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| Full name | Billingham Synthonia Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Synners | ||
| Founded | 1923 | ||
| Ground | Bishopton Road West,Stockton-on-Tees | ||
| Chairman | Paul Dolan | ||
| Manager | Chris Dunwell[1] | ||
| League | Northern League Division Two | ||
| 2024–25 | Northern League Division Two, 14th of 22 | ||
Billingham Synthonia Football Club is afootball club based inStockton-on-Tees, England. Nicknamed the "Synners", they are currently members of theNorthern League Division Two and play at Bishopton Road West inStockton-on-Tees.
The club was established in 1923 and was named after an agricultural fertiliser, Synthonia being a contraction of "synthetic ammonia", a product manufactured byICI, with which the club was affiliated.[2] They initially played in the South Bank & District League, later joining theTeesside League. They won the Teesside League Cup in 1934–35, the league title in 1936–37 and the League Cup for a second time in 1938–39.[2]
In 1945 the club joined the Northern League. They reached the first round of theFA Cup for the first time in1948–49, losing 5–0 toCrewe Alexandra atGresty Road.[3] Thefollowing season saw them finish as Northern League runners-up and reach the first round of the FA Cup again, this time losing 3–0 atStockport County.[3] After finishing as runners-up again in 1950–51, a season in which they did not concede a goal during their home league matches,[2] the 1951–52 season saw them win the League Cup with a 1–0 win overTow Law Town in a replay,[3] finish as runners-up for the third consecutive season and reach the FA Cup first round for a third time, losing 5–0 atScunthorpe & Lindsey United.[3] They won the Northern League for the first time in1956–57, a season which also saw another FA Cup first round appearance, resulting in a 6–1 defeat atCarlisle United.[3] Thefollowing season they reached the first round again, losing 5–2 atBoston United.[3]
In1985–86 the club were relegated to Division Two after finishing second-from-bottom of Division One. However, they made an immediate return to Division One by winning Division Two at thefirst attempt. The 1987–88 season saw a second League Cup win with a 2–1 defeat ofShildon in the final,[2] as well as another FA Cup first round appearance – a 4–2 loss toHalifax Town in a home match played atHartlepool United'sVictoria Park. They went on to win back-to-back Division One titles in1988–89 and1989–90;[3] The 1989–90 season also saw a third League Cup win, beatingWhitby Town 5–2 in the final,[2] as well as a seventh appearance in the FA Cup first round, this time losing 1–0 atLincoln City.[3]
A fourth Northern League title was won in1995–96.[3] In2006–07 Billingham reached the semi-finals of theFA Vase; after beatingAFC Totton 2–1 away from home, they lost the home leg 2–1, with Totton winning the penalty shootout 5–4.[3] At the end of the2014–15 season they were relegated to Division Two after finishing in the Division One relegation zone.[3] A third-place finish in2016–17 saw them promoted back to Division One. However, in2017–18 the club finished bottom of Division One and were relegated back to Division Two.
The club initially played at Belasis Lane, which was part of the ICI sports complex. The first ground was on the south side of the road, with the club moving to one on the north side of the road prior to joining the Northern League in 1945.[2] The Belasis Lane ground saw the first floodlit game in northern England on 11 November 1952 when Billingham defeated anRAF team 8–4 in front of a crowd of 3,000.[2] In 1958 they moved to Central Avenue; the new ground was opened on 6 September 1958 byLord Derby, with the first game ending in a 2–2 draw againstBishop Auckland; the crowd of 4,200 remains the club's record attendance.[2] In the same year, the stadium was used for an England 'B' international athletics meeting; the stadium's 2,000 capacity cantilever stand was the longest in the country at the time. Central Avenue was also used by the Billingham Athletics club and hostedMiddlesbrough reserve matches until 2011
In April 2017 the club left Central Avenue due to the cost of upgrading works, initially agreeing to use the Norton Sports Complex in Norton for two seasons,[4] which was later extended until 2022. In April 2022 the club announced that home matches in 2022–23 would be played atStokesley Sports Club.[5] They relocated toStockton Town's Bishopton Road West ground in 2024.[6]
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54°34′14″N1°20′23″W / 54.5705°N 1.3396°W /54.5705; -1.3396
