Bishop Auckland Football Club

It all started when theological students from Oxford and Cambridge University whilst studying at Auckland Castle, home of the Bishop of Durham in Bishop Auckland; formed a team known as Bishop Auckland Church Institute in 1882. A later dispute caused a breakaway team called Auckland Town to be formed in 1886/87 and it was from this upheaval that Bishop Auckland Football Club was eventually born. Eight days after its formation, the club chose royal blue with white facings and subsequently the light and dark blue colours of the original Church Institute representing the colours of Oxbridge.            

Bishop Auckland were founder members of the Northern League (NL) in 1889 but left the League after its first season before returning in 1893. Between 1893 and 1988 the club won the NL 18 times.

Following the tragic Munich air crash of 1958, three Bishop Auckland men went to assist Manchester United. They were Derek Lewin, Warren Bradley and Bobby Hardisty, who all played in United's Central league side in March that year. Bradley (an England amateur international) not only became a regular in United's 1^st team but also went on to play at full international level.

 

In the FA Amateur Cup, the Bishops record was without equal. They were in the final 18 times, winning the cup on ten occasions including a record three times in a row in 1955, 1956 and 1957. The club were also semi-finalists on 27 occasions. When the competition ceased in 1974, the club was presented with a replica of the Amateur Cup in recognition of its outstanding record.

In the FA Cup the Bishops had memorable fights against Preston North End, Burnley, Wolves, Sheffield United and other league clubs. The best run in the competition was in 1954/55 when, after beating Kettering Town 5-1 (Home), Crystal Palace 4-2 (Away) and Ipswich Town 3-0 (home) after a 2-2 draw in East Anglia, they were defeated 3-1 by York City in a thrilling 4^th round replay.

In 1988, almost a century after first joining the Northern League the club decided to enter the pyramid system via the Northern Premier League

Off the pitch the club formed itself into a limited company in 1997 but the key issue as the new century dawned was the Club's intent to move from its old home at Kingsway to a new site in St Helens Auckland on the outskirts of Bishop Auckland. Although the 'move' had been initially mooted in 1993, by the end of 2001 the club was no nearer to achieving that objective and at the end of the 2001-02 season the Club finally left its spiritual home.

After spells at Shildon (twice,) Spennymoor and West Auckland the Club is set to return home as the new ground in Stadium Way opening in October 2010.