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The "Lawyers" were founded in 1890 and
became founder members of the Auckland and District League
in 1892. The following year they won the Durham Amateur Cup.
They first joined the Northern League in 1894, winning the
Durham Challenge Cup two years later. After leaving the
Northern League the Lawyers played in the South Durham
Alliance (1900 to 1905) and Crook and District League (1912
to 1914). After the war the club played in the Auckland and
District League until being readmitted to the Northern
League in 1920 where it has played ever since.
Until 1994/95 season the club had not won
the championship apart from two successive seasons 1923/24
and 1924/25. In between the League Cup was won in 1973/74
when Ashington were beaten 2-1 in the final at Crook. The
1994/95 League Championship win is a certainly an
outstanding memory for the club especially as it was won by
14 clear points.
The Lawyers finished second in the league
in the 1998/99 season.
Another outstanding memory was the
tremendous F.A. Cup run of 1967/68. Having reached the first
round Tow Law beat Mansfield 5-1 and in the second round
drew 1-1 with Shrewsbury at Ironworks Road. The Lawyers went
into the hat for the Third Round and drew a home tie with
Arsenal. Sadly it was not to be after they went down 6-2 at
Shrewsbury in the replay. Frank McGee reported after the
replay "Arsenal were saved from a fate worse than death - a
trip to Tow Law in January".
Peter Quigley and Tony Heslop took the Club
on it's first visit to Wembley was made on 9th May 1998 after a
tremendous F.A. Vase run. It was a splendid adventure which
sadly ended with a 1-0 defeat by Tiverton.
The Lawyers first ground was in Church Lane
but the present Ironworks Road ground was built by
volunteers during the miners strike of 1892/93. Ironically
it was rebuilt during another miners strike in 1921. Today
the much improved state of the ground is down to the regular
work which has been done since 1921 by many hardworking
bands of voluntary labour. A major scare occurred early in
the 2004/05 season, the playing surface was struck by
subsidence, rendering it unplayable. The Club was forced to
ground share at Esh Winning for the remainder of the season,
whist repairs were carried out by the Coal Board.
Continuity at the club was provided by the
longest serving trio of officials in the League, Chairman
Harry Hodgson, Treasurer Harry Dixon and Club Secretary
Bernard Fairbairn who followed his father and grandfather
into the job.) They had over 100 years service between them.
Harry Hodgson stood down as Chairman at the end of the 95/96
season but is still a member of the committee. At the end of
1997 Harry Dixon also stood down but stayed on as the Club
President until his death in 2002. Harry Hodgson took over
as President. Their places have been taken over by John
Flynn as Chairman and Kevin McCormick as Treasurer. Bernard
Fairbairn continued as Secretary until 2007, having been in
the post since 1961 – at grand total of 46 years (“A
prisoner would get less for murder.”) Steve Moralee took on
the role of Club Secretary.
During 2004, John Flynn stood down as Club
Chairman. Harry Hodgson again showed his devotion to the
Club, returning as Chairman for 1 last year. Following the
2004/05 season, Harry Hodgson took a well deserved
retirement from the Club. His replacement, Sandra Gordon
becomes the first female Chair at the Club and only the
third in the long history of the League.
Billy Hall who played for Blackpool and
Manchester City returned to Tow Law after his playing days
and became the teams trainer. He remained a staunch
supporter until he died in January 2000, aged 98. He had
been the Northern Leagues and the Football Leagues oldest
surviving player. Billy was a member of the League
Championship teams in the 1920s. In recent times the Lawyers
most famous player was the England International Chris Waddle who transferred to Newcastle
in 1980.
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TOW LAW TOWN FC
