Statistics

Match Summary
Biggest Home Win	3-0	21/09/19 v Barnoldswick Town (Premier Division)
Biggest Away Win	5-4	14/09/19 v Coventry Sphinx (The Buildbase FA Vase)
Biggest Home Defeat	2-6	14/12/19 v Ashton Athletic (Premier Division)
Biggest Away Defeat	0-4	30/11/19 v Charnock Richard (Premier Division)
Highest Drawn Game	2-2	31/08/19 v Eccleshall (A) (The Buildbase FA Vase)
		16/11/19 v Skelmersdale United (A) (Premier Division)
		04/01/20 v Northwich Victoria (H) (Premier Division)
Highest Aggregate Scoreline	9	14/09/19 5-4 v Coventry Sphinx (A) (The Buildbase FA Vase)

 

Season at a Glance
	Home		Away		Total
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Played	11		18		29
Won	3	27.27%	3	16.67%	6	20.69%
Drawn	2	18.18%	4	22.22%	6	20.69%
Lost	6	54.55%	11	61.11%	17	58.62%
Scored	17	1.55	26	1.44	43	1.48
Conceded	23	2.09	45	2.50	68	2.34

 

Progression in Cup Competitions
The Emirates F.A Cup	Extra Preliminary Round	2-3	Leicester Road	(H)
The Buildbase FA Vase	1st Round	1-2	AFC Mansfield	(A)
	After Extra Time, 1-2 after 90 mins
The Macron Cup	1st Round	1-2	Abbey Hulton United	(H)
Staffordshire Senior Cup	2nd Round	1-4	Rushall Olympic	(A)

 

Home Attendance Summary
Highest Attendance	141	04/01/20 v Northwich Victoria (Premier Division)
Lowest Attendance	74	17/08/19 v Litherland REMYCA (Premier Division)
Average Attendance	11 games	105

 

Number of Games Since
Last Win	4 games
Last Defeat	0 games
Goalless Draw	25 games
Score Draw	2 games
Scored A Goal	1 game
Fail To Score	0 games
Clean Sheet	19 games

 

Scored / Conceded This Season
	Scored		Conceded
	#	%	#	%
None	5	17.24%	2	6.90%
One	12	41.38%	6	20.69%
Two	7	24.14%	10	34.48%
Three	3	10.34%	4	13.79%
Four	1	3.45%	6	20.69%
Five or more	1	3.45%	1	3.45%

 

When the Goals Went In
	For		Against		Total
	#	%	#	%	#	%
0-15	4	9.09%	8	11.76%	12	10.71%
16-30	5	11.36%	13	19.12%	18	16.07%
31-45	10	22.73%	10	14.71%	20	17.86%
46-60	7	15.91%	12	17.65%	19	16.96%
61-75	4	9.09%	8	11.76%	12	10.71%
76-90	13	29.55%	16	23.53%	29	25.89%
90-105	1	2.27%	0	0.00%	1	0.89%
105-120	0	0.00%	1	1.47%	1	0.89%

 

History

The clubs roots go as far back as 1882 with a recorded North Staffordshire Charity Cup game in Hanley against a strong Leek side (5-0 to Leek) with reports stating Hanley goalkeeper Morris keeping the score down with a superb display of goalkeeping.

During the 1884/85 season Hanley Town and Port Vale met on a number of occasions - a North Staffordshire Federation League game ending 1-0 to Port Vale. There were two further clash games in a League Cup encounter the first meeting ending 2-2 with Port Vale winning the replay 3-1. A fourth meeting between the two teams came on 25th April 1885 in the North Staffordshire Charity Cup Semi-Final in front of 2000 spectators, again Port Vale kept their unbeaten record against Hanley Town winning the tie 3-1.

