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English football club

Tow Law Town Association Football Club is an English non league football club from Tow Law, County Durham, currently playing in the Northern League Division One, in the ninth level of the English football league system. The team, nicknamed "The Lawyers", play their home games at Ironworks Road. The club's fans are known as "The Misfits". The club was founded in 1890 as Tow Law F. C., before adding the Town to their name in 1905, and throughout their history they have played in a number of local leagues including the Auckland and District League, the South Durham Alliance and the Crook and District League, before joining the Northern League in 1920. They have won the Northern League's Division Two twice—in 1988 and 1992—and its Division One on three occasions—in 1924, 1925 and 1995—but they have never been promoted or demoted from the Northern League since joining it more than 90 years ago. Tow Law reached the final of the FA Vase in 1998, having progressed all the way from the first round, but were beaten by Tiverton Town in the final at Wembley Stadium.

There was a football team operating in Tow Law as early as 1881, when a vicar captained the team. However, the club still playing today was founded as Tow Law in 1890. The club became one of the founding teams of the Auckland and District League in 1892, and won the Durham Amateur Cup the following year. They then joined the Northern League in 1894. In 1896 they won the Durham Challenge Cup. They left the Northern League, and played in the South Durham Alliance from 1900 to 1905. The club played in the Crook and District League from 1912 until 1914. After the end of World War I in 1918, the club again played in the Auckland and District League until 1920, when they returned to the Northern League where they have played ever since. The club were league winners two seasons in a row, in 1923–24 and 1924–25. In the 1967–68 season, the club had their best ever run in the FA Cup. After reaching the first round proper, they beat Mansfield Town 5–1 at Ironworks Road, and took Shrewsbury Town to a second round replay after a 1–1 draw at home. The team went into the third round draw and were drawn against Arsenal at home. However this never happened because they were beaten 6–2 by Shrewsbury in the replay. Arsenal were said to be "saved from a fate worse than death – a trip to Tow Law in January." Tow Law Town were runners up in the 1988–89 season, before finally winning the league again in 1994–95, sitting 14 points clear at the end of the season. In reaching the final, Tow Law, with its population of only 2,200, became the smallest town to ever reach a Wembley final. The team took around 4,000 supporters with them down to London, about twice the population of Tow Law at the time. Sir Bobby Robson was raised a few miles away from Tow Law, in the village of Langley Park. He had held the title of life president at the club, and had helped them out when they hit financial difficulties after the 2001 foot and mouth crisis, which devastated the local area. He was known to spend a lot of time on the club, attending fund raisers and giving talks. On 1 August 2009, the club held a minute's silence before their game with Workington, following his death the day before. At the end of the 2009–10 season, manager Dave Hagan and his assistant Eric Tate left the club. Hagan felt he could not operate a competitive team on the team's small budget, and so took up an assistant job at Consett. Ian Davison, a player at the club, took up managerial duties, acting as a player manager, and appointing Gary Innes as his assistant. Steve Murray is the current Tow Law manager, taking up the role in December 2014.

Tow Law Town's home colours have traditionally been vertical black and white stripes with black shorts and socks. This is common amongst clubs in the North East of England; Premier League club Newcastle United play in black and white, but locally Spennymoor Town, Darlington, Ponteland United and Ashington also wear black and white kits. Tow Law Town's away strips consist of blue and red halves with blue shorts and socks. Between 2006 and 2009, the club were sponsored by McInerney Homes, in a £5,000 a year deal. In August 2010, local company Bodywork Direct took over the club shirt sponsorship deal. The club was then sponsored by local firm Tow Law Plastering Services ltd. As of January 2020, the club's shirt sponsor is Tow Law Plastering Services Ltd. From June 2020 onwards the YouTuber WorkTheSpace is the shirt sponsor. The club's crest features a colliery headframe, reflecting the strong history of coal mining in County Durham.

Followers of Tow Law Town are known as the Misfits. In the club's run up to the FA Vase final in 1998, they left a "trail of devastation" in towns as they progressed through the rounds of competition. In 2007, a group of hooligans affiliating themselves with the Misfits caused trouble in Tow Law. However, not all of the club's fans are hooligans and on a number of occasions supporters have partaken in fund raising activities to raise money for the club. In April 2003, two supporters took part in a coast to coast bike ride in the hope of raising around £800 for the club. In July 2010, a group of the club's supporters took part in a ten mile sponsored walk to raise £3,000 for the club, which at the time was in financial difficulty. In April 2011, two fans of the club from Genoa, Italy, traveled over 1,000 miles to Tow Law to see the club play. They said the club had "captured [their] imagination" with their cup runs in 1967 and 1998. Tow Law's main local rivals are Consett, based only 7.5 mile (12 km) away from each other, the two having played together in the Northern League since 1970.

Tow Law Town's best ever league finish has been three wins of the Northern League Division One (level 9 of the overall English football league system) in 1923–24, 1924–25 and 1994–95. The Lawyers have only ever progressed as far as the rounds proper of the FA Cup four times, reaching the first round in 1968–69, 1984–85 and 1989–90, and the second round in 1967–68 where they held Shrewsbury Town to a 1–1 draw at home but lost the replay 2–6.

The following are the honours Tow Law have achieved since their foundation in 1890.