Shock as club resigns from Ebac Northern League

The League received formal notification of the decision from the Ancients chairman Mike Mulligan.

Mr Mulligan, in charge for almost a decade, told the players and management of his intentions after Saturday’s 3-1 at home to Heaton Stannington.

He has decided to withdraw his financial and voluntary support.

The Northern League will discuss to proposed resignation at the next League Management Committee meeting on December 8.

In the meantime, all proposed fixtures involving the club will be suspended.

The club’s history goes back to the late 1950s. Stockton Football Club was wound up in 1980 and a merger took place where the new club was called Norton & Stockton Ancients - Ancients being the nickname of the Stockton club.

The club was a founding member of the Northern League Division Two in 1982.

In 2009 it secured promotion to Division One and the following year reached the quarter-finals of the FA Vase.

In 2010, the club also topped its previous attendance record when a crowd of 1,526 watched Ancients take on FC United of Manchester in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup.