All good things must come to an end, and in football, quite a lot of badly run football clubs come to an end too.
Believe it or not, there are more than 40,000 association clubs in the UK. They can’t all do well, so it stands to reason that while some go on for decades and even centuries, others fail completely.
I would be here all day if I told you about every single ex-EFL club that had ever fielded a team, so instead, I am going to focus on those that went out of business from the 1990s onwards.
These are clubs that many of you might remember. If not, ask your parents, because they almost certainly will have heard of them.
One thing all of these clubs have in common other than having been mismanaged into oblivion, is that they were all replaced by successor clubs too. This means that supporters or local business people reformed the clubs they loved, often with very similar names.
So while it may seem like a lot of these clubs still exist, they are in fact brand new clubs created out of the ashes of the original.
Bury
Bury’s fall from grace captured the interest of the national news. Their owner was Stewart Day, and his property business was collapsing. He had borrowed against the club to prop himself up, adding to their other financial difficulties. He sold the club to Steve Dale, who had been behind the liquidation of several other companies, for £1.
This was a terrible decision that should never have been allowed to go ahead, and there was no love lost between Dale and Bury fans. He did nothing for the club and supporters even went as far as to protest outside his home.
When he finally agreed to put the club into administration, the liabilities totalled more than £12.5 million. Bury were expelled from the football league in 2019, and although the club still officially existed for a few more years, it had no ground, players, or staff, so was a football club on paper only.
In the mean time, fans had got together to create a new club, Bury AFC, which entered the 10th tier of the football pyramid. Another fan backed group called Est. 1885 was working on a takeover deal in the background, but it wasn’t until Dale was declared bankrupt in 2022 that it actually happened.
Est. 1885 agreed a deal to buy the ground and the club including the original name and all memorabilia from the administrators. This was made possible by the involvement of millionaire, Peter Alexander, a lifelong fan who now lived in America. As part of the deal, Bury AFC would merge with Bury FC, and the club would continue playing in the 10th tier but as Bury FC again, rather than Bury AFC.
Darlington F.C
A Division 3/League 2 (level 4) club for most of its life, Darlington F.C was established in 1883, but finally came to an end in 2012. They had been experiencing cash flow issues compounded by increasing debt and low footfall at the turnstiles.
Despite this, when George Reynolds bought the club in 1999 he inexplicably set about building a brand new 25,000 seater stadium. Their average attendance at the time was about 2,000. The additional financial burden of this perplexing vanity project was the beginning of the end for Darlington.
They went into administrative measures 3 times, in 2004, 2009, and finally in 2012. Reynolds – an ex-criminal who was a safecracker and spent time in prison – sold the club in 2004, and was sentenced for tax avoidance a year later. Subsequent owners were unable to stabilise the clubs finances and in the end, the club went under.
Fans and local businessmen set up Darlington 1883 in an effort to ensure the club lived on in one way or another, and they still play under the name Darlington F.C, but it is not technically the same club that was founded all those years ago.
Wimbledon F.C
Wimbledon F.C had quite the journey, going from a Division 4 side in the 1982/83 season to being a founder member of the Premier League 10 years later. They even won the FA Cup along the way. Known as an incredibly physical club thanks to players like Vinnie Jones and John Fashanu, they were formidable opponents often called ‘The Crazy Gang’.
Relegation in 2000 coupled with a lack of commercial interest and a dip it attendances began to put the club under financial pressure, and they were already stretched due to ground sharing arrangements after their home, Plough Lane, was more or less condemned. In an effort to get this under control, the owners suggested a move to Milton Keynes, 60 miles away. The FA approved the decision in 2002, which was unprecedented in English football.
Understandably, Wombles fans were not happy with the move to Milton Keynes and founded a new club, Wimbledon AFC, also in 2002. A few years later, Wimbledon rebranded as MK Dons, although they wanted to keep Wimbledon’s presitgious history as their own. Technically then, the MK Dons are Wimbledon FC, but no one thinks of them as such. As for AFC Wimbledon, they fought their way through the lower leagues to regain a spot in the EFL by 2011. Quite an achievement. They even play at a stadium just 200 yards from the location of their old one.
They often play in the same league as MK Dons, both clubs being of a similar standing, and the rivalry is understandably fierce. You can find out more about it here:
This is probably my favourite story in League football.
Halifax Town A.F.C
Halifax Town AFC’s problems can be traced back to their relegation from the Football League in 1993. They struggled in the Conference the year after, suffering from severely reduced income as well as a lack of enthusiasm from supporters who stayed away. They managed to claw their way back into the Football League by 1998, but dropped back down again in 2002. By 2007, their financial situation had become unteneble.
