‘THE TOWN GROUND’ CLUBHOUSE TO GET INVOLVED AND ENJOY BEING PART OF OUR
The club owes its humble beginnings to long before their 1883 formation at the Rays Arms Hotel. Teams representing the town and playing under the name of ‘Heanor’ or ‘Heanor Town’ were recorded in 1878, but it was not until a public meeting was called in September 1883 that these fragmented issues were drawn together under one roof and the Club affiliated to the Derbyshire County FA.
They joined the Derbyshire League, but within a decade the Club had established itself as a top Midland League side, on one occasion finishing seventh when the top four were promoted to the Football League. And four times during this period reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup (today’s equivalent would be the Third Round because the competition then had six Qualifying Rounds) losing to Aston Villa (away) 1-4, Nottingham Forest (away) 0-1, Bury (home) 0-3 and Southampton St. Mary’s (home) 0-1. In the latter game only a broken leg suffered by centre forward Sam Widdowson ensured that Heanor played with ten men for almost 80 minutes this after a 1-1 draw at Southampton. During this period such teams as Mansfield Town, Chesterfield, Lincoln City and Northampton Town were beaten in the Qualifying Competition. Since then, the Lions have played in the Derbyshire League, Mid-Derbyshire League, Midland League (four times), Central Combination, Central Alliance, Notts Alliance, West Midlands (Regional) and Northern Counties East. In 1986 they joined the Central Midlands and are the only Club to have held continuous membership of the Supreme Division since its formation. Last season they added the new East Midlands Counties League to the list in which they have competed. In 1958 Heanor entertained Fourth Division Carlisle United at The Town Ground in the FA Cup First Round losing 1-5 before 6,511 spectators. At the time they were members of the Central Alliance League Division One (North). But the strength of that league at the time can be judged by the fact that Ilkeston Town and Creswell Colliery was other clubs who also graced the FA Cup competition proper. In 1963 The Lions were a Midland League side and once again when they lost at the same stage away to Fourth Division Bradford Park Avenue containing one Kevin Hector and managed by Jimmy Scoular at Bradford in front of a crowd 5,799. The club’s best Midland League finish was in 1966 when they were runners-up and twelve months later, they were one of only six Midland League clubs with the best record selected to become founder members of the Northern Premier League. However, the Heanor Committee at the time declined the opportunity because of the costs involved and their place was taken by Goole Town. The Club has three times reached the Fourth Round Proper of the FA Vase; in 1989 they drew at this stage at home to Eastwood (Hanley) 1-1 but lost the replay by the odd goal of three. And the other two occasions also saw they lose by the same score to Rushden Town (Home) in 1990 and Arnold Town (away) in 2002. They have reached the Third Round Proper on two other occasions losing to Warrington Town and Eccleshill United both away. Honours decorated the Town Ground trophy cabinet at regular intervals during the 90’s with two Central Midlands League Supreme Division titles in 1995 & 1997 and the last being the Central Midlands League Cup won in a thrilling 5-3 finale against Ollerton Town in 2007. In 2009 the Club appointed Joint Managers Craig Hopkins and Glenn Kirkwood who set themselves a target to win the East Midlands Counties League championship within three years. In their first season they finished seventh, the season after they improved to third then in their third season, they achieved their goal when they were crowned champions in front of a home crowd of 154, beating local rivals Blackwell Miners Welfare 1-0 courtesy of a Josh Royce goal in the penultimate game of the season. Managers Kirkwood and Hopkins left Heanor Town giving short notice on the 12 January 2013 to join local strugglers Mickleover Sports. Jordan Hall, one of the players, was appointed as interim manager later that day and guided the club to an 11th place finish in the NCEL Premier league.
In June 2013 local businessman Geoff Clarence purchased the club and immediately spent thousands of pounds updating the facilities at the Town Ground including a complete renovation of the ageing clubhouse. Glen Clarence was appointed first team manager building a young local squad which improved the club to an 8th place finish in the league along with two semi-final appearances in the Derbyshire and League cups. With the re-shape of the football leagues from step three downwards Heanor took the sideways move to the Midland Football League. With that league folding Heanor moved to the United Counties North league. In 2024 Heanor Town reached the Derbyshire Cup Final and proudly played at Pride Park in front of a match record crowd of 1400. Then in 2025 the club reached the FA Vase quarter finals for the first time in its history.
