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The football articles on You and Yesterday are some of our most popular postings. Although many are understandably linked to Derby County, there is a considerable interest in Derbyshire football well beyond the Rams. Here Peter Seddon presents a potted history of Heanor Town, one in a series of short articles on Derbyshire-based football clubs past and present.

Heanor Town in 1926, when they played in the Midland League

Heanor Town Football Club was formed in 1883. As at 2007-08 they were members of the Central Midlands Alliance Supreme Division. The team play their home games at The Town Ground, Mayfield Avenue, Heanor.

Their colours are listed as black and white halved shirts with black shorts and socks, and their formidable nickname is The Lions, said to be after the town's celebrated carnival band of the 1920s.

Heanor Town's first recorded game was against Loscoe Rangers in September 1883. In their early days Heanor proved quite a strong outfit, and four times in the 1890s appeared in the First Round proper of the FA Cup, after negotiating a string of qualifying games.

In the competition of 1891-92 they scored first against the mighty Aston Villa at Perry Barr, before eventually succumbing by 4 goals to 1. Two years later Nottingham Forest visited Heanor, emerging narrow 1-0 victors in front of 3,000 fans. In 1896-97 the Lions drew 1-1 at home with Southampton St. Mary's - forerunners of the current Southampton FC - before losing the replay 1-0. And in 1898-99 Bury won 3-0 at Heanor before an estimated crowd of 10,000.

It was to be 60 years before Heanor reached the First Round again, on that occasion losing 5-1 at home to Carlisle United. And their sixth and so far final appearance at that stage was in 1963-64, when they were beaten 3-0 at Bradford Park Avenue on a deliberately watered pitch.

Those are the highlights in Heanor Town history as far as their battles with football's 'big boys' are concerned, but they have enjoyed bigger successes at their own level.

In both 1955-56 and 1956-57 they won the Central Alliance Division One (North) title, and at that time boasted a supporters' club said to be 10,000 strong. From 1966 to 1969 they lifted the Derbyshire Senior Cup four times in a row. And as recently as 1996-97 they were crowned champions of the Central Midlands Alliance Supreme Division.

A number of well-known football figures have worn the Heanor Town colours:

First chronologically was the centre-forward Samuel Weller Widdowson (1851-1927), who in 1880 was capped by England. His main football career was with Nottingham Forest, but on leaving them he enjoyed a twilight spell with Heanor Town in the 1890s, eventually finishing playing at the age of forty-four. A curiosity concerning Sam Widdowson is that he invented shin-guards, lodging a patent for them in 1874.

Another of their centre-forwards was Harry Leonard (1886-1951) - after a long career embracing Newcastle United, Grimsby Town, Middlesbrough, Derby County and Manchester United, he joined Heanor Town in 1921 before hanging up his boots for good.

And a hat-trick of centre-forwards is completed by the England international Harry Bedford (1899-1976). From 1925-30 Bedford played 218 games for Derby County and scored 152 goals. So he was quite a catch for Heanor when he joined them as player-coach in 1934. Although he left the club after a couple of seasons, he returned as Manager in March 1955. Sadly the appointment did not work out, and when he was sacked in May 1956 halfway through his contract an acrimonious legal battle ensued.

Certainly the best-known ex-Lion today is the former midfield maestro Nigel Clough. The 'son of Brian' played for Heanor Town in 1983-84, leaving them to join Nottingham Forest, from where he embarked on a highly-successful League career.

Although those particular famous names reached football's highest level, others are celebrated as Heanor legends in their own right. The greatest of them must surely be Don Brown, who in 1956-57 scored an incredible 100 goals for Heanor Town, including six in a game two weeks in succession! Brown certainly helped Heanor to some convincing victories that season - the biggest fall guys were surely Retford British Ropes, who were hammered 10-0 and 14-1 in successive matches.

The Lions no longer win matches by a margin of double figures. They have had their ups and downs but continue to strive for success, like all non-League clubs dreaming of one day acquiring Football League status.

Presently Heanor Town might be said to be gently purring, but one day they may suddenly pounce with a mighty roar - 'Come on you Lions!'

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