A Look Into Histories

A LOOK INTO HISTORY TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX

GUISBOROUGH TOWN’S RECORD ATTENDANCE

Guisborough Town were founded in 1973, and, following Sunderland’s FA Cup success in the same year, adopted Red and White stripes as the home colours.
The Priorymen began life in the Middlesbrough & District League before joining the South Bank & District League, Mick Hodgson managed the team for more than 700 games before he left in 1993 after leading the club through the local leagues and winning various cups along the way.
Town won their first trophy – the North Riding County Cup – in 1976, by beating Smith Dock 1-0 in the Final. The following year they joined the Northern Alliance and reached the North Riding Senior Cup Final, eventually losing to Scarborough in a replay following a 1-1 draw in the original tie. The club continued to grow, and after third and second place finishes in the previous two seasons, Guisborough Town finally won the Northern Alliance League title in 1979/80.
Our Match Programme, a splendid 28 page effort was for the semi-final first leg of the F A Vase priced 20p and this leg against Hungerford Town saw a crowd of 3,112 at the King George V Stadium, which remains a ground record. Packed with plenty of information on the competition and noting that their opponents, Hungerford Town had inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Billericay Town. Guisborough had entered the competition at the 2nd Preliminary Round whereas Hungerford Town had been exempt until the 2nd Round proper. Full history and Pen Pictures of Hungerford were followed by an Isthmian League table showing them in 3rd place some 20 points behind Billericay Town whereas Guisborough Town were top of the Northern Alliance and another team to achieve greater glory were Morpeth Town who were only 8th. A quiz and full seasons results plus teams gave readers everything they would want to know. The result was 2-2 and Guisborough Town won the second leg at Hungerford Town so the club reached the Final of the F A Vase, going down 2-0 to Stamford in front of a crowd of 11,500 at Wembley. This success resulted in the club joining the Midland League which later became the Northern Counties East League.