Pickering Town Football Club is an
English football
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...
club based in
Pickering,
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
. The club was founded in 1888 and are currently members of the .
History
Pickering Town Football Club were first established in 1888, for many years the club competed in the local football leagues. One of the local leagues they competed in was the
York Football League which they joined Division Two, in 1953–54. They were promoted to the league's top division after only one season.
In the early 1950s, the York League was heavily contended between
York Railway Institute, Market Weighton and Pickering Town. Indeed, these were the teams in the top three when Pickering Town first won the York League in 1955–56.
The club dropped in form for the rest of the decade in comparison (although they did always finish in the top eight). During the 1959–60 season, they finished as league runners-up to Dringhouses.
Yorkshire and Northern Counties Leagues
Pickering eventually joining the
Yorkshire Football League
The Yorkshire Football League was the name of two football competitions. The first lasted three seasons in the late 19th century and the second lasted 62 years until merging with the Midland League in 1982 to become the Northern Counties East Lea ...
Division Three in 1972. They started well in the league, and during their second season were promoted to Division Two as champions. Pickering Town finished as runners-up to
Bridlington Town
Bridlington Town Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They were founded in 1918 and currently play in the .
History
The club was founded in 1918 as Bridlington Centra ...
in the 1974–75 season and thus were promoted to the top division of the Yorkshire League.
They dropped in form a couple of seasons later, getting relegated in two successive seasons. For the rest of the decade Pickering lingered around the mid parts of the Yorkshire League Division Three. In 1982 they became founding members of the
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
T ...
and were in the NCE Premier Division from 1992. It was around this time that the club first entered the
FA Challenge Cup, they knocked out
Penrith before losing to North Yorkshire rivals,
Northallerton Town in the next round.
A few seasons later in 1996–97, they knocked out
Pontefract Collieries 2–1 in the competition, but lost to
Bishop Auckland in the next round. In terms of the draw, the club has had very bad luck in the competition, as every time they reached the 1st Qualifying Round, they were forced to play away from home. In 1999 Pickering were relegated to the NCE First Division. This was to last only two seasons and promotion back to the Premier Division came in 2001.
Jimmy Reid transformation
The club underwent a great transformation with manager Jimmy Reid and his assistant Steve Brown in charge. Reid was a former player with
St Johnstone and
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
and Brown a former "Pikes" player and coach at the
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
Academy. At the end of 2001–02 season Jimmy Reid left the club and Steve Brown took control.
At the start of the 2002–03 season 5 first team regulars were lost for a variety of reasons which left the club struggling for much of the season. The hard work and dedication of Brown, his management team and the players was rewarded towards the end of the season as it all started to come together and with only 4 defeats in the last 15 league games the club finished the season in 13th position.
2003–04 season was an exciting one for the club as they were in the top half of the league table all season and for much of it, with games in hand, looked possible championship contenders. However, with a glut of fixtures, and possibly with the knowledge that promotion to the re-structured
Northern Premier League was not an option due to ground grading, at the season's end the club were not able to capitalise and finished in a creditable 5th position.
Early into the season 2004–05 owing to ever increasing business commitments Steve Brown stepped down as Manager to be replaced by ex-
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
and
Newcastle United striker
Alex Mathie, veteran of over 200 league games and 20 years as a professional.
After much ground improvement work in recent years, including the erection of floodlights, a new 120 seater stand, covered standing accommodation and more recently an additional 100-seater stand behind the "scoreboard end" goal, the club now possess one of the best grounds in the league.
Recent events
In the 2005–06 season the club reached the quarter finals of the
FA Vase the furthest in the club's history. The team eventually lost out to
Nantwich Town
Nantwich Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1884 and is nicknamed ''The Dabbers'', a reference to the town's tanning industry. They currently compete in and pla ...
.
After an encouraging start in the 2006–07 season, results took a turn for the worse over the winter period, and a run of one win in eleven games led to the resignation of Mathie as manager on 6 January 2007. Within a week, the board announced they had appointed ex-Pickering player and Mathie's assistant Mark Wood as the new manager.
The 2007–08 season saw the club finish in third in the NCEL Premier Division, their highest league position in over a decade. Off the pitch the club saw significant change and Pickering applied for promotion to the
Northern Premier League. The club erected a removable fence for the cricket pitch side and improved the existing exterior toilet facilities. Ground development has continued with the club resurfacing and floodlighting the car parking facilities, adding new goals, corner flags and dugouts and improving the drainage of the pitch.
Mark Wood stepped down as manager early in the 2010–11 season and he was replaced by
Scarborough FC
Scarborough Football Club was a football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5&nbs ...
legend
Mitch Cook
Mitchell Christopher Cook (born 15 October 1961) is an English retired professional footballer. He played for seven different Football League clubs during a twenty-year career, and had four separate spells at Scarborough, his hometown club. He ...
