Warrington Town F.C.

Warrington Town
Full name Warrington Town Football Club
Nickname(s) The Wire, The Yellows
Founded 1949 (as Stockton Heath Albion)
Ground Cantilever Park, Warrington
Ground Capacity 2,500
Chairman Toby Macormac
Manager Vacant
League Northern Premier League
Premier Division
2015–16 Northern Premier League
Division One North, 1st (Promoted)

Warrington Town Football Club is an English football club based in Warrington, Cheshire. They were established in 1949 under the name of Stockton Heath Albion, adopting their current name in 1961.

Club history

Formed in 1949 by Jimmy Drinkwater, the club was initially named Stockton Heath Albion and competed in the Warrington and District League until 1953, when they moved to the Mid Cheshire League. Freddie Worrall became manager at the same time, and during a 13-year spell in charge, the club won the league in 1959–60 plus the League Cup in three consecutive seasons during the 1950s. During his thirteen years at the helm, Heath were one of the most feared sides in Cheshire football, winning a string of honours including the Mid Cheshire League Championship in 1959–60, the League Cup in 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56 and made several appearances in the Cheshire Amateur Cup Final. Several players from this successful period went on to join Football League clubs, including Ian Weir, John Green, Alan Foster and Roger Hunt, later a World Cup winner with England in 1966.

At the club's 1961 AGM, it was decided to change the name to Warrington Town. In 1978 the club were founder members of Division Two of the Cheshire County League.[1] When it merged into the North West Counties Football League in 1982, the club were founder members of Division Three. They finished as runners-up in the first season, earning promotion to Division Two. In 1985–86 Warrington reached the semi-finals of the FA Vase, losing 6–3 to Halesowen Town in a replay. After finishing as runners-up in Division Two in 1986–87, the club were promoted to Division One.[1] In the same season they reached the FA Vase final, where they lost 3–2 to local rivals St Helens Town

In 1989–90 Warrington Town won Division One, and were promoted to the Northern Premier League. In 1992–93 they reached the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy, eventually losing 2–1 at Sutton United, and also became the first Division One club to reach the final of the League Cup, losing on penalties to Winsford United. The season also saw the club sell Neil Whalley to Football League Third Division side Preston North End for a £25,000, equalling the record fee paid for a Northern Premier League player. A few weeks later Warrington also sold Liam Watson to Preston for a record £60,000.

After finishing second bottom of the league in 1996–97, the club were relegated back to Division One of the North West Counties League. The following season they were relegated again.[1] In the 1998–99 season, teenage striker Damien Whitehead set a new club record of 52 goals in just 42 appearances, before signing for Football League Division Three side Macclesfield Town at the end of the season. The 1999–2000 season saw Town win the Second Division Trophy beating Tetley Walker F.C (known as The Holden Final) 2–0 at Prescot Cables, with two goals from Neal Holden, whilst the following season saw Warrington win Division Two and earn promotion back to Division One. They finished fifth in 2003–04, and were promoted to Division One of the Northern Premier League as part of the restructuring that led to the creation of the Conference North and South. When Division One was split into northern and southern sections in 2007, the club were placed in the southern division, but were moved to the northern section the following season.[1]

In 2013–14 the club finished third in Division One North, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. However, they lost 1–0 at home to Bamber Bridge in the semi-finals.

2014-15 season

In 2014–15 the club reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, where they beat League Two club Exeter City 1–0 with a 7th-minute header from defender and plasterer Craig Robinson, the brother of MK Dons manager Karl Robinson, in a giant-killing at Cantilever Park.[2] The game was shown live on BBC Two. In the second round, Warrington Town lost 0–2 at Gateshead.,[3] televised live on BT Sport.

On 30 April 2015, the club lifted its first trophy in 14 years by defeating Farsley Celtic in the final of the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup (then called the Doodson Sport Cup) at Edgeley Park on penalties after the game finished scoreless.

Having played many games (14 in the FA Cup & NPL Challenge Cup alone), the club finished 9th in Northern Premier League Division One North.

2015-16 season

The 2015–16 season began with Warrington Town aiming for promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the first time in the club's history. During the season the club set many new club records including scoring over 100 league goals and also winning over 30 league games in one season. Attendances at the club increased with a seasons average of 418 per game, including two crowds of over 1,000 for the games against Northwich Victoria and Prescot Cables

There was to be no repeat of the previous seasons FA Cup run as Town exited at the first hurdle in late August losing to Abbey Hey F.C.

After a relatively poor start to the season, with a win, a loss and 2 draws plus the FA Cup exit, Town embarked on an unbeaten run in the league of 9 wins and a draw from end August to mid October. During this unbeaten run, manager Shaun Reid was absent through illness for much of September, with Stuart Mellish, Lee Smith and the rest of the coaching staff standing in.

