Gornal Athletic F.C.

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Gornal Athletic
Gornal Athletic badge
Full name Gornal Athletic Football Club
Nickname(s) The Peacocks
Founded 1919 (as Lower Gornal Athletic)
Ground Garden Walk Stadium
Gornal
Dudley
West Midlands
Chairman John Sheppard
Manager Simon Williams
League West Midlands Regional
League Premier Division
2007-08 West Midlands Regional League
Premier Division, 16th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
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Away colours

Gornal Athletic F.C. are a football club based in Lower Gornal, near Sedgley, West Midlands, England. They were established in 1919, and have always played in Lower Gornal, a village between the townships of Sedgley and Dudley. They have reached the 1st round of the FA Vase six times in their history. For the 2007-08 season, they are members of the West Midlands Regional League Premier Division.

Contents

[edit] History

Gornal Athletic were formed in 1919, the successor to an earlier club in the district, Gornal Wood Excelsior. Prior to 1972 they were known as Lower Gornal Athletic. They joined the Worcestershire Combination in 1951, then moved to the West Midlands Regional League in 1962, where they remain to this day. In 1993/94 they were runners-up in Division One, earning promotion to the Premier Division where they spent nine seasons. After relegation in 2003 they bounced back at the first attempt, claiming the Division One title and a return to the League's top flight.

The highest transfer fee the club has ever received was in 1965 when George Andrews and Gary Bell joined Cardiff City in a deal worth £2,100. Andrews later played for Walsall and scored the winner in a famous giant-killing of Newcastle United in the 1974/75 FA Cup.

[edit] Ground

Unlike many non-league teams, The Peacocks own their own stadium, although they do have to rent the social club and changing rooms. At present the club hopes to sell the Garden Walk site and move to a new purpose-built stadium. This project has been dubbed "Project Duncan Edwards", after one of Dudley's most famous sons.

[edit] Honours

  • West Midlands Regional League
    • Division One Champions 2003/04

[edit] Club records

  • Best League performance: 2nd in West Midlands Regional League, 2005/06
  • Best FA Cup performance: 3rd qualifying round, 1975/76
  • Best FA Trophy performance: 3rd qualifying round, 1971/72
  • Best FA Vase performance: 1st round on six occasions, most recently in 1999/2000

[edit] External links