Scarborough F.C.

Scarborough F.C.
Full name Scarborough Football Club Ltd
Nickname(s) Seadogs
Founded 1879
Dissolved 2007
Ground Athletic Ground
Ground Capacity 6,408
2006–07 Conference North, 20th

Scarborough Football Club was an association football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.[1]

In the 2006–07 season Scarborough competed in the Conference North. They started the season with a 10-point deduction, for a breach of league rules, and finished in 20th place which would have resulted in their relegation to the Northern Premier League. Their last ever game, on 28 April 2007, was a 1–0 win at Hucknall Town.[2] A new club was established by the Seadog Trust under the banner Scarborough Athletic on 25 June 2007,[3] and one year later a new club, Scarborough Town, also came into existence.[4]

History

The club was formed in 1879 by members of the town's cricket team, and played their earliest games at the cricket ground in North Marine Road. The football club soon moved to the nearby Recreation Ground.[5] In 1898, Scarborough Football Club made the move across town to the Athletic Ground in Seamer Road and remained there until 2007, though the ground was renamed The McCain Stadium in a pioneering sponsorship deal in 1988.

Early years

Scarborough squad of 1885

Scarborough first entered England's national cup competition, the FA Cup in 1887. Before the club became professional they spent their time competing in the Northern League.

It was in 1927 the Yorkshire club became professional and joined the Midland League. After only three years they became champions of it, breaking the record for most points in a season. The same year, the club were performing respectably in the FA Cup, reaching the Third Round before going out 2–1 to Grimsby Town who were in the nation's top league at the time.

Club attendance records were broken when the club reached the same stage of the FA Cup again, during the 1937–38 season. The game against Luton Town, which was a 1–1 draw, saw 11,162 people packed into the Athletic Ground. Unfortunately for Scarborough they were soundly defeated 5–1 in the replay.

1970s FA Trophy success

Because of their decent performance in the Midlands League, the club were entitled to become one of the founding clubs in the new Northern Premier League in 1968. The 1970s would prove to be a successful time for the club; Scarborough FC won the FA Trophy three times at Wembley Stadium, beating Wigan Athletic, Stafford Rangers and Dagenham in the process.

However, there was also a tragedy for the club during the 1970s. On 18 May 1977, 21-year-old winger Tony Aveyard died after collapsing as a result of a head injury suffered in a match two days earlier.[6]

The 1970s also saw the club performing well in the FA Cup. They reached the Third Round in the 1975–76 season before losing 2–1 to Crystal Palace in a match that was featured on BBC's "Match of the Day". During the 1977–78 season, they reached these heights again, with a Third Round clash against Brighton and Hove Albion; they lost the tie 3–0 at Goldstone Ground in front of 23,748 spectators.

They also took part in the Anglo-Italian Cup twice, beating Udinese 4–0 in 1976[7] and then beating Parma 2–0 during the following year's competition.[8] In 1976 they lost 4–1 on aggregate to Italian side US Lecce in the final match of the Anglo-Italian Semiprofessional Tournament. By the end of the 1970s, Scarborough had been selected to be part of the new Alliance Premier League, known today as the Football Conference. They stayed in this league for several seasons with generally consistent finishing positions in mid-table. The club gained a new manager named Neil Warnock, and his team became champions of the Conference in 1987. They were automatically promoted into the Football League, the first club to achieve this feat by this route.

The Football League Era

In 1987 Scarborough were promoted into the Football League Fourth Division, which after English football introduced the FA Premier League became Division Three in 1992.

The club had mixed fortunes during their stay in the Football League. They spent several seasons near the bottom, but reached the play-offs for promotion twice. They became giant killers in 1989 with a 3–2 victory in the League Cup over Chelsea, after achieving a 1–1 draw during the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Their cup runs continued to throw up good results following this, with a 7–6 aggregate win over Preston North End, and a 5–3 defeat against Southampton (including 2 goals from Alan Shearer [9]) in 1991.

