It was in 1887 that a football club named Wycombe Wanderers was founded by a group of young furniture trade workers - an event which also led to the club's nickname "The Chairboys." Nine years of friendly matches followed before the Wanderers entered the Southern League, and the club moved between a number of different divisions before beating Hayes to win the FA Amateur Cup in 1931 in front of 32,000 fans at Highbury.

However, the club had to wait another 25 years for their next piece of silverware, winning the first of eight Isthmian League titles in 1956, and appeared in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley the following year where Sid Cann's side lost to Bishop Auckland in the FA Amateur Cup final.

Brian Lee was appointed as the club's first official manager in 1969, with the team being picked by a committee prior to his arrival, and he guided the club to four Isthmian League titles in seven years. However, arguably his finest achievement was holding First Division side Middlesbrough to a draw in an FA Cup third round tie at Wycombe's Loakes Park ground before narrowly losing 1-0 in the replay.

Following the abolition of "amateurism" in 1974, the club took some time adapt to their new status as a semi-professional club, but won promotion to the Conference in 1987 under manager Alan Gane. New boss Jim Kelman consolidated the club's position in the division before former Northern Ireland international Martin O'Neill was appointed as the club's new boss in 1990.

O'Neill's arrival coincided with the move to the Adams Park stadium and a new wave of success duly followed. Back-to-back FA Trophy finals were won in the early 1990s and the club were promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history in 1993, winning the Conference by a considerable distance.

The first season in Division Three saw Wanderers build on the momentum of previous campaigns and clinch a second successive promotion courtesy of a thrilling 4-2 play-off final win over Preston at Wembley. O'Neill rejected offers to manage Leicester and Nottingham Forest before guiding the Blues to their highest ever points tally and a finish just outside the play-offs.

Wanderers' success had clearly attracted attention to O'Neill and he left the club in the summer of 1995 to take up the post at Norwich City, but the sixteen months of new manager Alan Smith's reign failed to live up to the standards in place and he was dismissed in 1996. John Gregory was installed as the next man in charge and steered the Blues clear of relegation trouble before leaving to manage former club Aston Villa, and youth team coach Neil Smillie was promoted to fill the vacancy.

However, a disastrous start to the 1998/99 campaign resulted in Smillie's dismissal in January and former Wimbledon cup hero Lawrie Sanchez was handed the seemingly impossible challenge of keeping the Blues in Division Two. But an incredible run of form towards the end of the campaign, culminating in a late winner at Lincoln City on the final day of the season, saw Wycombe escape relegation against all the odds.

This feat was surpassed two years later by a sensational FA Cup run which saw the Wanderers progress to the semi-final after defeating the likes of Wolves and Leicester en-route. Eventual winners Liverpool proved slightly too strong for the Blues, winning 2-1 at Villa Park, but the name of Wycombe Wanderers was placed firmly on the footballing map after just eight years as a Football League club.

But despite a strong start to the following campaign, a prolonged run of disappointing form saw the Blues struggle over the next two seasons and Sanchez was replaced by ex-England captain Tony Adams in November 2003. Adams oversaw a large reshuffle of the squad but couldn't prevent the club's slide into the newly-named League Two, and he departed almost a year to the day after his appointment with the Blues in a mid-table position.

Former Spurs and England coach John Gorman was handed the manager's position, having spent time in temporary charge following Sanchez's exit, and narrowly missed out on the play-offs before bringing in a number of big-name signings in the summer of 2005. A 21-game unbeaten run from the start of the season had most Blues fans dreaming of promotion but the tragic deaths of midfielder Mark Philo and Gorman's wife Myra overshadowed matters on the pitch and the club eventually lost to Cheltenham in the play-offs.

Gorman parted company with the Blues that summer to be replaced by ex-Celtic captain Paul Lambert, and the new manager's debut season proved to be a memorable one as he guided the club to another semi-final appearance - this time in the Carling Cup, where they held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Adams Park before losing at Stamford Bridge. However, the cup run had a downward effect on the Blues' league form and team finished in 12^th place in League Two.

Eleven new signings joined the following summer and helped guide the Blues to a play-off place where they would face Stockport County after a joint club record of 19 clean sheets and 78 points. However, a 2-1 aggregate defeat to County meant the Wanderers missed out on promotion again, and Lambert resigned three days later.