Leadgate Park F.C. was an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in the village of Leadgate,

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

History

The club was founded in the late 1880s; the team was at least active in January 1889. Leadgate Park entered 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 ...

for the first time in 1892, receiving a bye in the first qualifying round in place of Sunderland Albion. However, the team was eliminated by

Tow Law Tow Law is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the south of Consett and 5 miles to the north west of Crook. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,952, increasing to 2,138 at the ...

in the next round. The club applied for election to the Northern League in July 1895 as the number of clubs was being increased from nine to ten. However, the application was unsuccessful as

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Football ...

and Darlington St Augustine's were chosen to replace Howden-le-Wear. Nevertheless, Leadgate Park were accepted into the league soon afterwards, and finished eighth in the division in the 1896–97 season. In 1899, Leadgate Park switched to the

Northern Football Alliance The Northern Football Alliance is a football league based in the North East, England. It has four divisions headed by the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. The top club in the Premier Division i ...

. They played in the league for two seasons, ending each campaign in eighth place. The club was forced to return to the Northern League in 1906 when the Northern Alliance banned clubs from County Durham. Leadgate Park attained their highest league finishes in 1906–07 and 1911–12, placing fourth out of 12 teams. Competitive football was stopped in 1915 due to the outbreak of the First World War, and upon resumption of league play in 1919 Leadgate Park 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 ...

. In the same season, the team reached the fifth qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time, but were knocked out by West Stanley. The club struggled in the league over the following years, never finishing in the top half of the table. In 1925, having conceded over 100 goals in 38 matches, Leadgate Park left the North Eastern League and subsequently disbanded.

Colours

The club colours were maroon and white, in stripes.

Ground

The club played on Leadgate Park, to which the club added a cinder athletics track in 1918.

Records

**Fifth Qualifying Round 1919–20, 1921–22, 1923–24 *

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English 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 professionalism within footb ...

**Semi-finals 1896–97

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. * George Bertram * Cyril Hunter

References

{{reflist, 2 Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in County Durham Association football clubs established in the 1880s Association football clubs disestablished in 1925 1925 disestablishments in England Northern Football Alliance Northern Football League North Eastern League