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The Grove · Est. 1952
From a group of local lads who wanted a club of their own, to the Northern Premier League. This is the story of Kidsgrove Athletic.
The beginning
After the Second World War, football in the town was reorganised under a newly formed Kidsgrove United. Not everyone was happy with how things had been set up, so in 1952 a group of local young men, Frank Timmis among them, decided to start a club of their own. Kidsgrove Athletic was born.
The Grove began life in the amateur Burslem and Tunstall League, playing on the Vickers and Goodwin pitch near the A50. In 1961 the club stepped away from league football for a season to build something permanent: a new home on Hollinwood Road, in the Clough Hall area of the town. It is still home today.
The journey
Kidsgrove Athletic is formed and joins the Burslem and Tunstall League, playing near the A50.
The club pauses league football to develop its own ground on Hollinwood Road.
Back in action and straight to the top: champions of the Burslem and Tunstall League.
Division Two champions in 1963–64, then Division One champions in 1965–66. Back-to-back success on the way up.
A move that raised a few eyebrows at the time, and one that paid off. The Grove became one of the league's great sides: champions four times and League Cup winners three times.
Kidsgrove step up to the North West Counties League, earning a place in the Premier Division in 1991–92.
League champions, League Challenge Cup winners, and a run to the semi-finals of the FA Vase. A record 1,903 supporters packed into Hollinwood Road for the semi-final against Tiverton Town on 21 March 1998.
A second North West Counties title takes the Grove into the Northern Premier League for the first time.
Five Staffordshire Senior Cups in nine years, plus the Northern Premier League Chairman's Cup in 2005.
Under Peter Ward the club reach the play-offs in 2009–10, then go on an FA Cup run to the fourth qualifying round in 2011–12, a feat repeated in 2018–19.
Northern Premier League Division One West football at The Fitzjohn Stadium, with the same community spirit that started it all in 1952.
The trophy cabinet
Club records