 | |||
| Full name | Warrington Town Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The Yellows, The Town, The Wire | ||
| Founded | 1949; 76 years ago (1949) (asStockton Heath) | ||
| Ground | Cantilever Park,Warrington | ||
| Capacity | 2,500 | ||
| Chairman | Toby Macormac | ||
| Manager | Paul Carden | ||
| League | Northern Premier League Premier Division | ||
| 2024-25 | National League North, 23rd out of 24 (relegated) | ||
| Website | www | ||
Warrington Town Football Club is anassociation football club based inWarrington, Cheshire. They were established in 1949 under the name ofStockton Heath, adopting their current name in 1961. They currently compete in theNorthern Premier League Premier Division and play at Cantilever Park.
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 theMid 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 joinFootball League clubs, including Ian Weir,John Green, Alan Foster andRoger Hunt, later aWorld Cup winner withEngland 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 theCheshire County League.[1] When it merged into theNorth West Counties Football League in 1982, the club were founder members of Division Three. They finished as runners-up in thefirst season, earning promotion to Division Two. In 1985–86 Warrington reached the semi-finals of theFA Vase, losing 6–3 toHalesowen Town in a replay. After finishing as runners-up in Division Two in1986–87, the club were promoted to Division One.[1] In the same season they reached theFA Vase final, where they lost 3–2 to local rivalsSt Helens Town
In1989–90 Warrington Town won Division One, and were promoted to theNorthern Premier League. In 1992–93 they reached the quarter-finals of theFA Trophy, eventually losing 2–1 atSutton United, and also became the first Division One club to reach the final of the League Cup, losing on penalties toWinsford United. The season also saw the club sellNeil Whalley to Football League Third Division sidePreston North End for £25,000, equalling the record fee paid for a Northern Premier League player. A few weeks later Warrington also soldLiam Watson to Preston for a record £60,000.
After finishing second bottom of the league in1996–97, the club were relegated back to Division One of the North West Counties League. Thefollowing season they were demoted, failing ground grading.[1] In the1998–99 season, teenage strikerDamien Whitehead set a new club record of 52 goals in just 42 appearances, before signing for Football League Division Three sideMacclesfield Town at the end of the season.
The1999–2000 season saw Town win the Second Division Trophy beatingTetley Walker 2–0 atPrescot Cables, with two goals from Neal Holden. Thefollowing season they won Division Two and were promoted back to Division One. They finished fifth in2003–04, and were moved to Division One of theNorthern Premier League as part of the restructuring that led to the creation of theConference North andConference 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]
In2013–14 the club finished third in Division One North, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, where, they lost 1–0 at home toBamber Bridge in the semi-finals. Former Director of Football, Toby Macormac, became the new club chairman and took the club from strength to strength and started by reaching the first round proper of theFA Cup for the first time in their history in2014–15, where they beatLeague Two clubExeter City 1–0 with a 7th-minute header from Craig Robinson, in agiant-killing at Cantilever Park shown live onBBC Two.[2] In the second round they lost 0–2 atGateshead,[3] televised live onBT Sport. Later in the season the club lifted its first trophy in 14 years by defeatingFarsley Celtic on penalties in the final of theNorthern Premier League Challenge Cup, held atEdgeley Park. In August 2014, the club unveiled its current club badge following a design competition, replacing the previous design based on the town's crest.[4]
During the2015–16 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 againstNorthwich Victoria andPrescot Cables. The Club Chairman decided to part company with managerShaun Reid by mutual consent in February 2016, replacing him with Stuart Mellish and Lee Smith. Mellish and Smith led Town to the league title, finishing 15 points clear and setting division records of 106 points and 121 goals scored, and gaining promotion to Northern Premier League Premier Division. Team captainCiaran Kilheeney was the top scorer in all 3 NPL divisions with 37 league goals, and he,James McCarten and goalkeeper Karl Wills were named in the NPL Division One North team of the season.
At level seven in theEnglish football league system, the Northern Premier League Premier Division was the highest level that Warrington had ever reached. After 16 games of the 2016–17 season, while sixth in the table, management duo of Stuart Mellish and Lee Smith left by mutual consent and Chairman Macornac brought inPaul Carden. Carden lead the team to a tenth-place finish in their first season in the division. In the2017–18 Northern Premier League season Warrington improved on the previous campaign and ended up with a highest ever finish of third in the NPL Premier Division qualifying them for the play-offs, where they lost in a home semi-final againstGrantham Town. They followed this up in 2018–19 with another third-placed finish, in a season made more complicated by the expulsion ofNorth Ferriby United who went out of business partway through the campaign. In the play-offs Warrington beatNantwich Town 4–1 in a home semi-final, and then won 2–1 againstSouth Shields in the final. Normally this would have resulted in promotion toNational League North. However, as a one-off for the 2018–19 season, Town had to play a "super playoff" game against the play-off winners of the newly-formedSouthern League Premier Central Division. In this game Warrington lost 3–2 toKing's Lynn Town after extra time, and they remained in the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the 2019–20 season. As a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season was formally abandoned in March 2020, with all results from the season being expunged. After another abandoned season in 2020–21 and a play-off final defeat in 2021–22, it took more investment from the chairman which ensured Warrington finished the 2022–23 season as runners-up and were promoted to theNational League North for the first time in club history, beatingBamber Bridge 1–0 in the play-off final at Cantilever Park.[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
The club played firstly at Stockton Lane in 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 in 1955. The following year, the club moved toCantilever Park, which had 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 theManchester Ship Canal that towers over the ground to the east. The ground itself is on the northern bank of the canal. The ground consists of four stands, two of which are seated.
53°22′37.290″N2°34′11.741″W / 53.37702500°N 2.56992806°W /53.37702500; -2.56992806
