Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Kidsgrove Kidsgrove is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the Cheshire border. It is part of the Potteries Urban Area, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 26,276 (2019 census) ...

, Staffordshire, England currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team, nicknamed "The Grove", play their home games at Hollinwood Road, Clough Hall.

History

Football was played in the town of Kidsgrove before the outbreak of World War II, which led to the disbandment of the team. Football was resurrected when Kidsgrove United was formed, bringing a number of players from further afield. Local young men, unhappy with this structure, formed their own club in 1952 under the name Kidsgrove Athletic. One of these young men was Frank Timmis. The club joined the amateur Burslem and Tunstall League. They played on the Vickers and Goodwin pitch next to the A50 before deciding not to play football in 1961, opting instead to develop a ground on Hollinwood Road, Clough Hall. The club won the Burslem and Tunstall League in 1962 and joined the Staffordshire County League in 1963. They won the Division Two title in 1963–64 before winning the Division One title in 1965–66. Kidsgrove moved to the

Mid-Cheshire League The Cheshire Association Football League is a football competition based in Cheshire, England, which until 2007 was known as the Mid-Cheshire Association Football League. From season 2017–18, the league operates four divisions: the Premier D ...

in 1966 a move which caused some controversy. The team thrived in the new league and were crowned champions in 1970–71, 1977–78, 1986–87 and 1987–88 and also won the Mid-Cheshire League Cup in 1968, 1970 and 1986. The club joined the

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a association football, football league in the North West England, North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, ...

in 1990 and were promoted to the Premier Division in 1991–92 due to ground grading. After several seasons of struggle at this level they won the title in 1997–98 and 2001–02 which earned them promotion to the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

. Kidsgrove struggled with the step up to the eighth tier narrowly avoiding relegation in 2002–03 and 2003–04. Under the management of Ant Buckle and Darren Twigg they finished in mid-table in 2004–05 and 2005–06. Peter Ward re-joined the club in the summer of 2006 which saw Kidsgrove begin to mount a promotion challenge and they reached the play-offs in 2009–10 but lost out to

Glapwell Glapwell is a rural village and civil parish on the A617 road in the Bolsover District of north-east Derbyshire, The village is at the top of a steep hill at an elevation of 176m, on the western edge of the Southern Magnesian Limestone, overloo ...

. In

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Grove missed out on a play-off spot by four points finishing in 7th position. In 2011–12 Kidsgrove reached the fourth-qualifying round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

where they lost 2–0 to

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

. In the summer of 2012 Peter Ward left the club and was replaced by Shaun Hollinshead however he was sacked in April 2013. Ant Buckle and Darren Twigg took control of the side for the 2013–14 season. Grove had a poor 2013–14 season finishing bottom of the table which saw Ant Buckle replaced by Neil Gill in May 2014. However, after a poor start to the 2014–15 campaign Gill was sacked on 7 September 2014, being replaced by Paul Moore four days later. However Moore quit on 22 October 2014 blaming board interference. In his place came former manager Peter Ward.

Ground

Kidsgrove play home matches at Hollinwood Road, in the Clough Hall area of Kidsgrove.

Club records

Kidsgrove have yet to reach the first round of the

, but did reach the semi-finals of the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

in 1997–98. Athletic have won the

Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78 (then under Sheffield Rules. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed ...

five times in 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. * Best

performance: 4th qualifying round 2011–12; 2018–19 * Record Attendance: 1,903 v Tiverton Town, FA Vase Semi-final, 21 March 1998 * Record Victory: 23–0 v Cross Heath WMC, Staffordshire Cup 1965 * Record Defeat: 0–15 v Stafford Rangers, Staffordshire Senior Cup, 20 November 2001 * Top goalscorer: 159,

Anthony Malbon Anthony Jordan Malbon (born 14 October 1991) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Malbon played for Port Vale between 2009 and 2010 before he signed with Leek Town in the summer of 2010. He moved on to Newcas ...

, 2014–2022

Honours

Leagues

* North West Counties Football League Premier Division ** Champions: 1997–98, 2001–02 *

** Champions: 1970–71, 1977–78, 1986–87, 1987–88 ** Runners-up: 1968–69, 1985–86 *

Staffordshire County League The Staffordshire County League was an English football competition based in the county of Staffordshire. It existed from at least 1957 until 2005, when it merged with the Midland League to form the new Staffordshire County Senior League, with t ...

** Champions: 1965–66 *Staffordshire County League Division Two ** Champions: 1963–64

Cups

** Winners: 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 ** Runners-up: 2008 *

Northern Premier League Chairman's Cup The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

** Winners: 2005 *North West Counties League Challenge Cup ** Winners: 1998 *North West Counties League Floodlit Trophy ** Runners-up: 1999 *Mid Cheshire League Cup ** Winners: 1968, 1970, 1986 ** Runner-up: 1985, 1987

League history

Source:

References

External links

Kidsgrove Athletic FC
at pitchero.com {{Northern Premier League Football clubs in Staffordshire Northern Premier League clubs Association football clubs established in 1952 Kidsgrove 1952 establishments in England North West Counties Football League clubs Football clubs in England Staffordshire County League