West Allotment Celtic F.C.
West Allotment Celtic Football Club is a football club who currently play their home games at Druid Park, Woolsington in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.
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| Full name | West Allotment Celtic Football Club | |
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| Nickname(s) | Celtic | |
| Ground | Druid Park, Woolsington, Newcastle Upon Tyne | |
| Capacity | 2,000 | |
| League | Northern League Division Two | |
| 2019–20 | Northern League Division Two (season abandoned) | |
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History
Formed in 1928 in West Allotment, a village in North Tyneside, the club played in junior leagues for their first 55 years. They then joined the Northern Alliance in 1983 and won the title 8 times before joining the Northern League in 2004. The club then won the Northern League Second Division at the first attempt, gaining promotion to Division One, where they remained until 2011 when they were relegated back to Division Two. West Allotment have participated in the FA Vase since the mid-1980s and have reached the 4th round (the last 32 stage) twice in their history, in successive seasons 2003–04 and 2004–05. They entered the FA Cup for the first time in 2005–06, and have yet to progress beyond the preliminary round.[1]
In 2001, the club moved to Whitley Park in Benton, North Tyneside after having acted as tenants at Hillheads in Whitley Bay (also in North Tyneside) from 1995. Allotment were to stay there until the end of the 2016/17 season, when a major rise in the rent priced the facilities beyond the means of the club.
Following a frantic period of activity, the club found another new home, this time outside North Tyneside at Druid Park, Woolsington in Newcastle upon Tyne, formerly the base of the long defunct Newcastle Blue Star club. So, although the club moved ever further from West Allotment itself, it overcame a fraught period when its very existence was at extreme risk; indeed, the club had tendered its resignation from the Northern League, so desperate was the situation. Yet, typical of the club throughout its history, it found strength in adversity and celebrated its ninetieth year on a sound footing and heading upwards once more.
Honours
- Northern Football League Division Two[1]
- Champions 2004–05
- Northern Football Alliance
- Champions 1986–87, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04
- Runners-up 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2000–01
Records
- FA Cup best performance: preliminary round – 2008–09, 2012–13
- FA Vase best performance: fourth round – 2003–04, 2004–05