St Helens Town AFC Appoint Gary Langley As New Chairman

St Helens Town AFC are delighted to announce the appointment of Gary Langley as the clubs Chairman with immediate effect.

The club were keen to appoint the correct individual with a proven track record in the game at non-league level and Gary certainly fits the bill.

Gary has a long history of involvement in non-league football and the senior game going back 25 years. He is a Director and Development Officer of the North West Counties Football League and has been part of the league’s expansion and growth over the last five years, a time which has seen it almost double in size in club numbers and expand geographically.

He is known in the game for his involvement at Cammell Laird FC and more recently as being part of the establishment of Litherland REMYCA taking them into the NWCFL as well as being active in local and national media via various outlets. He will bring to the club additional experience in club operation as well as knowledge of the National League System and Club Development and growth.

Speaking of his appointment he stated: “I’m honoured and delighted to have been appointed as Chairman of St Helens Town. I was first made aware of the possible opportunity towards the middle last season after it became known that I was considering getting back involved in the game at club level. It had to be the right opportunity though and a club which had potential to develop and push on, St Helens Town have all of that in abundance.”

“I have undertaken a large amount of research into the club and it is the textbook ‘sleeping giant’ having a long history as both a club and as members of the North West Counties Football League. As an entity we have been around since 1901 and are well known around the game. The Club has a high standing in the St Helens Community which goes beyond its borders and a responsibility for bringing a good standard of grassroots football to people of all ages and abilities. The period of stability at the club needs to be the foundation for a strong future and as part of a Board of experienced and committed footballing people I look forward to being part of something very special.”

Longstanding club Secretary Jeff Voller stated “When the committee became aware of Gary’s availability it was agreed that this was too good an opportunity to miss for the development of the club. Gary has been involved in the local football scene both at club and league level for a sustained period of time and he has all the qualities that we were looking for. We as a club were happy to wait for the correct candidate to come along and in Gary we feel we have found the missing piece of the jigsaw that will see us develop both on and off the field and bring back the good times our loyal fans so richly deserve.”

“The committee are looking forward to working with Gary and utilsing the excellent skills set as we plan for the 2020/21 season and beyond”.

In an interview with the new Chairman Gary said

“My involvement with football admin started back in Youth football around the late 1990's, i was keen to keep the youth league i was involved in as a player going and I did so for a while until the league evolved from a Sunday League to a midweek evening league. Then in 2002 I got involved at Stranraer Football Club in the Scottish Football League, I had family connections up there so when the internet really started to be a 'thing' and they wanted help for an hour or two a week with their website I jumped at the chance. That hour or two a week quickly became a full website revolution, took over the matchday programme production, club media and ultimately ended up on the board having done a number of roles at the club.  

After 5 successful years at the club I needed to focus on the day job and reduce my travelling to Scotland so it was with a heavy heart that I stopped my work at the club but to this day they are still my team and the first result I look out for at the weekend.

I kept my hand in locally and was invited to get involved with Cammell Laird FC and that again co-incided with a period of growth and development at the club, I was doing Media/Programmes/Commercial and anything that came to hand at the time whilst working with George Higham, the former Tranmere Rovers Chairman who was Chair at Lairds at the time and that gave me a much broader insight into the non-league game. A change of owner after a few years saw the need to stabilise things and once that was sorted I took time out.

That time out didn't last too long as I was involved in the phase 2 inception of AFC Liverpool ten years ago, I was invited to be part of the first full scale committee there, it was all about getting the club into the system and getting it established, job done. 

Then a few years later a similar opportunity came along and that was with Litherland Remyca, I joined the Committee there as the club had just gained a place in the NWCFL and we got the club in and flying. The team was doing well on the park and off it we established a number of youth teams to the already well established number involved. We reached out to the local community and created opportunities for schools and colleges to give media students 'live' opportunities to get involved in club media and to build their portfolios. The club was also named Sefton Sports Club of the year on the back of its community presence and the club established itself and developed very quickly.  This in turn led to an opportunity to join the North West Counties League Management Committee as the work i had done with Remyca had not gone unnoticed.

I took this opportunity with open arms as the league at that time were keen to get some younger faces involved and to develop the league into a strong entity in the national league system. It was something that I have really enjoyed over the years and I feel that i have directly contributed to the leagues development as both League Development Officer and League Director. The league has expanded from 35 teams to 60 and from two Divisions to three in my time and we have become renowned for our work on the Fan Engagement side. We have been involved in a number of FA Initiatives and have received a lot of acknowledgement of our work in recent years.

Over the last year or so I was looking to return to a day to day club involvement whilst retaining my position on the League Board, however the opportunities out there were limited or not right for me at the time. I wanted to get involved in a long term project and one that has potential to be unlocked. There were potential options locally and in London, however having spoke to Jeff Voller at a couple of games it became apparent that there was a potential opportunity available as well as interest from the club itself. We were on the same wavelength.  

