| Full name | Skerton Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | the Skertonians, the Red and Blacks [1] | |
| Founded | 1888 | |
| Dissolved | 1900 | |
| Ground | Morecambe Road | |
| President | Councillor Turney (1889–94), [2] [3] Councillor Gladstone (1897) [4] | |
| Secretary | J. Pye (1889), [5] A. Ireland (1894) [6] | |
Skerton Football Club was an association football club from Lancaster, Lancashire, active in the 19th century.
The earliest references to the club are from the 1888–89 season. [7] It took a more serious turn in 1891, when it decided to appoint a trainer for the first time, Councillor Smith agreeing to defray the expense. [8] In 1892 the club joined the Lancashire Alliance for its first experience of league football.
After a successful 1896–97 season, in which the club won more matches than ever before (27 out of 35), and won the Alliance title for the first (and only) time, [9] the club joined the Lancashire Combination for the 1897–98 season, and, to raise money for the extra expenses, was floated as a limited company. [10] The club then enjoyed two mid-table finishes, [11] and won the Lancashire Junior Cup in both of those seasons. The Skertonians had twice been runner-up before reaching the 1897–98 final, and the Skertonians had trained especially at Lytham St Annes for the match, against St Helens Recs at Deepdale; goals from Blatchford and Fryers in the first half, and Blatchford scoring his second with a shot in-off the crossbar in the second, saw the club lift the trophy for the first time. [12] The same two clubs contested the final at the same venue in 1898–99, Skerton winning 2–0, [13] and it proved more attractive than the Lancashire Senior Cup final the following week - fewer than 4,000 turned up to Burnden Park for the latter, [14] but there was a 50% higher gate for the Junior. [15]
However, the club's fortunes took a turn for the worse in 1899; the cost of erection of a new grandstand proved crippling. [16] In March 1900, having only registered 1 win in 22 Combination games, [17] and with debts of £150 (a third of which was due to the grandstand), [18] it resigned from the Combination, its record was expunged, [19] and the club dissolved.
The club wore red and black. [20] This caused an incident with Lytham in 1892, in which both clubs wore the same coloured kits. [21]
The club's ground was on Morecambe Lane. [22]
