Wikipedia

Crowle Colts F.C.

Crowle Colts Football Club is an English football club based in Crowle, Lincolnshire. They are currently members of the Northern Counties East League Division One and play at Windsor Park.

Crowle Colts FC
Full nameCrowle Colts Football Club
NicknameThe Colts
Founded1992
GroundWindsor Park, Crowle
ChairmanRobbie Pender
ManagerGav Cooper
LeagueNorthern Counties East League Division One
2025–26Northern Counties East League Division One, 10th of 22

History

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Crowle Teams prior to Crowle United

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Pre–World War II, there were three main football clubs in Crowle: Crowle Brickworks, Crowle Institute, and Crowle Town. After the war, the Sun Engineering side was formed and became the main team in Crowle. It had a secondary team named Axholme Wanderers, which was formed for younger players who had played football only intermediately during the war. All of these sides competed in the Scunthorpe League.

Crowle United

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In 1966, Crowle Sports, the reformed Sun Engineers side, unexpectedly resigned from the Scunthorpe League a week prior to the start of the season.[1] As a result, all of the remaining Crowle Sports players joined Axholme Wanderers, which left just one main football team in Crowle. Ahead of the 1967–68 season, Axholme Wanderers side reformed as Crowle United. United went on to have great local success, with their most notable achievement coming in the 1970–71 season when they completed a treble, being crowned champions of the Scunthorpe League, as well as winning the Scunthorpe Challenge Cup and the Lincolnshire FA County Junior Cup. In 1973, United joined the Lincolnshire League. They would go on to compete in the league for seventeen seasons, before leaving it at the end of the 1988–89 season due to ground issues, having left their Potts Lane ground to play at North Axholme School, which was deemed unsuitable.

Formation of Crowle Colts

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In 1992 a junior football club was formed named Crowle Colts, a name that had been used in previous years for junior sides in crowle. In 1996 after an emmergency meeting in Crowle that saw most of Uniteds committee step down Crowle United folded, and the following year, two new clubs were formed: Crowle United Junior Colts who alligned with the Crowle Colts junior side, and Crowle FC, the latter of which took Crowle United’s place in Division One of the Scunthorpe League. The two ultimately decided to merge in 1999, resulting in the formation of Crowle's current team: Crowle Colts.

Crowle Colts began life in Division Five of the Scunthorpe League in the 1997–98 season, and with the exception of three seasons in the Gainsborough and District League in the early 2000s, the club stayed in the Scunthorpe League until 2018.

At the start of the 2018–19 season, the Colts left the Scunthorpe League after being crowned champions and joined the Central Midlands Football League.[2] They secured successive promotions the following season, narrowly missing out on the title only on goal difference. In the 2022–23 season, after three seasons in the Central Midlands League, the club joined the Lincolnshire League, following in the footsteps of the Crowle United side that had left the league 33 years prior. That season saw the Colts match Crowle United’s best ever finish in the Lincolnshire League. The 2023–24 campaign saw that record surpassed, as the Colts finished runners-up to Nettleham despite scoring a record-breaking 149 league goals. They also won the Lincolnshire FA County Junior Cup that season for the first time in 53 years.

Joining the Football pyramid

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In the 2024–25 season, Crowle Colts were promoted to the Northern Counties East League Division One for the first time, after finishing second in the Lincolnshire League. They won the Lincolnshire FA County Junior Cup again that season, completing back-to-back triumphs in the competition.[3]

In their first season in the Northern Counties East League Crowle had a mixed season that left them finishing 10th. A good start to the season saw them in the Playoff positions at the halfway point but a tough 2026 saw them lose 7 games in a row from December to February and drop out of the play off picture and end the season in mid table. Following the successful first season in the league Crowle kept their place and will compete in the Northern Counties East League again in the 2026-27 season.

Crowle also took part in the FA Vase for the first time in 2025. After winning their first qualifying round game against Maine Road they defeated League champions Dearne and District in the second qualifying round before they travelled to Rossington Main losing 3-1.

Ground

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Crowle Colts' home ground is Windsor Park, which is located on Godnow Road in Crowle. It was opened by then-Scunthorpe United manager Brian Laws in September 2005. The ground has a maximum capacity of around 500 and is equipped with floodlights, fencing, a pavilion, and other facilities. In October 2025, a 50-seater stand was added to the ground.

The majority of the various Crowle teams of the past played their football at the Sunfield Sports Ground (later renamed Crowle Sports Club), which was located on Potts Lane, Crowle. It closed in 1989 and United moved to North Axholme School, which required the club to resign from the Lincolnshire League, as it was deemed below the league's standards. Crowle Colts initially played at the school before moving to Windsor Park when it was opened in 2005.

