New Mills F.C.
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New Mills Association Football Club ('The Millers') are 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
New Mills New Mills is a small town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and River Sett, Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a ...
, Derbyshire. They currently play in the .


History

Formed in 1886 New Mills quickly progressed through the local leagues in its early days and even had a spell in the Manchester League. However, the club disbanded in 1898 and a new team was formed in 1903, New Mills St George's, which in a period up to
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, won a number of titles, including the Derbyshire Minor Cup. In 1914, at the start of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, New Mills St George's folded, and it was not until the end of the war that a new club was formed. The new New Mills joined the Manchester League in its first season after re-opening in 1920. They finished top in 1924 and, after finishing as runner-up the following season, lifted the championship once again in 1926. As well as winning the league, New Mills also won the Derbyshire Cup three seasons out of four. The club was extremely well supported and had regular gates of around 3000. This was a very successful few seasons for the club, and at least half a dozen players moved on to clubs in the Football League. The club was once again disbanded due to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
but reformed again afterwards, this time entering the Manchester Amateur League before progressing once again to the Manchester League, taking the title in 1956. In 1959, Joe Martin took charge as manager, which started a run of success for the club, winning the league seven times before he retired in 1972. The club eventually moved up to the
Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...
and later the
North West Counties League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...
. The club began to suffer financially, however, and in the summer of 1983 ceased playing in that competition. Birch Vale and Thornsett F.C. were looking for a new ground and became tenants at Church Lane. Eventually, they took over running of the club and became New Mills Football Club. The club rejoined the Manchester League and in 1977, thanks to a fund-raising appeal along with a grant from the Lottery Association, redeveloped its Church Lane ground to what it is today. In 2002–03 they became semi professional when their application to the North West Counties League was approved. New Mills won the North West Counties League Division Two title in the 2007–08 season under the leadership of former
Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...
player Tony Hancock, who had joined as manager in 2005. New Mills then followed up its Division Two title with a record-breaking 2008–09 season during which it set a new league and club record by winning 21 consecutive games, missing out on the Division One title only on goal difference to
AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...
, which beat the Millers 5–0 on the last day of the league season in front of a crowd of over 1,400. Two days after the disappointment on the Fylde coast, the Millers lifted the League Cup for the first time by beating Runcorn Linnets 2–0 at the Tameside Stadium, the home of
Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...
. Goals from Garry Kharas and Scott McGowan ensured the Millers did not end the season empty handed. The star player during this era was Carlos Meakin who scored 150 goals in only 200 games, predominantly whilst playing in midfield. During the close season of 2009–10, in which New Mills finished as runner-up for the second year in a row, manager Tony Hancock resigned but then had a change of heart and returned to lead the Millers until he again resigned in March 2010 when the player budget was cut. For the remainder of the season Ally Pickering was named caretaker manager and he took the role full time in 2010–11. Pickering had great success in his first full season as manager and led the Millers to the league title and 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 ...
. A league and cup double was denied though when Winsford beat the Millers 1–0 a few weeks later. During the 2011 pre-season to mark the club's 125th anniversary Alex Ferguson sent a Manchester United XI to Church Lane. United won 7–0, with their team including future England internationals Michael Keane and Jesse Lingard. In the 2011–12 season Pickering led the Millers to a 9th place after a poor winter saw the team slip out of the play-off places. New Mills were placed in the Southern League but after one season were switched to the Northern Premier League. Pickering remained in charge until October 2012, when he and the club parted company by mutual consent. Former
FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester, more commonly known as FC United, is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home m ...
coach Roy Soule became caretaker manager on Pickering's departure and almost led the team to another promotion – they lost 2–0 to Trafford in the play-offs. Soule resigned at the end of the 2014–15 season after a disappointing season, the club finishing 2nd from bottom and in the relegation places, and further significant budget cuts. The club accepted a reprieve from the FA to stay in the EvoStik league and Soule was replaced by former
Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921, Stalybridge Celti ...
manager Keith Briggs. Briggs resigned just 23 days later after accepting a full time coaching role at
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
and was succeeded by his assistant Andy Fearn, who appointed former Manchester City striker
Shaun Goater Leonard Shaun Goater (born 25 February 1970) is a Bermudian former professional Association football, footballer, coach and pundit who is currently part of the coaching staff at Aston Villa W.F.C., Aston Villa Women. As a player he was a Forwa ...
as his assistant. Fearn and Goater resigned after nine matches, all of which were lost, and former Wythenshawe Town staffer Garry Brown took over, supported by ex-Stockport County winger
Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...
. The club attracted national attention with their unenviable season record of 26 defeats from the opening 26 league and cup games and were infamously referred to as the 'Worst Football Team in England' (the team featured in a TV advert voiced by
Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...
, and the chairman stated defiantly in a two-page article in the ''Daily Telegraph'' that "we're not scared of anyone"); they were relegated in April 2016 with only 3 points, from 3 draws, a Northern Premier League record low. The Millers kicked off the 2016–17 league season with a 4–3 win over
Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
under manager Garry Brown. This was the Millers' first win in almost 18 months. However, Brown resigned in September 2016 after a poor run of results, assistant
Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...
taking over. In December 2016, with the team lying in the relegation zone of the NWCFL Premier Division, Williams was sacked and replaced by Calum Sykes, who had been in charge at nearby Stockport Town since its formation. Sykes immediately brought the entire Stockport Town team over with him, despite them playing in a lower division; the new team were unable to improve their league position and the Millers were relegated in April 2017, seven points short of safety. Sykes stayed until November 2017 but resigned after a poor run of results. His assistants Dowse and Cross stayed on as joint managers and despite some heavy defeats steered the club to a 14th-place position (halting a run of two successive relegations).


Attendances


Records

*Largest attendance : 4,500 v
Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...
9 September 1922. Past averages: * 2004–05: 160 * 2005–06: 244Due mainly to the visit of
FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester, more commonly known as FC United, is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home m ...
which attracted a crowd of 1,952. The club's next highest attendance in the 2005–06 season was 185.
Source: English football site * 2006–07: 162 * 2007–08: 180 *2008–09: 203


Club records


Pre-1984

* Best
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 ...
performance: 2nd qualifying round, 1978–79 * Best
FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
performance: 3rd qualifying round, 1976–77 * Best
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 ...
performance: Preliminary round, 1982–83, 1983–84


Post-1984

* Best
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 ...
performance: 2nd qualifying round,
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 ...
,
2012–13 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 ...
* Best
FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
performance: 3rd qualifying round,
2012–13 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 ...
* Best
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 ...
performance: 5th round, 2009–10


Honours

*
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, ...
** Premier Division Champions:
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 ...


References


External links

* {{coord, 53, 21, 59.03, N, 1, 59, 35.19, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title North West Counties Football League clubs Association football clubs established in 1919 1919 establishments in England Northern Premier League clubs Football clubs in England New Mills Football clubs in Derbyshire Cheshire County League clubs