Abbey Hulton United club history

Abbey Hulton United Football Club was formed 70 years

ago in 1947, making it one of the oldest clubs still playing

Saturday football in North Staffordshire.

During its very early days the club played on council land in the Abbey Hulton area.

It continued to use this facility for the first 15 years, despite the fact that the changing facilities were more than a mile away from the actual pitch.

In 1962 it was decided that the team should move to the park’s facility at Bucknall Park, which was complete with its own changing rooms and showers adjacent to the pitch what a luxury!

The team continued to use Bucknall Park for another 23 years until 1985.

During the period from 1947 to 1985, the team played in many local junior leagues such as:

 The Longton League

 Fenton and District League

 Burslem and Tunstall League

 Newcastle and District League

They graced all the above leagues with great distinction.

Over the years the club became more financially stable and grew in ambition.

Finally in 1985 they acquired a piece of land at Birches Head Road on which it was able to obtain a 99-year lease.

This is the club’s current address.

Immediately, a clubhouse was built containing a bar and changing rooms for both teams and officials.

At the same time, an outside five-a-side football facility was built, complete with floodlights.

Having moved to this new facility, the club opted to join the North Staffs Alliance League.

It competed in this league before seeking election to one of the top leagues in the area, the Staffs County League (North), in 1987.

The team played in this league and finally had a momentous season in 1997/98 by winning the league, the cup and also the

Fair Play Award all in one season.

Having achieved this feat, the club applied to join what is the top junior league in North Staffordshire, the Staffordshire County Senior League.

In the season 2016/17, Abbey Hulton United FC won the Leek Cup and were the Staffordshire County Premier League champions.

They felt that it was the right time to apply to go into the NWCFL. Major ground improvements had to be achieved to allow them to enter the League.

With great support from club members and local volunteers, this was achieved.

After all the hard work, they were proud to be accepted into the League, and finished a very respectable 13th in their first season, then 8th in the First Division South in 2018/19.

Following two Covid-19 disrupted seasons, Abbey Hulton finished 16th last season.

Abbey Hulton United Football Club is named after the Scheduled Monument of Hulton Abbey.

The abbey was founded by Henry de Audley in the early 13th century.

Throughout its life, the abbey was relatively small and poor with one of the lowest incomes of all Staffordshire religious houses.

The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538, with its land and assets being sold. Hulton Abbey was surrendered to the Crown on 18 September 1538, by which time it was worth only £200 per year and had only nine monks including the abbot. Little remains of the abbey today, but continued excavations have revealed the foundations of a number of the principal claustral buildings, as well as human burials.

In 1963, Hulton Abbey was designated a Scheduled Monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

However due to its poor condition it is considered Heritage at Risk.

The site is now owned and managed by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

In the Domesday Book, Hulton is recorded as ‘Heltone’, meaning ‘hill town’.