Willington Association Football Club is an English football club based in Willington, County Durham. The club are currently members 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 and play at Hall Lane.

History

The club was established in 1906 and joined the

in 1911. They finished as runners-up in their second season, and won the league in 1913–14. In 1925–26 they won the league again, and in 1927–28 they reached the semi-final of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an England, English football (soccer), 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 p ...

, losing 2–1 to Cockfield in a replay. They won a third Northern League title in 1929–30, and in 1938–39 they reached the final of the Amateur Cup, losing 3–0 to Bishop Auckland at Roker Park, Sunderland. They resigned from the Northern League on 20 March 1940, but rejoined at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1945–46 they reached the first round of 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, but lost to Bishop Auckland. In 1949–50 they reached the final of the Amateur Cup for a second time, this time defeating Bishop Auckland 4–0 at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 88,000. The following season they entered the FA Cup in the first round, but lost 3–0 to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. During this period the club finished in the top nine in every season until 1960, but thereafter saw a gradual decline, although they reached the first round of the FA Cup again in 1973–74, losing 6–1 to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

in a replay. In 1982 the league added a second division, and after finishing bottom of Division One in 1982–83, Willington were relegated to Division Two. The club struggled in the second tier, finishing bottom of the league in 1983–84 and 1991–92, and only finishing in the top ten five times in twenty-two seasons. After finishing bottom again in 2004–05 they were relegated to the

Wearside League The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 (or levels 11 to 13) of the National League System and is a feeder to the Northern League Divi ...

. They continued to struggle, finishing second from bottom in their first two seasons in the league, and then bottom in 2008–09 and 2009–10.League tables
Wearside League Their traditional local rivals are

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Football ...

. The club has had a number of famous managers including both

Malcolm Allison Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora ...

and

Alan Durban William Alan Durban (born 7 July 1941) is a Welsh former international footballer and manager, whose career was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s. He played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Derby County and was player-manager ...

in 1984 and also Eddie Kyle, Alan Murray and Stan Cummins. The 2017–18 campaign saw Willington AFC have their best Northern League points tally for 42 years (1976).

Honours

*FA Amateur Cup **Winners 1949–50 *Northern League **Champions 1913–14, 1925–26, 1929–30 **League Cup winners 1956–57, 1974–75 *Wearside League **Runners-up 2012–13

References

External links

Club website
{{Northern League Two Football clubs in England Football clubs in County Durham Association football clubs established in 1906 Northern Football League 1906 establishments in England Willington, County Durham el:Γουίλινγκτον#Ποδοσφαιρική ομάδα