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Association football club in England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Widnes Football Club are an English association football club, based in Widnes, Cheshire. They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One West, playing their home matches at the DCBL Stadium, Widnes. They are affiliated to the Liverpool County FA.
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| Full name | Widnes Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Whites, The Wools | ||
| Founded | 2003 (as The Dragons A.F.C.) | ||
| Ground | Halton Stadium, Widnes, Cheshire | ||
| Capacity | 13,350 | ||
| Chairman | Ian Ross [1] | ||
| Manager | Michael Ellison | ||
| League | Northern Premier League Division One West | ||
| 2023–24 | Northern Premier League Division One West, 9th of 20 | ||
| Website | http://www.widnesfootballclub.co.uk/ | ||
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The club was founded in February 2003 as The Dragons A.F.C. by former secretary Bill Morley as a local junior football club. In 2008, the club was awarded the FA Charter Standard Development award for its continuous development of grassroots football.
In March 2012, Widnes Dragons began a consultation process with Widnes Vikings RLFC to become part of the Vikings Sports Brand, a partnership that was agreed to enhance the club's community status.
On 10 July 2012, at the club's AGM, the club's members unanimously agreed to become a part of the Widnes Sports Group and agreed on a 12-month transitional period up to the end of that current season (2012–13). The next step in the club's progression was made in season 2013–14 when Widnes Vikings FC was admitted into the football pyramid and placed within North West Counties Football League Division One.
In March 2014, the club's committee called an EGM for its members to decide on the future of the club. A unanimous vote was made that the club was to move away from the Vikings brand and to restructure the club to secure its own identity and long-term future. Subsequently, the club parted ways with the Vikings brand and became known as Widnes Football Club, which was symbolic in representing where the team and its fans came from whilst recognising that a new club needed to be built to establish confidence in the local community and support young local talent in Widnes.
In 2016, a change in board structure lead to the appointment of Ian Ross as chairman with a board of directors being established.[2] Danny Meadowcroft and Brian Pritchard were appointed joint managers, replacing previous manager Steve Hill who left the Club following the end of the 2015–16 season.[3] However, following an indifferent start to the season, Meadowcroft and Pritchard left the club and were replaced by Joey Dunn, who was subsequently appointed manager.[4]
The season ended on a highly successful note as under Dunn's management, Widnes were crowned North West Counties Football League Division One Champions with a game to spare after a 5–1 win at AFC Blackpool.[5]
In summer 2017, the club began to re-establish a youth section with the introduction of a development squad[6] and two junior teams at Under 7 and Under 9 age groups.[7]
Despite Dunn's resignation early in the 2017–18 season,[8] the club enjoyed yet another highly successful season. Senior players Steve Akrigg and Kevin Towey were appointed joint player managers,[9] leading the club to promotion to the Northern Premier League and victory in the final of the North West Counties Challenge Cup against Burscough.
Widnes' first season at Step 4 brought mixed success. Early exits in the FA Cup, FA Trophy and League Cup meant The Whites only had the league to focus on. Joint managers Towey and Akrigg guided Widnes to a solid mid table finish, despite ending the season as one of the leagues form sides.
The next two seasons were affected by the turmoil caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic. Widnes finished the abandoned 2019–20 season in 12th, as well as the curtailed 2020–21 season in the same position.
As football returned to normal in the 2021–22 season, Widnes endured a poor start to the season, resulting in the club parting company with Managers Kevin Towey and Steve Akrigg. Former Ashton Town manager David Dempsey was hired, and not only guided Widnes to safety, but turned the side into one of the form teams in the second half of the season, boasting an impressive unbeaten run at home. Dempsey also led his side to the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy, where they were beaten on penalties by Bootle, this being the clubs best run to date. Success under Dempsey was short lived as Widnes began the 2022–23 season in very poor form, failing to win any of their first five league games and seeing their FA Cup run ended by North West Counties side Bury. Subsequently, Widnes and Dempsey went their separate ways. Widnes moved quickly to hire Michael Ellison,[10] who began the season with City of Liverpool. Performances under 'Ello' quickly improved, and Widnes were able to pick up their first league win of the season away to newly promoted Hanley. Despite spending a lot of the season rooted to the bottom of the table, Ellison and Widnes picked up a number of crucial wins towards the tail-end of the season, ultimately finishing in 17th place. Due to Skelmersdale not meeting Northern Premier League ground grading requirements, Widnes received a reprieve in the step 4/5 inter step playoff, thus securing their Northern Premier League Status for the 2023/24 season due to their superior points per game ratio compared to other teams around the country.
