Buckley Town F.C.
Buckley Town Football Club is a Welsh football team based in Buckley, Flintshire, Wales. They currently play in the Cymru North, the second tier of Welsh football. History. Buckley is regarded as an established football centre in North Wales with the game was first introduced in the area around 1860. With the new ball, they regarded themselves as a real team, and established themselves as a football club, playing under the name of Belmont Swifts Football Club. This formed the basis of what would later become Buckley Victoria Football Club, the first organised team in the town . The team had their own pitch at Mill Lane, and soon played home and away matches against teams such as Mold Athletic, Wrexham Victoria and Rhyl Athletic. Buckley Victoria were superseded by the Buckley Engineers, who carried on the 'Vics' winning ways. The amateurs' most famous team consisted of ten colliers, and a plumber. They picked up a huge amount of silverware in their playing days, including the Welsh Amateur Cup which they won on three occasions. In 1887 Buckley Town football club was formed, and it wasn't long before they had a taste of success. They went on  to win the Wirral & District League in 1898, and picked up the Pike Challenge Cup in the same year. Buckley Town continued to play right up to the 1920s, and in 1925 joined the Welsh National League (North) Division. In 1937 they went on to win the North Wales Amateur Cup. During the 1930s it seemed that Buckley Town Football Club and other organised football teams in Buckley fell apart and no longer continued to be successful in competitions. Then, in 1937 Buckley Town A.F.C won the North Wales Amateur Cup. In 1949 Buckley Wanderers and Buckley Rovers were the  only two teams playing competitive football in Buckley. Buckley Rovers struggled in the lower division of the Welsh Leagues, while Buckley Wanderers joined the Welsh National League Division One. In their first season, Buckley Wanderers finished runners-up behind Chirk AAA, and again in the 1953–54 season finished runners-up to Overton St Mary's. Then in the 1955–56 season Buckley Wanderers scored over one hundred goals to clinch the League title. During the 1960–61 season Buckley Rovers joined Buckley Wanderers in the Welsh Football League First Division. With two teams firmly established in top-flight Welsh football, Buckley once  again was revelling in the 'glory days'. Buckley Wanderers finished runners-up for the third time in their history, with Chirk AAA finishing just two points ahead of them. Rovers struggled in their first season in top-flight football, finishing ninth in the league. Then in the 1963–64 season Buckley Rovers were relegated, only to come straight back up the following season. From 1974 Buckley Rovers then became the better of the two sides, with a runners-up finish and a third-place finish. The 1976–77 season saw both teams finish in the bottom half of the table. This was  the end of both teams, and in 1977 an agreement was made for both teams to join and play under the name of Buckley Town Football Club, which is the club known to this day. Since the millennium, the club has had its most successful period to date. It has won the NEW Challenge Cup six times, the Cymru Alliance League Cup once in 2003–04 and in the League the club finished 3rd in 2002–03, 2nd in 2003–04, finally becoming Champions in 2004–05. In 2009–10 Buckley Town returned to the Racecourse to win the NEW Challenge Cup and were 4th  in the Cymru Alliance League. From the phoenix of the previous season the club became 2017–18 Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) league champions, claiming their spot in the 2018–19 Cymru Alliance. The honour was achieved with thanks to Dan Moore as manager and the crop of local talent sourced from Buckley, local villages and towns within a 5-mile radius of the club. 2016 Onwards. After the 2015–16 season, Buckley Town faced turmoil and financial troubles. Thanks to community support and voluntary involvement the club survived and is now going from strength to strength. With the success of the £ 10 season ticket scheme the club has firmly established itself as a community football club whilst gaining more support during this period. Sourcing local players the clubs strength has been its community involvement. The 2017–18 season saw Buckley Town return to winning ways lifting the Welsh National league title along the way. Globe Way Stadium. Since moving from the old pitch at the Hawksbury, in front of the Elfed High School, to a purpose-built facility on the outskirts of town, at The Globe off Liverpool Road, the club has gone from strength to strength. The club aims to develop  the Globe every year and it has seen much improvement. Ground drains have been laid around and under the playing surface to aid drainage away from what was sometimes a boggy pitch. A stand provides both covered seating and standing areas down one side. Floodlights were added in 2004–05 and the ground has now been boarded out completely with a concrete path laid around the circumference of the pitch. With a lot of tender loving care and time spent on it by the committee, especially by former club Treasurer Eric Davies, the club have one of the finest playing surfaces  in North Wales. So much so, that Wrexham often play their Reserve Team League matches at The Globe. In recent years the club has built another stand, a standing area with a disabled access area behind the Clubhouse goal bringing the number of seats up to the 370. The aim is to ultimately comply with the full UEFA criteria of 500 seats, by developing the stand behind the current dugout area to provide a much larger seated area than currently exists. A medical treatment room has recently been completed and the club will now look to build a Gatehouse with  turnstiles and to extend the entertainment facilities at the ground. Attendances. Through the sale of the £20 season ticket scheme Buckley Town FC have noticed a significant increase with attendances. The fan base have risen gradually attracting groundhoppers and football fans alike, on the last game of the 2017–18 season the club smashed its all-time attendance record with a bumper crowd of 604. Honours. 2003–04: Cymru Alliance League Cup Winners 2004–05: Cymru Alliance League Champions 2017–18: Welsh National League Premier Division Champions 2018: Welsh National League Presidents Cup Champions Former players. A notable former player is Danny Collins  (Chester City, Sunderland, Stoke City and Wales International) and Ryan Shawcross (Manchester United and Stoke City) grew up in the town attending the Elfed High School Mickey Thomas appeared for Buckley Town FC during the mid 1990s. Michael Owen also played for local junior side Buckley & Bistre Junior Football Club. Ryan Hedges – Buckley Town Junior football Club.