Shildon Association Football Club is a football club established in 1890 based in

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on the Stockton and Darlin ...

, County Durham,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. They compete in the and play at Dean Street.

History

Established in 1890, as Shildon Town first joined the Auckland and District League in 1892. In 1900, the Railwaymen were part of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

Division Two, but folded due to financial issues. The club re-formed as Shildon Athletic in 1903 to take the place of resigned Stockton St Johns in the Northern League. They moved to the North Eastern League in 1907. The Club changed their name to Shildon in 1923, until 1933, when they re-joined the Northern League, after 20th and 21st-place finishes. They enjoyed immediate success, finishing as runner-ups in their first year, before winning four successive titles from 1934 to 1937. In 1985 Shildon were relegated to the Northern League Division Two after a finish in 18th place. However, they were promoted back to Division One after a finish in 3rd in 1987. The club experienced relegation again in 1992, however they immediately achieved promotion the next year. The Shells spent three years in Division Two after being relegated in 1999, only to be promoted again in 2002 after a first-place finish. In 2013 Shildon reached the semi-final of the

Durham Challenge Cup The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for the ...

and the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...

, but lost both, in the cup to

Spennymoor Town Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field. The club began playing in the Northern L ...

and in the Vase to

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

4–3 on aggregate. The Shells bounced back, becoming cup holders two straight times. In 2014, with a 2–1 win over Spennymoor Town and in 2015, with a win over Dunston UTS. After finishing runners-up in the Northern League Division One 2015, one point from champions

Marske United Marske United Football Club is a football club based in Marske-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mount Pleasant. History The club was established in 1956 by members of Marske Cricket Club.

, the club won the League the following season. In the Durham Challenge Cup the club again finished as semi-finalists in 2018, and finished 3rd in Division One. The Railwaymen won their latest Durham Challenge cup in 2019, with a 1–0 victory over

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the ...

. Shildon reached the First Round Proper In the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

for the first time in 1927–28 after a replay win over

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. In November 2003, Shildon reached the FA Cup first round proper for the first time in 42 years. However, they were beaten 7–2 on the day by

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. Shildon's nickname is "The Railwaymen" after the wagon works that was the major employer in the town for many years. They are sometimes called by the nickname "The Shells".

Ground

Shildon play at Dean Street. Bishop Auckland also played at Dean Street for a couple of years in a groundsharing agreement whilst building their new stadium, Heritage Park.

Honours

Northern Football League The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Division ...

**Winners: 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1939–40, 2015–16 **Division Two Winners: 2001–02 **League Cup Winners: 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1952–53, 2002–03, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Winners: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2018-19

Records

* Best

performance: Second Round, 1936–37 * Best FA Amateur Cup performance: Quarter Final, 1958–59 * Best FA Trophy performance: Third Qualifying Round, 1974–75, 1992–93 * Best FA Vase performance: Semi Final, 2012–13

References

External links

Official website
* {{Northern Premier League Football clubs in England Northern Football League Football clubs in County Durham Association football clubs established in 1890 1890 establishments in England North Eastern League Shildon Northern Premier League clubs