| Season | Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | FA Cup | FA Trophy/FA Vase | Liverpool Senior Cup | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | West Cheshire League Division Three | 28 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 76 | 45 | 48 | 4/15 | — | — | — | Promoted |
| 2013–14 | North West Counties League Division One | 36 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 58 | 84 | 35 | 14/19 | — | — | First round | |
| 2014–15 | North West Counties League Division One | 36 | 10 | 5 | 21 | 62 | 101 | 35 | 16/19 | — | Second qualifying round | Quarter-final | |
| 2015–16 | North West Counties League Division One | 34 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 67 | 77 | 35 | 13/18 | — | — | Quarter-final | |
| 2016–17 | North West Counties League Division One | 42 | 30 | 6 | 6 | 117 | 50 | 96 | 1/22 | — | Second qualifying round | Quarter-final | Promoted |
| 2017–18 | North West Counties League Premier Division | 44 | 30 | 6 | 8 | 102 | 52 | 96 | 2/23 | Extra preliminary round | First qualifying round | Semi-final | Promoted |
| 2018–19 | Northern Premier League Division One West | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 60 | 61 | 51 | 12/20 | Extra preliminary round | Extra preliminary round | Semi-final | |
| 2019–20 | Northern Premier League Division One North/West | 31 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 47 | 49 | 37 | 12/20 | First qualifying round | Extra preliminary round | First round | Season Abandoned |
| 2020–21 | Northern Premier League Division One West | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 8 | 12/19 | Preliminary round | Second round qualifying | Competition not held | Season Curtailed |
| 2021–22 | Northern Premier League Division One West | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 47 | 46 | 47 | 13/20 | Extra Preliminary Round | Third Round Qualifying | Competition not held | |
| 2022–23 | Northern Premier League Division One West | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 40 | 66 | 44 | 17/20 | Preliminary Round | Second Round Qualifying | First Round | |
| 2023–24 | Northern Premier League Division One West | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 13 | 25 | 8/20 | First Round Qualifying | First Round Qualifying | Second Round |
Since its foundation, the club has always worn a white home strip. They currently play in black shorts and white socks. The club's away kit is all yellow.
Widnes moved into the Halton Stadium in 2012, ahead of their debut and so far only season in the West Cheshire League. They played their first home game at the stadium against Chester Nomads Reserves on 1 September 2012. The club's highest attendance at the stadium is 603 set on 2 January 2023 against Macclesfield.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Ian Ross |
| Director | David Day |
| Director | Gareth Hartley |
| Director | John McKeown |
| Club Secretary | Adrian Bevan |
| Club Development Officer | Bill Morley |
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Michael Ellison |
| First Team Coach | Chris Lawton |
| First Team Coach | Lee Bignall |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Ryan Brookfield |
| Kit Man | Craig Patterson |
| Physio | Darren Berrill |
| Manager | Nationality | Period | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Paul Pennington |  England | 2012 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 28.57 |
| Steve Hill | England | 2012–2016 | 143 | 46 | 21 | 76 | 32.17 |
| Danny Meadowcroft and Brian Pritchard | England | 2016 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 55.55 |
| Danny Salt (interim) | England | 2016 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33.33 |
| Joey Dunn | England | 2016–2017 | 53 | 36 | 6 | 11 | 67.92 |
| Steve Akrigg and Nick Matthews (interim) | England | 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 00.00 |
| Steve Akrigg and Kevin Towey | England | 2017–2021 | 147 | 66 | 26 | 55 | 44.90 |
| Michael Burke (interim) | England | 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 00.00 |
| Dave Dempsey | England | 2021–2022 | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 35.71 |
| Michael Ellison | England | 2022- | 85 | 35 | 16 | 34 | 41.18 |
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