West Stanley Football Club was a

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 the mining village of West Stanley,

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 ...

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History

The club was founded in 1889 as Oakey's Lilywhites, after the pit near the club's ground and its original colour shirts. It changed its name to West Stanley in 1896. The club 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 1906 and its highest league position was in 1949–50, when it finished as runners-up to

North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...

. The club first 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 ...

in 1905–06 when they were defeated in the 4th Qualifying Round by

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. The club's greatest success came in 1919–20, when they defeated Gillingham of the Southern League 3–1, before going out to

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of the

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. The club also reached the first round proper in 1925–26, losing 4–0 to

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, and 1931–32, when it lost 3–0 to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

. The club last entered the FA Cup in 1950–51 when it lost 2–1 in the first qualifying round to fellow mining village club

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

. The North-Eastern League went into abeyance in 1958, and, despite hopes that West Stanley would re-join for the 1959–60 season, the club folded.

Colours

The club's initial shirts were white, but as West Stanley it wore red and white narrow stripes.

Ground

The club (as West Stanley) played at Murray Park; in 1937, due to severe financial difficulties which nearly finished the club, a greyhound track was put in place around the pitch.

Players

Amongst the professional footballers whose careers included a spell at West Stanley were: * Tom Brewis (1907–1975), who played for

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

* George Browell (1884 – 1951), played for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

and

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* Tom Cain (1874–1952), who played for

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, Everton and Southampton * George Davison (born 1890), who played for

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and

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* Jack Hogg (1881–1944), who played for

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 Southampton *

Jim Mackey James Mackey (born 1986) is an American professional poker player. James or Jim Mackey may also refer to: *Sir James Mackey (mayor) (1813–1892), Lord Mayor of Dublin *Jim Mackey (footballer) (1897–1990), English footballer *Biz Mackey (James Ra ...

(1897–1990), who played for several clubs, including

and

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* John Tate (1892–1973), Tate's football career includes a spell at

* Arthur Thomson (born 1903), who went on to play for

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and

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* Jeffery Hunter (born 1925) (1952–1953) Played for several clubs, including a spell with

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. Was the leading goal scorer for the team at this time. Still holds the record for the most goals scored in a match (Five consecutive goals) while playing for the Blyth Spartans. * Joseph Edward Smith (born 1886), who played for

, Everton and Bury. *

Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford University he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carr ...

(born 1899), played for

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and

. *

Jimmy Walton James Walton (3 November 1898 – 26 August 1989) was an English professional footballer who played as a left half in the Football League for Leeds United, Brentford, Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club i ...

(1904–1982), played for

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, Brentford, Bristol Rovers and Hartlepools United. * David (Dave) Waggott (1880–1962), played for West Ham United.

References

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External links

West Stanley F.C. on the Football Club History Database
Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs disestablished in 1959 Association football clubs established in 1889 Defunct football clubs in County Durham 1889 establishments in England 1959 disestablishments in England North Eastern League