Washington Colliery F.C.
 |
|
| Full name | Washington Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Mechanics |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Stadium | Nissan Sports and Leisure Complex |
| Stadium capacity |
1,000 |
| League | Northern League Division One |
| 2015–16 | Northern League Division One, 10th |
Washington Football Club is a football club based in Washington, Tyne and Wear, England. The club was formed by the local miners at the local "F-Pit" Colliery in the early 20th century as Washington Colliery F.C. The modern club was established in 1947 and joined the Wearside League in 1968. In the 1977–78 season, they reached the third round of the FA Vase. The club won promotion to the Northern Football League Division One after winning their last seven games of the 2014–15 season. It was their highest league standing since the 2003–04 season.
Little is known of the club prior to 1926–27 when the club became a founder member in division 2 of the North Eastern League. Prior to this it was known the club did exist but mainly in playing friendlies against other local pits such as Usworth Colliery. A notable player from the early era was Ronnie Starling, who went on to captain Sheffield Wednesday to the FA Cup and won two caps for England.
The club won the Division 2 title in the 1927–28 season and were promoted to division one but didn't enjoy much success. This period however did produce their most famous son, Jimmy Hagan, who went on to represent England (winning one full international cap against Denmark in Copenhagen in 1948). He later managed the famous Benfica team that won three successive Portuguese championships between 1971 and 1973. He was also briefly manager of Sporting Lisbon during the 1976-77 season.
After the war the club were re-founded as Washington Colliery Mechanics and joined the Washington and District football league (known as the Durham Alliance league from 1996), with the club managing a great amount of success in the 1950s including winning the league title five years in a row, and the coveted Durham Trophy. The Colliery stayed in the league until 1964 when they moved to the Northern Alliance League. Their tenure in that league lasted only one year where then club secretary Billy Benson was successful in applying to become a member of the Wearside league under the name Washington F.C.. Their greatest moment was in 1970/71 reaching the FA Cup 4th qualifying round where they were defeated 3–0 by professional league team Bradford Park Avenue. Currently Washington play in the Northern league and are semi-professional with paid players.
...
Wikipedia