Prestwich Heys A.F.C.

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Prestwich Heys
Image:prestwich_heys_new_badge.jpg
Full name Prestwich Heys A.F.C.
Nickname(s) The Heys
Founded 1938
Ground Sandgate Road
Whitefield
Manchester
M45 6WG
(Capacity n/a)
Chairman John Carroll
Manager Peter Freakes
League Manchester Football League
Premier Division
2006/07 Champions
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Away colours

Prestwich Heys A.F.C. are an amateur football club situated in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England.

Heys run two senior sides with the first team competing in the Manchester Football League Premier Division, of which they are the current champions and the reserves team which compete in the Manchester Football League Division Two (reserves division). Heys also run a number of junior sides catering for all age groups up to under seventeen years old.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation

The origins of Prestwich Heys A.F.C. can be traced back to February 9th 1938 when a meeting was called at the Music Room of the Heys Road Boys School at which Elgar Lumsden put forward the idea of forming an Old Boys Association.

Attending that first meeting were messers Bridge, Stott, Foster, Taplin and Alan Proctor Bell, who was to become a central figure in the Club’s history and whose progress he was to report on in the Prestwich Guide under the guise of ‘Touchliner’.

Despite the onset of the Second World War a year later, the Association flourished under the Chairmanship of Bell, who also acted as Secretary of the football arm, known as Heys Old Boys AFC and was acknowledged as one of the region’s best.

The team went on to win its first honours in 1943 in the Prestwich and Whitefield League with the Woodward Shield - a success which was repeated for the next three seasons.

[edit] The Glory Years

The team gradually progressed through the Bury Amateur League and in to the South East Lancashire League claiming Championships in 1960, 1961 and 1964. Under the guidance of Peter Gilmore in the sixties, Heys won the prestigious Lancashire Amateur Cup in 1967 followed by the one and only Lancashire Combination Grand Slam in the 1970/71 season with Heys bringing all four trophies available back to Grimshaws.

The club also changed its name in 1964 to Prestwich Heys AFC, an acknowledgement of the fame achieved by the club as they proved one of the nation’s top amateur clubs.

Thousands flocked to see Heys play, and beat, the likes of Sutton United, Ferryhill Athletic, Finchley and Highgate United in the FA Amateur Cup with the clubs best run taking Heys to the last 16. The victory over Sutton United in 1969 ranks as one of Heys’ most famous moments, attracting nationwide coverage, coming a week before their opponents were due to meet Leeds United in the FA Cup.

[edit] Restructuring and a New Home

These were heady days but with the seventies came the onslaught of professionalism and the club struggled to maintain its winning ways. After claiming the Manchester Amateur Cup in 1972, the trophy cabinet remained bare as Heys negotiated the gradual restructuring of semi-professional football, moving from the Cheshire County League in to the newly formed North West Counties League in 1982.

Ground grading problems saw the club drop in to the Manchester Football League in 1986 but the club went on to gain its first trophy for over a decade when the First Division title was claimed in 1988.

1991 saw Heys leave their Grimshaws home on Heys Road for a new base at Sandgate Road. After relegation in 1996, the club bounced back with the Manchester League double of First Division Championship and Murray Shield built on the back of a record 19 league wins from the start of the season.

Former skipper Lee Connell in action for Heys in 2006
Former skipper Lee Connell in action for Heys in 2006

[edit] Present Day

After finishing runners-up to champions Royton Town in the 2003/04 season, the 2004/05 season saw Heys finally take the major prize of their first Manchester League Premier Division title. They followed this up by retaining their crown the following season with a 2-0 victory in their penultimate game of the season at Hindsford.

In 2006/07, Heys made it a hat-trick or Premier Division titles and also lifted the Goldline Trophy after defeating Charnock Richard on penalties at the Reebok Stadium.

Heys also continue to work hard off the pitch as they look to get their Sandgate Road ground up to a standard that may possibly see a return of North West Counties League football to The Heys after a 20 year gap.

Manager and Chairman Adie Moran died on June 27th 2007 whilst on holiday in Sri Lanka at the age of 43. Jason Dormer and Graham Powell will take over first team management duties for the 2007/08 season.

Jason Dormer was sacked on 31st January 2008 before being replaced by new management team of Peter Freakes and his assistant Andy Whiteman.

[edit] League history

[edit] Records

League Positions:
1st in the Lancashire Combination 1970-71 season
4th in the North West Counties League Division Three 1982-83 season
1st in the Manchester Football League Premier Division 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons

FA Cup:
Second Qualifying Round v Mossley 1973-74 season, lost 2-3
Second Qualifying Round v Stalybridge Celtic 1978-79 season, lost 1-4

FA Amateur Cup:
Quarter-final v Enfield 1969-1970 season, lost 0-2

[edit] Sources