Ashington Association Football Club is a football club based in Ashington, Northumberland, England. They are currently members of the and play at Woodhorn Lane.

Formed in 1883, the club have played in a number of local and regional leagues, including the Northern Alliance, the East Northumberland League, the North Eastern League, the Midland League, Wearside League and the North Regional League. They were a founding member of the Football League Third Division North in 1921 and are the northernmost team to have played in the Football League. The club were later founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968 and have been in the Northern League since 1970.

History

thumb|left|250px|The Ashington team of 1898–99

The club was established in 1883 and began entering the FA Cup in 1887. They joined the Northern Alliance at the start of the 1892–93 season when the league was expanded to twelve clubs. However, the league was reduced to ten club the following season, and as they had finished in the bottom two, Ashington were asked to leave. The club then ceased activities, but were brought back following a large meeting, joining the East Northumberland League in 1895. They went on to win the league title in 1897–98. After all the applications had been considered by the League, Ashington were one of fourteen clubs marked out for admission in a single bloc, which they duly were. In 1926–27 the club recorded its best performance in the FA Cup, reaching the third round, where they lost 2–0 at home to Nottingham Forest. With only two clubs eligible for promotion, Ashington appeared to have missed out after finishing third. However, runners-up White-le-Head declined the opportunity of promotion, allowing Ashington to move up to Division One.

Season-by-season

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style=text-align:center

!Season

!League

!Position

!Significant events

|-

|1892–93||Northern Alliance||11/12||

|-

|1895–96||East Northumberland League|| ||

|-

|1896–97||East Northumberland League|| ||

|-

|1897–98||East Northumberland League||1||Champions

|-

|1898–99||East Northumberland League|| ||

|-

|1899–1900||East Northumberland League|| ||

|-

|1900–01||East Northumberland League|| ||

|-

|1901–02||East Northumberland League|| ||

|-

|1902–03||Northern Alliance||13/14||

|-

|1903–04||Northern Alliance||7/15||

|-

|1904–05||Northern Alliance||6/15||

|-

|1905–06||Northern Alliance||2/16||

|-

|1906–07||Northern Alliance||5/13||

|-

|1907–08||Northern Alliance||6/16||

|-

|1908–09||Northern Alliance||6/15||

|-

|1909–10||Northern Alliance||5/15||

|-

|1910–11||Northern Alliance||2/16||

|-

|1911–12||Northern Alliance||2/16||

|-

|1912–13||Northern Alliance||5/17||

|-

|1913–14||Northern Alliance||1/16||Champions

|-

|1914–15||North Eastern League||9/20||

|-

|1919–20||North Eastern League||7/18||

|- style="background: #90EE90"

|1920–21||North Eastern League||9/20||Elected to the Football League

|-

|1921–22||Football League Third Division North||10/20||

|-

|1922–23||Football League Third Division North||19/20||

|-

|1923–24||Football League Third Division North||8/22||

|-

|1924–25||Football League Third Division North||10/22||

|-

|1925–26||Football League Third Division North||9/22||

|-

|1926–27||Football League Third Division North||16/22||

|-

|1927–28||Football League Third Division North||18/22||

|- style="background:#fcc;"

|1928–29||Football League Third Division North||22/22||Not re-elected

|- style="background: #90EE90;"

|1929–30||North Eastern League Division Two||3/15||Promoted

|-

|1930–31||North Eastern League Division One||18/22||

|-

|1931–32||North Eastern League Division One||15/22||

|-

|1932–33||North Eastern League Division One||14/20||

|-

|1933–34||North Eastern League Division One||13/20||

|-

|1934–35||North Eastern League Division One||16/20||League reduced to a single division

|-

|1935–36||North Eastern League||18/20||

|-

|1936–37||North Eastern League||7/20||

|-

|1937–38||North Eastern League||7/20||

|-

|1938–39||North Eastern League||7/20||

|-

|1947–48||North Eastern League||9/20||

|-

|1948–49||North Eastern League||7/20||

|-

|1949–50||North Eastern League||15/20||

|-

|1950–51||North Eastern League||8/20||

|-

|1951–52||North Eastern League||5/18||

|-

|1952–53||North Eastern League||10/18||

|-

|1953–54||North Eastern League||15/18||

|-

|1954–55||North Eastern League||13/18||

|-

|1955–56||North Eastern League||3/18||

|-

|1956–57||North Eastern League||4/18||

|-

|1957–58||North Eastern League||3/18||League folded at end of season

|-

|1958–59||Midland League||2/19||

|-

|1959–60||Midland League||3/17||Switched to Northern Counties League

|-

|1960–61||Northern Counties League||2/10||

|-

|1961–62||Northern Counties League||3/13||League renamed North Eastern League

|-

|1962–63||North Eastern League||5/12||

|-

|1963–64||North Eastern League||3/8||League folded at end of season

|-

|1964–65||Wearside League||2/20||

|-

|1965–66||North Regional League||6/17||

|-

|1966–67||North Regional League||4/11||

|- style="background: #90EE90;"

