Hanley Town F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Hanley Town


fullname = Hanley Town Football Club
founded=1966
ground = Abbey Lane
capacity = 750
chairman = Paul Legge
manager = Gary Woolrich
league = Staffordshire County Senior League
Premier Division
season=2007-08
position = Staffordshire County Senior League
Premier Division, 5th
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Hanley Town Football Club play in the Staffordshire County Senior League which is part of step 7 of the non-league football pyramid. The club take their name from the largest of the six towns in Stoke-on-Trent, which is Hanley. They play home games at their Abbey Lane base which is about a mile and a half outside the City Centre.

History

The club's roots can be traced as far back the 1894-95, however, the club folded soon after. The new Hanley Town were formed in 1966 and ten years later they joined the Mid Cheshire League playing in the Second Division. This led to one of the club's most successful periods. The club gained promotion to the First Division of the Mid Cheshire League in 1978 and in 1982 they were League Champions, after losing just 2 of their 30 games. However, that success was hard to follow and despite two consecutive third placed finishes in 1987 and 1988, Town were on the slide. The lowest point came in 1994 when the club were relegated back to the Second Division of the Mid Cheshire League after winning just once all season.

1990s

Following this setback, Hanley returned to local football and took two years regrouping as a club. However, on their re-entry to the Mid Cheshire League Second Division in 1996 Hanley still made little impact and after two mid table finishes they made the move across to the Midland League in the summer of 1998. However, the club found the transition tough and they finished their first season in 17th place out of 20.

Recent Years

The next six years saw steady improvement from the club and in 2003 they were beaten in the Final of the Midland League Cup by Norton Adderley Green F.C. Success was finally achieved under the management team of David Price and Darren Stairs in 2004-05. Hanley Town completed a remarkable treble of the League Championship, the League Cup and the Staffordshire F.A. Vase.

2005-06 saw the Midland League merge with the Staffordshire County League and the combined league became known as the Staffordshire County Senior League. However, the name change didn't stop Hanley Town claiming their second consecutive title, losing just once. There was disappointment though, in the shape of the Leek and Moorland Cup, where Hanley were defeated 4-2 by Ball Haye Green in the final.

New Management

Following the retention of the Championship, Dave Price and Darren Stairs decided to step down as the first team management team. Hanley turned to the experienced and sought after pairing of Steve Norris and Gary Woolrich, who had recently resigned from North West Counties Division Two side Norton United, after a disagreement with the club's committee.

The new season did not get off to the best of starts though. A 5-0 opening day reversal to Alsager Reserves was followed by losses against pace setters Wolstanton United and Hanford. However, the ship steadied and Hanley went on a remarkable run of 18 wins from 19 games before a second defeat to Alsager in January.

uccess & Failure

This was followed in February by disappointment in the Staffordshire F.A. Vase, when Wolstanton defeated Hanley 1-0 in the semi-final. However, the first piece of silverware under the new regime arrived courtesy of a 2-0 defeat of Redgate Clayton in the Leek & Moorland Cup at the end of March. The club went into the final fortnight of the season still chasing a treble, however, those dreams were controversially shattered when Hanford gained victory over them in the Staffordshire County League Cup final. Hanford won by a single goal to nil, only for it to transpire that the goalscorer was ineligible to play in the match.

That defeat left Hanley with just the chase for the Championship to focus on and a 0-0 home draw with leaders Wolstanton just two days later left their hopes in the balance. Despite a dramatic fight back to win at Stafford Rangers A in their next match, it was eventually confirmed that Hanley had lost their title when Wolstanton scored a 4-2 victory at Hanford in their final match of the season, leaving them ahead of Hanley by just two points.

2007–08

The 07/08 season started well with the team winning all of their first 7 games. However, after a draw with fellow table toppers Ball Haye Green, Hanley were beaten 3-0 at home by Congleton Vale.

On October 17 2007, with the club sitting joint top of the league, manager Steve Norris announced his resignation from the club citing personal reasons for his decision. He was replaced by his assistant Gary Woolrich. What followed was an inconsistent season. Two victories against Wolstanton who retained the title, but poor defeats against bottom half sides condemed Hanley to a disappointing 5th place finish. Gary Woolrich left at the end of the season, to be replaced by Kenny Birch-Machin from Ball Haye Green.

External links

* [http://www.staffordshirecountyseniorleague.co.uk Staffordshire County Senior League]
* [http://www.hanleytown.co.uk Hanley Town F.C. Official Website]