Discussions started a few months ago and this enabled me to undertake some research into the good work the club does within the community as well as its legal status and direction in which it wants to go. I was delighted last week to have held discussions with the clubs Emergency Committee and be offered the position of Chairman of such a prestigious name in non league football.

I am aware that results over the last few seasons have not been great and that really need to improve. I am aware at first hand of the potential risk of relegation from the National league system and this is an issue that we need to steer well clear of. We also need to stabilise and develop the club off the park as well, we have a number of sides playing in all age ranges at the club and these teams need support and access to the best facilities available. We also need to build and maintain that connect that we have with our supporters. There is a lot of potential at St Helens Town, its main asset is it's people, its part of the legacy that has seen the club span 70 years and one that gives us the foundation to build something really special as we look to the future, whilst acknowledging its past”

History of St Helens Town Football Club

St Helens Town was formed in 1901 and played at Park Road, behind the Primrose Vaults public house. Although it was known as the Primrose Ground, the players changed further down Park Road at the Black Horse pub. Playing in the Lancashire League and Lancashire Combination, the team enjoyed some early success, but struggled after the Great War and appears to have folded midway through the 1928–29 season.

The club was re-formed by George Fryer and a group of local businessmen in 1946. They took out a lease of the former cricket ground at Houghton Road, Sutton, adjacent to the St Helens Junction railway station and, although the club entered the FA Cup in the 1946–47 season, a team could not be raised in time to fulfill the tie with Prescot Cables. Friendly games were played, then local team Derbyshire Hill Rovers were taken over in April 1947, those players forming the nucleus of the team which entered the Liverpool County Combination at the start of the 1947–48 season. St Helens Town soon began to prosper and early results included a sensational 1–-4 win over Everton "A" on 6 December 1947. Former German prisoner-of-war Bert Trautmann joined the club in the summer of 1948, the strapping goalkeeper helping the team to win its first trophy, the George Mahon Cup, which was secured with a 2–1 win over Runcorn at Prescot on 7 May 1949. Crowds averaged over 2,000 that season, peaking with a league record attendance of 3,102 against Burscough in October 1948.

The following season, 1949–50, Town entered the Lancashire Combination and, despite losing Trautmann to Manchester City in October 1949, they won the Second Division title in some style the following season with three players all netting over 30 goals apiece: Albert Leadbitter (36), Harry McCann (32) and Terry Garner (31). An all-time club record attendance "between 8,000 and 9,000" witnessed a friendly game against Manchester City which was arranged as part of the Trautmann transfer deal in April 1950. Another 4,000 spectators then witnessed a second game contested by the two teams the season after. Although relegated by a slender margin from the First Division in 1951–52, the club continued to look forward, even contemplating Football League status and, in order to further their ambitions, the club moved to the former St Helens Recreation ground at City Road. Initial crowds were encouraging at their new home, but, despite success, Town decided to move back to Hoghton Road in October 1953, where they remained until April 2000.

Following a second relegation in 1956, St Helens Town continued to play in the Lancashire Combination, winning the Championship in 1971–72, by nine points ahead of Accrington Stanley. However, the formation of the Northern Premier League in 1968 led to a gradual drain of stronger clubs from the Combination and St Helens joined the Cheshire League in 1975. Seven years later, Town eventually became founder members of the North West Counties League, and competed in the Premier Division's inaugural season in 1982–83. They held the proud record of being the only club to play in the North West Counties top flight in every season until they were relegated in April 2015 in dramatic fashion, conceding an injury time equalizer to Silsden in the final game of the season, in which if they won, they would have stayed up.

Town enjoyed a golden era in the late 1980s, just missing out on an appearance in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in 1985–86, losing to Morecambe in a Fourth Qualifying Round Replay. But they obtained ample compensation by winning the FA Vase in 1987, beating near neighbours Warrington Town in the Final 3–2 with a Phil Layhe brace and a goal from Brian Rigby.[1] They were regular promotion candidates for many years, largely due to the goalscoring exploits of Steve "Pellet" Pennington, who grabbed 216 goals, his season's best hauls of 45 in 1993–94 and 46 in 1997–98 just fell short of the club record of 47 scored by Phil Stainton in 1963–64.

Soon enough, the facilities at Houghton Road had fallen into disrepair and the site was sold for housing in 2002. Town, having gone into partnership with St Helens R.F.C., ground shared Knowsley Road for 10 years, but the intended relocation to the new Langtree Park ground did not materialise.[2] During this period the club had to overcome many financial issues in order to exist, and several managers came and went including Joe Palladino, Paul Lodge, Joe Gillibru, Alex Wright and John Fletcher. The club then embarked on a nomadic existence, first at Ashton Town, then at their neighbours Ashton Athletic. Construction work at the Council-owned multi-sports facility at Ruskin Drive had been delayed, but is now under way and Town are looking to move into their new home at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. However, due to problems, home matches during season 2016–17 were played mostly at the ground of Prescot Cables, with the remainder at Ashton Town's ground. Current manager Lee Jenkinson took charge at the beginning of the 2017/18 season.