West Stanley 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 the mining village of

West Stanley South Moor is a village in County Durham, in England. It is located to the south-west of Stanley, County Durham, Stanley on the northern slope of the Craghead valley. It is a well-developed village, yet still semi-rural, containing a main street ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England.

History

The club was founded in 1889 as Oakey's Lilywhites, after the

pit Pit or PIT may refer to: Structure * Ball pit, a recreation structure * Casino pit, the part of a casino which holds gaming tables * Trapping pit, pits used for hunting * Pit (motor racing), an area of a racetrack where pit stops are conducted * ...

near the club's ground and its original colour shirts. It changed its name to West Stanley in 1896. The club joined 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 ...

in 1906 and its highest league position was in 1949–50, when it finished as runners-up to North Shields. The club first entered the FA Cup in

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

when they were defeated in the 4th Qualifying Round by Northampton Town. The club's greatest success came in 1919–20, when they defeated Gillingham of the Southern League 3–1, before going out to Tottenham Hotspur of the Football League Second Division. The club also reached the first round proper in 1925–26, losing 4–0 to Rochdale, and 1931–32, when it lost 3–0 to Tranmere Rovers. The club last entered the FA Cup in 1950–51 when it lost 2–1 in the first qualifying round to fellow mining village club Ashington. The North-Eastern League went into abeyance in 1958, and, despite hopes that West Stanley would re-join for the 1959–60 season, the club folded.

Colours

The club's initial shirts were white, but as West Stanley it wore red and white narrow stripes.

Ground

The club (as West Stanley) played at Murray Park; in 1937, due to severe financial difficulties which nearly finished the club, a greyhound track was put in place around the pitch.

Players

Amongst the professional footballers whose careers included a spell at West Stanley were: *

Tom Brewis John Thomas Brewis (21 April 1907 – 5 April 1975) was an English footballer who played as an inside-forward in the 1930s, spending most of his career with Southampton. Football career Early career Brewis was born in Tynemouth and played his ...

(1907–1975), who played for York City and Southampton *

George Browell George Browell (21 November 1884 – 1951) was an English professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Ame ...

(1884 – 1951), played for Grimsby Town and Hull City * Tom Cain (1874–1952), who played for

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

, Everton and Southampton * George Davison (born 1890), who played for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and Bristol Rovers *

Jack Hogg John Hogg (27 May 1881 – 2 August 1944) was an English footballer who played as a half-back for various clubs in the 1900s. Football career Hogg was born in Sunderland and joined his elder brother Billy as a trainee at Sunderland in 1900. H ...

(1881–1944), who played for Sheffield United and Southampton *

Jim Mackey James Alfred Mackey (25 November 1897 in Ryton, Tyne and Wear, Ryton, County Durham – 1990) was an English professional footballer as an Forward (association football), outside-right. Career Mackey joined Coventry City F.C., Coventry City ...

(1897–1990), who played for several clubs including

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

John Tate John Tate may refer to: * John Tate (mathematician) (1925–2019), American mathematician * John Torrence Tate Sr. (1889–1950), American physicist * John Tate (Australian politician) (1895–1977) * John Tate (actor) (1915–1979), Australian act ...

(1892–1973), Tate's football career includes a spell at Tottenham Hotspur * Arthur Thomson (born 1903), who went on to play for

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and Southend United * Jeffery Hunter (born 1925) (1952–1953) Played for several clubs including a spell with Blyth Spartans. Was the leading goal scorer for the team at this time. Still holds the record for the most goals scored in a match (Five consecutive goals) while playing for the Blyth Spartans. * Joseph Edward Smith (born 1886), who played for Hull City, Everton and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. *

Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carried a homoe ...

(born 1899), played for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, Reading and Bristol Rovers. *

Jimmy Walton James Walton (3 November 1898 – 26 August 1989) was an English professional footballer who played as a left half in the Football League for Leeds United, Brentford, Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional footb ...

(1904–1982), played for Leeds United, Brentford, Bristol Rovers and

Hartlepools United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Har ...

. * David (Dave) Waggott (1880–1962), played for West Ham United.

References

{{reflist

External links

West Stanley F.C. on the Football Club History Database
Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs disestablished in 1959 Association football clubs established in 1889 Defunct football clubs in County Durham 1889 establishments in England 1959 disestablishments in England North Eastern League