In 1888/89 season Hanley Town defeated Smallthorne 4-3 in the prestigious Staffordshire Junior Cup. The club were one of the first Sentinel Cup entrants in 1892/93 season losing in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Newcastle Swifts.(The Sentinel Cup is still going strong today raising money for local charities). During this period the club had a number of players that left the club to play professional football with local sides Stoke FC(now Stoke City) and Port Vale. One player at this time was George Shutt who was also an England International. He played in England's 4-1 win in Belfast against Ireland and also became a qualified referee and while at Stoke FC during the 1885/86 season as the game moved to professionalism threatened strike action as one of the players asking for a pay rise which they eventually secured.

In 1894/95 the club entered the 3rd tier of English Football at the time The Combination League. Unfortunately they folded after one season but returned to local football a few seasons later where they again provided a number of players to professional clubs Stoke FC and Port Vale. Once again the club folded just before the outbreak of the First World War returning to local football in the late 1940's.

The present Hanley Town Football Club was founded in 1966 when a group of friends got together playing Sunday friendly fixtures based at the Trumpet Public House in the city centre (the building is now occupied by a McDonalds). The friends decided to join a Saturday league for the 1966/67 season with Owen Rhead the Club Manager winning the Longton League and the Longton Charity Cup.

The 67/68 season was one of the most successful in the clubs history both the First and Reserve teams winning six trophies and being runners-up in two others. The club were renting a pitch from a local engineering firm Copestick & Farrell on Victoria Road on the outskirts of Hanley. The club lost the ground in 1971 when the engineering firm sold the land for development. The club moved into groundshares first with Eastwood Hanley and then Leek Town until the 1976/77 season when the club finally moved into their own ground at Abbey Lane a mile outside the city centre. It is from our home ground that the club made the move into a new league the Mid-Cheshire League Second Division which was in it's second season with Joe Wills as Manager. A 4th place finish and winning the Second Division cup beating Knutsford 1-0 in the final was not a bad first season in the new league.

The 1980/81 season saw the club finish in it's worst league position for many years, although the cup competitions were a success - the new Staffordshire FA Vase was introduced by the Staffordshire FA to replace the Intermediate Cup, sixteen clubs from North and South of the County were invited to take part and Hanley Town had the honour of being the first winners defeating Chasetown over two legs. The first leg away at Chasetown ending 0-0, the return leg at Abbey Lane in front of 1000 spectators ended with Hanley winning 2-1. The League Cup was also retained after beating Linotype 2-1.

The 1981/82 season saw Hanley Town finally become Mid-Cheshire League Champions in the top division by a six point margin and only two defeats in the league all season,(the league is now known as the Cheshire League). The club’s attempt to defend the Staffordshire FA Vase was almost a success as the club reached the final again only to lose over two legs 2-0 to neighbours Eastwood Hanley.

 
The following three seasons were mediocre, but in 1986/87 and 1987/88 under new manager Peter Ward the seasons provided the club with more success. Two third place finishes in a strong Mid-Cheshire League that had local sides Kidsgrove Athletic, Newcastle Town and Alsager Town in the ranks. The League Cup was won beating a strong Kidsgrove Athletic side 3-1 after extra-time, the Leek Cup and Newcastle Charities Cup were won and the club were inaugural winners of the Congleton Floodlit Cup. The Reserves were Staffordshire Alliance League Premier Division Runners-Up and Premier Cup winners. The club started a youth team playing in the Staffordshire County Minor Youth League - the youth team finished Runners-Up in the League winning the Subsidiary Cup and the Sentinel Shield.

In 1988 the club applied for membership in to the North West Counties League, but with new ground grading being introduced at the time the club failed in it's application. With the application to the North West Counties League being rejected there was a mass exodus of players who followed manager Peter Ward to Nantwich Town who were already an established club in the North West Counties League. Former Stoke City, Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra player Terry Lees was given the task of completely rebuilding a new team and over the next few seasons gradually created a team that started to climb the league table, however due to other commitments outside football Terry had to step down in 1994 and so a slow decline ensued with the club close to folding in 1995. Ex Port Vale player Neville Chamberlain became Manager first returning the club to the Mid-Cheshire and in 1998 we made the move back to more of a local football scene - the Midland League (now called Staffordshire County Senior League) made up mainly of North Staffordshire clubs.

