Newcastle Town F.C.

Newcastle Town

Full name	Newcastle Town Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Castle
Founded	1964
Ground	Lyme Valley Stadium, Buckmaster Avenue, Clayton Newcastle-under-Lyme (Capacity: 4,000 (300 seated & 1,000 covered))
Chairman	Paul Ratcliffe
League	Northern Premier League Division One South
2010–11	Northern Premier League Division One South, 2nd
Home colours Away colours

Newcastle Town F.C. are an English football club based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. They play in the Northern Premier League First Division South. They are full members of the Staffordshire Football Association.

History

The club was formed as a Sunday league club in 1964. The club as it is now emerged in 1986 following the merger of Parkway Clayton and Newcastle Town, after the original Newcastle Town ran into financial difficulties, and a year after initial merger talks had broken down. They joined the Mid-Cheshire League in Division Two and in their first season, 1982-83 were promoted to Division One as champions, losing only one game all season and scoring 102 goals in 30 games, while conceding just 18. The following season they finished fourth in Division One, then third in 1984-85 and then were crowned Mid-Cheshire League champions in 1985-86. They spent one more season in the league, finishing second, before moving up to the North West Counties Football League, Division Two for the 1987-88 season, when they finished fourth.^[1][2][3]

After a period of consolidation, a runners-up finish in the 1991-92 season saw the club promoted to Division One, while they also entered the FA Cup for the first time beating Ossett Albion 2-0 in the preliminary round, before losing 2-1 to Bootle in the first qualifying round. They also won thei first major honour since joining the league by lifting the Lamot Pils Trophy. In their first season in Division One they finished fifth and also won the Tennants Floodlit Trophy, beating Chadderton at Wigan Athletic's Springfield Park ground. They finished in the runners-up spot in the league two consecutive seasons in 1995-96 and 1996-97. Also in 1996-97 they reached the FA Cup first round proper after winning all five ties in the qualifying rounds before losing 2-0 to Notts County on 17 November 1996, played at Stoke City's Victoria Ground. They were also losing finalists in the Staffordshire Senior Cup and the Walsall Senior Cup, while winning the League Challenge Cup. Third and fourth place league finishes in 1997-98 and 1998-99 were followed up by a third runners-up finish in 1999-2000. That season also saw the club reach the semi-finals of the FA Vase. Starting off in the second qualifying round with a 4-0 home win over Dudley Town they were eventually knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winners Deal Town 3-1 on aggregate.^[1][2][3]

The 2004-05 season saw another runners-up finish in the league and in 2007-08 they finished third before a league restructure saw Division One renamed the Premier Division in the 2008-09 season.^[1][2][3] After having finished runners up on several occasions, the club finally won the North West Counties league in 2010 and as a result were promoted to the Northern Premier League First Division South for the 2010-11 season.

Stadium

The club play at the Lyme Valley Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,000. It is notable for having a velodrome that is used for track cycling running around the pitch.^[4] It has covered accommodation for 1,000 with 300 seats. The stadium is located in a large parkland area. There is a clubhouse with the 300 seater stand on one side of the pitch behind the velodrome. On the opposite side is a larger covered stand which has a small amount of terracing. At each end of the pitch are the curved bends of the velodrome.^[1]

Stoke City used to play their reserve matches at Lyme Valley, while the stadium regularly holds pre-season friendlies with local Football League clubs Stoke City, Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra.

Reserves and youth teams

The club has a reserve team that plays in the Staffordshire County Senior League^[5] as well as a youth team in the Midland Floodlit Youth League, Northern Division.^[6]

The club has a youth structure in place that supports the development of children from the age of 5 up to the Midland Floodlit Youth League team. The youth teams play games and train at Newcastle College. The youth teams are overseen by Head Coach Gavin Appleby ^[7] who joined the football club in the 2004/2005 season .

