Stockton Town
Full nameStockton Town Football Club
Nickname(s)The Anchors
Short name
  • Town
  • STFC
  • Stockton
Founded1987 (1987)
GroundBishopton Road West
Capacity1,800 (200 seated)
ChairmanMartin Hillerby
ManagerMichael Dunwell
LeagueNorthern Premier League Division One East
2022–23Northern Premier League Division One East, 2nd of 20
WebsiteClub website

Stockton Town Football Club is an English football club based in Stockton-on-Tees, England. They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One East and play at Bishopton Road West, which has an overall capacity of 1,800, including 200 available seats. They are managed by former player Michael Dunwell, who retired from playing in 2014.

The club are notable for reaching the Final of the FA Vase in the 2017–18 season, where they finished as runners-up, after being defeated 1–0 by champions Thatcham Town.[1] Their previous success includes four consecutive Wearside Football League titles between 2012 and 2016, two consecutive Wearside League Cup titles between 2014 and 2016, two consecutive Monkwearmouth Charity Cup titles between 2014 and 2016, as well as winning the Shipowners Charity Cup in the 2014–15 season.

Their club badge, which includes their motto, "Fortitudo et Spes" (Latin for "Strength and Hope"), is navy and yellow, representing their traditional colours. The historic club nickname, "the Anchors", is taken from the Stockton coat of arms, representing the town's shipbuilding history during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

History

The club was initially formed in 1979 as Hartburn Juniors, entering a 5-a-side league in Middlesbrough to give youngsters an opportunity to play organised football. The club changed to their name to Stockton Town in 2003.

For the 2009–10 season, a senior team was entered into the Teesside League Division Two and finished in fourth place in their first season. In the summer of 2010, the club applied for membership to the Wearside League and were accepted for the 2010–11 season where they finished in tenth place. In the 2011–12 season, the club finished third in the league and lost in the final of the League Cup.

The club won their first league title in the 2012–13 season, and repeated the feat in their following league campaign, finishing the season with a league record of 104 points. At the end of the 2014–15 season, the club applied for qualification for the Northern League Division Two. However, despite winning the league title for a third time, their application was withdrawn due to legal issues.[2]

In the 2015–16 season, the club won their fourth consecutive league title to gain promotion to Northern League.[3] The following season, the club played their first ever FA Vase tie, beating Eccleshill United 2–0,[4] before gaining their most famous victory to date, beating four-time winners, Whitley Bay, 2–0 in the next round.[5] On 15 April, the club won 2–1 at Team Northumbria, to clinch the Division Two title and gain promotion to the Northern Football League Division One.[6]

In only their second ever Northern League campaign, Stockton reached the final of the 2017–18 FA Vase. They played Thatcham Town of the Hellenic League. The final, played at Wembley Stadium, took place on 20 May, with Stockton narrowly losing by 1–0.[1] Furthermore, that season's semi-final against Marske United, taking place on home turf and resulting in a 2–0 victory in Stockton's favour, saw the ground record broken, with an attendance of 3,300 (1,800 of Stockton).[7]

In the 2019–20 season, Stockton were leading the table by 13 points with eight games left to play. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Football Association ruled that the entire league would be expunged, with no sides in the league being promoted or relegated, thus denying Stockton promotion despite being top of the league.[8] Representatives from the team and local Member of Parliament, Alex Cunningham, protested against the movement though the ruling stayed in force.[9] After the 2020–21 season was curtailed for the second consecutive season, results from both seasons were combined, which resulted in Stockton Town being promoted to the eighth tier of English football, joining the newly formed Northern Premier League Division One East for the 2021–22 season.[10][11] In their first season, Stockton reached the play-off final, but lost 2–1 to Marske United.[12] In the following 2022–23 season, Stockton lost the play-off final on penalties to Long Eaton United.[13]

Ground

In April 2008, the club moved to facilities at Bishopton Road West in Stockton-on-Tees. These facilities were built in partnership with the Football Foundation, Stockton Sixth Form College and Our Lady and St Bede Catholic Academy. In total, the project cost approximately £1.4 million, with close to £200,000 spent on the drainage of the pitches and the remainder on the new building containing 6 new changing rooms, 2 changing rooms for officials, an educational room, a club room and a drama and dance studio.[14]

In July 2015, the club narrowly won approval from planners for expansion, at a cost of around £800,000. The plans, which had been recommended for approval by Stockton's planning officers, included fencing, flood lights, stands, dug outs, a turnstile, a changing block, a storage container and refreshments room. They had previously been given the green light a year previously to erect a 200-seat stand, floodlighting, artificial (3G) turf pitch, pay booth, changing facilities and toilet and refreshment areas. However, the expansion had met with a mixed response from residents, with 69 letters of objection submitted against 50 in support. A 105-signature petition of support was also submitted by the principal of Stockton Sixth Form college, insisting that students would benefit from the scheme.[15]

Management team

As of 24 September 2022[16]

Role Name
Manager England Michael Dunwell
Assistant manager England J.D. Briggs
First team coach England John Fielding
Goalkeeping coach England Jason Hamilton
Physiotherapist England Sam Higgins

Honours

Stockton Town's honours include:[17][18]

League

Cup

  • Northern League Ernest Armstrong Trophy
    • Runners-up: 2016–17
  • Wearside League Cup
    • Winners: 2014–15, 2015–16
  • Monkwearmouth Charity Cup
    • Winners: 2014–15, 2015–16
  • Shipowners Charity Cup
    • Winners: 2014–15

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "FA Vase: Thatcham Town beat Stockton Town 1–0 to win title for first time". BBC Sport. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Cup finalists Stockton Town will have to put Northern League promotion disappointment behind them". The Gazette. 2 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Stockton Town". The Northern Premier League. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "Stockton Town FC 2 Eccleshill United 0 – Stockton Town Football Club". Stockton Town Football Club. 10 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "FT Whitley Bay 0 Stockton Town 2". Twitter. 24 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Football Matters on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "FA VASE SEMI-FINAL: From Stockton high street to Wembley Way". The Northern Echo. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Loughlin, Nick (9 April 2020). "Stockton and South Shields are denied promotion". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  9. ↑ Scott, Laura (31 March 2020). "More than 100 non-league clubs send letter to FA over expunging season". BBC News. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Breaking News: Stockton Town Promoted to Step 4 of Non-League". Stockton Town F.C. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Gordon, James (18 May 2021). "2021/22 League Allocations". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Northern Premier League - East Division Play-off Final – Marske United 2 - 1 Stockton Town – 2021-2022". Football Web Pages. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  13. ↑ James Cartwright (30 April 2023). "Anchors season ends in heartbreak". Stockton Town FC. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Teams – Stockton Town Football Club (See: Club Development Section)". Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Stockton Town FC narrowly win approval for controversial £800,000 expansion plans". 2 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Management Team". Stockton Town FC. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  17. ↑ "Club Honours". Stockton Town FC. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  18. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Stockton Town".
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