Hanley Town - Potteries Park

Hanley Town FC

Potteries Park

Abbey Lane

Bucknall

Stoke-on-Trent 

ST2 8AJ

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1385

Friday 24th January 2025

Hanley Town 0-2 Vauxhall Motors

NPL D1 West

HANLEY TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Although various versions of Hanley Town can be traced back to 1882, the current club was established in 1966, following England's World Cup win. It was born out of a pub team called The Trumpet, an establishment on Parliament Row, torn down in the 1980s to make room for the present-day McDonalds. They won the Longton League in their first season before moving to the Staffordshire County League. They won Division 2 in 1968 and Division 1 in 1969 to make it three titles in their first three years. Following three runners-up spots in the Premier Divison, they won the title in 1973 & 1976. They then joined the Mid-Cheshire League Division 2, winning promotion to Division 1 in 1978 following a 3rd place finish. Hanley Town were league champions in 1982 but finished bottom in 1994.

After going back to recreational football for a couple of years, they rejoined the Mid-Cheshire League in 1996, staying for a couple of seasons in Division 2. In 1998 they joined the Midland League which they won in 2006. A merger with the Staffordshire County League then happened and Hanley won the newly formed Staffordshire County Senior League in its inaugural season.  After finishing as runners-up in 2007 & 2011 before winning the title in 2012 & 2013. After years of being unable to take promotion due to lack of facilities, they were finally able to take promotion to the North West Counties League in 2013. After two 4th-place finishes, the club won Division 1 in 2016. Following five seasons in the Premier Divison, they moved sideways to the Midland Premier in 2021 which they won in their first season. They've been in the NPL D1 West ever since.

Hanley Town have reached the 3rd Qualifying Round twice, taking National North sides to a replay - Brackley Town in 2021 and Chester in 2022. They've also reached the same stage of the FA Trophy on two occasions. In the FA Vase, 2020 saw their best run as they beat Eccleshall, Deeping Rangers and Loughborough University before losing to Long Easton United in the 3rd Round. Local competitions won include the Staffordshire County Senior League Cup in 2013, four Mid-Cheshire League Cups and the Staffordshire County League Premier Cup in 1970. Famous players to have turned out for Hanley Town include Ricardo Fuller and Ryan Shotton with the latter being player-manager. The record attendance for the club came earlier this season when 1,750 turned up for a friendly against Wrexham.

They initially played on a pitch on Victoria Road which was leased from the Copestick & Farrell engineering company. Changing rooms were built at the site once the club joined the Staffordshire County League. However, the club was forced to leave the Victoria Road ground in 1971 when developers took over the site and moved to Eastwood Hanley's Trentmill Road ground. However, when Eastwood Hanley attempted to increase the rent in 1974, the club relocated to Leek Town's Harrison Park. They played there until 1976 when the club moved to its current Potteries Park ground. Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. The town is the main business, commercial and cultural hub of the wider Potteries area. It has a population of just over 20,500 and the most famous person from the area was footballer Stanley Matthews.

MY VISIT

This was decided in September while we were at the reverse fixture. We had a good time that night in good company but crazily Hanley Town was the nearest ground in the top eight levels of English football that I had not done. I'd rather have stayed overnight but Colin was keen to get back for Bath City v Chesham United. It was just about doable concerning the drive home after as I was only going to Wycombe the next day. The only thing that could stop us was the weather. When I looked earlier in the week, it was looking OK with thankfully no return to the frozen temperatures we have had recently, and not too much rain.

Monday wasn't the best start to the week as I awoke sleepy despite a full night's sleep. Then, when I got to work, I discovered the earbuds were missing out of their case, a pain as they were one of the better pairs I've owned, even though they were only a few quid on Ali Express. I've got spares as they go missing quite often. Dropped in a crowd coming out of Wycombe Wanderers v Bolton Wanderers, left on a bus in Belfast, dropped in Downham somewhere or two pairs accidentally put through the washing machine, I've found that cheap is perfectly decent and certainly less painful than if I lost a ridiculously overpriced Apple pair. In the end, though, I found them on my bedroom floor. I started looking towards the South West Hop although trying to organise things with Colin was like trying to play I Spy with Stevie Wonder. With a lot of the hotel prices obscene and many non-refundable, I went for a Premier Inn for £93 for one night. A lot more than was ideal but with free cancellation and no need to pay until we arrived.

