Ashton North End Football Club was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club from

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 48,604 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, ...

at the end of the 19th century.

History

Ashton North End was formed in 1886 after Junior club Smallshaw changed their name and moved into adult football. Its were said to be named North End due to playing in the North End of Ashton-u-Lyne. They first played Cup football in 1887–88 reaching the latter stages of the Manchester Junior Cup in the Cup's first season. They followed this up the next season by winning the competition by beating local rivals Hurst Reserves in the Final. Later Ashton North End played in the Ashton & District League, finishing in the top half in 1891–92. They were also a founder member of the Football Federation (for Manchester area clubs) in 1892–93 and won the inaugural title with 30 points from 18 games. The club stepped up to

The Combination The Combination was a league during the early days of English football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888–89 season for teams across Northern England and the Midlands, and was disbanded before completion. The second ...

in 1894 and were champions in its first season.

Merger with Ashton Town

In 1893 there was merger with Ashton Town, who had been formed a year earlier. The two teams merged, keeping the North End name. Two years later in 1895 they joined the Lancashire League for four seasons.

End of the club

At the end of the 1898–99 season, the club applied to join the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

; however, after sending in the application, the club president withdrew funding, having lost "an enormous amount of money" after a "disastrous" season - an attempt to float the club as a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

only had a lukewarm response. The application was unsuccessful, the club not earning a single vote, and the club "put up the shutters" before the following season got under way.

Colours

The club's original colours were cardinal and royal blue, but in March 1892 the club adopted new red and white quartered jerseys, provided by a Mrs Earnshaw of the Horse & Jockey Inn. By the time of its final season, its colours were black jerseys with white stars.

Ground

The club originally played at Rayner Lane, moving to the Athletic Grounds on Manchester Road, Ashton-u-Lyne in 1895.

Players

Famous players for Ashton North End include: *

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English Association football, football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful manage ...

, who later led

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

title as manager, who played for Ashton North End between 1895 and 1896; *

Arthur Wharton Arthur Wharton (28 October 1865 – 12 December 1930) was a British footballer. He is widely considered to be the first black professional footballer in the world. Though not the first black player outright – the amateurs Robert Walker, of Q ...

, Britain's first

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

professional footballer, who played for Ashton North End from 1897 until their demise in 1899; * James McBride, who had played for Scotland and in the Football League before joining Ashton.

External websites

* *

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Sport in Tameside Association football clubs disestablished in 1899 1899 disestablishments in England The Combination Lancashire League (football) Defunct football clubs in Lancashire Defunct football clubs in Greater Manchester Association football clubs established in the 1890s