Lancaster City F.C.
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Full name | Lancaster City Football Club | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Dolly Blues, Dollies, The Blues, City, The Town | |||
Founded | 1911 | (as Lancaster Town F.C.)|||
Ground | Giant Axe, Lancaster | |||
Capacity | 3,513 (513 seated) | |||
Chairman | Andy Baker | |||
Manager | Chris Willcock | |||
League | Northern Premier League Premier Division | |||
2022–23 | Northern Premier League Premier Division, 11th of 22 | |||
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Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football, and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Football Association.
History
Two Lancaster-based clubs, Skerton F.C. (1897–1900) and Lancaster Athletic F.C. (1905–11), had competed in the Lancashire Combination but both clubs folded without completing their final season's fixtures, with Lancaster Athletic playing their final season in the West Lancashire Football League. The present club was then founded in the spring of 1911 as Lancaster Town F.C.[1] and were admitted to Division Two of the Lancashire Combination for the start of the 1911–12 season having proved to the league and the Lancashire FA that they had no connection with the previous two clubs.[1]
After
The club continued in the Combination with varying degrees of success including an FA Cup second round appearance, losing to
In 1994–95, after several years of consolidation, and now managed by former
2008–09 was the final season for ex-player
City got the 2021–22 season underway by winning their first silverware in four years lifting the 2019-20
Stadium
The club play at Giant Axe. It has been their home ground since the formation of the present club in 1911, although the first club to bear the name Lancaster also played there. Giant Axe was given its name as it was the centrepiece of a sports club, the exterior wall which was, when viewed from above, the same shape as an axe head. In those early years tennis, cricket and bowls were also played at the ground, with the football pitch being at the centre of a huge circle of grass called 'the sixpence', which also featured four cricket pitches. The ground has seen many changes since those early days and was renovated in the 1970s when the original main grandstand and then the social club were both destroyed by fire. A new main stand was built in 1977 and in 1994 a new social club, The Dolly Blue Tavern, was built when the ground was again modernised. The West Road End Terrace was added in 2000 and modern plastic seating installed in the main stand.
The Giant Axe layout consists of the 513-seat Main Stand, named the John Bagguley Stand after the club's late president. There are turnstiles located in three corners of the ground. Next to the main stand are the players and officials changing facilities, a supporters' bar named Netbusters, the directors lounge, toilets and The Dolly's Diner refreshments kiosk. The open West Road Terrace is situated behind one goal and a covered terracing called The Shed, now renamed The Neil Marshall Stand, in memory of City's long-serving captain, at the other. Opposite the Main Stand is the Long Side, an open terrace that also plays host to a second supporters bar, a raised sponsors hospitality lounge and the dugouts. The club offices are now in the club car park behind the West Road Terrace.[citation needed]
Lancaster City's social club The Dolly Blue Tavern, which included the club offices and was built and opened in 1995, was located by the club car park.[citation needed]
The club closed in August 2012 and has since been redeveloped into
Sponsorship
In the 1990s and early 2000s Lancaster enjoyed a lengthy sponsorship deal with sportswear giants
Nickname
Lancaster City's official nickname of The Dolly Blues is taken from the dolly blue washing tablets and bags that were manufactured in the early 20th century, the club's team colours being the same colour as the tablets. This is now more often than not abbreviated to The Dollies. Other nicknames adopted by the club are The Blues, City and Town. Town comes from Lancaster's early name of Lancaster Town.
