Shankhouse Football Club was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Cramlington Cramlington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, 6 miles (9 kilometres) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and 10 miles (16 kilometres) north of its city centre. The name suggests a probable founding by the Danes or Anglo-Saxons. T ...

, near

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. They play at Action Park. The club was a FA Charter Standard Club affiliated to the

Northumberland Football Association The Northumberland Football Association is a governing body in the historic county of Northumberland, England. The association was formed in 1883. It is responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county. ...

. The club's nickname was The HouseChronicle Live
Shankhouse say focused on the future – Chronicle Live
accessdate: March 2, 2020

History

The club was formed in 1883 by the local Methodist Chapel bible class after the Scottish Highland Black Watch regiment camped nearby arranged a match against the local miners, inspiring the local working class to take up the sport.The Accidental Groundhopper: Ground 223: Action Park, Shankhouse FC

accessdate: March 2, 2020

Co-winners of the Northumberland Senior Cup

The club was declared the co-winner of the

Northumberland Senior Cup The Northumberland Senior Cup, officially named the Techflow Marine Senior Cup, is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Northumberland Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for t ...

in 1885-86 in unique circumstances. Drawn against Morpeth Harriers F.C. in the semi-final, the two clubs played out three 1-1 draws, the first two ties both seeing Morpeth equalize with seven minutes to go. It looked as if Shankhouse had won through at the fourth time of asking, with a late winner in the third replay, but Morpeth protested on the basis that the goal had been scored after its players heard a whistle and stopped playing, giving Shankhouse a simple goal. The whistle came from someone in the crowd. On appeal, the

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

ruled that there had been crowd interference with the match, and scrubbed off the goal. Therefore, the teams had to play for a fifth time, under orders to continue until the match finished. However, after three half-an-hour periods of extra-time, the game remained goalless, and it was too dark to continue. Instead of playing a sixth game, the clubs drew lots to see who would play West End in the final, and Shankhouse drew the winning lot. However this was not to work out who won the semi-final, but to work out who would represent both clubs in the final. Shankhouse duly won 3-2, and, as a result, both Shankhouse and the Harriers were declared to be the co-holders of the Cup.

FA Cup and local leagues

In 1887 the club entered 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 ...

for the first time making it to the fourth round, before being dispatched by

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

9–0. The 1891–92 season saw the club join the

Northern Football Alliance The Northern Football Alliance is a football league based in the North East, England. It has four divisions headed by the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. The top club in the Premier Division ...

, and becoming the league winners at their first attempt.Northern Alliance 1890–1915
Northern Alliance 1890–1915
accessdate: March 3, 2020 The club stayed in the Northern alliance league until the end of the 1905–06 season, when the club dropped down to the Blyth and District League. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the club reentered the Northern alliance league again for the 1947–48 season, but left again after 10 seasons. Over 30 years later the club rejoined the Northern alliance league again for the 1989–90 season, starting in Division Two. The 1994–95 season saw the club move up to division one, when they qualified for promotion as runners-up. Three seasons later the club achieved promotion to the premier division when they finished as champions of Division one. The 2004–05 season saw the club become league champions. The club withdrew from the league ahead of the 2021–22 season.

Ground

The club play their home games at Action Park in Cramlington. The club used to play their home games at Arcot Park, when they purchased that ground in 1906.

Honours

** Premier Division Champions (2) 1891–92, 2004–05 ** Division one Champions (1) 1997–98 ** League Cup Winners (2) 2004–05, 2013–14 ** League Cup Winners (2) 2004–05, 2013–14 ** Challenge Cup Winners (2) 2000–01, 2001–02 ** Division Two Amateur Cup Winners (1) 1993–94 *

** Winners (4) 1885–86, 1892–93, 1893–94, 1894–95 * Northumberland FA Benevolent BowlNorthumberland County Cups Summary
Football Club History Database – Northumberland County Cups Summary
accessdate: March 3, 2020 ** Winners (2) 1999-00 ,2016–17 *Northumberland Challenge Cup ** Winners (1) 1886–87

Records

**Fourth Round 1887–88

References

{{reflist

External links

Shankhouse FC Official Website
Football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Northumberland 1883 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 1883 Northern Football Alliance Association football clubs disestablished in 2021