Club players and staff

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Players

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Position Player
GK Zach Beedle
Ellis Spencer
DF Kieran Atkin
Sam Goodhand
Brandon McClurey
Tom Moulds
Lee Ridley
Alex Stenhouse
Jordan Welch
Jack Wilkins
MF Matthew Allison
Henry Cook
Matty Fletcher
Alfie Fudge
Tom Garner
MF Lewis Greathead
Kian Humphriss
Fabian Orczyk
Ashton Short
Matthew Steeper
Jaime Ture
Elliott Vasalo
FW Declan Bacon
Lewis Graham
Joe Hare
Ben Johnson
Kurt Robinson

Staff

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Position Name
Manager Gav Cooper
Assistant Manager Ben Simpson
Coach Alex Stenhouse
Physiotherapist Jude Day
Chairman Robbie Pender
Secretary Oliver Saxon
Programme Editor/Club Historian Gareth Parkin
Social Media Ian McCluskey
Groundsman Malcolm Staniforth

Honours

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Crowle United


Crowle Colts

League positions

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Crowle United

Year League Division Finish P W D L GF GA PTS
1967–68 Scunthorpe & District Football League Three 2nd 26 19 3 4 105 37 41
1968–69 Two 3rd 26 17 3 7 95 47 37
1969–70 5th 24 10 6 8 76 72 26
1970–71 One 1st 26 18 4 4 77 37 40
1971–72 1st 26 23 1 2 89 35 47
1972–73 Lincolnshire Football League 1st 28 19 3 6 82 36 41
1973–74 Premier 13th 28 9 4 15 44 66 22
1974–75 5th 26 11 7 8 43 33 29
1975–76 4th 30 16 4 10 67 39 36
1976–77 5th 28 14 3 11 69 60 31
1977–78 3rd 26 14 3 9 56 37 31
1978–79 9th 30 13 3 14 48 44 29
1979–80 3rd 26 14 6 6 43 30 34
1980–81 9th 30 13 4 13 49 44 30
1981–82 8th 30 15 3 12 48 43 33
1982–83 9th 30 11 8 11 42 53 30
1983–84 8th 34 12 10 12 62 56 34
1984–85 6th 32 14 8 10 54 42 36
1985–86 10th 32 13 5 14 43 48 31
1986–87 7th 26 10 7 9 40 52 27
1987–88 5th 32 14 8 10 53 39 36
1988–89 3rd 28 16 8 4 78 31 56
1989–90 Scunthorpe & District Football League One 2nd 24 17 5 2 62 19 39
1990–91 2nd 24 18 1 5 61 25 37
1991–92 8th 20 6 1 13 23 40 13
1992–93 9th 18 4 0 14 22 54 8
1993–94 6th 20 7 6 7 48 34 20
1994–95 9th 24 9 4 11 34 51 22
1995–96 6th 24 11 3 10 61 39 25


Crowle Colts

Year League Division Finish P W D L GF GA PTS Notes
1997–98 Scunthorpe & District Football League Five 2nd 22 16 2 4 80 36 50
1998–98 Four 5th 20 9 5 6 69 40 32
1999–2000 6th 18 6 5 7 38 51 23
2000–01 One 6th 20 9 5 6 72 46 32 Merged with Crowle FC
2001–02 Gainsborough & District League 10th 20 3 1 16 30 83 10
2002–03 Two 6th 22 9 3 10 42 38 30
2003–04 7th 22 11 2 9 38 36 35
2004–05 Scunthorpe & District Football League Three 3rd 22 15 4 3 95 29 49
2005–06 Two 2nd 22 16 4 2 74 21 52
2006–07 One 4th 22 12 2 8 52 48 38
2007–08 Three 4th 22 16 3 5 64 32 48
2008–09 Two 3rd 26 13 8 5 63 37 50
2009–10 4th 18 8 5 5 36 25 29
2010–11 One 8th 20 7 3 10 39 46 24
2011–12 9th 18 4 4 10 30 38 16
2012–13 9th 18 2 3 13 17 55 9
2013–14 Two 5th 18 7 4 7 35 38 25
2014–15 9th 16 3 1 12 25 48 10
2015–16 1st 14 14 0 0 79 10 42
2016–17 One 2nd 14 9 1 4 40 23 28
2017–18 1st 18 15 1 2 72 18 46
2018–19 Central Midlands Alliance League One North 2nd 20 17 1 2 42
2019–20 Premier North 9th 17 6 2 9 20 League suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 12th 5 2 0 3 6
2021–22 8th 32 13 5 14 44
2022–23 Lincolnshire Football League Premier 3rd 34 21 6 7 71
2023–24 2nd 32 23 5 4 74
2024–25 2nd 24 18 5 1 59
2025–26 Northern Counties East Football League One 10th 42 18 5 19 67 75 59

References

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