Wakefield F.C.

Wakefield

Division One North , 22nd

Home colours Away colours

Wakefield Football Club was an

, they were known as Emley A.F.C. from 1903 to 2002. The club relocated to Wakefield in 2000 and were renamed Wakefield & Emley in 2002. They were subsequently renamed Wakefield-Emley in 2004 and then just Wakefield in 2006, before being wound up in June 2014.

History

Formed in 1903 and began in the village of

.

There is some debate as to what was the exact date of the club's formation. There is evidence of an Emley Football Club in 1884, but this is thought to have been a Rugby Football Club. In 1903 however Emley Clarence FC was formed and joined the Huddersfield League. It is from this club that the current club is descended.

For the first 66 years of its existence the club played in local junior leagues around

.

Senior Non-League Football

By the mid-1960s Emley were the top non-league team in the Huddersfield District, thanks to a rich crop of local players, including;

, Chris Flew, Roger Wood, Ian Kettlewell, Granville Ellam, John Douglas and Melvyn Matley.

The club were entered into the

as manager. In their first season in the Yorkshire Second Division Emley finished runners-up. Although Emley finished second, they were denied promotion by the Yorkshire League.

They did however win the Yorkshire League Cup that season. The following season saw Emley finally promoted to the First Division of the Yorkshire League.

Yorkshire League Domination: 1970s

The club now started to consolidate their position. The club now had the chance to enter the FA Cup, and when the FA Amateur Cup was ended in 1974 due to the rise influence of semi-professional football Emley entered the FA Trophy.

Emley won the Sheffield Cup in 1975–76, the game finished 2–0 over Worksop Town and was played at Hillsborough. Former Huddersfield Town player, Kevin McHale took over as manager and over the next seven seasons Emley won the Yorkshire League Championship four times and were runners-up the other three seasons. In addition they won the Yorkshire League cup three times, and the Sheffield Cup twice more.

This period cemented Emley as a non-league force in Yorkshire. During the 1979–80 season Emley reached the first round proper of the FA Trophy but were knocked out by

. At the club Alec Hardy went on to be Chairman for a total of 47 years, Eric Moorhouse was President for 13 Years, and Gordon Adamson secretary for 36 Years.

Northern Counties East League: 1980s

In 1981–82 Emley won the Yorkshire League and Cup Double, and the Reserve Division League and Cup Double. In addition the Reserves won the Huddersfield Invitation Cup. The Yorkshire League merged with the

, Emley became one of the founding clubs.

Emley added floodlights to their facilities in 1981, when these were quite rare for non-league clubs at that level. This paid off when floodlights became compulsory for clubs in the

rather than the trophy. This is the lesser of the two non-league cup competitions, but gave Emley a better chance of success.

Emley reached the semi-finals of the Vase in 1986–87, in a match against

Colne Dynamoes

. Colne won 1–0 after extra-time. Emley did however manage to win the league that season.

Emley thought they would be promoted to the newly formed

Northern Premier League First Division

, as they won their league. However, due to ground grading requirements they were not allowed in. The following year, after winning the league again and improving their ground they were promoted. During the 1988–89 season Emley won the Sheffield Cup for the fifth time.

Northern Premier League and the FA Cup: 1990s

Emley's first match in their new league was at Winsford United in Cheshire, they lost 3–0. Eventually in their début season in the league they finished 5th. The club were now in too high of a league to compete in the Vase, so they reverted to the FA Trophy. After a last minute goal in the third round, Emley had reached the quarter-finals of the Trophy for the first time. However, they lost the tie 3–0 to Kidderminster Harriers. Not to be disheartened the club went on to finish runners-up in their league that season.

Until 1991, Emley had never been further than the Third Qualifying Round of the

and the most influential players in the squad went with him.

Emley struggled over the next three seasons, finishing in the bottom half of the league. Ronnie Glavin, formerly of Celtic and Scotland, eventually took over and rebuilt the side. Another good Trophy run in 1996–97 was ended by Conference side Kidderminster Harriers once again. The same season the club finished fourth in the NPL Premier Division, their highest ever position.

1997–98 was a great year for the club. Emley knocked out Morecambe in the First Round of the FA Cup. In the Second Round they faced, Lincoln City and after a replay and extra-time, Emley won the tie 4–3. They faced off against West Ham United who were 8th in the Premier League. The game was broadcast on Match of the Day. The match ended 2–1 with Paul David scoring for Emley, Frank Lampard and John Hartson grabbed the two Hammers goals (The team that day also featured Rio Ferdinand). The season was rounded off with the club's eighth Sheffield Cup win against Parkgate. The season also saw the club finish sixth in the NPL.

The following season they had another decent

.

After a poor to average couple of seasons in the late 1990s and early 2000s and with ambitions from the chairman, it emerged that Emley were looking to leave the village. This was due to ground regulation gradings. The League brought in new regulations, concerning three-sided grounds, that meant Emley would be thrown out of the league unless they spent vast amounts upgrading. The club was unable to expand their ground and were forced to look for a new one. A ground share with Rugby League club Wakefield Trinity Wildcats was suggested, then the club played a couple of games at Wakefield's Belle Vue ground. Although primarily a rugby city, the club moved to Wakefield's Belle Vue for their home games in the 2000–01 season.

Club moves to Wakefield

At their new ground striker Simeon Bambrook scored 30 goals and Danny Day 23 for Emley, during the season. They led the league for much of the season, amassing 100 points but finished second. Emley reached the Sheffield Cup Final, only to lose to

2–1 at Hillsborough and Simeon Bambrook gained an England semi-professional side call-up.

In the following season Emley sustained their challenge for the league, but could only finish fifth. They again reached the Sheffield Cup Final and again lost to

leagues.

The club changed its name once again in the 2004–05 season, this time to Wakefield–Emley. They finished mid-table this time. In the close season

in 2005 in order to keep football at the Welfare Ground in the village. Many fans reverted to following the new club back in Emley, after which, the Emley name and thus, the links to the original club were severed and Wakefield struggled to attract support from the city.

Wakefield–Emley continued at Belle-Vue, but they were relegated to the

Northern Premier League Division One North

.

Paul Lines was appointed the new manager of Wakefield on 9 December 2011 and replaced general manager Mark Brier who was sacked earlier in week. He was joined in the dugout by Liam Sutcliffe as assistant manager.[1]

Wakefield resigned from the

See also

• Wakefield F.C. players
• Wakefield F.C. managers

References

External links

• Official website