DEFUNCT CLUBS
Choosing teams to go into this section was
a difficult task. This is largely because there have
been a number of disappearances followed
by the creation of a new club playing under
a slightly different name – often,
in recent years, some of the AFCs or similar.
Some of these clubs have been included here,
examples including Darwen, Runcorn and Scarborough,
because it is not clear if the new club can
be considered to be the successor to the
previous club. There are also a number
of clubs which have been left out because
there have been teams emerging with the same
name as an earlier club after that previous
team folded. Examples of the last type
are the two Tyneside clubs North Shields
and South Shields.
What is certain is that all the clubs in
this section ‘had their day’
(in many cases more than one) and gave their
supporters both good times and, in the end,
bad times. The memories linger on, but, sadly,
these clubs are no more. The short
sections below say a little about each of
the clubs included. If you know of
and would like a link to a website about
any of these Defunct FCs, please contact
this site. Thanks to supporters of Scarborough F.C. for being the first to do this. Also,
if there is a club not mentioned here that
you feel should be, please get in touch so
that it can be added to the list.
BRIDLINGTON TRINITY
Bridlington Trinity, joined the Yorkshire League in 1960, winning the title twice (1964 and 1968). Trinity moved to the Midland League in 1972, finishing runners-up on goal difference
in 1980. Founder members of the Northern Counties (East) League in 1982, the club resigned in 1990 after its groundshare agreement at Queensgate
came to an end. The club now folded.
DARWEN
F.A. Cup semi-finalists in 1881, Darwen were
one of the North’s best sides in the
1880s and were elected to the Football League
in 1891. Life was not always comfortable at
this level, however, and the Darreners left
the League in 1899 for the Lancashire League,
where they were champions in 1902 and runners-up
a year later. Darwen joined the Lancashire Combination in 1903, leaving in 1914, but re-joining in 1920 and going on to be champions four times
by the time of the amalgamation with the
Cheshire League. The club was a founder
member of the North West Counties League in 1982 and remained there until folding in 2009.
AFC Darwen was founded in 2009 after the
demise of the old Darwen club and played
in the West Lancashire League for a season
before being elected to the North West Counties
League Division 1.
DENABY UNITED
Denaby became members of the Midland League in 1902 but left in 1913. The club re-joined the Midland League in 1920, but left to join the Yorkshire League in 1960 when the old league folded. Back in
the new Midland League in 1961, Denaby found it hard going and were in
the Yorkshire League again by 1965. United were founder members of the
Northern Counties (East) League in 1982, winning the competition in 1997.
Five years later, Denaby United folded when
the lease of their ground expired and a suitable
alternative could not be found.
GOOLE TOWN
Goole Town joined the Midland League in 1912, but left in 1915 because of the ‘War
close-down’. The club next appear when joining
the Yorkshire League in 1924. After World War Two Goole upgraded
to the Midland League in 1948, remaining members until the competition
wound up in 1960. A year later, in 1961 Town joined the new Midland League, remaining members until joining the Northern Premier League in 1968. After a long association with this
competition, Goole went down to the Northern Counties (East) League in 1995 and folded a year later.
GREAT HARWOOD
Great Harwood joined the Lancashire Combination in 1908. The club did not reappear straight
after World War Two, but re-joined in 1946, becoming champions and earning promotion
to the Northern Premier League in 1969 where they remained until 1978, possibly folding and re-forming at this
stage.
Great Harwood Town first appeared as members of the Lancashire Combination in 1979, the club becoming founder members of the
North West Counties League in 1982. Town moved to the Northern Premier League in 1992, before returning to the North West Counties League in 1999. In 2006 the club folded.
KING’S LYNN
King’s Lynn were runners-up in the
F.A. Amateur Cup in 1901. Having played in both the Eastern
Counties and the United Counties Leagues,
the Linnets joined the Midland League for seasons 1954-1958. The club spent the next few years
in the Southern League, but had a brief spell
in the Northern Premier League 1980-1983, reappearing as ‘a Northern club’
after joining Conference North in 2008. It was back to the NPL in 2009, but, despite success on the field, the
club folded part-way through the season.
NEW BRIGHTON
New Brighton played in the Lancashire Combination from 1921. In 1924 the club was elected to the
Football League, but lost its place in 1951 and re-joined the Lancashire Combination, winning the title in 1959. A switch
was made to the Cheshire League in 1965, but the club left this competition in 1981 and seems to have folded. In 1993
a new club was formed and plays in the West
Cheshire League, despite having had some
difficulties surviving.
