Saturday 24th January 2026 ko 15:00

Midland League Premier Division

HANLEY TOWN 8 (Middleton 33 Porter 35 80 J van der Laan 38 52 60 T van der Laan 75 87)

STUDLEY 0

Att 84

Entry £10

No programme

Groundhoppers do like to complete leagues it seems, but why not try for other things to complete? I’ve done the Stockford treble in Bristol, and the Lenton Lane triple in Nottingham, that sadly is no longer possible. But here’s another, Stoke in famously, the UK’s only polycentric city, consisting of the six towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton so why not try for football in each of them?

Port Vale play in Burslem, and Stoke City in Stoke-on-Trent. Tunstall Town used to play in the Staffs County League, AFC Stoke play Sunday football in Fenton, and the nearest club I can find to Longton is Foley Meir. Can anyone do better? Clearly Hanley Town, in Abbey Lane should count for Hanley!

I’m not sure how I missed visiting here, there have been no end of trips to Stoke over the years. The club date from a memorable year for English football, 1966 and were a side based out of the “Trumpet” pub. They worked their way up to the Midland League in 1988 and later had an 8 season stint in the North West Counties League before transferring back to the Midland League after Covid, winning the championship at their first attempt. The club spent the last 3 seasons in the Northern Premier League but were relegated last season.

That created an interesting thought. Sometimes relegation is part of a general malaise, an example would be North Leigh, relegated out of the parallel Southern League last season, and struggling once again this season. Or were we about to visit a club who have taken their relegation, learned from it and are bouncing back? The answer was obvious, and Studley were utterly routed, and have finished rock bottom of the table. Hanley were extremely good value for this win, and ended up winning the league too. Their estrangement from the NPL was mercifully brief!

There was though one moment though that I’ll take to the grave. There were 2 minutes to go, and the score was 8-0. A home player disagreed with a refereering decision and managed to collect a sin bin for dissent caution. That’s right, 8 goals up and you do that.. words fail me. I’d be loved to have been a fly on the wall in the Hanley dressing room afterwards. There are easier ways to get first use of the shower!