Blyth Spartans A.F.C.

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Blyth Spartans
Full name	Blyth Spartans Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Spartans
Founded	1899
Ground	Croft Park Blyth (Capacity 4000 (563 seats))
Chairman	Tony Platten
Manager	Harry Dunn
League	Conference North
2007-08	Conference North, 18th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Blyth Spartans A.F.C. are a football club based at Croft Park in Blyth, Northumberland, England, currently playing in the Conference North. They are currently managed by Harry Dunn.

Contents 1 History 1.1 FA Cup Exploits 2 Croft Park 3 Current Squad 4 Notable Former Players 5 Honours 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

The club was formed in September 1899 and joined the Northumberland League in 1901. In 1907, they joined the Northern Alliance, winning the league title in the 1908-09 and 1912-13 seasons. Success in 1912-13 resulted in the club moving to the North Eastern League, a semi-professional league. They were league champions in 1936-37.

In 1958, when the North Eastern League became defunct, Spartans joined the old Midland League.

In 1964 the club joined the Northern League, turning amateur. They proved to be extremely successful, winning the title ten times in 29 seasons. In the 1993-94 season, the club decided to turn professional again, and joined the Northern Premier League.

The club won the Northern Premier League in the 2005-06 season, gaining promotion to Conference North. Additionally, Blyth won the Unibond Chairman's Cup and the Peter Swailes Memorial Shield in the same season. Striker Robbie Dale finished with the highest goals tally in England at any professional level with 36. In their debut season in the Conference North football league. Blyth Spartans finished in 7th place only just missing out on a playoff spot on the final day of the season.^[1]

[edit] FA Cup Exploits

Blyth Spartans have reached the first round proper of the FA Cup on over 30 occasions; the second round on 14 occasions and they have three times reached the third round. The club gained recognition when they reached the fifth round of the FA Cup in 1977-78. Having beaten Chesterfield and Stoke City the club drew 1-1 with Wrexham before losing 2-1 in a replay at St James' Park, Newcastle watched by a crowd of 42,167.^[2]

[edit] Croft Park

Blyth play their home games at Croft Park, which was opened by Mrs Clarke of Bellister Castle, Haltwhistle on the 1 September 1909.^[3] The first match was a friendly against Newcastle United which ended in a 4-2 defeat.

In 2003 Croft Park under went an extensive redevelopment which saw much of the ash terracing levelled and replaced with concrete terracing. New dugouts and a wheelchair enclosure were also added. Further developments have been made to meet full Blue Square North criteria. These developments include extending the Port of Blyth main stand roof to cover the bottom tier which has had seats installed, building a roof over the Plessey Road terrace, providing cover for about 1200, and building three new turnstiles at the Kingsway end.^[4]

[edit] Current Squad

No. Position Player -- FW Phil Bell -- MF Steve Birks -- DF Kenny Boyle -- DF Gary Brown -- DF Ben Christensen -- FW Robbie Dale -- FW Ged Dalton -- DF Mark Evans -- MF Graham Fenton -- DF Richard Follett

No. Position Player -- MF Alex Gildea -- DF Michael Hedley -- MF Martin Houlahan -- FW Andrew Johnson -- DF Andrew Leeson -- MF Chris McCabe -- DF Richard Pell -- DF Peter Snowdon -- FW Tony Stephenson -- MF Gareth Williams

^[5]

[edit] Notable Former Players

• Ali Dia
• Mick O'Brien
• Alan Shoulder

[edit] Honours

• East Northumberland League Champions 1903-04, 1905-06, 1906-07
• Northern Alliance League Champions 1908-09, 1912-13
• North Eastern League Champions 1935-36
• North Eastern League Cup Winners 1950-55
• Northern League Champions 1972-73, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1986-87, 1987-88
• Northern League Cup Winners 1972-73, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1984-85, 1991-92
• Northumberland Senior Cup Winners 1914, 1915, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1963, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1992, 1994
• Cairns Cup Winners 1905-06, 1906-07
• Tynemouth Infirmary Cup Winners 1908-09, 1909-10, 1932-33
• Tyne Charity Shield Winners 1913-14
• Tyne Charity Shield Joint Holders 1925-26
• Northumberland Aged Miners Homes Cup Winners 1909-10, 1911-12, 1919-20, 1936-37, 1938-39
• Northumberland Aged Miners Homes Cup Joint Holders 1920-21
• Debenhams Cup Winners 1978
• J.R. Cleator Memorial Cup Winners 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1992
• Beamish Trophy Winners 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997
• UniBond Premier Division Champions 2005-06
• UniBond First Division Champions 1994-95
• UniBond First Division Cup Winners 1994-95
• UniBond Presidents Cup Winners 1996-97
• UniBond Chairmans Cup Winners 2005-06
• Peter Swailes Memorial Shield Winners 2005-06
• FA Amateur Cup Semi-Finalists 1971-72 (Enfield 0-2)
• FA Trophy Quarter Final Replay 1979-80, 1982-83
• FA Cup Fifth Round Replay 1977-78 (Wrexham 1-2)
• South Tyneside Football Benevolent Fund Gazette Cup Winners 1995-96 ^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Club website
• Supporters' website
• Blyth Spartans at the Football Club History Database

Conference North 2008-09 v • d • e
AFC Telford United | Alfreton Town | Blyth Spartans | Burscough | Droylsden | Farsley Celtic | Fleetwood Town | Gainsborough Trinity | Gateshead | Harrogate Town | Hinckley United | Hucknall Town | Hyde United | King's Lynn | Redditch United | Solihull Moors | Southport | Stafford Rangers | Stalybridge Celtic | Tamworth | Vauxhall Motors | Workington
Football in England v • d • e
League competitions The FA Cup competitions Premier League England (B) (C) FA Cup The Football League (Champ, 1, 2) (U-21) (U-20) (U-19) Football League Cup Football Conference (Nat, N, S) (U-18) (U-17) (U-16) FA Community Shield Northern Premier (Prem, 1N, 1S) List of clubs Football League Trophy Southern League (Prem, 1Mid, 1S&W) List of venues FA Trophy Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S) (by capacity) Conference League Cup English football league system List of leagues FA Vase Records FA NLS Cup Foreign players