Co-winners of the Northumberland Senior Cup

The club was declared the co-winner of the Northumberland Senior Cup in 1885-86 in unique circumstances. Drawn against Morpeth Harriers F.C. in the semi-final, the two clubs played out three 1-1 draws,^[4] the first two ties both seeing Morpeth equalize with seven minutes to go.^[5]

It looked as if Shankhouse had won through at the fourth time of asking, with a late winner in the third replay, but Morpeth protested on the basis that the goal had been scored after its players heard a whistle and stopped playing, giving Shankhouse a simple goal. The whistle came from someone in the crowd. On appeal, the Football Association ruled that there had been crowd interference with the match, and scrubbed off the goal.^[6]

Therefore, the teams had to play for a fifth time, under orders to continue until the match finished. However, after three half-an-hour periods of extra-time, the game remained goalless, and it was too dark to continue.^[7]

Instead of playing a sixth game, the clubs drew lots to see who would play West End in the final, and Shankhouse drew the winning lot.^[8] However this was not to work out who won the semi-final, but to work out who would represent both clubs in the final. Shankhouse duly won 3-2, and, as a result, both Shankhouse and the Harriers were declared to be the co-holders of the Cup.^[9]

FA Cup and local leagues

In 1887 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time making it to the fourth round, before being dispatched by Aston Villa 9–0.^[10] The 1891–92 season saw the club join the Northern Football Alliance, and becoming the league winners at their first attempt.^[11] The club stayed in the Northern alliance league until the end of the 1905–06 season, when the club dropped down to the Blyth and District League.^[11][3]

After the Second World War, the club reentered the Northern alliance league again for the 1947–48 season, but left again after 10 seasons.^[12] Over 30 years later the club rejoined the Northern alliance league again for the 1989–90 season, starting in Division Two.^[13] The 1994–95 season saw the club move up to division one, when they qualified for promotion as runners-up.^[10] Three seasons later the club achieved promotion to the premier division when they finished as champions of Division one.^[10] The 2004–05 season saw the club become league champions.^[10]

The club withdrew from the league ahead of the 2021–22 season.