Clay Cross Town F.C.

Clay Cross Town

Full name	Clay Cross Town Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Millers
Founded	1989 (as Parkhouse FC)
Ground	The Mill Lane Ground
Chairman	Michael Golding
Manager	Ant Lynam
League	Central Midlands League South Division
2015–16	Central Midlands League South Division, 12th

Clay Cross Town Football Club is an English football club based in Clay Cross, Derbyshire. The club plays in the Central Midlands League South Division.

History

Formed in 1989 as Parkhouse F.C., the club joined the Central Midlands Football League in 2007.^[1] They won promotion from the Premier Division to the Supreme Division in 2010, and upon the league's restructuring a year later were placed in the North Division.

In the summer of 2012 the club was renamed Clay Cross Town F.C., meaning they would be the third club to take such a name - the first and second had both played in the FA Cup over a century earlier.^[2]

NICKNAME

The club adopted the nickname 'The Millers' in 2012 to link their Mill Lane location with the club.

THE CLUB CREST

The new club crest was created by secretary, Dave Clark on 19 March 2012 with a slight amendment made on 12 April 2012 (the gold four link chain replaced the Latin phrase ‘Eo Ire Itum’) to meet the requirements of all the committee members.

The badge, circular in design is to symbolise the continuity of the club and with no end envisaged. The wording - Clay Cross Town Football Club is self explanatory to identify the club with the parent town. The centre is dominated by a simple castellated structure that depicts the north portal of the Clay Cross Tunnel that is of Moorish design and now a Grade 2 listed building. This is a direct link to the driving of the Clay Cross Tunnel that was completed in 1839 with the loss of 15 lives during its construction and which unveiled rich seams of coal and iron. The excavation of these minerals turned Clay Cross from a small village into a thriving industrial town. The sky blue fill of the crest is in keeping with the club colours of sky blue. MMX11 is the new year of formation in roman numerals selected rather than the original Clay Cross Club at the end of the 19th century. Finally, as mentioned above, the four links which have been carried forward from the former club crest to remind the club of its past history as Parkhouse FC and the four trustees of 1993. For the first time they have been shown with a gilt finish to commemorate their importance and to forever remember their place in the formative years.

THE MILL LANE GROUND

The ground was purchased from a local landowner by four club trustees in 1993 for the sum of £8,000. Those trustees were Dave Clark, Michael Golding, Wayne Watson and Ronald Lunn. The money was used by the aforesaid landowner to complete the refurbishment of the local hotel that would be known thereinafter as The Bateman's Mill Hotel. In 2012 the ground name was offered as a raffle prize to the local businesses of Clay Cross for a £10 ticket. The resultant draw saw a tattoo shop on the town high street win the rights and for the season the ground was known as 'The Devil Made Me Do It Tattoo Studio Ground' allegedly one of the longest ground names at that time. The news of this bizarre name spread around the globe and the Norwegian television company TV2 travelled to the UK to film a documentary about the draw. In 2013 and 2014 The ground name was purchased by another town business and it was then known as 'The I Want Pet Foods Ground.' In 2015 it became known as 'The ATB Civil Engineering Ground' and for the 2016/2017 simply the Mill Lane Ground.

In 2016, the club made its debut in the FA Vase.^[3] On 8 November 2016 the newly formed club reached the third round of the Derbyshire Senior Cup Competition for the first time after beating Pinxton FC at Mill Lane 5-2.

References

External links

• Official website