Colne F.C.

Colne

Full name	Colne Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Reds
Founded	1996
Ground	Holt House Stadium, Colne (Capacity: 1800)
Chairman	Malcolm Young
Manager	Nigel Coates
League	North West Counties League Premier Division
2010–11	North West Counties League Premier Division, 5th
Home colours Away colours

Colne Football Club are an English football club based at the Holt House Stadium in Colne, Lancashire. They were established in 1996 and were elected straight into the North West Counties League. They are full members of the Lancashire County Football Association.

History

There used to be a club who were also called Colne F.C. who played in the Lancashire Combination in the early 20th century. However they are unrelated to the current club. The town also had another club, Colne Dynamoes who folded in 1990.

Colne were formed in January 1996 and were placed in the North West Counties Football League Division Two. The club's first competitive game was against Middlewhich on 17 August 1996.^[1] They finished in last place in their first season, 1996–97. They remained at that level, mostly finishing mid-table until winning the Division Two title in 2003–04, scoring 102 goals in 38 league games and earning themselves promotion to Division One.^[2] They also had a remarkable FA Vase run that season, progressing all the way to the semi-finals before losing 4–3 over two legs to Sudbury.^[2] The home leg on 20 March 2004, saw a record crowd of 1,742 at the Holt House Stadium.^[3] The club also won the Division Two Cup, beating Great Harwood Town 1–0 in the final.^[1][4]

The club's best FA Cup performance came the following season, when they progressed to the second qualifying round and they finished in tenth place in Division One. Their 2007–08 season final position of fifth is the highest they have so far reached.^[1][2]

The club have plans to establish a Football Academy in conjunction with Nelson and Colne College.^[5][6]

Colne's main local rivals are Nelson. Other local games include Bacup Borough, Padiham, Ramsbottom United, Silsden and Darwen.

Stadium

The Holt House stadium is the same ground used by Colne Dynamoes who progressed to the highest levels of non-league football before folding in 1990 and then Colne Royal British Legion who folded in 1995. Colne took over the stadium when they were elected to the North West Counties Football League in 1996.^[7]

The club has plans in place, with Pendle Council, to develop a new multi-use 3,300 capacity stadium, including seating for 300, on an open area of land between Holt House and the nearby Nelson & Colne Rugby Club. The development will comprise a new stadium, changing rooms for the stadium and also changing rooms for all the other pitches at Holt House that are used by local teams. There will be a function room, club house, physio and medical rooms, and the stadium facilities overall will be up to Conference National standard.^[5][6]

Players

As of 1 August 2010.^[8]

Current squad

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 Mark Crossley — GK Chris Brennan — GK Andy Pickard — GK Danny Pinder — DF Chris Nestor — DF Chris Whittaker — DF Ben Howarth — DF Danny Craig — DF Richard Johnson — DF Billy Priestley — DF Matt Whitwell — DF Jason Heffernan — MF Michael Cruz

No. Position Player — MF Martin Broderick — MF Ted Cocket — MF Scott Gizon — MF Stevie Hall — MF Kieran Roberts — MF Liam Blades — MF Adam Whiteoak — MF Chris Bell — MF Danny Boyle — FW Liam Garbutt — FW Mark Threlfall — FW Jamie Langley — FW James Crorken

Non-playing staff

Name	Role
Malcolm Young	Chairman
David Blacklock	Vice-chairman
Ray Davies	Treasurer
Any Harris	Club secretary
Nigel Coates	First-team manager
	Assistant manager
	Physiotherapist

Honours

• North West Counties League Division Two champions: 2003–04
• North West Counties League Division Two Cup winners: 2003–04

Attendances

Records

• Largest attendance at Holt House Stadium: 1,742 v A.F.C. Sudbury, FA Vase 20 March 2004
• Largest club attendance: 2,762 v F.C. United of Manchester (Played at the Interlink Express Stadium, Accrington)^{[citation needed]}

Averages

As of 18 February 2009, the average league-game attendance at the Holt House Stadium for the 2008–09 season is 83, which places Colne 11th for the division, and is a decrease of 21.2% from the previous season.^[9]

Past averages:

• 2007–08: 105
• 2006–07: 139
• 2005–06: 125
• 2004–05: 159
• 2003–04: 137

Source: English football site

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "History of Colne FC". Colne F.C.. http://www.colnefc.com/Colne/History.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Colne". Football Club History Database. http://www.fchd.info/COLNE.HTM. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
3. ^ "FA Vase Semi Finals". Tony's English football site. http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/archive03-04/favsf.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
4. ^ "Contact Us". Colne F.C.. http://www.colnefc.com/Colne/contact.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "New Stadium for Colne??". Colne F.C.. http://www.colnefc.com/Colne/newstadium.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Stadium Plans progressing well". Colne F.C.. http://www.colnefc.com/Colne/stadiumprogress.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
7. ^ "Colne FC". Pyramid Passion. http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/colne.html. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
8. ^ "Player Profiles". Colne F.C.. http://www.colnefc.com/Colne/Teams.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
9. ^ "Attendances – North West Counties Premier Division". Tony's English football site. http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/nwc1att.htm. Retrieved 19 February 2009. 

External links

• Official website
• Colne at the Football Club History Database