Portrack Shamrocks 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club from Portrack, near

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

, England.

History

The club was founded in 1921, originally under the name Stockton Shamrocks, changing to Portrack Shamrocks before the 1932–33 season. For much of its existence, the club's chief backer was comedian Jimmy James. Many of the club's players came from the Stockton Malleable ironworks. Its greatest successes came in Teesside football, winning the Teesside Football League in 1949–50 and 1955–56, and the equivalent knockout competition - the Macmillan Bowl - in 1947–48, and three times in a row from 1954–55 to 1956–57. The club also won the Ellis Cup, which had started out as the South Bank Amateur Challenge Cup, in 1952–53, having been runner-up in 1938–39 and 1944–45. It also won the wartime North Riding Senior Cup in 1940, beating South Bank East End at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the Ayresome area of Middlesbrough, North 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 ...

. On a national scale, the club reached the 3rd 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 ...

three times between 1946 and 1950. It entered the

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 ...

from 1924–25 to 1953–54, its best run being to the second round proper (last 32) in 1927–28 and 1933–34. Its 1–0 win over its larger neighbours Stockton in the 1933–34 edition was considered a major shock; in the second round it lost 1–0 at

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

side Badsey Rangers. The last recorded game for the club was in April 1957, and it seems to have been dissolved before the 1957–58 season.

Colours

The club wore white shirts with a green shamrock badge and black shorts.

Ground

The club's ground was known as Portrack Grange, and was known as Paddy's Field.

Notable players

One Shamrocks player, Micky Fenton, who joined

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in 1932, went on to play for England, gaining one cap in 1938.

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...

guested for the Rocks in the 1945 Ellis Cup final. Players signing for League clubs from the Rocks include: * Cecil Jackson, who scored the only goal in the Rocks' 1933 win at Stockton, signed for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

soon afterwards * Outside-left James MacDonald signed for

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in 1934 * Tom Ruddy and Tommy Crilly played for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, joining via Darlington and Hartlepools United respectively, having played together for the Rocks in the early 1920s.

External sites

Teesside Football League tables

References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1921 Defunct football clubs in County Durham Association football clubs disestablished in 1957 North Eastern League Sport in Stockton-on-Tees