Cleator Moor Celtic F.C.

Cleator Moor Celtic
Full name Cleator Moor Celtic Football Club
Founded 1909
Ground McGrath Park, Birks Road, Cleator Moor
Manager Stuart Green
League North West Counties League Division One North
2017–18 Wearside League, 2nd of 17 (promoted)

Cleator Moor Celtic Football Club is a football club based in Cleator Moor, Cumbria, England. The club are currently members of the North West Counties League Division One North and play at McGrath Park, on Birks Road, Cleator Moor.

History

Association Football arrived late in the West Cumbrian town of Cleator Moor. The game was formed in 1863 when the Football Association laid out the first rules of the game. The Cumberland F.A. was formed in 1884 with its Senior County Cup first being played for in 1885/86. Cleator Moor United won the County Cup in 1903/04 with a team based at Bowthorn, made up with up to 10 players who had left Frizington White Star for monetary reasons. Football in nearby Frizington dates back to 1886 and teams certainly played football in the Keekle and Cleator areas prior to 1909. But all this was to change with the Formation, in the summer of 1909 of the Cleator Moor Celtic Club.

The following article entitled “Football prospects at Cleator Moor" appeared in the Cumberland Paquet dated September 2nd 1909.

"Great interest seems to be centred this season in football on Cleator Moor. An Association club has been formed called the "Celts" and a field has been acquired near to Cleator Moor Railway Station. Practice has been in progress, and the executive have got together a promising lot of youngsters, and hope to be rewarded by the general patronage of the public. Wath Brow are again coming forward, and for the first time Association Football will be seen on the ground which for many years was the scene of many hard and severe struggles with the "Grasshoppers"(this could be referring to Northern Union). Both the Celts and the Wath Brow teams have entered into all the local contests available, and they look forward to giving a good account of themselves in the various competitions. The public have often grumbled at the want of pastime on Cleator Moor, and now that these two clubs have sprung into existence, we trust that they will be generously supported, and thus encouraged to go on and prosper." Cleator Moor Celtic joined the Egremont Divisional league for the 1909/10 season, the other teams were Frizington Athletic, Frizington Recreation, Parton, Pica, Keekle, Moss Bay, Arlecdon, Wath Brow, Moresby, Distington, Cleator, Hensingham, Ennerdale, Bigrigg and Whitehaven. The Celtic's inaugural match took place on Saturday 4th of September 1909 at home to near neighbour Keekle, despite the inclement weather 400 spectators witnessed a 2-1 victory to Keekle. No other details are available but a full match report appeared in the Cumberland Paquet for the next game (11/09/1909) against Frizington Athletic, and appears below,

"Played at Cleator Moor on Saturday, the home side had to face the hill in the first half, and within a minute the visitors scored a goal. The ball was passed by the centre forward to the inside right, who immediately transferred to the left wing and before any of the home side had time to realise what was happening the ball was netted (0-1). The visiting goalkeeper then had to meet a hot bombardment, but he always cleared well. Cullen, outside left, received a beautiful pass from Graham, and outwitting his opponents, he transferred to McGrath, who returned it, and Cullen beat Doyle with a fast shot, and equalised (1-1).

In the second half the Celtics had the misfortune to lose the services of W. Graham, their full back, who received a nasty kick on the ankle. This necessitated the one back game, and frequent offsides were given. The visitors got ahead by a clever shot by Trevaskis (1-2) and then the home side made an effort, in which Andy Graham, Pete Smith and E. Rogan took part, and Rogan travelling at top speed scored (2-2). Great excitement now prevailed, and both sides strove hard for the winning goal. A long, low shot was sent in, which Nolan fumbled, and before he could recover himself the ball was put through (2-3). Towards the end of the game, Nolan in saving, received a nasty kick from Tinnion, for which he retaliated by striking, and both players were ordered off. The game was keenly contested, but the Celtic could not equalise and time arrived with the score, Cleator Moor Celtic 2 goals, Frizington Athletic 3 goals. Mr J. Dixon, Scalegill was the referee."

The following week saw the Celts beat Lowca 3-1 in the first round of the County Shield before taking a 6-0 beating at Keekle in the league.

In the 1950–51 season, Cleator Moor reached the first round of the FA Cup, where they lost to Tranmere Rovers 5–0, in a match played at Workington. All other campaigns in the FA Cup have not seen the club progress past the second qualifying round. The club has also competed in the FA Vase, reaching the second round in 1986–87.

The club joined the Wearside League in 1988–89 and spent seven seasons in that league, their best finish being in 1990–91 when they finished in eighth place. They rejoined the Wearside League in 2004–05.[1]

Cleator Moor Celtic celebrated its 100th birthday in 2008.

