Astley Bridge F.C. was an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club from

Astley Bridge Astley Bridge is predominantly a residential district of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of Bolton town centre, south of Blackburn, and northwest of Manchester. History Astley Bridge is quite a modern place name and onl ...

, near

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

History

The club was founded in 1877. In 1878 the club was a founder member of the

Lancashire Football Association The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foot ...

. The club first entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1880–81, beating

Eagley Eagley is a village of the unparished area of South Turton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies on southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Eagley Brook passes through ...

at home in the first round in front of a "large attendance", but losing to Turton in the second. The

next year "Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters' album '' There Is Nothing Left to Lose''. History A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a single in 2000 and wa ...

the club went out again to Turton, this time in the first round, but after three replays. On 14 October 1882, the Bridgeites visited

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...

in the

Lancashire Senior Cup The Lancashire County Football Association Cup (commonly known as the Lancashire Senior Cup) is an association football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Footbal ...

as the first opponents for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

in competitive football, winning 8–0. The club continued to enter the Cup until 1888–89, when the club was forced to start in the qualifying rounds. The club's only other win in the competition was against Southport Central in 1885–86, which was followed by the club's record defeat in the competition, 11–3 against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

in front of 1,500 spectators. That year, Astley Bridge loaned a player (Sculthorpe) to Halliwell, who played in a friendly against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

; because the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

had not given permission, both Sculthorpe and Halliwell were briefly suspended. In both 1886–87 and 1887–88 the club made it through to the second round on a forfeit. In the former year, the club drew twice with

, but Burnley was disqualified for fielding a professional player before the second replay; Burnley was unable to field a full-strength side in the first two matches as many of its first choice players had not fulfilled the residency requirements for the competition. In the latter year, the club unexpectedly lost at

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, Cumbria, a location * Hurst, Dorset, a location * Hurst, Greater Manchester, a location * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, Somerset, a settlement within the vi ...

before a crowd of 3,000, but the club put in a protest and the FA ordered a replay. Hurst "scratched rather than replay a match that they claimed to have fairly won" and Astley Bridge was awarded the tie. In the second round, a crowd of 2,000 saw the Bridgeites lose to Halliwell, and put in another protest, on the basis that one player (Hewitson) was not qualified to play for Halliwell. Halliwell attended the hearing with Hewitson's birth certificate, the FA dismissed the protest, and ordered Astley Bridge to pay 2

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

and Halliwell's expenses. The last records of the club are from the 1888–89 season, with the ground being made available to rent from 1890. A replacement club (Astley Bridge Wanderers) was in existence before the 1892–93 season and a later club was in the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

in the early 1950s.

Colours

Grounds

The club originally played at a ground on Sweetloves Lane, notable for its steep slope. In 1881 the club moved to Astley Meadow, near the Lamb Inn public house, on a ground that was shorter than the 110 yards minimum to host

ties and which led to at least one protest. The club was forced to move before the 1883–84 season as its ground was needed for a cemetery, and it found a new ground near a tram stop which it called Astley Meadow. It constructed a grandstand there that could hold 300 people, at a cost of £50.

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Lancashire Association football clubs established in 1875 Association football clubs disestablished in 1889 1875 establishments in England 1889 disestablishments in England