Association Football Club St. Austell is a football club based in St Austell, Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. They play in the Western League Premier Division.

AFC St. Austell
Full nameAssociation Football Club St. Austell
Nickname(s)The Lillywhites
Founded1890; 134 years ago (1890)
GroundPoltair Park
St Austell
ChairmanJason Powell
ManagerMark Ferguson Smith
Assistant manager Steve Wheatly
Coaches
Simon Parnell and Phil Dingle
LeagueWestern League Premier Division
2023–24South West Peninsula League Premier Division West, 1st of 17 (promoted)

History

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A.F.C St Austell were among the founding members of the South Western League in 1951. In over 50 years they claimed the title once, in 1968–69, and achieved four runner-up spots between 1963 and 1973. They remained in their original competition until 2007 when they joined the newly formed South West Peninsula League Division One West. In 2009–10 season A.F.C. St Austell gained promotion to the South West Peninsula Premier League by finishing runners up. A second success since came in the 2014–15 season when the club were crowned champions; their first league trophy since 1968–69 season.

They have played intermittently in the FA Competitions over the decades. Their best performance in the FA Cup dates back to 1947–48 when they made the third qualifying round, while in the FA Vase their most successful is the 2014–15 season, where the club reached the semi-finals, losing 2–1 on aggregate to Glossop North End.[1] They also won the league and cup double.

In 2012, floodlights were installed on the ground, enabling the club to compete once again in the FA Cup and FA Vase tournaments.

In 2015 the club applied to take the step to the next tier of football but due to a failed ground inspection the application was denied by the FA.

2016 saw the team lift the league Cup.

2018-2019 saw the side come 5th level on points with Saltash and make the League Cup quarter final and the Senior Cup semi final. They also made it to 4th round of the FA Vase losing to eventual winners Chertsey Town.

To the start of the new 2019 -2020 season the club appoint Lee Hodges and Chris Todd as 1st Team Manager and Assistant Manager who left prior to the season starting and were replaced by St Austell favourites Chris Knight and James Powell for their 2nd spell managing the club.

The 2019 -2020 season was cut short from the world pandemic of Coronavirus, the season was declared null and void. They were in 2nd place at the time.

Mark Ferguson-Smith and Steve Wheatley were made the new manager and coach for the 2020 - 2021 season.

Season history

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Season Division Position Notes
2000–01 South Western League 16th
2001–02 South Western League 19th
2002–03 South Western League 18th
2003–04 South Western League 6th
2004–05 South Western League 9th
2005–06 South Western League 17th
2006–07 South Western League 18th
2007–08 South West Peninsula League West Division 16th
2008–09 South West Peninsula League West Division 3rd
2009–10 South West Peninsula League West Division 2nd Promoted to Premier Division
2010–11 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 10th
2011–12 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 8th
2012–13 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 4th
2013–14 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 9th
2014–15 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 1st
2015-16 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 2nd
2016-17 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 4th
2017-18 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 6th
2018-19 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 5th
2019-20 South West Peninsula League Premier Division 2nd

Ground

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A.F.C. St Austell play their home games at Poltair Park, Trevarthian Road, St Austell, Cornwall, PL25 4LR. www.afcstaustell.co.uk. The ground was previously known as Tregonissey Road.

Honours

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League honours

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Cup honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Glossop's 10 men reach Vase Final despite St Austell loss". The FA. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Carlsberg South West Peninsula Football League – Honours". Swpleague.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
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50°20′30.24″N 4°47′08.93″W / 50.3417333°N 4.7858139°W / 50.3417333; -4.7858139