Stockton Football Club was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

. The club were known as 'The Ancients' because of their long-standing presence in the town. Their traditional colours were red and black quartered shirts with white shorts.

History

The club was established in 1882, and were founder members of the Northern League in 1889. In 1896–87 they reached the final of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

, but lost 4–1 in a replay to Old Carthusians. They won the league in 1897–98, and the following season reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup again, this time winning 1–0 against Harwich & Parkeston. They won the Cup again in 1902–03, beating

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

1–0 in a replay. In 1906–07 they won the Northern League again and reached the Amateur Cup final for a fourth time, losing 2–1 to Clapton. They reached the final again the following year, but lost 2–1 to Depot Battalion Royal Engineers. A third Amateur Cup was won in 1911–12 with a 1–0 win over Eston United. The club reached the Cup final again in 1925–26, losing 7–1 to Northern Nomads. They won the Northern League title in 1928–29, 1931–32 and 1932–33, also reaching the FA Amateur Cup final in the latter season, losing 4–1 to

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

in a replay. In 1939 the club switched to the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

, but it was abandoned due to the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

. After the war they remained in the North Eastern League. They reached the second round 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 ...

in 1947–48 before losing 2–1 to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in a replay. They won the league in 1950–51, and the following season reached the third round of the FA Cup, again losing to Notts County. Along with many other clubs in the league, they left to join the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

in 1958, but it folded after only two seasons, and in 1962 they returned to the reformed North Eastern League. However, it also folded after two seasons. They tried to rejoin the Northern League, but were refused entry and instead played in the

Wearside League The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 (or levels 11 to 13) of the National League System and is a feeder to the Northern League Di ...

until joining the

North Regional League The North Regional League was a football competition in Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former b ...

in 1967, leaving after a single season. They rejoined a reformed Midland League in 1972, but again left after a single season to play in the

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...

before folding in 1975. Their assets were transferred to Norton Cricket Club, who subsequently founded the Norton & Stockton Ancients.

Honours

*FA Amateur Cup **Winners 1898–1899, 1902–03, 1911–12 *Northern League **Champions 1897–98, 1906–07, 1928–29, 1931–32, 1932–33 **League Cup winners 1926–27, 1929–30, 1932–33 *North Eastern League **Champions 1950–51 North Riding Senior Cup Winners 1960

Notable former players

Peter Desmond Peter Desmond (23 November 1926 in Cork, Ireland – July 1990) was an Irish footballer. Desmond played for several clubs in the League of Ireland and the English League. As an international, Desmond also played for Ireland. Desmond made all ...

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

* Bob Chatt *

Jack Vickers John Vickers (7 August 1908 – 24 September 1980) was an English footballer. Career Vickers played for Bishop Auckland, Hull City, Darlington, Doncaster Rovers and Charlton Athletic before joining Port Vale for £200 in May 1933. He played 3 ...

James Welford James William Welford (27 March 1869 – 17 January 1945) was an English cricketer and footballer. He won both the Football League (three times) and FA Cup with Aston Villa, and the Scottish Football League and Scottish Cup with Celtic, all ...

* Andrew Veitch

References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1882 Defunct football clubs in County Durham Northern Football League Association football clubs disestablished in 1975 North Eastern League Sport in Stockton-on-Tees