. Cook oversaw a change in philosophy mainly focussed on youth and passing football. This approach had mixed success but the club eventually finished in a very respectable 7th. Cook resigned just before the end of the season to take up the vacant managerial role at rivals
Bridlington Town
Bridlington Town Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They were founded in 1918 and currently play in the .
History
The club was founded in 1918 as Bridlington Centra ...
taking with him much of the playing squad.
Following Cook's resignation the club invited applications and eventually offered the job to former
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
player and coach Peter Vasey.
They reached the Second Round Qualifying of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
3 times (1999–00, 2001–02 and 2003–04).
On 30 April 2013, the club won the North Riding Senior Cup for the first time in their history following a 3–0 win over
Marske United
Marske United Football Club is a football club based in Marske-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mount Pleasant.
History
The club was established in 1956 by members of Marske Cricket Club. . The goals were scored by Liam Shepherd, Liam Salt and Joe Danby in the second half. The game was played at the headquarters of the North Riding County FA in Stokesley in front of 439 spectators. The Marske United side contained future
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
player
Jordan Hugill
Jordan Thomas Hugill (born 4 June 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Rotherham United.
A relative late comer to the professional game, he had spells with non-League sides Seaham Red Star, Consett, W ...
.
Paul Marshall era
In the summer of 2015, Paul Marshall left the manager's job at
Tadcaster Albion
Tadcaster Albion Association Football Club is an association football club in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. Formed in 1892, their ground is situated behind the John Smith's brewery in Tadcaster, thus the reason for their nickname "The B ...
and was swiftly appointed as manager of Pickering Town.
Denny Ingram joined him as a player and assistant manager. Pickering finished sixth in the first season under Marshall and second in 2017, behind only champions
Cleethorpes Town. They reached the final of the
North Riding Senior Cup in 2017, losing 3–1 to
Whitby Town in the final at
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
's
Riverside Stadium
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...
.
In May 2018 Pickering were promoted to Step 4 of non-league football following a 2–1 win away to
Hall Road Rangers
Hall Road Rangers Football Club is a football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Hill Top Ground in Willerby.
History
The club was formed in 1959 as a Sunda ...
on the final day of the season. They entered the
Northern Premier League Division One East in August of the same year.
In February 2019, Marshall stepped down as manager. He was regarded as the most successful manager of the modern era at Pickering. He was replaced by assistant manager
Denny Ingram until the end of the season with fellow player coach Ryan Blott as his assistant.
After guiding Pickering Town to safety, the club announced that Denny Ingram would continue his role as manager into the 2019-20 Season.
After a 3-0 defeat to Tadcaster Albion, Denny Ingram was relieved of his duties as manager.
Former Pickering Town player and Scarborough Athletic first team coach Steve Roberts joined the club as manager. He appointed former Pickering Town, Leeds United and Whtiby Town player Tony Hackworth as his assistant.
Pickering finished bottom of the
Northern Premier League Division One East in 2021-22 and were relegated back to Step 5 after four seasons at the higher level. They were allocated a place in the
2022–23 Northern Football League.
Current squad
The following are players who are currently signed on and have made a first-team matchday squad during the 2022-23 season.
(''also plays for
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
'')
(''club captain'')
(''player/coach'')
Ground
The Mill Lane ground seats 200, with a total capacity of around 2,000. It incorporates the Pickering Recreation Club clubhouse.
Honours
*
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
T ...
Premier Division
**Runners-up: 2017-18
*
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
T ...
Premier Division
**Runners-up: 2016-17
*
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
T ...
Premier Division
**Runners-up: 1992–93
*
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
T ...
Division One
**Runners-up: 1991–92, 2000–01
*
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
T ...
Division Two
**Champions: 1987–88
*
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
T ...
Wilkinson Sword Trophy
**Winners: 2000–01
*
North Riding County Cup
**Winners: 1990–91
*
North Riding Senior Cup
**Winners: 2012–13
**Runners-up: 1993–94, 1994–95
North Riding Senior Cup 2012–13
*
Yorkshire League Division Two
**Runners-up: 1974–75
*
Yorkshire League Division Three
**Champions: 1973–74
*
York Football League First Division
**Champions: 1955–56, 1966–67, 1969–70
**Runners-up: 1959–60
*
York Football League Second Division
**Champions: 1953–54
*
Scarborough and District Football League Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
Division One
**Champions: 1930–31, 1950–51
**Runners-up: 1946–47, 1949–50
References
External links
Official website
{{coord, 54, 14, 33.77, N, 0, 46, 42.59, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title
Football clubs in England
Football clubs in North Yorkshire
Association football clubs established in 1888
1888 establishments in England
York Football League
Yorkshire Football League
Northern Counties East Football League
Northern Premier League clubs
Pickering, North Yorkshire