Reserves, Ladies and Youth teams
Lancaster City also have several other teams starting with Lancaster City Reserves/development squad who play in the Lancashire U23 Football League West Division, winning both the 2011–12 and 2012–13 titles in a league that included several other non-league reserve teams from the
Club rivalries
Lancaster City's oldest rivals have always been neighbours
Attendances and support
Lancaster City's average crowd has declined over the years with the 2012–13 average gate of 171 being its lowest for nearly 30 years. During the 1930s it has been reported that crowds regularly reached 3,000 and by the 1950s gates of 4,500 have been recorded. During the 1960s Lancaster were still attracting around 1,500 for home games, this though dwindled during the 1970s and 1980s and gates dropped to a modest 250. Success on the pitch in the mid-1990s through to the mid-2000 pushed the average gate to a steady 300–400 but this again dropped after the club's demotion of two leagues in 2007. There have though been games when the crowds have soared once again at Giant Axe especially when neighbours
Averages
Past averages:
- 2022-23: 388
- 2021-22: 310
- 2020-21: 198
- 2019-20: 309
- 2018–19: 242
- 2017–18: 258
- 2016–17: 255
- 2015–16: 219
- 2014–15: 236
- 2013–14: 232
- 2012–13: 171
- 2011–12: 232
- 2010–11: 218
- 2009–10: 240
- 2008–09: 225
- 2007–08: 318
- 2006–07: 253
- 2005–06: 319
- 2004–05: 316
- 2003–04: 334
Source[4]
Club Honours
- Northern Premier League Division One Northchampions - 2016-17
- Northern Premier League Division Onechampions - 1995-96
- Northern Premier League Challenge Cupwinners - 1999-2000, 2000-2001
- Northern Premier League Presidents Cup winners - 1994-95, 2010-11
- Northern Premier League Division One Challenge Cup winners - 1995-96
- Lancashire Combination champions - 1921-22, 1929-30, 1934-35, 1935-36
- Lancashire Combination Challenge Cup winners - 1921-22
- Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy winners - 1927-28, 1928-29, 1930-31, 1934-35, 1951-52, 1974-75, 2019-20
Source[5]
Club Records
- Record Attendance - 7,506 v Carlisle United, FA Cup4th Qualifying round, 17th November 1927
- Record Win - 17-2 v Appleby, FA Cup, 1915
- Record Defeat - 0-10 v Matlock Town, Northern Premier League, 1974
- Most Career Appearances - Edgar J. Parkinson, 531, 1949 - 1964
- Most Career Goals - Dave Barnes, 143, 1979 -1984, 1987 - 1991
- Most Goals in a Season - 48, Rod Thomas, 1974 -75 & Dave Barnes, 1983-84
- Record Transfer Fee Paid - £6000 for Jamie Tandy, July 2006
- Record Transfer Fee Received - £50'000 from NEC Breda for Peter Thomson, 1999
- Best FA Cup performance - 2nd Round, 1946-47 & 1972-73
- Best FA Trophy Performance - 4th Round, 2004-05
- Best FA Base Performance - 2nd Round, 1986-87 & 1990-91
Source[6]
Managerial history
- Permanent managers listed in order from 1966–67:
Name | From | To |
---|---|---|
Joe Hayes | 1966 | 1968 |
Barrie Betts | 1968 | 1971 |
Peter Gilmour | 1971 | 1973 |
Derek Armstrong | 1973 | 1974 |
Sean Gallagher | 1974 | 1980 |
Keith Dyson | 1980 | 1982 |
Dickie Danson | 1982 | 1991 |
Russ Perkins | 1991 | 1991 |
John Smith | 1991 | 1992 |
Keith Brindle | 1992 | 1992 |
Alan Tinsley | 1992 | 1996 |
Gordon Raynor | 1996[7] | 1998 |
Alan Tinsley | 1998 | 1999 |
Tony Hesketh | 1999 | 2003 |
Phil Wilson | 2003 | 2005 |
Peter Ward | 2005[8] | 2006 |
Gary Finley | 2006[9] | 2006 |
Barrie Stimpson | 2006 | 2009 |
Tony Hesketh | 2009 | 2012 |
Neil Wainwright | 2012 | 2013 |
Darren Peacock | 2013 | 2015 |
Phil Brown | 2015 | 2018 |
Mark Fell | 2018 | 2023 |
References
- ^ a b c "Information – Lancaster City FC Official Website". lancastercityfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- ^ Lancaster Town at the Football Club History Database
- ^ "Fear Records sign three year kit deal with Lancaster City". www.pitchero.com.
- ^ "Tony's English Football Site".
- ^ "Lancaster City FC Club Honours".
- ^ "Lancaster City FC Club Records".
- ^ Rupert Metcalf (20 December 1996). "Football:Harriers set to pull the crowds". The Independent. London. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- ^ "Ward and Finley take over at Lancaster". NonLeagueDaily. 23 December 2005. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- ^ "Gary's promoted". Doncaster Rovers F.C. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
External links
- Official website
- Lancaster City at the Football Club History Database