The clubs fortunes began to improve under the new management team of Darren Stair and Dave Price. A first cup final in 15 years was reached during the 2003/04 season the Midland League Cup Final only to lose to Norton/Adderley Green.

Success was finally achieved in 2004/05 season Hanley Town securing a remarkable four trophies in one season the first team winning the treble, becoming Midland League Champions, League Cup and Staffordshire FA Vase winners with the Reserves winning the Leek Cup. The following season the club retained the League title but losing to Ball Haye Green in the Leek Cup.

For the 2006/07 season Darren and Dave stepped down as first team managers being replaced by Steve Norris and Dave Wooliscroft who regularly kept the first team in a top five position in the league, reaching a number of semi-finals in cup competitions before they too stepped down for the 2011/12 season to be replaced by Darren's brother Colin Stair and a return for Dave Price to take charge of first team duties.

That season the first team won the Staffordshire County Senior League Premier Division title and the Reserves won the Division 1 title under the guidance of Mark Giblin and Steve Harrison.

The 2012/13 season was one of joy and sorrow. Colin Stair and Dave Price guided the first team to a memorable quadruple of titles. The first team became Staffordshire County Senior League Premier Division Champions, League Cup winners, Staffordshire FA Vase winners and Leek Cup winners. Tragically with only four league games remaining first team manager Colin Stair suddenly passed away however the team stayed strong for each other, served the Club with great pride and saw out the remaining four games to win the fourth title. It was our former Manager’s ambition to manage the team at a higher level starting in the North West Counties League First Division and for the 2013/14 season the club achieved the necessary ground improvements to make the step up to the North West Counties Football League First Division.

Under the management team of Dave Price and Darren Stair in their first season at this level the Club finished a respectable 4th place in the league and reached the final of the First Division Cup only to lose on penalties against Formby.

All change again for the team this year with new Manager Dean Owen who hopes to take the team on a successful journey with the main goal being promotion in to the premier league of the North West Counties League.

This season is the biggest in the Club history as we embark on yet another exciting venture following the acquisition of 3 new pitches which has enabled us to launch Hanley Town Academy and enter into a corporate sponsorship deal with Abzorded Events. Subsequently our ground is now known as Abzorbed Arena and together with providing fabulous home ground facilities for 15 teams, will play host to community multi-skill session, holiday camps and community fun days. Our fellow team mates have the expertise and experience to set us aside from all other football clubs in the City. Together we will grow and develop and will be known as Staffordshire’s leading Community Club.

Only a short time in to the season and once again we have attracted a partnership deal other Clubs only dream of. At Hanley Town we are the prestigious Partners to Sir Stanley Matthews Foundation – the first Club in the Country to be recognised with such a magnificent partnership. This now gives us the opportunity and ability to play host to the Wizard of Dribble Schools and January 2016 sees us fund our first tranche of coaches – 28 in total who will all assist in the launch of our community coaching sessions – sessions that we believe will embrace all youngsters from across the City irrespective of ability or age. Our belief is that today’s youngsters are our future and we are excited to embrace more youngsters through our grassroot pyramid.

Our pyramid is one that we are so proud of – we will embrace children as young as 7 and offer them the opportunity to develop through the ages with the overall aim to represent our first team playing at a semi-professional level.

We are a community voluntary group with one vision – to be recognised and known as Staffordshire’s leading Community Club.

• We had a dream
• That dream was our GOAL
• Our GOAL was to embrace juniors into our CLUB
• Today a total of 15 teams have enabled us to NET that goal
• We are a UNITED Club
• There are no PENALTIES for being part of our successful Group
• Today’s youth are our future
• TOGETHER WE WILL LIVE THE DREAM