Cockfield Football Club was 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 t ...

team from the village of

Cockfield, County Durham Cockfield is a village on the edge of Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is situated 8 miles to the south-west of Bishop Auckland, north-west of Darlington and south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. Remains found on Cockfield Fell suggest there ...

in the north of England which was dubbed the "Village Wonder Team" in the 1920s after achieving success in the national

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an England, English football (soccer), 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 p ...

. The club's fortunes later declined significantly and it folded in 2010.

History

It is not known when Cockfield F.C. was formed, but the club won the championship of the Wear Valley League in the 1907–08 season. Cockfield joined the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

, at the time the leading amateur league in northern England, in 1921 and finished in the top half of the table for five consecutive seasons. In the 1922–23 season, the club reached the semi-finals of the

, losing to Evesham Town. This achievement by a team from a "two-street pit village" led to the club gaining the epithet the "Village Wonder Team" in football circles. In the 1927–28 season the village side, consisting entirely of unemployed coalminers, again reached the semi-finals of the FA Amateur Cup and this time defeated Willington to reach the final. The final was played at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, where Cockfield twice took the lead but eventually lost 3–2 to the holders

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Rive ...

in front of over 12,000 spectators. Cockfield played in the Northern League until 29 November 1939, when the club resigned its place in the league. The club continued to compete 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and in the early 1950s played in the Durham Central League and scored a surprise Amateur Cup win over

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Albert ...

of the Northern League. Cockfield also played in the qualifying rounds 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 competit ...

, with minimal success, until at least the 1958–59 season. The club continued to compete in local leagues into the 21st century. In the 2002–03 season the club competed in the Durham Alliance. By 2006 the club was playing in the very minor Crook and District League and its home ground at Hazel Grove was in an extreme state of dereliction. Although there had once been a grandstand and pavilion, there was little left except for a rail around the pitch and the dugouts. Lack of funding from the parish council for repairs to the changing rooms at Hazel Grove ultimately led to the club folding in 2010.

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league). 2. Players with full international caps. 3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club. *

Jack Holliday John William Holliday (19 December 1908 – 1987) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Brentford and Middlesbrough. In 2013, Holliday was voted by the Brentford supporters as the club's fourt ...

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in County Durham Association football clubs disestablished in 2010 2010 disestablishments in England Cockfield, County Durham