User:Gazgaskell93/sandbox

Standish Panthers
Standish Panthers Football Club is an English Ametuer association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team play in the South Lancashire Counties Football League Div.4. The Club is based at The Convent in standish who pitch share with Standish St. Wilfrid's FC.

Founded in 2020, Adopting navy blue with sky sleeves. all navy shorts and socks hosting a sky overturn. The away colours are contrasting Hi-visual Orange and black. With no obtained rivalries the club has fierce competition with local teams in the Wigan Borough. The club is charter standard and has seen many players naturally progress from the standish panthers umbrella to men's open-age level. The team is founded on good commitment, a high level of respect and the will to work hard at during and during matches. The club was created from a group of friends mainly getting together to play football in a friendly relaxed environment.

= History = The origins of Standish Panthers FC go back to March 2003 when Jackie and Frank White, Sonia Chadwick and Paul Green decided to provide football training for their own, and for their friends’ children. Training started out in the sports hall at Standish High School.The first ever training session consisted of eight children but word soon got around and by July 2002, 14 children were attending training sessions. Later that year, the Club became properly constituted and a committee was formed. Standish Panthers was chosen as the Club’s name by those initial 14 children so that they could enter into a competitive league in September 2003. The team was made up of six year olds but as no Under 7s league was in place they had to enter into an Under 8s League, kicking-off their first ever league game at Robin Park. In their first season, the Panthers failed to win a single game. The enthusiasm of the children shone through though and by April 2004, more than 20 children had joined the Club, ranging in age from five year olds to seven year olds. It wasn’t long before the Under 8s won the first ever Trophy for the club. By July of 2004, Standish Panthers applied to be a Charter Standard Development club. The application was approved by October of 2004 and Charter Standard status has been maintained ever since.

Open Age 2020-Present
Twenty year long standing Standish Panthers player Ryan Kelly obtained the Authorisation from the clubs committee to create a men's open age team. Along with the assistance of fellow junior to men's player and current open age captain Deane Bold. Junior coach Mike Vose was added to the party as player-coach / assistant. Ryan Kelly taking the lead role of player-manager. Brothers Andrew and Dave Jones joined the Hierarchy as well as Alex 'Bin lid' Lindley and furthermore Jamie Fath soon becoming Vice-captains of the club. The club was impacted in playing during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other sports organisations around the world. The club resumed restricted training at Ashfield Park, Standish. in March 2021. Players have made the step up from juniors to open age over the years and the club continue to support this as much as they can. Adam Davies, Max Barker, Luke Clayton, Aaron Vose, Corey Bissell and William Birch are noteworthy players who have made the transition and still remain open age players. Standish have managed to recruit players each year and retain, upholding a structure that hopefully will last for generations.

Home Venue
Standish panthers home matches take place at The Convent in Standish. the home of Mid Lancashire side Standish St. Wilfrid's FC. this has been their primary home location during 2022/23 season and will continue to be. Previously the club was located to home matches at St Catherine's Recreation, whelley, Wigan.