The club was formed in 1941 as
Stratford Rangers, changing their name in 1949. After playing in various local leagues, they joined the Worcestershire Combination (which later became the
Midland Football Combination) in 1954. In 1957, they switched to the Birmingham and District League, which became the
West Midlands (Regional) League in 1962, but rejoined the Combination in 1970. In 1975, they took the unusual step of joining the
Hellenic League, which does not normally include teams from Warwickshire. After two unsuccessful seasons, they rejoined the Midland Combination once again, where they remained until becoming founder members of the
Midland Football Alliance in 1994. The club entered financial difficulty in 1998 and were reformed to become Stratford Town F.C. On 20 April 2013, a 1–1 draw with
Stourport Swifts sealed the Midland Alliance title and promotion to the
Southern Football League for the first time in the club's history, where they initially played in Division One South & West. After two seasons in the Division One South & West, Stratford Town earned promotion to the Premier Division via the play-offs with a 3–2 win against
Larkhall Athletic on 4 May 2015. They successfully retained their status the following season. The
2021–22 season saw The Bards reach the first round proper of the
FA Cup for the first time in their history, defeating
National League North side
Boston United 3–2 in a fourth qualifying round replay after an initial 1–1 draw at the
Boston Community Stadium. Stratford were drawn at home to
League One side
Shrewsbury Town, with the match televised on
ITV4. Despite scoring first, they were eventually defeated 5–1 in front of a sell-out 2,800 spectators at Knights Lane. == Records ==