Squad

As of 25 June 2011.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Greg Smith DF Ian Willis DF Kelvin Mellor DF Louis James MF Andrew Bourne MF Chris Boast

No. Position Player MF Daryl Wilkes MF Ryan Connor FW Jordan Johnson FW Neville Thompson FW Wayne Teague

Honours

League

• North West Counties Football League
  • North West Counties Football League Premier Division champions: 2009–10
  • Division One runners–up: 1995-96, 1996–97, 1999-00
  • Division Two runners-up: 1991-92

• Mid-Cheshire League
  • Division One champions: 1985-86
  • Division One runners-up: 1986-87
  • Division Two champions: 1982-83, 1990–91

• Potteries and District League
  • Champions: 1984-85, 1985–86
  • Cup Winners: 1984-85, 1985–86

Cup

• North West Counties Football League
  • League Cup winners: 1996-97
  • Floodlit Cup winners: 1992-93, 1995–96
  • Floodlit Cup finalists: 1996-97
  • Division Two Trophy winners: 1991-92

• Walsall Senior Cup
  • Winners: 1993-94 1994-95
  • Finalists: 1995-96

• Staffordshire Senior Cup
  • Winners: 2009-2010
  • Runners-up: 1995-96, 2001–02

• Mid-Cheshire League
  • League Cup winners: 1984-85

• Midland Sunday Cup
  • Winners: 1985-86, 1986–87
  • Finalists: 1984-85, 1987–88

• Potteries and District League
  • Cup winners: 1984-85, 1985–86

• Staffordshire FA Vase
  • Finalists: 1992-93

• Staffordshire FA Sunday Cup
  • Winners: 1979-80

• Sentinel Cup
  • Winners: 1994-95

• Sentinel Shield
  • Winners: 1986-87
  • Finalists: 2003-04

• Staffordshire FA Youth Cup
  • Winners: 1988-89, 1992–93, 1993–94

Attendances

Records

• Largest league attendance: 1,833 vs FC United of Manchester, North West Counties Football League Division One, 2006-07 season

Averages

As of 9 March 2009, the average league-game attendance at the Lyme Valley Stadium for the 2008–09 season is 108, which places Newcastle Town 8th for the division, and is a decrease of 13.9% from the previous season.^[8]

Past averages:

• 2007–08: 125
• 2006–07: 197^[9]
• 2005–06: 133
• 2004–05: 171
• 2003–04: 129

Source: English football site

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "The Mattlock Review Newcastle Town FC". PyramidPassion.co.uk. http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/newcastle_t_mattlock_review.html. Retrieved 2009-02-19. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "A brief history". Newcastle Town F.C.. http://www.newcastletown.co.uk/content.php?page=history. Retrieved 2009-02-19. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Newcastle Town". Football Club History Database. http://fchd.info/NEWCASTT.HTM. Retrieved 2009-02-19. 
4. ^ "Newcastle Town FC". PyramidPassion.co.uk. http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/newcastle_town.html. Retrieved 2009-02-19. 
5. ^ "Newcastle Town". Staffordshire County Senior League. http://www.leaguewebsite.co.uk/staffordshirecountyseniorleague/teamdirectory.pl?age=22&div=2481. Retrieved 19 February 2009. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "League table/scorers". Midland Floodlit Youth League. http://www.communigate.co.uk/worcs/mfyl/page5.phtml. Retrieved 19 February 2009. 
7. ^ http://www.newcastletown.co.uk/pages.php?page_id=440
8. ^ "Attendances - North West Counties Premier Division". Tony's English football site. http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/nwc1att.htm. Retrieved 11 March 2009. 
9. ^ Due mostly to the visit of F.C. United of Manchester which saw a crowd of 1,833

External links

• Official website
• (Newcastle Town Online) - Fans Forum
• Newcastle Town at the Football Club History Database

Coordinates: 52°59′51.57″N 2°12′53.70″W / 52.9976583°N 2.214917°W / 52.9976583; -2.214917