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
Manager	Scott Dundas
League	Northern Premier League Division One West
2023–24	Northern Premier League Division One West, 14th of 20
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.

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 their 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

Attendances

Attendances have increased and in the season of 2014/15 Newcastle Town saw an average gate of 142. Although pre season friendlies can see as many as 3500 come through the turnstiles when Stoke City come to play. Most recently in the Pre season of 2015/16 Newcastle Town played Port Vale at home and the official attendance was 1612.

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.

Past averages:

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

Source: English football site

Reserves and youth teams

The club has a Reserve Team that plays in the Staffordshire County Senior League as well as a youth team in the Midland Floodlit Youth League, Northern Division.

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 Junior and Youth teams play games and train at Newcastle-under-Lyme College. The U8, U9, U10 and u11 teams play matches in The Potteries Mini Soccer League whilst the U12, U13, U14, U15 and U16 teams compete in Potteries Junior Youth League.

2012 saw the under 16s side win the Sentinel Shield competition beating Stoke Rams 2-1 at Vale Park. This success is the first Sentinel Shield win of the club's history. 2011-12 season also saw the u10 team as Double Winners, Newcastle u10's beating Silverdal Athletic 4-0 in the Potteries Mini League Cup Final and winning The Potteries Mini Soccer League Championship.

Squad

As of 16 May 2014.

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Dave Parton
—	GK	ENG	Bradley Moorhead
—	DF	ENG	Aaron Carter
—	DF	ENG	Matt Hardiman
—	DF	ENG	James Askey
—	DF	ENG	Luke Askey
—	DF	ENG	Mark Ruddock
—	DF	ENG	Tom Groves
—	MF	ENG	Josh Rhodes
—	MF	ENG	Dan Skelton
—	MF	ENG	Kyle Diskin
—	MF	ENG	Matthew Lowe

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Tim Sanders
—	MF	ENG	Tom Urwin
—	MF	ENG	Andy Nicholls
—	MF	ENG	Christian Millar
—	MF	ENG	Ash Hill
—	FW	ENG	Callum Kenny
—	FW	ENG	Aaron Brady
—	FW	ENG	Alan Nagington
—	FW	ENG	Jordan Cole
—	FW	ENG	Josh Gordon
—	FW	ENG	Leon Ashman
—	FW	ENG	Nathan Sutton
—	FW	ENG	Tom France

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

External links

• Official website
• Junior Team website
• Newcastle Town at the Football Club History Database