Penrith A.F.C.

Penrith Association Football Club are a football club based in Penrith, Cumbria, England.

They play in the Northern Football League Division One and their home games take place at the Frenchfield Park Stadium.

The club moto is RES-NON-VERBA which is the Latin phrase that translated means "actions speak louder than words" or "deeds not words" and features on the club crest.

The team are also known as "The Bonny Blues" as the home strip features a blue shirt with blue shorts and blue socks; the away colours are a red shirt with red shorts and red socks.

History

Founded in 1894.[1] They originally joined the North Eastern League in 1907–08 and are currently members of the Northern Football League Division One.

The club joined the Northern Football League in 1947 and were runners up to Stanley United in the 1961-62 season.

Penrith have had many managers over the years with Alan Ashman being the most famous, Ashman left the club in February 1963 to join Carlisle United followed by West Bromwich Albion, where he won the FA Cup in 1968 beating Everton FC in the Final played at Wembley Stadium.

The team spent 35 years in the Northern Football League until moving to the North West Counties Football League for the 1982-83 season.

A five-season spell in the North West Counties Football League (including finishing as league runners-up to Stalybridge Celtic in the 1983-84 season) saw them in a position to join the Northern Premier League when they expanded to form a Second Division in 1987.

The move to the Northern Premier League did not prove successful, and by 1990 they were relegated back to the North West Counties League, where they stayed for seven seasons before returning once more to the Northern Football League, fifteen years after originally leaving that league.

In 1981–82, they had their best FA Cup run, reaching the Second Round, beating Football League club Chester City FC 1-0 at their Southend Road ground in the First Round before losing 3-0 at Belle Vue against Doncaster Rovers who at the time were managed by former Leeds United and Scotland captain Billy Bremner.

The club have reached the FA Cup First Round twice since beating Chester City, only to lose 2-0 against Hull City in 1983 and 9-0 to Burnley FC in 1984, both ties being played at Southend Road.

The 2002-03 season saw the club winning the Northern Football League Division Two Championship, finishing three points ahead of nearest rivals Horden Colliery Welfare.

In 2007, they changed their name to Penrith Town, but a merger a year later with Northern Football Alliance club Penrith United saw the old name resurrected for the merged club, since then the club have continued to play in The Northern Football League.

In 2008 the club saw its ground at Southend Road earmarked for development with a new stadium built at Frenchfield Park, the first home game at the club's new home being played on 4 August 2009.

Penrith’s most recent success being in the 2009-10 season when beating Carlisle based team Gillford Park FC 6-0 in the Cumberland Senior Cup Final.

The club have reached the Third Round of the FA Vase on five occasions the most recent being in 2016-17 when losing 3-0 to Atherton Collieries at the Frenchfield Park Stadium.

In October 2021 the club announced the appointment of former Jamaica international Chris Humphrey as manager at Frenchfield Park, Humphrey had a successful playing career at Hibernian FC and Motherwell FC in Scotland as well as Shrewsbury Town and Preston North End in England.

In May 2022 the club appointed former Carlisle United player Darren Edmondson as manager, Edmondson had a distinguished Football League career making 214 appearances and scoring 8 goals for the Cumbrian club.

Following Edmondson's departure in May 2025 to join Workington AFC, Penrith announced the re-appointment of Jim Nichols for a second spell as first team manager, eight years after leaving the club at the end of the 2016-17 season.

Since moving to the Frenchfield Park Stadium the club has carried out significant improvements to the facilities and in June 2023 work began to create a new 3G artificial pitch making it a very modern and picturesque stadium.

The current capacity of Frenchfield Park Stadium is around 1,500 and has room for future expansion should the club ever require it.

Senior Coaching Staff

Current Squad

Season-by-Season

† Season curtailed due to coronavirus pandemic.

Previous Managers

Honours

*Northern Football League, Northern League Division One
**Runners-up 1961–62
*Northern League Division Two
**Champions 2002–03
*North West Counties League Premier Division
**Runners-up 1983–84 North West Counties Football League, 1983–84
*Cumberland Senior Cup
**Winners (3): 2000–01, 2005–06, 2009–10
**Runners-up (8): 1991–92, 1994–95, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23

Records

*FA Cup
**Second Round 1981–82 FA Cup, 1981–82
*FA Trophy
**First Round 1980–81, 1982–83
*FA Vase
**Third Round 1991–92, 1993–94, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2016–17

References

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Penrith A.F.C.,
Northern Football League
Football clubs in Cumbria
North West Counties Football League clubs
Northern Premier League clubs
1894 establishments in England
Football clubs in England
North Eastern League