Ashington A.F.C.

Did You Know?

• The club reached the semi-finals of the last-ever FA Amateur Cup in 1973–74, losing 3–0 to eventual winners Bishop's Stortford in a replay.
• Ashington won the Northumberland Senior Cup for the tenth time in 2012–13 with a 3–0 win over Whitley Bay.

History

The club was established in 1883 and first entered the FA Cup in 1887. They joined the Northern Alliance for the 1892–93 season, but after finishing in the bottom two the following season were asked to leave. Ashington then ceased activities, but were revived after a large meeting and joined the East Northumberland League in 1895, winning the league title in 1897–98. A 1901 application to rejoin the Northern Alliance was rejected, but they were elected back the following season.

Ashington won the Northern Alliance in 1913–14 and moved up to the North Eastern League. After World War I they rejoined that league, and in 1921 were elected into the new Third Division North of the Football League as part of a single bloc of fourteen clubs. Their best FA Cup performance came in 1926–27, reaching the third round and losing 2–0 at home to Nottingham Forest. After finishing bottom of the division in 1928–29, the club lost its bid for re-election, receiving 14 votes against 24 for non-League York City.

Ashington dropped into Division Two of the North Eastern League, but gained promotion to Division One after runners-up White-le-Head declined promotion. The league was later reduced to a single division, and folded in 1958. The club unsuccessfully applied for election to the Football League in 1947 (no vote took place) and 1950 (they received no votes).

Ground

Ashington moved to a new ground named Station Road in 1909, renamed Portland Park in 1914. They played there during their Football League years, with the first league match attracting 9,000 spectators. The record attendance of 13,199 was set for an FA Cup second round tie with Rochdale on 9 December 1950. In 2008 the club left Portland Park for Woodhorn Lane; the final match at the old ground was against Seaham Red Star in February 2008, watched by 1,954. The first game at Woodhorn Lane was on 30 August 2008, a 2–1 FA Cup preliminary round win over Ossett Albion before 341 spectators.