 

On Tuesday, it was an hour's walk each way to Penn & Tylers Green for their game against Brook House. The hosts won 4-0 to return to the top of the league. It was quite enjoyable but I was tired the next day. I did my research for my planned visit to Hanley on Friday, However, by the time I finished it, the weather warnings had been 'upgraded' to look a lot worse. I just hoped an early decision would be made if there were any issues. Thursday saw the Hanley Town Twitter account come back to life after weeks of hibernation and also the news that internet issues meant it would likely be cash only. From what I heard, the club was not in the best place, but the chairman had recently been changed. An upcoming yellow weather warming threatened to ruin our plans, but there was no indication of a postponement. Just in case I had an England U18 game at Hednesford as backup, a revisit and not the greatest game but better than a wasted journey.

 

The day of the game came and it was work as usual. I got petrol and cash before work, before finishing at 1, and I had 90 minutes at home. I again explored flights for mid-March but found nothing satisfactory. I fancied Dublin and had seen a good price. But they only played on Friday and flights were very limited to go elsewhere on Saturday morning. I also looked at what point we had to come off to make a diversion to Hednesford and was disappointed by the greed of the local council when looking at parking in Hanley itself - hardly encouraging people to visit with 24/7 charges. Colin's bus was delayed, so it was 3.20 by the time I left. Thames Water and Cadent, the usual roadwork merchants were out in force and it was nearly 4 by the time we got out of Wycombe. Thankfully, the rest of the journey was great, aside from a small delay on the M6, it was plain sailing. We were in Hanley at 6.25, thankfully finding some street parking which stopped charging at 7. I decided to chance the five minutes paying a quid up until 6.55. It was a five-minute walk to the Reginald Mitchell Wetherspoons for my annual Caledonian Burger. A nice pub, though no box cider, not that I needed it. The burger was excellent and the service was great. From there it was a ten-minute drive to the ground with us parking outside. It was nice to see Paul Non-League Rover and have a chat pre-match. Sadly, there were no oatcakes though the food did look excellent. And the storm that the Met Office warned us about - thankfully absent.

I'd seen the reverse fixture on Merseyside, with the hosts triumphing 3-1. Hanley Town were second-bottom and had not won in six games. Vauxhall Motors were in 3rd but could move top with their games in hand. They were unbeaten in five and had won their last four. It was great to see Kevin Ellison lining up for the visitors at the ripe old age of 45. Sadly never played for Wycombe but a thorn in our side a few times. It was a fiery game with plenty of hard tackles, and Vauxhall was not surprisingly on top. Nick Rushton bundled home on 37 minutes to give them a deserved lead. Hanley were better in the second half, they saw a lot of the ball but created few chances. The game was sealed on 58 minutes when Connor Rankin headed home from a corner. Hanley did force a few saves from the keeper but it was too little, too late. The attendance of 175 was a positive for them though, the highest of the season outside of the Staffordshire derbies. It just proves that Friday night-football works. It was a good drive home with me dropping off Colin at 12.20 and getting home 20 minutes later.

THE GROUND

POTTERIES PARK is a decent venue for the level;. It has cover on all four sides comprising of around 200 seats and 500 standing spaces. The overall capacity is around 2000. A good selection of food and drink is available at decent prices although I saw no merchandise. The ground has parking for players and officials but there is plenty for fans outside. I am unsure of public transport but the ground is in Bucknall. The town of Hanley is 40 minutes walk or 10 minutes drive away and has a Wetherspoons amongst other places.