2004 - Present

SEASON LEAGUE P W D L F A P POS
2004-05 WEAR 36 17 5 14 81 56 56 8/19
2005-06 WEAR 34 20 5 9 71 25 65 6/18
2006-07 WEAR 32 13 5 14 72 61 44 10/17
2007-08 WEAR 36 16 5 15 76 72 53 10/19
2008-09 WEAR 36 14 4 18 68 63 46 11/19
2009-10 WEAR 36 22 3 11 101 65 69 5/19
2010-11 WEAR 38 10 7 21 56 78 37 15/20
2011-12 WEAR 36 17 6 13 76 55 57 7/19
2012-13 WEAR 42 26 5 11 105 68 83 4/22
2013-14 WEAR 38 25 4 9 100 47 79 4/20
2014-15 WEAR 38 28 5 5 97 44 89 3/20
2015-16 WEAR 38 24 4 10 114 46 76 4/20
2016-17 WEAR 38 25 5 8 104 48 80 3/20

Players

Scott Carson played for Cleator Moor Celtic from Under 10s through to Under 16s and made appearances with the Under 18s and the First Team before his recruitment to the Leeds United academy after being spotted playing for Workington in the FA Youth Cup. He turned professional with Leeds, making his full first-team debut against Manchester United in February 2004. He made his first appearance for the [[England under-21 team in the same month and later set a record of 29 caps for the under-21 team. In January 2005, he moved to Liverpool for a £750,000 fee and was called up for the England senior team later that year. He made nine appearances for Liverpool, including the [[UEFA Champions League quarter-final victory over Juventus in April 2005, before going on loan to Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa in successive seasons to gain experience.

Following the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Carson made his full debut for the England senior team against Austria in November 2007. After his return to Liverpool from his loan spell at Aston Villa at the end of the 2007–08 season, he joined West Bromwich Albion for a £3.25 million fee in July 2008. In 2011, he moved to Bursaspor of Turkey. After two years in Turkey, he moved back to England with Wigan Athletic, where he remained until 2015 when he signed for Derby County.

Whitehaven-born Charlie Woods was transferred from Cleator Moor Celtic to Newcastle United in May 1959, making, and scoring on, his professional debut at Craven Cottage in a 4-3 defeat to Fulham F.C.[2] Woods went on to play in the football league for Newcastle United, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town, Watford and Colchester United until he retired in 1971. Woods played 272 professional games scoring 46 goals. Woods became a coach at Ipswich Town where he began a long term coaching and scouting relationship with Sir Bobby Robson which carried on through Robson's England and Club management career. He became a close friend and confidant of Robson.[3] Woods was sacked from Newcastle United in 2004, at the same time as Robson was dismissed by then Chairman Freddie Sheppard.[3] Woods played a significant role in the recruitment of players such as Loren Robert and Charles N'Zogbia to Newcastle United and was also involved in the development of the Ipswich Town Team containing Kevin Beatie and Alan Brazil.[4] Woods also served Ipswich as a Coach under Manager George Burley.[5]

Joseph (Joe) Peter Kennedy, born in Cleator Moor, Cumberland, Kennedy represented St. Patrick's School in Cleator Moor, as well as Whitehaven & District Boys. He joined Cleator Moor Celtic in 1941, then Workington the following year. Kennedy had trials at Brentford and Millwall in 1943 and 1944 respectively, before moving to non-league Gravesend for the 1944–45 season. He joined Freelands F.C. in August 1945, before signing for Altrincham in April 1946.[6]

Kennedy turned professional in December 1948, when he signed for West Bromwich Albion for a £750 fee. He made his debut away against Luton Town in Division Two on 9 April 1949,[7] less than two months after his first game for the reserve team. Kennedy initially played at inside-right and then right-half, but later switched to centre-half as successor to Jack Vernon. In 1952 the Birmingham Mail claimed that Kennedy was the highest paid footballer in the country, due to him receiving maximum club wages, regular win bonuses and various representative honours.[8]

Kennedy suffered a leg injury in 1953–54 and lost his place to Jimmy Dugdale. However he was called upon to replace the injured right-back Stan Rickaby for the 1954 FA Cup Final against Preston North End, which Albion won 3–2. When Dugdale left to join Aston Villa, Kennedy became Albion's regular centre-half for most of the remainder of the decade.

In all he made 397 appearances for West Bromwich Albion, scoring four goals, before joining Chester City on a free transfer in June 1961. He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over Oldham Athletic on 19 August 1961 but Chester finished bottom of the Football League at the end of the 1961–62 season and Kennedy retired from professional football. His 35th and final league appearance for Chester came on 1 May 1962, in a 2–0 loss at Carlisle United. He also played during the season in two league games against Accrington Stanley that were deleted from the records when Accrington resigned from the Football League during the season, leaving Kennedy stranded on 399 rather than 401 league appearances when he retired.

Kennedy joined Stourbridge as player-manager in August 1962 and later turned out for his works team, Brockhouse Works F.C. He retired from playing in 1966 at the age of 40. He continued to work at Brockhouse until the age of 60, when he collapsed and died there in September 1986.

International career

Kennedy captained the England 'B' team on three occasions and also represented the FA XI. He was a permanent reserve for the full England side during the early 1950s but never earned a cap.[7]

Records

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record.

References

  1. 1 2 "Cleator Moor". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  2. ↑ "Fulham v Newcastle United, 31 August 1960". 11V11:Home of Football Statistics and History. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 Robson, Bobby. Farewell but not Goodbye - my autobiography. Hoder & Stoughton. p. 195,268,286 etc. ISBN 0340823461.
  4. ↑ Brazil, Alan. There's an Awful Lot of Bubbly in Brazil. Highdown. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-905156-36-8.
  5. ↑ Robson, Bobby. Farewell but not Goodbye - my autobiography. Hoder & Stoughton. p. 88. ISBN 0340823461.
  6. ↑ Matthews (2005) p131–132
  7. 1 2 Matthews (1987) p270.
  8. ↑ Wright p90.

Coordinates: 54°31′26″N 3°31′00″W / 54.523850°N 3.516573°W / 54.523850; -3.516573

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.