Bright things are on the horizon for the club as a total ground upgrade including an all-weather pitch is due to finish by early 2026.
With football becoming more popular after the First World War, the existing local clubs were no match for the other Town Clubs in the area, such as March and Kings Lynn. So a decision was made in 1920 to amalgamate three local clubs to form a Town football club which then entered the Peterborough and King’s Lynn Leagues –the latter won at the first attempt – while in the Amateur Cup they reached the First Round Proper in 1930/31 only to go out to the losing finalists Hayes. The Peterborough League Championship was won in 1925, 1928, 1929, 1932 and 1933. The club then turned semi-professional, a Limited Company was formed, and entry made into the United Counties and the East Midlands Leagues. The Fenmen, as the team had then become known, went in for star players and former England Internationals Jesse Pye, Bobby Langton and Billy Elliott were just three who graced Fenland Park with their skills. The club entered the Southern League in 1958 and remained there for 12 seasons, their only honours being their Inter-Zone Group title in the first campaign and the Division One title in 1962. Floodlights were installed in 1964, while in the FA Cup the First Round Proper was again reached in 1959, 1960, 1965, and 1966, when the Fenmen lost by a record 10-1 score at Brighton. Lack of finance caused the return to the Eastern Counties League and the title was promptly won in 1972 and again in 1977 and 1991, while the League Cup was lifted in 1971, 1972 and 1995. In 1983/84 the Club set an ECL record sequence of 37 unbeaten matches yet still finished runners-up on goal difference. In the FA Vase, Wisbech have a proud record having reached the semi-finals twice, losing over two legs to Halesowen in 1985 and to Southall a year later. In 1988 the club reached the quarter-finals losing to eventual winners Tamworth. In 1995 The Fenmen again reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup losing to Kingstonian. This stage in the competition was again attained in the next two seasons, the last making a second appearance in the Second Round Proper losing to Bristol Rovers in front of 3,500 spectators at Fenland Park. Promotion was won to the Dr Martens Midland Division in 1997 and in the first season back in the League after 27 seasons the team finished in a creditable fifth place. The appointment of Dick Creasey as manager in December 2004 saw an upturn in the Fenmen’s fortunes, finishing 4th in 2005/06, whilst a rather slow start to the 2006/07 campaign dented the Fenmen’s chances of challenging for the League, but a run to the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup was a welcome distraction. Poor form at home meant a mid-table finish was always likely and with the purse strings being tightened. The team eventually finished 11th in the League. In 2006, financial problems led to the sale of Fenland Park, the Fenmen’s home for 61 years. The final game was played there in September 2008 and after two seasons playing at “The Nest” in Outwell, The Fenland Stadium hosted its first game on Saturday 14th August 2010, an FA Cup tie against St Andrews. 663 people turned up to watch the historic match which the Fenmen won 5-0. Tommy Treacher went into the record books as the scorer of the first goal at the new ground. In 2010/11, the club’s most successful for a while, the Fenmen finished fourth in the league and also won the League Cup, the club’s first trophy in 16 years. 2011/12 saw fourth place in the Ridgeons League secured once again and an FA Vase run which ended in a 4th round replay defeat at eventual winners Dunston UTS. After initially agreeing to stay on for the new season, Dick Creasey resigned as manager in June 2015 and was replaced by Brett Whaley. Brett’s tenure as manager started well, but after eight home defeats in the league, he resigned in late March 2016 and was replaced by the returning Dick Creasey. The Fenmen’s first season at the new level proved to be a difficult one, with a record low of only six wins in the League all season, but relegation was avoided thanks to 13 draws which meant the team finished in 17th place. Gary Setchell decided to end his tenure as manager after the end of the season and the club appointed Seb Hayes as his replacement, for his first job at this level. He was left with almost no players from the previous season and had had to build a squad virtually from scratch to compete in the BetVictor Northern Premier League Division One South East. Seb resigned in December 2019 with Wisbech bottom of the table and after a month with Seb’s former assistant Kev Ward in interim charge, Brett Whaley returned as manager, only for the season to be declared null and void after just four games due to the Coronavirus pandemic.Last season, the team started badly and achieved only one win in the League (against Cleethorpes) and were knocked out of both FA competitions at the earliest opportunity. Covid then reared its head again and we look forward to the challenges of the NPL Midland Division with a few more local derbies!
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