Wallsend F.C.
{{about|the defunct football club|the Australian club|Wallsend FC|the youth football club|Wallsend Boys Club}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{use British English|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Wallsend
| fullname = Wallsend Football Club
| image =
| founded = 1890 as Wallsend Park Villa
| dissolved = 1933
| ground = Old Cycling Ground
| capacity =
| season = 1932–33
| position = North-Eastern League Div.1, 20th
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| leftarm1 = ff0000
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Wallsend F.C. was an English association football club based in the town of Wallsend, Northumberland.
History
The club was founded in 1890 under the name Wallsend Park Villa.{{cite news |title=Athletic Notes |newspaper=Shields Daily Gazette |date=2 July 1895 |page=2 |quote=Few junior football clubs have such a record as the Wallsend Park Villa. Some five years have elapsed since the club was floated, and season after season its members have come to the front, until they now stand in the first rank.}} The team won the Gateshead Cup in 1893–94 and again the following season when they combined it with victory in the Northumberland Junior League. Until then, the team had played on open grounds, but an arrangement was made to rent the Wallsend Amateur Bicycle Club's enclosure. The club was afforded senior status in 1895, and joined the Tyneside League. The team played in both the FA Cup and the FA Amateur Cup for the first time in 1896. They lost to Leadgate Exiles in the preliminary round of the FA Cup,{{cite web |url=http://www.thefa.com/thefacup/more/pastresults |title=The Emirates FA Cup: past results |publisher=The Football Association |accessdate=17 April 2020}} and in the Amateur Cup, received a bye in the first qualifying round and beat Rutherford College in the second before being eliminated by Shankhouse in the third.{{cite news |title=English Amateur Challenge Cup |newspaper=York Herald |date=2 November 1896 |page=7}}{{cite news |title=Amateur Cup Qualifying Competition. Third Round. First Division |newspaper=North-Eastern Daily Gazette |location=Middlesbrough |date=23 November 1896 |page=4}} They also reached the final of the Northumberland Senior Cup, losing to Willington Athletic; they were to win the trophy for the first and only time in 1901–02.{{cite web |url=http://www.nufc.com/2019-20html/senior-cup-history.html |title=Northumberland Senior Cup |website=NUFC.com |accessdate=18 April 2020}}
Wallsend were admitted to the Northern Alliance when Southwick resigned just before the 1896–97 season was due to start.{{cite web |url=http://www.donmouth.co.uk/local_history/northern_alliance/northern_alliance.html |title=Northern Football Alliance |website=Donmouth |publisher=Patrick Brennan |accessdate=18 April 2020}} They lost their first match 8–1,{{cite news |title=Football Notes. Association |newspaper=Shields Daily Gazette |date=21 September 1897 |page=2}} but recovered to finish third.{{cite web |url=https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Addons/NA1890.html |title=Northern Alliance 1890–1915 |website=Non League Matters |accessdate=18 April 2020}} They continued in the top half of the table, building up to a runners-up place in 1902–03 and winning the league title the following season.{{cite web |url=http://www.northernfootballalliance.org.uk/handbook/#section-honours-records |title=Handbook: Honours records |publisher=Northern Football Alliance |accessdate=18 April 2020}} After four more seasons, which included another runners-up finish, in 1906–07, Wallsend joined the North Eastern League.{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engnortheasthist.html |title=England – North Eastern League |first=Dinant |last=Abbink |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) |date=6 December 2006 |accessdate=18 April 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Addons/NE06.html |title=North Eastern League 1906–1933 |website=Non League Matters |accessdate=18 April 2020}} They began with three mid-table finishes, but then slumped to 18th of 19 in 1911–12. A change of name, to plain Wallsend F.C., preceded a return to mid-table, but they finished bottom of the league in the two seasons before competition was abandoned for the duration of the First World War.
In the six seasons after the war, Wallsend's best placing was 15th of 20, although they did reach the fifth qualifying round of the FA Cup on three occasions. After finishing bottom in 1924–25, having conceded more than 100 goals in 38 matches, they left the North Eastern League and joined the Northern Alliance, only to return a season later, as the Alliance was absorbed into the North Eastern League as its second division.{{cite web |url=https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Addons/NA19.html |title=Northern Alliance 1919–1960 |website=Non League Matters |accessdate=18 April 2020}} Wallsend were promoted as runners-up to Washington Colliery in 1927–28.
Tragedy struck the club in the 1931 close season, when inside forward, John Wynn, formerly of Cardiff City F.C.,{{cite news |title=J. Wynn |newspaper=South Wales Football Echo |date=19 Mar 1927 |page=2}} died aged 27, after being hit in the chest by a cricket ball, when playing in a friendly match.{{cite news |title=The Wallsend Cricket Fatality |newspaper=Shields Daily News |date=25 July 1931 |page=1}}{{cite news |title=Man Killed at Cricket |newspaper=Newcastle Daily Chronicle |date=23 July 1931 |page=1}}
After four seasons in mid-table at the higher level, they finished bottom in 1932–33 and were relegated, at which point the shareholders decided that the club, which had a deficit of £732, should be voluntarily wound up.{{cite news |title=Wallsend winding up |newspaper=Shields Daily News |date=31 May 1933 |page=8}}
A successor club, formed shortly afterwards under the name of Wallsend Town A.F.C.,{{cite news |title=New football team at Wallsend |newspaper=Shields Daily News |date=10 June 1933 |page=6}} also struggled financially.{{cite news |title=Football club crisis. Wallsend Town may have to disband |newspaper=Shields Daily News |date=16 January 1935 |page=1}} The team spent two seasons in the North Eastern League Second Division,{{cite web |url=https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Addons/NE33.html |title=North Eastern League 1933–1964 |website=Non League Matters |accessdate=18 April 2020}} then returned for one season to the re-formed Northern Alliance, in which they finished 10th of 12.
Colours
The club wore red jerseys, with a white change kit.{{cite journal |title=Answers to correspondents |journal=Athletic News |date=10 November 1913 |page=4}}
Ground
The club played at the Old Cycling Ground.{{cite journal |title=Answers to correspondents |journal=Athletic News |date=10 November 1913 |page=4}}
League participation
- 1895–1897: Tyneside League
- 1897–1908: Northern Football Alliance
- 1908–1925: North-Eastern League
- 1925–1926: Northern Football Alliance
- 1926–1928: North-Eastern League Div 2
- 1928–1933: North-Eastern League Div 1
- 1933–1935: North-Eastern League Div 2
- 1935–1936: Northern Football Alliance
Records
- Fifth Qualifying Round: 1903–04
Northumberland Senior Cup{{cite web |title=Northumberland Senior Cup |url=https://www.nufc.com/2023-24html/senior-cup-history.html |website=nufc.com |access-date=14 March 2024}}
- Winners: 1901/02
- Runners Up: 1896/97, 1904/05, 1906/07, 1928/29, 1929/30
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Fchd|id=WALLSEPV|name=Wallsend Park Villa}}
- {{Fchd|id=WALLSE-1|name=Wallsend{1
} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallsend F.C.}}
Category:Defunct football clubs in England
Category:Defunct football clubs in Tyne and Wear
Category:Association football clubs established in 1890
Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1933
Category:1890 establishments in England
Category:1933 disestablishments in England
Category:Defunct football clubs in Northumberland
Category:Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside