans. In their first season in the Western League Premier Division, Truro gained promotion to the
Southern League at the first attempt, and became the first Cornish side ever to play in the Southern League, only three promotions from the Football League. They were faced with the longest travelling mileage of any club at their level due to the prevalence of
Wiltshire-based clubs in the Western League. Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, chairman Kevin Heaney issued a statement reversing an earlier decision to turn the club fully professional for the following season, which led to the resignation of boss Dave Leonard. For the remainder of the season, Director of Football Chris Webb took charge, assisted by former boss Dave Newton. Heaney owned a housing company and despite a slump in the housing market, the club were able to attract many players on higher wages from higher leagues. Heaney had stated he believed that long term, due to the large population catchment area, that Truro City could support a
Football League Two club, but he also stated that he was looking to sell the club before they achieve this level. Despite his housing company having gone into liquidation owing £4.5m, he categorically denied claims that his money was drying up and said that he would continue to fund the club's success. In May 2008 former
Plymouth Argyle and
Exeter City striker
Sean McCarthy was appointed the new Truro manager and the club appointed Dave Newton as his assistant. On 7 December 2009, McCarthy left the club by mutual consent following a 7–2 away defeat to
Stourbridge. On 22 December 2009 Truro signed Mangotsfield United midfielder Kyle Tooze, for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £5,000. On 29 December 2009
Steven Thompson was announced as the new manager with immediate effect, but on 29 March 2010 he left the club by mutual consent after only winning five out of his 18 games in charge, with the chance of reaching the play-offs unrealistic.
The 2010s Promotion to the sixth tier Lee Hodges was appointed as Thompson's replacement, and had a successful first season in charge as on 23 April 2011, Truro were promoted as champions of the Southern League to the
Conference South for the 2011–12 season with one league game remaining after a 3–0 win at
Banbury United. In
2011–12, Truro finished in a respectable 14th place in their first ever season in the Conference South, but financial troubles were to follow.
Financial trouble On 25 August 2011,
HM Revenue and Customs presented a
winding-up petition to the club due to unpaid taxes of over £100,000. Prior to this, chairman Kevin Heaney had to quell rumours of the club being sold. A meeting on 31 October 2011 between the club and HMRC resulted in a postponement of the winding-up process to allow the club until 16 January 2012 to pay their taxes. When the case was called, the Registrar was told that two hours before the hearing the tax debt had been "paid in full." A further winding-up petition was lodged by HMRC in the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division) on 30 March 2012, with a hearing on 30 April 2012 when the club was expected to pay £51,000 to HM Revenue and Customs. When this was not paid, a further extension to 25 June 2012 was granted, but the petition was dismissed when the bill was ultimately settled. Four other parties were also claiming monies amounting to around £700,000, but the club disputed these claims. On 31 August, Truro City F.C. filed for
administration after the first-team players, who had not been paid during August, informed the club that they would not play against
Boreham Wood on 1 September unless this course of action was taken. On 3 September, a further HMRC winding-up order over a tax bill of £15,000 was postponed until 17 September, but this order would be dismissed if the club went into administration, which it did the following day. Ten points were deducted from Truro's total, leaving them bottom of the Conference South table. On 11 October 2012, Truro City's administrators failed to meet the deadline for the
Football Conference's requirement of a £50,000 bond that would enable the club to continue in the Conference South. This bond was to cover the costs of visiting clubs should Truro be liquidated during the season and their results be expunged from the record. A reduced amount was offered by the club, and was refused by the Conference. The match at home to
Dover Athletic on 13 October was called off, and the club was expected to be expelled from the league with liquidation probably following such an expulsion. However, on 12 October the Conference gave the club another week to pay the bond, in the light of "encouraging" information from the administrator. After a preferred bidder pulled out on the morning of 19 October, the bond remained unpaid and the club was set to be expelled from the Football Conference, but discussions continued and City were reprieved later the same day when two businessmen, Pete Masters and Philip Perryman, paid the £50,000 bond. The pair completed a deal to purchase the club on 14 December 2012. The new ownership were unable to prevent relegation from the Conference South, and
Lee Hodges was not offered a new contract at the end of the season as the club were still unable to afford his wages. On 5 June 2013, a
CVA was agreed with the club's creditors, reducing the debt to £80,000 to be paid over three years. This agreement allowed City to begin the 2013–14 season in the Premier Division of the Southern League. The following day,
Steve Tully was appointed player-manager until the end of the season. Tully earned the job on a permanent basis, and under his guidance Truro were promoted back to the Conference South, renamed the
National League South, after winning the
2014–15 Southern Football League play-off final 1–0 at home to
St Neots Town on 4 May 2015. The 2015–16 season in the
National League South would be just the second time Truro had played at that
level, where they finished 4th and reached the
playoffs, losing to
Maidstone United in the semi-finals. The
2016–17 season saw the club do less well, finishing 19th, just one place above the relegation zone. Tully was relieved of his managerial duties and replaced by
Lee Hodges, who had only left the club three years prior. In
2017–18, the club bounced back and finished 7th, which again qualified them for the
play-offs, in which they lost 3–1 to
Hampton & Richmond Borough in the qualifying-round. That season also saw the club go on an
FA Cup run, making the
first round proper, where they were beaten 3–1 by
Charlton Athletic at
The Valley,
Tyler Harvey being the Truro goalscorer. The club's lack of consistency was prominent again in the
2018–19 season, where after just two games long-serving manager Lee Hodges resigned. The club poached
Taunton Town manager Leigh Robinson and his assistant
Michael Meaker, but they were both dismissed in March 2019, with the club 19th in the league.
Paul Wilkinson was named caretaker-manager but the club eventually finished 20th and were relegated to the
Southern League. Wilkinson left the club to become manager of
EFL League One side
Bury.
The 2020s End of an era The club appointed former
Plymouth Argyle player
Paul Wotton ahead of the
2019–20 season in what would be his first managerial appointment. Wotton would oversee five seasons of stability and progress at Truro City culminating in a return to the National League South in the
2022–23 season, with a last minute goal securing a 3–2 win in the play-off final against
Bracknell Town. Wotton, in his final season at Truro would lead the club to a respectable 16th-place finish in the National League South having dealt with numerous ground-sharing changes, fixture pile-ups and a continued absence of home fixtures in the county.
New beginnings Early on in the
2022–23 season (30 November 2023) Truro City saw a change of ownership as the club was purchased by Canadian Consortium "Ontario Inc", with former
Cornwall RLFC owner Eric Perez taking the reins as the club's chairman & CEO. On the same day manager
Paul Wotton signed a multi-year contract renewal with the club, before seeing out the season, but, on 14 May 2024 he left Truro to become
Torquay United's new manager. Truro City would subsequently appoint
John Askey who had enjoyed prior promotion successes at National League and National League North with both Macclesfield and York City respectively. Askey would be tasked with leading the club upon their return to Truro, relocation to their new stadium, and under Ontario's first full season of ownership, all of which signposting significant change at Truro. The
2024–25 season saw Truro make history by becoming the first club from Cornwall to be promoted to the
National League, the fifth tier of English football, following a 5–2 home victory over
St Albans City securing the National League South title on the final day of the season. The season finale saw no less than six teams vying for the title and, although each team in contention won their games, it was Truro City who prevailed, securing the title on goal difference from Torquay United. Truro City became a full-time professional outfit ahead of the
2025–26 season, following promotion to the National League, becoming the first Cornish side to achieve professional status. ==Crest and colours==