Glossop North End Association Football Club is a football club in Glossop, Derbyshire, England, which competes in the . The club was founded in February 1886. Between 1899 and 1992 the club was officially known as Glossop. The team's current home ground, since 1955, is at Surrey Street in Glossop; the colour of their home kit is blue, and they are nicknamed the Hillmen (previously also as the Peakites).
Four years after its formation the club joined the North Cheshire League for three seasons and was league champion in 1893–94. It then spent two seasons each in The Combination and the Midland League.
Between 1898 and 1915 the club was a member of the Football League. The team played in the First Division for one season, 1899–1900, making the town of Glossop the smallest whose team has played in the English top flight. During this period the club chairman and benefactor was Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, who later became chairman of Arsenal.
In the 1914–1915 season Glossop finished bottom of Division Two and was not re-elected to the Football League. Following the resumption of football in 1919 after the First World War and through to 2015, Glossop played at various times in several north-west-England–based non-League competitions: the Lancashire Combination, the Manchester League (in which they were 1927–28 champions), the Cheshire County League, and the latter's successor the North West Counties League (in which they were 2014–15 champions). Following promotion in 2015 the club played in the north-of-England–based Northern Premier League until relegation in 2023 when it dropped back to the North West Counties League.
Glossop North End were beaten finalists in the FA Vase in both 2009 and 2015.
History
Formation and early years Glossop North End were founded in 1886, playing friendly amateur matches. They used several grounds in the town, including Cemetery Road, Pyegrove, Hall Street, Silk Street and Water Lane before, in 1898, settling at North Road.
The club joined the North Cheshire League in 1890 and were league champions in the 1893–94 season. In 1894 they switched league to the Combination at which time they turned professional. In their first season in the Combination, 1894–95, they finished runners-up to Ashton North End by one point; the club won their last eight matches with an aggregate score of 23–3, and conceded only nineteen goals over their complete twenty match programme. The following season the team again were tight defensively, conceding thirteen goals in fourteen matches, but a relative lack of goalscoring (compared to the other leading teams) saw them finish the season third in the eight team division. After two seasons in the Combination the club moved on to the Midland League – in which they also played for two seasons: in the first of which they were runners-up to Doncaster Rovers in the 1896–97 season, and then ninth in the reduced twelve team division the next season. In the FA Cup competition of 1896–97 the club won through three qualifying rounds before being defeated in the first round proper 5–2 by Football League First Division club Stoke.
1898–1914: The Football League
In 1898, as a result of the expansion of the Football League and the funding provided by chairman and benefactor Sir Samuel Hill-Wood (who was later to become chairman of Arsenal), Glossop North End were elected to the Second Division for the 1898–99 season. That season they were divisional runners-up to Manchester City and won promotion to the Football League First Division.
The club changed their name to Glossop (primarily to avoid any confusion with Preston North End) before spending their only season, 1899–1900, in the league's top flight. They finished in last place in the division (with a W4; D10; L20 record) and were relegated back to the Second Division; the four matches they won were all at home, against Aston Villa (who were that season's league champions), Blackburn, Burnley and Nottingham Forest.
Glossop spent the next fifteen seasons in the Second Division. During this period the club reached an FA Cup high point reaching the quarter-finals in 1908–09 where they were beaten 1–0 in a replay by eventual finalists Bristol City. The club finished in the top half of the table in their first two seasons back in the Second Division, (1901 and 1902). However, over most of the remaining seasons (apart from two top half finishes in 1909 and 1910) the club were perennial strugglers in the division. On three occasions in 1904, 1912 and 1913 they only remained members of the league following re-election. During the 1913–14 season a club record home attendance of 10,736 was established on 31 January 1914 in an FA Cup second round match against Preston North End.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005, Yore Publications, p93, Over the following 1914–15 season the club recorded their worst Second Division performance, (W6; D6; L26), finished bottom of the division and had to apply for re-election. The next season was delayed following the suspension of normal League football owing to World War I. Glossop were re-formed toward the end of the war by local dignitary Oswald Partington, but failed to be re-elected back into the Football League on its resumption in 1919–20.
1919–82: Lancashire Combination, Manchester League and Cheshire League
Glossop subsequently joined the Lancashire Combination (in which their reserve team had played prior to the war) for a single season, 1919–20, in which they finished thirteenth of the eighteen teams competing. Northern Nomads ground-shared with Glossop for several years during this time.
