Nelson F.C.
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| Nelson F.C. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Nelson Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Admirals, The Blues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1881 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Victoria Park Nelson |
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| Capacity | 2,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Alan Pickering | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Graham Haworth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | NW Counties Div 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | NW Counties Div 2, 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nelson Football Club are an English football club, based in Nelson, Lancashire. They are currently in the North West Counties League First Division, and play their home matches at Victoria Park, which has a capacity of 2,000.
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[edit] History
The club was founded in 1881, and originally played its home matches at Seedhill. They joined the Lancashire League in 1891 (which was subsumed into the Lancashire Combination in 1901), and although expelled in 1899, they were readmitted in 1900. The club closed down in 1916, but reformed at the end of the First World War, and joined the Central League.
In 1921, the club joined the Football League as a founder member of Third Division North. Their first league game against the now-defunct Wigan Borough attracted a record attendance of 9,000, and their first season in the Football League ended with a 16th-place finish.
The next season was arguably the most successful in the club's history. They finished as champions of Third Division North, and were promoted to the Second Division. In addition, during their pre-season tour in the summer of 1923, the club famously became the first British team to beat Real Madrid, when they won 4-2.
Sadly, the club were relegated back to the Third Division North in their first season in the Second Division, having finished 21st out of 22. New record attendances of 14,000 (vs. Darlington) and 14,143 (vs. Bradford (Park Avenue)) were set during the mid-1920s. Though these record attendances may seem reasonably low for a professional football club in England, it should be borne in mind that the town's population is only around 30,000.
In the late 1920s, the club began to struggle, and was eventually voted out of the Football League at the end of the 1930-31 season, being replaced by Chester City. The club dropped back into the Lancashire Combination, but folded again in 1936.
Following the Second World War, the club was reformed in 1946, and immediately rejoined the Lancashire Combination, which they won in 1950 and 1952, but narrowly failed to win re-election to the Football League. The Lancashire Combination lost many of its clubs to the newly-formed Northern Premier League in 1968. However, Nelson remained in the Combination. During this period, Seedhill was demolished to make way for the new M65 motorway, and the club moved to their present ground at Victoria Park.
In 1982, the club became founder members of the new North West Counties League, in which they were assigned to the Third Division. In 1987, the Third Division was scrapped, and Nelson were moved up to the Second Division. However, due to the poor state of their Victoria Park stadium, the club was expelled and forced to play in the West Lancashire League for four seasons, before being readmitted to the North West Counties Second Division. They remained there until 2006, when promotion to the First Division was achieved.
Since losing their league status, the club has managed to reach the first round of the FA Cup on two occasions: in 1932-33, when they lost to Southport, and in 1950-51, when they beat Witton Albion 1-0 before losing 3-2 to Port Vale in the second round.
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Honours
Football League Third Division (North)
- Champions 1922/23
- Runners-up 1924/25
- Champions 1949/50, 1951/52
- Runners-up 1950/51
[edit] Famous players/managers
[edit] External links
| North West Counties Football League Division One 2006/07 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Abbey Hey | Atherton Collieries | Atherton Laburnum Rovers | Bacup Borough | Colne | Congleton Town | Curzon Ashton | FC United of Manchester | Flixton | Formby | Glossop North End | Maine Road | Nantwich Town | Nelson | Newcastle Town | Ramsbottom United | Salford City | Silsden | Squires Gate | St Helens Town | Stone Dominoes | Trafford edit |
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