A local consortium attempting to buy the club put it into administration in 2008, leading to a 10 point penalty from the FA. Despite this they managed to avoid relegation, but then couldn’t get themselves out of administration again. They were then kicked out of the Football Conference and had little option but to cease operating. Due to a catastrophic error, they were £2 million in debt including £800k owed to the taxman.
FC Halifax Town was formed in AFC’s place, by the same people that ran the previous club too. So while FC Halifax Town is a new club, to supporters not much has changed. Fun fact: this is where Leicester’s Jamie Vardy was scouted.
Hereford United
Regulars in the Football League between the 1970s and the 1990s, Hereford United met their end in 2014, 90 years after their formation in 1924. They mounted something of a comeback in 2006, spending another 6 seasons in the EFL, but their 2012 relegation back to non-league football spelled the beginning of the end.
Already in financial trouble, the demotion just made things worse, and a club takeover by convicted criminal Andy Lonsdale did nothing to help. Hereford United was wound up in court in December 2014 because Lonsdale failed to show evidence that he could pay his creditors. His excuse was that he was on his way with the evidence of his ability to pay… but got stuck in traffic.
The council gained possession of the stadium and a supporters trust, who were actually relieved the saga was over and they could start again, created a new club – Hereford F.C. Local businessman, John Hale, was instrumental in the creation of Hereford F.C, but it is still majority fan owned, with no more than 49% of the club ever allowed to be bought by corporate entities.
Macclesfield Town F.C
Formed in 1874, Macclesfield Town F.C were a club with a lot of history. They played in the lower divisions of the football league from the late 1990s until 2012, and again for two seasons from 2018 until their liquidation.
Due to mismanagement, by 2018 the club was swimming in debt, court orders, and points deductions from the FA for financial irregularities. They were relegated from the football league and the players even went on strike after not being paid for 3 months. Understandably, no one came forward when the club was put up for sale. In September 2020 the High Court issued a winding up order and Macclesfield Town went into liquidation.
A local businessman, Robert Smethurst, bought the club’s assets and set up Macclesfield F.C to take Macclesfield Town’s place. Wales legend Robbie Savage sits on the board.
Maidstone United F.C
Maidstone United only just make this list, because they only managed a single season in the football league. Their last as a club. They made the playoffs that year too, so their downfall really was a shame – and their success was partly to blame.
The club had progressed rapidly requiring huge spending to satisfy regulations for each new league they entered. They also overspent on players. Their biggest mistake though, was paying £400k for land intended for a new stadium… without planning permission. The hope was that by building a ground closer to Maidstone their attendances would improve, but planning permission was denied, so it was a very expensive and ultimately fatal gamble.
They would have been founder members of the new Division 3 in 1992, but were forced to sell their stadium and most of their players to cover debts. One of these was future England defender Warren Barton, who they made a £290k profit on, but it wasn’t enough. They had just 2 registered players by the time their first match came around, no stadium, and £650k of remaining debt. They went into liquidation in August of 1992.
Scarborough F.C
Scarborough F.C never got higher than the old Division 3, but having been formed in 1879 they were a very well established club. They had even had a brief period of success in the lower leagues, winning the FA Trophy (not the FA Cup!) 3 times during the 1970s.
Fast forward to the 2000s, and the club were in and out of insolvency many times. Scarborough went as far as attempting to sell their ground to clear debts, but even that would not have been enough. They officially went out of business in June 2007, owing more than £2.5 million.
Supporters formed a trust to revive their beloved club, named The Seadog Trust, from which Scarborough Athletic was born. They still own their club, who have progressed through the Conference to now play at the same sort of level as their former club.
Chester City F.C
Formed in 1885, Chester City F.C was never a big club with much to shout about, but they had a solid core group of fans. This was also the club where Ian Rush began his career before moving to Liverpool.
Chester were in financial trouble for a long time before the end. This landed them with a 25 point deduction at the start of their final season, after being relegated to the Conference in 2009 for a second time. They were in masses of debt including unpaid tax, and after failing to arrange a Company Voluntary Arrangement to start paying it back, Chester were eventually served a compulsory winding up order in March of 2010. The historic club was no more.
Fans had long been unhappy with the owners, even staging an on pitch protest in 2008 forcing a game to be cancelled. So when the hammer finally fell, many of them were relieved. They immediately formed a phoenix club which is still running today, with supporters saying they had finally got their club back.