Glossop North End A.F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Glossop North End
fullname = Glossop North End Association Football Club
nickname = The Hillmen
founded = 1886
ground = Surrey Street, Glossop
capacity = 2,374
chairman = David Atkinson
manager =
league = North West Counties League
Premier Division
season = 2007-08
position = North West Counties League
Division One, 7th

Glossop North End A.F.C. are an English football club based in Glossop, Derbyshire. Former members of the Football League, they are currently in the North West Counties League, and play their home matches at Surrey Street, which has a capacity of 2,374 (209 seated, 2,165 standing). The club play in blue, and are known as the "Hillmen."

History

Glossop North End were founded in 1886, and played at a variety of grounds, including Pygrove, Silk Street, Water Lane and Cemetery Road before settling on North Road.

The club joined the North Cheshire League in 1890, before moving to The Combination in 1894 and becoming a professional club. The club moved again to the Midland League in 1896, before being elected to the Second Division of the Football League in 1898. As a result of their seasons in the football league, Glossop is often cited as the smallest town in England to have had a football league side.

During their period in the Football League, their chairman and benefactor was Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, who later became chairman of Arsenal.

In their first season in the League, they finished in second place, earning promotion to the First Division. In the summer of 1899, the club changed its name to Glossop F.C. However, they struggled in the First Division, finishing bottom and were relegated back to the Second Division. In the 1908-09 season the club recorded its best FA Cup performance, when it reached the quarter-finals before losing in a replay to Bristol City.

The club then struggled for several seasons (though it did manage its record attendance of 10,736 against namesakes Preston North End in the FA Cup during the 1913-14 season), finishing bottom at the end of the 1914-15 season. The start of World War I meant the Football League closed down until the start of the 1919-20 season, but during this period the club dropped out of the League, and started the 1919-20 season in the Lancashire Combination. Northern Nomads ground-shared with GNE for several years.

However, the club dropped out of the Lancashire Combination and into the Manchester League after just one season. In 1955 the club moved to its present ground in Surrey Street. In 1957 they rejoined the Lancashire Combination, where they remained until the end of the 1965-66 season before dropping back to the Manchester League.

The club moved to the Cheshire County League in 1978. When the Cheshire County League merged with the Lancashire Combination to form the North West Counties League in 1982, the club became founder members of the new league, which it has remained in since.

In the 1996-1997 season , they beat Radcliffe Borough in the Final of the Manchester Premier Cup

In the summer of 1992, the club reverted to its former name, Glossop North End A.F.C. These days its fame revolves around the quiz question "what is the smallest place to have had a Top division team in the English Football Leagues"?

Current - 2006/07, 2007/08 and beyond

Glossop North End finished a creditable 9th in the NWCFL, the highest position attained by boss Chris Nicholson in his 6 seasons at the club. Nicholson had announced in March that he was to step down at the end of the season following confirmation of his emigration to Perth, Australia. As a result the vacancy was advertised and, after a full interview process, his assistant Steve Young was appointed boss for 2007/08.

However, the highlight of the season was a 4 match FA Cup run from the Extra Preliminary round to the 2nd Qualifying round that, whilst eventually ending disappointingly in defeat at Trafford FC, included a tremendous local derby aganst New Mills FC. Glossop led 1-0 at half time, The Millers equalised with 10 minutes to go only for Glossop to regain the lead within minutes. In a storming finish, the New Mills keeper forced a superb save onto the bar from the Glossop goalie, when up to meet a corner with his head. The ball was cleared upfield for Glossop to score a third into an empty net. The crowd of 430 was the highest of the season by a long way.

In 2007/08 North End made excellent strides on the pitch, finishing a creditible 7th, which might have been 5th but for an unfortunate last game defeat at the hands of champions Trafford FC. It took a while for the team to gel, which led to early cup exits at Malvern Town (FA Cup) and Coventry Sphinx (FA Vase), but one they hit their stride in early November, they had a magnificent run, including a terrific run of without defeat that propelled them up the league.

Darren Hamilton was voted player of the year by the supporters, for his twenty two goals. He has played for the club for 10 years, the longest serving players still with the club.

elected Former Players

*flagicon|Scotland/flagicon|England Alec Campbell
*flagicon|Scotland Thomas Fitchie
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Archie Goodall
*flagicon|England John Goodall
*flagicon|Scotland Bob Jack
*flagicon|England Bert Maddlethwaite
*flagicon|Scotland John Tait Robertson
*flagicon|England Fred Spiksley
*flagicon|England Irvine ThornleyDavid Wood

elected Former Managers

*flagicon|Northern Ireland Archie Goodall:1904-05

External links

* [http://www.glossopnorthend.co.uk/ Unofficial Club Website]
* [http://www.fchd.info/GLOSSOPN.HTM Glossop North End] Football Club History Database