| Full name | Middleton Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1890 | ||
| Dissolved | 1902 | ||
| Ground | Boarshaw | ||
| Secretary | E. E. Welch [1] | ||
| |||
Middleton Association Football Club was a football club from Middleton, Greater Manchester, active in the late 19th century.
| Full name | Middleton Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1890 | ||
| Dissolved | 1902 | ||
| Ground | Boarshaw | ||
| Secretary | E. E. Welch [1] | ||
| |||
Middleton Association Football Club was a football club from Middleton, Greater Manchester, active in the late 19th century.
The first Middleton Football Club was formed in 1878, and played in the first Lancashire Senior Cup in 1879–80, losing 6–1 to Edgeworth in the first round, [2] but the club disbanded in the mid-1880s and the footballing role in the district was taken up by Tonge.
The club was revived in the summer of 1890, by the Middleton Cricket Club, after an attempt by the cricket club to take over Tonge was rebuffed. [3] Nevertheless, the club reached the final of the Manchester Junior Cup in its first season. [4]
However, the club was suspended at the end of the 1890–91 season after a complaint by Tonge about Middleton poaching two of its players (Brooks and Powell). [5] The club also found itself homeless, after 15 members of the cricket club moved and passed a motion to stop the club from playing on the cricket pitch over the winter and split the football section from the cricket, on the basis that "it was not safe to play football after a man was 24 years of age", caused lung and heart diseases, and "brought a lot of rabble together". [6]
That led to a suggestion of merging the Middleton and Tonge clubs [7] but the club found a new ground at Boarshaw instead. The club suffered a further tragedy a few months later, as one of its founders, the 23-year-old Harry Johnson Horsman, died of a seizure at his home, ten years after his brother had been killed playing football. [8]
Middleton first entered the FA Cup in 1894–95, and caused a shock in its first match at Northwich Victoria in the first qualifying round, Hall scoring the only goal of the game from a break with 20 minutes to go, from a Vics corner; the Vics had been a Football League side the previous season, and Middleton also had the luxury of missing a penalty. [9] The club reached the third qualifying round in 1895–96 and 1896–97, in the latter year taking Fairfield to a replay at that stage. The club's best performance in the competition came in 1898–99, when it reached the fourth qualifying round (the penultimate stage), but lost at Stockport County to three second-half goals. [10] Its last entry came in 1899–1900.
The club was turned down for membership of the Lancashire Combination in 1896–97, [11] so joined The Combination instead, finishing mid-table in its only season. [12] In 1897–98 it joined the Lancashire League. It spent three seasons in the competition, finishing bottom in 1899–1900, [13] whereupon the club left for the Manchester League. However the club's debts were too great to continue at a lower level, and in January 1902, with the club £150 in the red and its landlord threatening Middleton with eviction for non-payment of rent, the club disbanded. [14]
The first club originally wore all dark blue, with a white star on the jerseys, [15] and changed the knickers to white for its second season. [16] The revived club originally wore white jerseys and blue knickers, [17] and as a Lancashire League club wore olive green shirts. [18]
The original club's first ground was a field at Tonge Springs, using the Church Inn for facilities. [19] By 1884 it had moved to Woodsides. [20] The revived club originally played at the cricket ground on Rochdale Road. [21] After its severing by the cricket club, the football club played at Boarshaw. [22]
Blackburn Park Road F.C. was a football team formed in 1875. They played in Blackburn, Lancashire, near to the railway station.
Eagley Football Club is a football club based in the village of Eagley, near Bolton in Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the West Lancashire League Premier Division and play at the Dunscar Sports Complex. The club are affiliated to the Lancashire Football Association. The club's colours are yellow shirts and dark blue shorts.
Witton Football Club was a football club from Blackburn in Lancashire.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Northwich, Cheshire, which compete in the Midland League Premier Division. They play home games at Barton Stadium, in a groundshare agreement with nearby rivals Winsford United. They had played at the same Drill Field ground between 1875 and 2002, which was at the time of its demolition was believed to be the oldest ground in the world on which football had been continuously played. They played at the short-lived Victoria Stadium between 2005 and 2011, and have since been forced to share grounds with nearby clubs.
South Shore Football Club was an English football club based in the South Shore area of Blackpool.
Darwen Football Club was an association football club from Darwen in Lancashire, England. The team, formed in 1870, was an early pioneer of professional football in Northern England, reaching the semi-finals of the 1880–81 FA Cup. They were a Football League member from 1891 to 1899. Darwen joined the Lancashire League in 1900 and remained in regional football afterwards. They last played in the First Division of the North West Counties Football League in 2008–09, when the club was wound-up. A successor team, AFC Darwen, was founded soon after. Darwen played their home games at the Anchor Ground.
Oswaldtwistle Rovers Football Club were a team based in the town of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire. They first entered the FA Cup in 1884 and, in 1885, reached the second round. Rovers were one of the founder members of the Lancashire League in 1889, but predominantly competed in the Lancashire Combination between 1894 and 1909. In 1909, after leaving the second division of the Combination, they played their final game in the FA Cup.
Stockport RFC was a Rugby League club in Stockport, Cheshire, England.
Halliwell F.C. was an English association football club based in Halliwell, in north-west Bolton.
Leek F.C. was an English football club from the town of Leek, Staffordshire.
Newark F.C. was a football club from the town of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. It was one of the first clubs to play association football.
Haslingden Association FC was an English association football club based in Haslingden, Lancashire.
Fleetwood Rangers F.C. were an English association football club from Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire.
Heywood Central F.C. was a short-lived association football club from the town of Heywood in Lancashire.
West Manchester was an English association club based in Manchester.
Denton F.C. was an English association football club from Denton, east Manchester.
Clitheroe F.C. was an English association football club, from Lancashire, England.
Hartford St John's Football Club was an English football club from the village of Hartford in Cheshire.
Gorton Villa F.C. was an association football club from Manchester which was a member of one of the early football leagues, The Combination, in the 1890s.
Hyde Football Club was a football club from Hyde, England, notable for suffering the worst defeat in an English first-class football match.