West Wallsend FC is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

West Wallsend West Wallsend is a suburb and small town in the City of Lake Macquarie, Greater Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. It is near the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway and the western suburbs of Newcastle. History The Awabakal are the traditional p ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The club is a member of

Northern NSW Football Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) is the governing body of soccer in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It is a member of the national governing body, Football Australia. The Federation was established the 9 September 1884 as the Northern Dist ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The club was formed in 1891 by Scottish

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

and is the third oldest surviving football club in the Northern Federation, behind Wallsend Red Devils FC (1887) and

Adamstown Rosebud FC Adamstown Rosebud Football Club (founded July 12, 1889) is a semi-professional soccer club based in Adamstown a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales. The club is part of Northern NSW Football and has teams competing in Senior and Youth NPL comp ...

(1889).

History

Founded by Scottish miners in 1891 as West Wallsend Athletic FC, they did not compete during the 1895 and 1896 season due to a miners' strike in the district. The club re-formed at the end of 1896 as the West Wallsend Bluebells FC. Highlights include the club being selected in 1902 to represent

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

against

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and winning 4–2. In 1923, the Bluebells played the touring

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

side and won 3–0. Over the years, the club has picked up many honours and has produced 21 internationals. One of the club's darkest hours came at the end of the 1996 season, when the Federation dumped the club from the top division due to lack of facilities, despite featuring in six grand finals in the previous fourteen years. The club struggled to regain its place in the Northern League. Its only brief appearance in 2001 saw the club finish last for only the third time in its history and be relegated again. In 2007, the club won the NEW-FM League minor premiership and was promoted back to the Northern NBN State League, where it finished a credible eighth in the 2008 season and was selected in the new eight team NBN State League for 2009–10. After a five-year stint in the NBN State League, the club was relegated back to the NEW-FM First Division at the end of the 2012 season after finishing last. After relegation in 2012, the side was nearly disbanded in 2014 when they struggled to sign enough players to form a side. The club has gradually returned to be one of the stronger sides in the First Division Competition in recent years, highlighted by their Grand Final Appearance in 2018.

Ground

The ground is located at Johnston Park – on the corner of Laidley Street and Wilson Street in

, and was named after William G. Johnston. Mr Johnston cleared and marked a soccer football field on land leased from the Caledonian Coal company. The park became known as Johnston's park, home of the Bluebells."Early West Wallsend-Its People and Places. Page 73 He was also the owner of the Johnston Hotel (established 1887, and now the Museum Hotel) which is adjacent to the ground. During the 1920s, the ground picked up the nickname '

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

' as the side contained eight internationals.

Rivals

The Bluebells' biggest rival is the Wallsend Football Club. Both clubs have enjoyed success at the state level. However, both have encountered lean times in more recent years. Edgeworth Eagles are their nearest rivals, however since the Bluebells were relegated back to the First Division at the end of 2012, encounters between the side have been restricted to the Heritage Cup and FFA Cup competitions.

and Weston Workers Bears are two other clubs who have built up a rivalry with West Wallsend in over 100 years of encounters.

Honors

* Northern NSW Premiership (13) 1899, 1902, 1904, 1913, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1928, 1925, 1926, 1946, 1986 * Northern NSW Grand Finals (7) 1919, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1985, 1988, 1992 * Northern Second Division Premierships (3) 1999, 2000, 2007 * Northern Second Division Grand Finals (4) 2000, 2003, 2007, 2023 * Gardiner Cup (6) 1900, 1901, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926 * Kerr Cup (6) 1918, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1928 *

State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in Israel, Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first he ...

(2) 1931, 1945 * Northern Cup (1) 1931 * Ellis Cup (8) 1899, 1900, 1901,1902, 1919, 1921, 1925, 1926 * Denton Cup (3) 1897, 1898, 1899 * Stevenson Cup (2) 1925, 1926 * Daniels Cup (1) 1957

Internationals

* Dave Brown * Les Brown * Jack Coutts * Clarrie Coutts * Frank Coolahan * Bill Coolahan * Jack Foster * Keith Grant *

Troy Halpin Troy Michael Halpin (born 17 August 1973) is an Australian footballer and Sports/Football Development coach at Barker College and St Pius X Chatswood. Career He is one of the great talents Australian football has produced in the last two deca ...

* Frank Hays * Jock Hodge * Charlie James * Kevin Lake * Henry Maunder *

William Maunder William "Podge" Maunder (30 November 1902 – 25 June 1964) was an Australian soccer player. Maunder is recognised as the player who scored Australia's first international goal. Early life Maunder was born in Newcastle in 1902. His father, kn ...

* Di McLaughlin * Harry Muir * Richard Sneddon * Wal Smith * Harold Whitelaw

References

External links

Northern NSW Football Federation Main Site

OzFootball.net

West Wallsend Bluebells Facebook Page
{{NNSWSF SSL Clubs Soccer clubs in New South Wales Association football clubs established in 1891 1891 establishments in Australia Mining soccer clubs in Australia