RUNCORN
Founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919, the club took the title 5 times, the last
of these successes coming in 1963. Runcorn joined the Northern Premier League in 1968, winning this competition twice. After
the second success, the Linnets were promoted
to the Alliance Premier League (Conference) in 1981 and won the championship in their first
season. Three F.A. Trophy Finals were
reached before decline saw the club back
in the Northern Premier League in 1996, 5 years after which the new name of Runcorn
FC Halton was taken. Runcorn joined
Conference North in 2004, but were back in the NPL in 2005 and folded in 2006.
SCARBOROUGH
Scarborough FC played in a remarkable number
of leagues in their 128-year history, which
has been written about in detail in two books
by supporter Steve Adamson. Joining the Northern League in 1898, the club did nothing remarkable in its
first spell in that league, which ended in 1910 with a switch to the Yorkshire Combination.
Boro were back in the Northern League in 1914, but left for the Yorkshire League in 1926 after accusations of professionalism.
The club moved on again, in 1927, to the Midland League, lifting the title in 1930. The Second
World War disrupted most things and the Seasiders
spent the 1945-1946 season in the Scarborough
& District League, winning this by a
mile, before rejoining the Midland League in 1946. In 1960 the demise of their league meant Boro joined
the Northern Counties League, which two years later changed its name to the North Eastern League. The club won this in 1963, then moved to the Midland League until
in 1968 Scarborough became founder members of the Northern Premier League. After 3 successes in the F.A. Trophy
in the 1970s and consistently good league
placings, Boro joined the Alliance Premier League (Conference) in 1979, winning this in 1987 to become the first non-league club automatically
promoted to the Football League. Dreams
of promotion to a higher level never became
reality and in 1999 the Conference beckoned after a heart-breaking, last day,
last minute relegation from Division 4.
Always in financial trouble after this (if
not before) the Seadogs were demoted from
the Conference National to Conference North in 2006. Hamstrung by debt and an embargo
on signing new players and, of course, a
10-point deduction, Boro would have been
relegated back to the Northern Premier League
in 2007, but the judge at Leeds High Court had other
ideas and one of Northern Non-League football’s
greatest-ever clubs was put to sleep.
R.I.P., Boro.
By clicking on the Scarborough F.C. button
you should be able to access the excellent
'Gone but Not Forgotten' website,
created by the club's last Secretary,
Derek Megginson, and others, in memory of
the 'Boro'.
SCARBOROUGH RESERVES
Boro’s second team joined the Yorkshire League in 1928 with the club’s joining up with Scarborough
Penguins, but left in 1930. Scarborough Penguins had been in the Yorkshire League
1925-1928. ‘The Reserves’ rejoined the Yorkshire League in 1949 and remained members until the competition closed down. In 1982 Boro’s 2nd team were founder members of the Northern Counties (East) League and won the 1st Division (North) title in the new set-up’s
first season. Unable to be promoted
as they were not a first team, Scarborough
Reserves stayed for one more season before
resigning in 1984.
SOUTH LIVERPOOL
I understand, from the F.C.H.D. website,
that there is a detailed history of ‘South’
in a book called “Gone But Not Forgotten”
(Part 5, pages 46-59). The first record of the club in league
action seems to be their joining of The Combination
in 1898, with a switch to the Lancashire
League a year later. South Liverpool
first appear on our radar, however, when
joining the Lancashire Combination in 1911,
but this club, it seems, folded in 1921.
A new South Liverpool was formed in 1935
and joined the Lancashire Combination, which was won for a third time in 1939,
when a move was made to the Cheshire County League. In 1952 South returned to the Lancashire Combination, winning the title in 1966. In 1968
the Northern Premier League was joined and it was here that the club
ended its days in 1991. A club playing
under the name ‘South Liverpool’
is now a member of the Liverpool County Senior
League Premier Division, but whether or not
this club has any connection with the old
club is completely unknown.
SPENNYMOOR UNITED
Spennymoor United joined the Northern League in 1905, spending three seasons there before moving
to the North Eastern League in 1908, where the title was won in 1910. United left the competition in 1937, but re-joined in 1938 and were champions 3 times in the next 20
years. When the North Eastern League
folded, Spennymoor joined the Midland League in 1958, but, when that competition folded two years
later, the club joined the Northern League again in 1960. After becoming champions 6 times
and finishing as runners-up three times,
Spennymoor joined the Northern Counties (East) League in 1990, winning the Premier Division title three
years later. The club joined the Northern Premier League in 1993 and enjoyed some success before the disastrous
2004-2005 season, towards the end of which
the club folded.
Oddly, this was not actually the end, though
different versions exist of the story. In 2005 Northern League side Evenwood
Town either changed their name or amalgamated
with United. The outcome, by whatever
process, was that the name Spennymoor Town appeared in Northern League fixture lists for the
2005-2006 season.
