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Garforth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Garforth, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the Template:English football updater and play at Wheatley Park.
HistoryEdit
The club was established in 1964 as Miners Arms, a Sunday league team based at the pub from which they took their name.<ref name=H>History Garforth Town F.C.</ref> They joined the Elmet Sunday League, where they played until joining the Leeds Sunday Combination in 1972.<ref name=NCEL>Garforth Town Northern Counties East League</ref> In 1976 the club switched to Saturday football, joining the West Yorkshire League.<ref name=NCEL/> They applied to join the Yorkshire League for the following season, and after being advised that pub teams were not allowed in the league, adopted the name Garforth Miners.
In 1978 Garforth were elected to Division Three of the Yorkshire League.<ref name=FCHD1>Template:Fchd</ref> They finished second-from-bottom of the table in their first season, but were Division Three runners-up in 1979–80, earning promotion to Division Two. When the league merged with the Midland League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League, the club were placed in Division One North.<ref name=FCHD1/> In 1985 they were renamed again, becoming Garforth Town.<ref name=FCHD1/> League reorganisation saw them placed in Division Two in 1985 and they went on to finish as runners-up, earning promotion to Division One.<ref name=FCHD>Template:Fchd</ref> Although they were Division One runners-up in 1996–97, also winning the League Trophy,<ref name=NCEL/> the club were not promoted to the Premier Division. However, they were Division One champions the following season, and were promoted.<ref name=FCHD/> They also won the West Riding County Cup for the first time with a 1–0 win over Liversedge in the final.<ref name=H/> In 1999–2000 they both won the League Cup (beating Glapwell 3–1 in the final) and the West Riding County Cup (winning 2–0 against Eccleshill United in the final).<ref name=H/>
Garforth finished bottom of the Premier Division in 2001–02, but avoided relegation after Denaby United folded. However, the following season saw them finish bottom again, and they were relegated to Division One. In 2003 the club were taken over by Simon Clifford, who stated that his ambition was to take the club into the Football League.<ref>It will be freeview for everyone at Garforth Yorkshire Evening Post, 21 June 2007</ref> He took over as manager early in the 2004–05 season and made several high-profile signings, including Brazilian Sócrates (who made one appearance as a substitute)<ref>Garforth Town owner hails impact of Brazil's Socrates The Guardian, 5 December 2011</ref> and Lee Sharpe. They finished as Division One runners-up, earning promotion back to the Premier Division.<ref name=FCHD/> Another Brazilian, Careca, played for the club in a friendly that summer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2006–07 a fourth-place finish was enough to earn promotion to Division One North of the Northern Premier League.
In 2008–09 Garforth won the West Riding County Cup for a third time, beating Bradford Park Avenue in the final. They retained the cup the following season, defeating Barnoldswick Town in the final. In 2011–12 they finished fifth, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, but lost 4–1 on penalties to Curzon Ashton in the semi-finals after a 2–2 draw.<ref>2011–12 Northern Premier League Football Club History Database</ref> They were bought by former Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe in December 2012,<ref>Rupert Lowe makes football return Daily Echo, 17 December 2012</ref> but the 2012–13 season saw the club finish bottom of Division One North, resulting in relegation back to the Northern Counties East League.<ref name=FCHD/> Lowe left the club in 2015.<ref>Change of ownership at Garforth Northern Counties East League, 20 January 2015</ref>
In 2023–24 Garforth finished third in the Premier Division. In the subsequent play-offs they defeated Rossington Main on penalties in the semi-final and then beat Albion Sports on penalties in the final, earning promotion to Division One East of the Northern Premier League.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
GroundEdit
The club initially played on a council pitch in nearby Swillington as there were no facilities available in Garforth. When they joined the West Yorkshire League in 1976 they bought land at Brierlands Lane, a former council rubbish dump, to build a new ground.<ref name=H/> A clubhouse was built in 1991 and floodlights erected in 1995.<ref name=H/>
In 1998 they moved to Wheatley Park.<ref name=H/> The ground has a capacity of 3,000, of which 278 is seated and 200 covered.<ref name=NLCD2017/> The record attendance of 2,428 was set for a Northern Premier League Division One North match against Chester on 29 April 2011.<ref name=NLCD2017/>
HonoursEdit
- Northern Counties East League
- Division One champions 1997–98
- League Cup winners 1999–2000
- League Trophy winners 1996–97
- West Riding County Cup
- Winners 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2008–09, 2009–10<ref name=NCEL/>
RecordsEdit
- Best FA Cup performance: Second qualifying round, 1991–92, 1997–98, 2008–09<ref name=FCHD/>
- Best FA Trophy performance: First qualifying round, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12<ref name=FCHD/>
- Best FA Vase performance: Quarter-finals, 1985–86<ref name=FCHD/>
- Record attendance: 2,428 vs Chester, Northern Premier League Division One North, 29 April 2011<ref name=NLCD2017/>
- Most appearances: Philip Matthews, 1982–1993<ref name=NLCD>Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p398 Template:ISBN</ref>
- Most goals: Mark Simpson<ref>Garforth retain key quartet, including Simpson Non-League Yorkshire, 25 June 2019</ref>