Northallerton Town F.C.

Northallerton Town

Full name	Northallerton Town Football Club
Nickname(s)	Town
Founded	1895
Ground	Regency Stadium, Northallerton (Capacity: 3000)
Chairman	Dave Watson
Manager	Mark Fanning
League	Northern League Division Two
2010–11	Northern League Division Two, 9th
Home colours Away colours

Northallerton Town F.C. is an English football club based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire. They were established in 1895^[1] and continue on to this day. They are currently playing in Northern League Division Two.

History

In 1982, they were among the founding members of the Northern League Division Two, they gained promotion to Division One by finishing second in 1989–90.

They had huge success in the early 90s reaching the last 16 of the FA Trophy, finally losing to Farnborough Town; they also reached the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup in 1992 and 1993, losing to Accrington Stanley and Witton Albion. Town also started to attract some undesirable support with crowd trouble at Accrington, Workington & Witton, however this was short lived, as was the club's success, going bust in 1994. The ground was sold of to a business man with no interest in football. Debts were cleared on liquidation; however the club then had to find rent on a monthly basis.

The club changed their name to Northallerton F.C. 1994 in 1994, and were relegated back into Division Two in the 1994–95 season. They soon shot back up they secured the league championship during 1996–97 and were promoted back to Division One. They were relegated once more the following season though, and reverted their club name back to Northallerton Town in 1999.

During the 2002–03 season, Town reached the 4th round of the FA Vase, before being knocked out 3–0 to Burgess Hill Town. For the 2005–06 season, they were runners-up in Northern League Division Two and were promoted.

The club flirted with relegation for the whole of the 2007–08 season, surviving after a departing Andy Toman led his men to an unlikely final day 2–1 away win at Morpeth Town.

Alan Robinson was appointed manager however decided to emigrate just before the start of the Season. Former Doncaster Rovers player Martyn Speight and vastly experienced Northern League goalkeeper Stuart Dawson were thrown in at the deep end and appointed joint managers. Town had an indifferent season and hoveried around the relegation zone for the second season in succession. Several former players returned including Chris Walker, John Ryan, Carl Chillingsworth and crowd favourite Stuart Jackson.

Dawson resigned from the club on 5 January 2009, and it was left to sole manager Martyn Speight to improve performances and results, this was achieved to some degree, however after recruiting experienced players such as Neil Campbell (brother of ex-Middlesbrough player Andy) and Martin O'Riorden the club still struggled, leading to the departure of Martyn Speight on the 28 March 2009, after a 5–1 home defeat to lowly Ashington.

The club's Division One tenure looked questionable, however the Committee moved quickly and appointed Mark Fanning as the new manager at least to the end of the season. He has experience with Ferryhill Athletic and more recently Horden, he also has contacts with Darlington Football Club. Fanning's appointment was too late to save the club from relegation, finishing bottom of the league and a miserable run of results at the end of the season. Northallerton will take their position in Division Two for the 2009–10 season, ironically after spending thousands of pounds to maintain the ground to Division One standard.

Current squad

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

No. Position Player GK Alexander Kell GK Stephen Craggs DF Christopher Walker DF Daniel Chapman DF Daniel Shoulder DF Ian Smurthwaite DF Grant Hickman DF James Bowman DF Jamie Hind MF Adam Gilroy MF Dale Sheridan

No. Position Player MF Gareth Poole MF Martin Butterworth MF Nicholas Lyons MF Richard Thompson MF David Webster FW Christian Holiday FW Gary Mitchell FW Raymond Woodhouse FW Stephen Allison

Honours

• Northern League Division Two
  • Champions: 1996–97
  • Runner-up: 1989–90, 2005–06

Notable Former Players

Andy Dawson Currently at Football League Championship club Hull City

Michael Dawson Currently at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur

Records

• Record Attendance: 695
• Highest League Finish: 6th in Northern League Division One, 1993–94.^[2]*FA Cup
  • Fourth Qualifying Round: 1992–93, Knocked out by Accrington Stanley 3–1.
  • Fourth Qualifying Round: 1993–94, knocked out by Witton Albion 2–1.
• FA Trophy
  • Third Round: 1992–93, knocked out by Farnborough Town 3–1.
• FA Vase
  • Fourth Round: 2002–03, knocked out by Burgess Hill Town 3–0.
• Record Attendance: 695

References

1. ^ Non-League.org
2. ^ Football History Database

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 54°19′39.86″N 1°27′14.44″W / 54.3277389°N 1.4540111°W / 54.3277389; -1.4540111