 | |||
| Full name | Ashington Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Colliers | ||
| Founded | 1883; 142 years ago (1883) | ||
| Ground | Woodhorn Lane,Ashington | ||
| Chairman | Brian Shotton | ||
| Manager | Nick Gray | ||
| League | Northern Premier League Division One East | ||
| 2024–25 | Northern Premier League Division One East, 16th of 22 | ||
| Website | http://www.ashingtonafc.com/ | ||
Ashington Association Football Club is afootball club based inAshington,Northumberland, England. They are currently members of theNorthern Premier League Division One East and play at Woodhorn Lane.
Formed in 1883, the club have played in a number of local and regional leagues, including theNorthern Alliance, theEast Northumberland League, theNorth Eastern League, theMidland League,Wearside League and theNorth Regional League. They were a founding member of theFootball League Third Division North in 1921 and are the northernmost team to have played in the Football League. The club were later founder members of theNorthern Premier League in 1968 and have been in the Northern League since 1970.
The club was established in 1883 and began entering theFA Cup in 1887.[1] They joined theNorthern Alliance at the start of the 1892–93 season when the league was expanded to twelve clubs. However, the league was reduced to ten club the following season, and as they had finished in the bottom two, Ashington were asked to leave.[2] The club then ceased activities, but were brought back following a large meeting, joining theEast Northumberland League in 1895.[3] They went on to win the league title in 1897–98.[3]
Ashington applied to rejoin the Northern Alliance in 1901, but were rejected.[2] However, the following season they were elected back into the league, finishing second in the vote to admit three clubs.[2] They won the league in 1913–14 and moved up to theNorth Eastern League.[3] When football resumed afterWorld War I the club rejoined the North Eastern League, where they remained until being elected into the newThird Division North of theFootball League in 1921.[4] After all the applications had been considered by the League, Ashington were one of fourteen clubs marked out for admission in a single bloc, which they duly were.[5] In1926–27 the club recorded its best performance in theFA Cup, reaching the third round, where they lost 2–0 at home toNottingham Forest.[4] After finishing bottom of the division in1928–29 the club lost their bid for re-election, receiving only 14 votes to the 24 received by non-LeagueYork City.[5]
Ashington subsequently dropped into Division Two of the North Eastern League as Division One had no spaces.[6] With only two clubs eligible for promotion, Ashington appeared to have missed out after finishing third. However, runners-up White-le-Head declined the opportunity of promotion, allowing Ashington to move up to Division One.[6] Five years later the league was reduced to a single division, where they remained until the league folded in 1958 due to the resignation of the Football League clubs' reserve teams,[6] unsuccessfully applying for election to the Football League in 1947 (when no vote took place) and 1950 (when they received no votes).[5]
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Alongside several other former North Eastern League clubs, Ashington switched to theMidland League.[6] In 1960 they were founder members of theNorthern Counties League, finishing as runners-up in its first season.[4] The North Eastern League was re-established in 1962, but lasted only two seasons.[6] Ashington spent the 1964–65 season in theWearside League before joining theNorth Regional League, which was largely composed of Football League reserve teams. They remained in the league for three seasons, before becoming founder members of theNorthern Premier League in 1968. In thefirst season of the league, the club finished third-from-bottom and resigned due to the costs of being in the league.[3] They spent a single season back in the Northern Alliance, before joining the Northern League in 1970.[3] In 1973–74 they reached the semi-finals of the last-everFA Amateur Cup, losing 3–0 to eventual winnersBishop's Stortford in a replay.[4]
In 1981 a second division was added to the league, with Ashington remaining in Division One. However, after finishing second-from-bottom in1983–84 they were relegated to Division Two.[4] In2000–01 they won Division Two, earning promotion to Division One. However, they spent only asingle season in Division One before being relegated back to Division Two. After finishing fifth in2002–03, they won Division Two again in2003–04 and were promoted back to Division One.[4] In 2012–13 they won theNorthumberland Senior Cup for the tenth time with a 3–0 win overWhitley Bay. The2022–23 season saw the club finish second in Division One, qualifying for an inter-step play-off. They went on to defeatGlossop North End 3–0 in the match to earn promotion to Division One East of the Northern Premier League.[7]
Ashington's colours are black and white vertical stripes, used on the shirt and paired with black shorts and black socks for home matches. While away, they use an all light blue shirt and socks with white shorts.
The Ashington AFC badge has two lions flanking a badge with a stylised AFC logo, with a football between the legs of the A.
Ashington moved a new ground named Station Road in 1909, which was renamedPortland Park in 1914.[14] They played at Portland Park during their Football League years, with the club's first Football League match attracting a crowd of 9,000. They remained at Portland Park after dropping out of the league, with the club's record attendance of 13,199 coming for an FA Cup second round tie withRochdale on 9 December 1950.[14]
In 2008 the club left Portland Park to move to Woodhorn Lane. The final match was played at the old ground in February 2008 againstSeaham Red Star, attracting a crowd of 1,954. The first game at Woodhorn Lane took place on 30 August 2008 againstOssett Albion, with 341 spectators watching a 2–1 win for Ashington in an FA Cup preliminary round game.[15]
55°11′07″N1°33′02″W / 55.1852°N 1.5505°W /55.1852; -1.5505