The club then dropped to the Manchester League in which they played until 1957 (except for the 1951–52 season). In the 1920s and 1940s Glossop were a leading club in the league: they were Manchester League champions in 1927–28 (with a W24; D5; L3 record), runners-up on multiple occasions and regularly finished towards the top of the table. Additionally the club won the Gilgryst Cup on four occasions: 1922–1923; 1929–1930, when they defeated Rochdale Reserves 5–1; in 1934–1935 by defeating Manchester United "A" 2–1; and in a replayed final in 1949 when Stalybridge Celtic were defeated. In the 1935–1936 FA Cup, having started at the preliminary round, Glossop reached the fourth qualifying round where they were defeated 4–2 by Kells United – this is to date (2024) the furthest the club has progressed in the FA Cup since being members of the Football League.
In August 1951, after failing to agree terms for the rental of their North Road ground with Glossop Cricket Club the club temporarily withdrew from the league. The club rejoined the Manchester League in 1952 playing at the Vol Crepe sports ground. During the 1950s the club recorded mid to lower finishes in the league tables – which included a bottom position over the 1952–53 season. During 1955 the club moved to their current ground on Surrey Street; the first match played at their new home was on 17 September 1955, a 2–1 win in a Manchester League match versus Radcliffe Borough. After a sixth placed finish in the Manchester League over the 1956–57 season – the club's highest position in seven playing seasons – Glossop rejoined the Lancashire Combination in 1957 as members of Division Two. They spent nine seasons, until 1966, as members of the division generally recording mid table finishes: highs of fourth in both 1959–60 and 1965–66 (their final season in the league) and a low of thirteenth from seventeen teams in 1964–65.
In 1966 Glossop returned to the Manchester League as members of the newly named Premier Division. Over the next twelve seasons in the division the club recorded mostly mid-table positions in the final tables; a high of third in the 1966–67 season; and lows of tenth from thirteen teams in 1968–69 and thirteenth from eighteen teams in their final season in the league of 1977–78. During this period for three seasons commencing 1971–72 the club competed in the FA Trophy competition but did not progress beyond the first qualifying round; then from 1974–75 they played in the newly founded FA Vase and in that season were knocked-out 4–2 by Middlewich Athletic in the third round (last 64 teams).
The club joined the Cheshire County League in 1978 as members of the newly formed Division Two finishing in 17th position (from 18 teams). During that season in January 1979 it was reported that manager Derek Partridge, who had joined the club that season, had been awarded a five year contract; under his guidance the club reached their highest point to date in the Derbyshire Senior Cup in 1978–79, losing a semi-final tie 3–0 to (eventual cup winners) Heanor Town. However, league form continued to be poor during the first part of the following season (W3; D2; L6) with the club towards the foot of the table and in December 1979 he left the club. His replacement, Brian Grundy, steered the club to a seventh placed finish in the 79–80 season
Under manager Grundy in 1980–81 Glossop were Division Two runners-up and thereby qualified for promotion to Division One. They were pipped to the title on goal difference by Accrington Stanley who additionally defeated Glossop 1–0 to win the Division Two Challenge Shield. Also the club equalled its best performance to date in the FA Vase being beaten in the third round 3–0 by Norton Woodseats. During the season the club, which had purchased their Surrey Street ground reportedly for £5,000 from the local council, improved the ground and facilities to fulfil the ground grading requirements for acceptance into Division One; also the club organisation had become a limited company. In the higher division over the 1981–82 season Glossop conceded only thirty goals, the best defensive record in the division, but a relative lack of goals scored (compared to other leading teams) led to nineteen drawn results of thirty-eight matches played and a sixth placed league finish.
1982–2015: North West Counties League The Cheshire County League merged with the Lancashire Combination in 1982 to form the North West Counties Football League and Glossop became founder members of Division One. During their first four seasons in the league the club struggled, barely keeping above the relegation positions. In their first season in the league of 1982–83 the club suffered a cash crisis during which players were not paid and departed the club: the club won three of their first ten league matches (W3; D2; L5) after which they won only three more from the remaining twenty-eight (W3; D9; L16) and finished the season eighteenth of the twenty clubs in the division. The club returned to playing in the FA Trophy from 1982–83 and recorded their best performance to date, being eliminated in the second qualifying round by Rhyl. The effect of the cash crisis continued into the next season. Manager Grundy left the club in December 1983 with the club at mid table; prior to his departure the club reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup where they were beaten 3–2 by Frickley Athletic – the furthest round reached in the competition by the club since reaching the fourth qualifying round in the 1935–1936 season. He was replaced by his assistant Tony Webber, and under him the club's league ranking faded to fifteenth (from twenty clubs) at the end of the 1983–84 season; and then sixteenth and eighteenth over the following two seasons. In the latter, the 1985–86 season, during the latter 1986 calendar year part of the season the club did not win until being victorious in their last two matches of the season which enabled them to escape relegation. At the end of the season manager Webber left the club and was replaced by David Yarwood.