1960’s During the 1960’s Whitley Bay became one of the top amateur clubs in the country. They won the Northern League title in 1964 /65 and 1965/66, as well as the League Cup in 1964/65. The Club won the Northumberland Senior Cup six times in ten years. But it was in the Amateur Cup that Whitley rose to national prominence, reaching the semi-finals twice and the quarter finals four times. The quarter final against Hendon in 1965 set the ground record, when 7301 supporters packed into Hillheads Park only to see Hendon win 3-1. 1970’s The early 1970’s saw Bay’s successes continue with the League Cup being won in 1970/71, and the County Cup in 1970/71 and 197 2/73. With the demise of amateur football the Club’s fortunes took a nosedive, culminating in them having to apply for re-election to the League in 1979/80. 1980’s In 1987/88, with fortunes rising, the club joined the Northern Premier League. In 1989/90 the Bay had their best ever run in the FA Cup, when they reached the 3rd Round, going down 1-0 at Rochdale, after a 1-0 win at then League side Scarborough, and in the 2 nd Round defeating former winners Preston North End 2-0 in front of the BBC Match of the Day cameras. 1990’s The following season Whitley won not only the First Division Cup for the second time but also the Championship and promotion to the Premier Division. They finished in 11 th spot in the 1993/94 season, their best position in the Premier Division. A decline in fortunes followed during the later 90’s and in 2000 Whitley were relegated back to the Northern League. 2000’s A new century marked the beginning of the most successful period in the club’s history as they rose to national prominence wi th record breaking achievements in the FA Vase. The 2001/02 season proved to be one of the most memorable in the clubs’ history when in only the ir second season in the competition and against all expectations they won the FA Vase at Villa Park, thanks to a spectacular Ian Chandler head er in extra time against their Eastern League opponents Tiptree United. With expectations high, things didn’t go to plan the following season and only 12 months after leading the team to Vase glory, Manager Andy Gowens resigned. The appointment of Ian Chandler as Manager in January 2004 proved a masterstroke, with another Vase winner, Steve Cuggy returning as coach. Few could have imagined the unprecedented success that would follow in the next seven years. In Ian Chandler’s first full season in charge Whitley won the Northumberland Senior Cup and a respectable 5 th place in the league was also attained, but much more was to follow in 2006/07 which was a season to savour for the fans as Whitley won the league title on the final day of the season with a 3-1 win at Durham City. The honours didn’t end there as goalkeeper Terry Burke was named Northern League Player of the Ye ar with Lee Kerr the Young Player of the Year, while Ian Chandler took the Manager of the Year award. As the only club to score more than 100 league goals Whitley’s brand of exciting attacking play was a joy to watch. In 2007/08 the highlight of the season came in the FA Vase when Whitley reached the semi-final stage having beaten the holders and hot favourites Truro City 3-0 in Cornwall. Another long trip in the quarter-finals took them to Hungerford Town where they won 1-0. Disaster struck in the first leg of the semi final at Lowestoft where a 4-0 win for the Trawlermen made them firm favourites to go through but in a fantastic second leg Whitley were three up after only 24 minutes but could not manage a crucial fourth. Both legs were played in front of just over 2000 spectators. Off the field long serving Secretary Derek Breakwell was presented with the Arthur Clark Memorial Trophy for his services to the Northern League . 2008/09 was a season that Bay fans will never forget. The FA Vase once again took centre stage with Manchester side Abbey Hey being Whitley’s first opponents. The visitors went 2-0 up and only a late equaliser from Chris Moore took the game to extra time where Bay ran out 5-2 winners. Hard fought victories at Penrith and Bootle and then home wins against Stratford Town and Biggleswade Town took Whitley into the semi-final for the second year running where they were once again paired with Lowestoft. Bay had home advantage in the 1 st leg and in front of a crowd of 2,947 goals from Paul Chow and Lee Kerr gave them a 2-1 lead to take to Crown Meadow. In the 2 nd leg a capacity crowd of 2,250 saw Bay’s lead wiped out inside 3 minutes but an equaliser from Leon Ryan and a superb display from the whole team saw Whitley Bay become the firs t North East side to reach the new Wembley where their opponents were Glossop North End from the North West Counties League. And what an occasi on it was. With 12,212 fans in the stadium goals from Lee Kerr and Paul Chow (his 40 th of the season) brought the FA Vase back to Whitley Bay for the 2 nd time in 7 years. Lee Kerr also was voted the Man of the Match. 