Their best run however came during the 1992–93 season, where Scarborough knocked Bradford City, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle out of the competition. This brought Arsenal to Scarborough in a tie which Arsenal narrowly won, 1–0 with a Nigel Winterburn goal. Arsenal went on to win the League Cup that year.

In 1998 they qualified for the Division Three playoffs, but lost to Torquay United in the semi-finals.

The last day of the 1998–99 season  – 8 May 1999 – saw Scarborough FC's final game as a Football League club, which they drew 1–1 at home to a Peterborough United side which featured future Premier League stars Simon Davies and Matthew Etherington. When the final whistle blew at the McCain Stadium, Carlisle were still level with Plymouth Argyle and the Scarborough fans had already invaded the pitch to celebrate "survival", only for the news to come through within minutes that a last-minute goal from Carlisle United's on-loan goalkeeper Jimmy Glass had ensured Carlisle's survival and relegated Scarborough back to the Conference, twelve years after they had left it.[10] It was the first relegation in the history of Scarborough FC.

Back in non-league football

The 1999–2000 season would begin for Scarborough in the Conference – the same league they had won twelve years earlier. However, in their first season they only managed to finish in fourth place, thus failing to win promotion at the first attempt.

Poor results saw Scarborough at the bottom of the Conference by Christmas 2001. With relegation to the Northern Premier League threatening, new chairman Malcolm Reynolds and manager Russell Slade oversaw a turnaround in the club's fortunes; the team finished 12th at the end of the 2001–02 season. This was followed up by a 7th-place finish the following season.

2003–04 brought a 15th-place finish in the Conference, with the highlight of the season being an FA Cup 4th-Round tie with Chelsea at the renamed McCain Stadium. Chelsea and England defender John Terry scored the only goal of the game. Slade left to join Grimsby Town, Nick Henry was appointed his successor and brought in his former Oldham Athletic team-mate Neil Redfearn as his assistant.

In the 2004–05 season, despite only finishing 13th in the league, Scarborough managed to go through the whole season unbeaten at home.

With the club at the bottom of the Conference, manager Nick Henry was sacked in October 2005. Neil Redfearn took over as manager and brought in former Barnsley coach Eric Winstanley as assistant manager. Despite finishing bottom of the table in 2005–06, Scarborough were not initially relegated, as Canvey Island resigned from the league and Altrincham were deducted 18 points for fielding an ineligible player, meaning that they occupied bottom position instead. However the Conference were not convinced of the club's financial stability, and Scarborough ended up suffering the same fate as Northwich Victoria had the previous year by being relegated to the Conference North.

Final season

Neil Redfearn resigned in the 2006 close season and former Scarborough skipper and assistant manager Mark Patterson replaced him. Patterson re-signed striker Tony Hackworth and defender Mark Hotte. The club started their first season in the Conference North with minus 10 points as the club had been in administration. What proved to be their last game, on 28 April 2007, was a 1–0 win at Hucknall Town.[2] However, Scarborough finished 20th meaning that had they survived until the start of the 2007–08 season, they would have been relegated to the Northern Premier League. On 4 May 2007 Mark Patterson left the Club after failing to agree a new contract.

Dissolution

The club had been hoping to move to a new stadium on the outskirts of town by the start of the 2009–10 season, with the proceeds from the sale of the McCain Stadium to a housing developer wiping out the club's historic debts in addition to providing the finance to build the new ground. However, a covenant existed on the McCain Stadium that restricted its use only to sporting activities. Scarborough failed to convince Scarborough Borough Council that the proposals would raise enough money to both pay off the club's debts and build a new ground.[11]

On Friday 8 June 2007, the FA in London said that it was a very strong possibility that by 12 June Scarborough F.C. may well go out of business. On Tuesday 12 June, the club was given an eight-day 'stay of execution' following a 'change of heart' by their local Borough Council. But on 20 June it was wound up in the High Court, ending its 128-year run as a club with debts of £2.5 million.[1][12]