|1967–68||North Regional League||5/9||

|- style="background:#fcc"

|1968–69||Northern Premier League||18/20||Left league

|- style="background: #90EE90"

|1969–70||Northern Alliance||3/12||

|-

|1970–71||Northern League||11/20||

|-

|1971–72||Northern League||18/20||

|-

|1972–73||Northern League||9/20||

|-

|1973–74||Northern League||8/20||

|-

|1974–75||Northern League||9/19||

|-

|1975–76||Northern League||7/20||

|-

|1976–77||Northern League||9/20||

|-

|1977–78||Northern League||15/20||

|-

|1978–79||Northern League||3/20||

|-

|1979–80||Northern League||4/20||

|-

|1980–81||Northern League||5/20||

|-

|1981–82||Northern League||18/20||

|-

|1982–83||Northern League Division One||16/19||

|- style="background:#fcc;"

|1983–84||Northern League Division One||17/18||Relegated

|-

|1984–85||Northern League Division Two||10/18||

|-

|1985–86||Northern League Division Two||8/20||

|-

|1986–87||Northern League Division Two||10/19||

|-

|1987–88||Northern League Division Two||15/18||

|-

|1988–89||Northern League Division Two||5/20||

|-

|1989–90||Northern League Division Two||13/20||

|-

|1990–91||Northern League Division Two||12/19||

|-

|1991–92||Northern League Division Two||12/20||

|-

|1992–93||Northern League Division Two||8/20||

|-

|1993–94||Northern League Division Two||17/19||

|-

|1994–95||Northern League Division Two||7/20||

|-

|1995–96||Northern League Division Two||6/19||

|-

|1996–97||Northern League Division Two||4/19||

|-

|1997–98||Northern League Division Two||5/19||

|-

|1998–99||Northern League Division Two||11/19||

|-

|1999–2000||Northern League Division Two||9/19||

|-style="background: #90EE90;"

|2000–01||Northern League Division Two||1/19||Champions, promoted

|- style="background:#fcc;"

|2001–02||Northern League Division One||19/21||Relegated

|-

|2002–03||Northern League Division Two||5/20||

|- style="background: #90EE90;"

|2003–04||Northern League Division Two||1/20||Champions, promoted

|-

|2004–05||Northern League Division One||10/21||

|-

|2005–06||Northern League Division One||16/21||

|-

|2006–07||Northern League Division One||19/22||

|-

|2007–08||Northern League Division One||17/22||

|-

|2008–09||Northern League Division One||16/22||

|-

|2009–10||Northern League Division One||6/22||

|-

|2010–11||Northern League Division One||8/22||

|-

|2011–12||Northern League Division One||5/22||

|-

|2012–13||Northern League Division One||7/24||

|-

|2013–14||Northern League Division One||6/23||

|-

|2014–15||Northern League Division One||13/22||

|-

|2015–16||Northern League Division One||12/22||

|-

|2016–17||Northern League Division One||16/22||

|-

|2017–18||Northern League Division One||12/22||

|-

|2018–19||Northern League Division One||16/18||

|-

|2019–20||Northern League Division One||–||Season abandoned

|-

|2020–21||Northern League Division One||–||Season abandoned

|-

|2021–22||Northern League Division One||8/20||

|-style="background: #90EE90;"

|2022–23||Northern League Division One||2/20||Promoted by playoff

|-

|2023–24||Northern Premier League Division One East||14/20||

|-

|2024–25||Northern Premier League Division One East||16/22||

|-

|align=left colspan=4|Source: Football Club History Database, Non-League Matters

|}

Colours and crest

Ashington's colours are black and white vertical stripes, used on the shirt and paired with black shorts and black socks for home matches. While away, they use an all light blue shirt and socks with white shorts.

The Ashington AFC badge has two lions flanking a badge with a stylised AFC logo, with a football between the legs of the A.

Ground

Ashington moved a new ground named Station Road in 1909, which was renamed Portland Park in 1914. They played at Portland Park during their Football League years, with the club's first Football League match attracting a crowd of 9,000. They remained at Portland Park after dropping out of the league, with the club's record attendance of 13,199 coming for an FA Cup second round tie with Rochdale on 9 December 1950.

Honours

  • Northern League
  • Division Two champions 2000–01, 2003–04
  • Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup winners 1998–99, 2002–03
  • Division One Cup 2021–22
  • Northern Alliance
  • Champions 1913–14
  • East Northumberland League
  • Champions 1897–98
  • Northumberland Senior Cup
  • Winners 1920–21, 1932–33, 1938–39, 1949–50, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1979–80, 2012–13

Records

  • Best FA Amateur Cup performance: Semi-finals, 1973–74
  • Best FA Cup performance: Third round, 1926–27
  • Best FA Trophy performance: second round 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83
  • Best FA Vase performance: Fifth round, 2011–12
  • Record attendance:
  • At Portland Park: 13,199 vs Rochdale, FA Cup second round, 9 December 1950

See also

References

  • Official website