In the FA Trophy, Town won through 2 rounds before losing to AFC Fylde in November. The defence of the NPL Challenge Cup lasted just one match as they lost to Ramsbottom in a 3-times postponed match in early December.

There was another impressive unbeaten run in the league of 15 wins and a draw from late October until the first week of March, including separate runs of 5 and 6 clean sheets.

On 11 February, the Club parted company with manager Shaun Reid by mutual consent. The Club decided not to renew his contract at the end of the season and the board agreed to his request to be released from his contract immediately. Stuart Mellish & Lee Smith took over as the management team until the end of the season.

This did not seem to affect the club's bid for promotion as Town lost only 2 more league games in the season, winning the other 12 games.

Needing just one point from the last 3 games of the season, Town won 6-1 at home against Prescot Cables in front of over 1400 spectators to seal the Championship title with 2 games remaining.

The final league record was 34 wins, 4 draws and just 4 defeats. Town won Division One North by 15 points setting division records of 106 points and 121 goals scored, beating the records set in the 2012-13 season. Town also scored in every one of the 42 league games.

Striker & Town captain Ciaran Kilheeney was the top scorer in all 3 NPL divisions with 37 league goals (the next highest was 29 goals). (He also scored 4 cup goals during the season.)

Ciaran Kilheeney, centre back James McCarten and goalkeeper Karl Wills were named in the NPL Division One North team of the season.

2016-17 season

The Club will play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division in 2016-17 (level 7 of the National League System). This will be the highest level in the Club's history.

Ground

The club played firstly at Stockton Lane Stockton Heath in 1949, arriving at London Road in 1950, then moving to its first ground on Loushers lane (the Cheshire Police Ground) in 1953, returning to further down Stockton Lane in Grappenhall pitch. In 1956, the club moved to Cantilever Park, which has a capacity of 2,500 as of November 2014. It takes its name from the Cantilever Bridge, a high-level road bridge on Ackers Road over the Manchester Ship Canal that towers over the ground to the east. The ground itself is on the northern bank of the canal.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
England GK Karl Wills
England DF Phil Dean
England DF Michael Lea
England DF Ally Brown
England DF Liam Turner
England DF James McCarten
England DF Craig Robinson
England DF Danny O'Donnell
England MF Chris Gahgan
England MF Gerard Kinsella
England MF Danny Ventre
England MF Scott Metcalfe
England MF Jack Rudge
England MF Warren Beattie
England MF Joe Holt
England FW Ben Deegan
England FW Ciaran Kilheeney
England FW Steven Gillespie

Honours

Records

League history

Season Division Position Significant Events
1977–78 Mid Cheshire League Division One 5th
1978–79 Cheshire League Division Two 14th
1979–80 Cheshire League Division Two 15th
1980–81 Cheshire League Division Two 13th
1981–82 Cheshire League Division Two 8th Promoted
1982–83 North West Counties League Division Three 2nd Promoted
1983–84 North West Counties League Division Two 4th
1984–85 North West Counties League Division Two 3rd
1985–86 North West Counties League Division Two 4th
1986–87 North West Counties League Division Two 2nd Promoted
1987–88 North West Counties League Division One 8th
1988–89 North West Counties League Division One 6th
1989–90 North West Counties League Division One 1st Champions
1990–91 Northern Premier League Division One 7th
1991–92 Northern Premier League Division One 7th
1992–93 Northern Premier League Division One 5th
1993–94 Northern Premier League Division One 7th
1994–95 Northern Premier League Division One 3rd
1995–96 Northern Premier League Division One 13th
1996–97 Northern Premier League Division One 21st Relegated
1997–98 North West Counties League Division One 19th Relegated
1998–99 North West Counties League Division Two 4th
1999–2000 North West Counties League Division Two 9th
2000–01 North West Counties League Division Two 1st Champions
2001–02 North West Counties League Division One 11th
2002–03 North West Counties League Division One 16th
2003–04 North West Counties League Division One 5th Promoted
2004–05 Northern Premier League Division One 20th
2005–06 Northern Premier League Division One 19th
2006–07 Northern Premier League Division One 21st
2007–08 Northern Premier League Division One South 13th
2008–09 Northern Premier League Division One North 19th
2009–10 Northern Premier League Division One North 9th
2010–11 Northern Premier League Division One North 9th
2011–12 Northern Premier League Division One North 11th
2012–13 Northern Premier League Division One North 10th
2013–14 Northern Premier League Division One North 3rdQualified for Play-offs
2014–15 Northern Premier League Division One North 9thNorthern Premier League Challenge Cup Winners
2015–16 Northern Premier League Division One North 1stChampions

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Warrington Town at the Football Club History Database
  2. "Warrington Town 1–0 Exeter". BBC Sport. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. "Gateshead 2–0 Warrington". BBC Sport. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 53°22′37.290″N 2°34′11.741″W / 53.37702500°N 2.56992806°W / 53.37702500; -2.56992806

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