However, the winding up of Scarborough F.C paved the way for the supporter's trust to form a club as Scarborough Athletic and secure a place in the Northern Counties East League.[3] Meanwhile, the Centre of Excellence, youth team and Football in the Community sections of Scarborough F.C. moved to the nearby George Pindar Community Sports College, with some assistance from Sheffield United.[13] In 2008 the youth system was extended by adding an adult team named Scarborough Town, which was admitted to the Teesside League for 2008–09[14] and won the championship of Division Two by going the entire season undefeated. In 2009–10 Scarborough Town moved up into the Wearside League and scored 140 goals in their 36 games as they won the championship and also the Sunderland Shipowners Cup.

Post-War Managers

 
Name Nationality Years
George Hall England 1946–1947
Harold Taylor England 1947–1948
Directors Commission England 1948
Frank Taylor England 1948–1950
Directors Commission England 1950–1953
Reg Halton England 1953–1954
Directors Commission England 1954–1957
George Higgins Scotland 1957–1958
Directors Commission England 1958–1959
Andy Smailes England 1959–1961
Eddy Brown England 1961–1964
Albert Franks England 1964–1965
Stuart Myers England 1965–1966
Directors Commission England 1966–1968
Graham Shaw England 1968–1969
Directors Commission England 1969
Colin Appleton England 1969–1973
Gerry Donoghue England 1973
Ken Boyes England 1973–1974
Ken Houghton England 1974–1975
Colin Appleton England 1975–1981
  
Name Nationality Years
Jim McAnearney Scotland 1981–1982
Harry Dunn England 1982
John Cottam England 1982–1984
Harry Dunn England 1984–1986
Neil Warnock England 1986–1988
Colin Morris England 1989
Ray McHale England 1989–1993
Phil Chambers England 1993
Steve Wicks England 1993–1994
Billy Ayre England 1994
Ray McHale England 1994–1996
Mitch Cook England 1996
Mick Wadsworth England 1996–1999
Colin Addison England 1999–2000
Neil Thompson England 2000–2001
Ian Kerr Scotland 2001
Russell Slade England 2001–2004
Nick Henry England 2004–2005
Neil Redfearn England 2005–2006
Mark Patterson England 2006–2007

Assistant Manager

Paul Evans England 1986–1989

Players

Player of the Year

Year Winner
1969–70Harry Dunn
1970–71Jeff Barmby
1971–72Ted Smethurst
1972–73Colin Appleton
1973–74Harry Dunn
1974–75Tony Aveyard
1975–76John Woodall
1976–77Billy Ayre
1977–78Dave Chapman
1978–79Gerry Donoghue
1979–80Neil Sellers
1980–81Neil Sellers
1981–82Ian Smith
1982–83Kenny Dennis
1983–84Bryan Magee
1984–85Marshall Burke
1985–86Neil Thompson
1986–87Kevin Blackwell
1987–88Alan Kamara
  
Year Winner
1988–89Gary Brook
1989–90Alan Kamara
1990–91Ian Ironside
1991–92Tommy Mooney
1992–93 Darren Foreman
1993–94Shaun Murray
1994–95Jason White
1995–96Stuart Hicks
1996–97Jason Rockett
1997–98Gary Bennett
1998–99Jamie Hoyland
1999–2000Steve Brodie
2000–01Paul Ellender
2001–02Andy Woods
2002–03David Pounder
2003–04Mark Hotte
2004–05Chris Senior
2005–06Michael Coulson
2006–07Lee Cartwright

Honours

Records

Programme and fanzine

The match-day programme at Scarborough, The Boro Review, won the Conference North programme awards for 2006–07.[15] The club also had a fanzine, Abandon chip!, which at the end of the 2006–07 season had reached Issue 5, and still continues today as a Scarborough Athletic fanzine.

Stadium information

References

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