Billingham Town Football Club is a football club based in
Billingham
Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its ...
,
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 ...
. They are currently members of the and play at Bedford Terrace.
History
The club was established by Tom Donnelly and Robbie Cushley in 1967 as Billingham Social.
[History of the Club]
Billingham Town F.C. They joined Division Two of the Stockton & District League in 1968 and went on to win it in their first season. After promotion to Division A, they went on win the league title three seasons in a row and win the League Cup twice.
[
In 1974 Billingham joined the Teesside League, which they won in 1978–79. After winning a second title in 1981–82,Teesside League since 1978]
Non-League Matters the club was promoted to the new Division Two of the Northern League and adopted its current name,
A fourth-place finish in
1984–85 saw them promoted to Division One, but they were relegated at the end of the
following season after finishing bottom of the table.
[
Following a fourth-place finish in 1987–88, Billingham were promoted back to Division One. Despite finishing fifth in their first season in the new division, they were relegated back to Division Two in 1989–90 after finishing second-from-bottom.][ They remained in Division Two until promotion back to Division One at the end of the 1996–97 season, which saw them finish as runners-up.][
In 2003–04 they won the ]Durham Challenge Cup
The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for the ...
, beating Bishop Auckland 2–0 in the final.[ The 2006–07 season saw them finish as Division One runners-up, with ]Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...
winning the title on goal difference. The following season they won the League Cup, beating Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on the Stockton and Darlin ...
2–1 in the final.[ In 2013–14 the club finished bottom of Division One and were relegated to Division Two.][ They were Division Two champions in 2018–19, earning promotion back to Division One. They lasted just three years in Division One, the first two of which were ended early due to the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
before being relegated back to Division Two at the end of the 2021–22 season. In 2023–23 season the club finished fourth in Division Two, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Bedlington Terriers
Bedlington Terriers Football Club is a football club based in Bedlington, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Welfare Park.
History
The club was established in 1949 as Bedlington Mechanics. They joined the Northumberla ...
3–2 on penalties in the semi-finals (after a 2–2 draw), they lost the final 5–4 on penalties to Birtley Town following another 2–2 draw.
Ground
The club initially played at Mill Lane, which had sloped to the extent that the crossbar was level with the top of one of the corner flags.[ They moved to Bedford Terrace in 1981, with floodlights installed in 1992–93.][ ]Hartlepool 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 Hartl ...
funded the laying of a new pitch in 2007 in order to play their reserve matches at the ground.[ The ground has a capacity of 3,000, of which 176 is seated and 600 covered.][ The record attendance of 1,500 was set for an ]FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...
game against Manchester City
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 Salford to the west. The two ...
match in 1985.[
]
Honours
*Northern League
**Division Two champions 2018–19
**League Cup winners 2007–08
*Teesside League
**Champions 1978–79, 1981–82
*Stockton & District League
**Division Two champions 1968–69
*Durham Challenge Cup
**Winners 2003–04
*Durham Amateur Cup
**Winners 1975–76[
]
Records
*Best 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 competit ...
performance: Fourth qualifying round, 2000–01[
*Best ]FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
performance: First qualifying round, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1989–90[
*Best ]FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...
performance: Fifth round, 1997–98[
*Record attendance: 1,500 vs ]Manchester City
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 Salford to the west. The two ...
, FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...
, 1985[
*Most appearances: Paul Rowntree, 505][
*Most goals: Paul Rowntree, 396][
]
See also
*Billingham Town F.C. players
Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its o ...
* Billingham Town F.C. managers
References
External links
Official website
{{coord, 54, 36, 7.780, N, 1, 17, 8.452, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title
Football clubs in England
Football clubs in County Durham
Association football clubs established in 1967
1967 establishments in England
Teesside Football League
Northern Football League