2009/10 was yet another memorable season with Whitley fighting on four fronts for honours. Despite fixture congestion countin g against them, they won the Northumberland Senior Cup at St James Park, defeating Ashington 2-1. They also reached the semi final of the League Cup and for a third successive season, they finished 3 rd in the league despite a backlog of fixtures due to the severe winter weather. But once again Wembley beckoned when after victories over Alsager, Boldmere, Poole, Chertsey, Shildon and an epic two legged semi final against Barwell, Whitley Bay reached the FA Vase Final for the third time and for the second successive season. This time their oppon ents were Wroxham from the Eastern Counties League. The thousands of fans who made the trip from the north east to Wembley were celebrating aft er only 21 seconds when Paul Chow scored the fastest goal ever seen in a Wembley Final. Wroxham equalised but Whitley’s lead was soon restored w hen a free kick was turned into his own net by a Wroxham defender. Lee Kerr's spectacular effort after just 50 seconds of the second half ens ured the Vase would be coming back to Whitley Bay for a record equalling third time. Further goals from Adam Johnston, Paul Robinson and Josh Gil lies completed the 6 -1 victory, the highest score in the history of the FA Vase Final. Paul Chow was also named Man of the Match.
2010’s 2010/11 again saw Whitley finish 3 rd in the league, but only goal difference denied them runners up spot. Could they make it three FA Vase wins in a row? It had never been done before and despite comfortable home victories over AFC Liverpool and Dunstable Town, several time s it took late goals to keep Whitley on course, notably at Herne Bay and Dunston. Inevitably, the semi final was drama packed, as two very l ate goals, the second in stoppage time, gave Whitley a crucial 2-1 lead to bring back from Poole Town. The return leg at Hillheads saw Poole take an early lead but a Paul Chow hat trick sent the Bay back to Wembley where Coalville Town gave Whitley their toughest test yet and an epic Final was d ecided by Paul Chow’s 86th minute winner as Whitley triumphed 3-2. Chow, who had scored in every round, and Kerr, had twice given Whitley the lead as they both set the remarkable record of scoring in three consecutive Vase Finals. A great display from keeper Terry Burke earned him the man of the match award on his last appearance of an outstanding career. And so Whitley Bay completed a record breaking hat trick of Vase successes and became the first team ever to win the trophy f our times. 2011/12 In November 2011, the Club was honoured with the award of the Freedom of the Borough of North Tyneside. After the tremendous achievements of recent years, last season was comparatively disappointing as Whitley finally relinquished their grip on the FA Vase. After comprehensive victories over Tadcaster, Bridlington and South Park, their record breaking 29 match unbeaten run i n the competition came to an end when a goal deep into stoppage time saw them suffer a 5 th Round defeat against West Auckland, who went on to reach the Final. In the league Whitley had to settle for 6 th place with Paul Chow scoring 33 goals, while Kyle Hayes was voted the League’s Young Player of the Year and Paul Robinson was runner up in the Player of the Year award. 2012/13 For the fifth time in six years, Whitley finished 3 rd in the League. They also reached the Northumberland Senior Cup Final. At an individual level, Paul Chow scored his 200th goal for the club on his way to a season’s total of 46 goals.
Tonight’s Visitors - Whitley Bay
A HISTORY OF WHITLEY BAY FOOTBALL CLUB 1950’s The present Whitley Bay Football Club was formed in 1950 and was known as Whitley Bay Athletic. From 1950 until 1955 Athletic were members of the Northern Alliance, winning the League Championship once and the League Cup twice. In 1952/53 they became the first amateu r team for sixty years to win the Northumberland Senior Cup. In 1958 a limited company was formed, the Athletic dropped from the title and the club joined the Northern League.