Radcliffe Borough

Radcliffe Football Club (formerly Radcliffe Borough) is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, where they play their home games at Stainton Park. The club was formed on 24 May 1949 and currently plays in the National League North, the sixth tier of the English football league system, after winning the 2023-24 Northern Premier League Premier Division title. Radcliffe won the Northern Premier League First Division in 1996–97, won the playoffs twice in 2003 and 2019 and reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in its history in 2000. The club changed its name to Radcliffe Football Club for the 2018–19 season.

History

The club was formed on 24 May 1949 at the Owd Tower Inn in Radcliffe by Jack Pickford & a committee of 17 and became a member of the South East Lancashire Football League. All they had at the time was two players (Tommy Entwistle and Bert Nutter) £1.2s.6d (£1.12½p) in the bank and no ground! They soon came to an arrangement with a farmer on Bury Road to lease a field off Ashworth Street for two years. In 1951/52 the Club moved across Eton Hill Road to a pitch on Betley Street leased from the Earl of Wilton, the following year the Club turned the pitch 180 degrees parallel with Bright Street which became the name of the ground.

After a short period in the South East Lancashire League, the club joined the Manchester League - a huge step-up playing against four professional teams in the ‘A’ teams of Manchester United, Manchester City, Stockport County and Bury F.C.. The home game against Man Utd was lost 5-1 but three weeks later Boro’ gave them a shock in the return game at The Cliff winning 1-0 against the Busby Babes their only home defeat in two seasons. In 1955/56 Boro’ had their best finish in 2nd place and in 1956/57 they finished 3rd. In 1958/59 they fought their way to the Manchester Junior Cup Final at Old Trafford against Cheadle Rovers which they lost by the only goal. Just 5 days later they faced Cheadle Rovers again in the William Gilgryst Cup Final at Bury and finished 0-0 after which the Cup was shared for 6 months each. In 1961/62 Boro’ again reached the Gilgryst Cup Final against Buxton Reserves at Ashton United’s ground but lost 1-2 AET.

In 1963/64 the Club joined the Lancashire Combination Div 2, a great wish of club founder Jack Pickford. When August 1966 rolled around the Club were informed that they would in the near future have to leave Bright Street and find another ground after the Earl of Wilton decided to sell the land to the Ministry of Housing. In 1968/69 having been refused a site on Bury Road in Radcliffe the Club moved to the White House sports ground on Middleton Road (outside Bowker Vale tram stop) which was owned by Manchester Corporation Transport Dept. Before too long a new ground was found in Stainton Park the old wooden stands were brought from Bright Street and erected at the new ground and a pitch was laid in June 1969.

In 1970, Radcliffe won the League Cup and finished third in the league. After one further season it was accepted into the Cheshire County League, but throughout the rest of the 1970s the team struggled and were finally relegated to Div 2 in 1979/80. The Cheshire County League subsequently became the North West Counties League and that change saw an upturn in fortunes for 'The Boro'.

The first season again brought success when Radcliffe secured the Second Division championship in front of a then record Stainton Park crowd of 1,468. After one season in the First Division, Radcliffe lifted the First Division championship in 1985 and made the step up into the newly formed Northern Premier League First Division in 1987. After many years of consolidation in the league, and at times, fighting against relegation, the 1995–96 season saw an upturn in the club's fortunes, both on and off the pitch. The club, for the first time in its history, reached the last 16 of the FA Trophy, narrowly losing to Football Conference side, Gateshead 2–1.

Radcliffe achieved its highest honour in the 1996–97 season, winning the Northern Premier League First Division title by 2 points ahead of local rivals Leigh RMI. The club's stay in the 'top flight' at tier six lasted only one season.

For the first time in its history the club reached the first round of the FA Cup in 2000, losing 1–4 to York City in a match played at Gigg Lane, the home of Bury, in front of a crowd of 2,495. Boro again missed out on promotion in the 2001–02 season when after leading the division until February a poor run to the end of the season, meant that the club entered the newly formed play-offs losing to Bamber Bridge in the semi-final at Irongate.

In the 2002–03 season Boro missed out on the championship by two points to Alfreton Town, and reached the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup, losing to Chester City in front of 1,138 at Stainton Park. Promotion was finally won thanks to the play-offs by beating North Ferriby United in the semi-final and Chorley in the final at Stainton Park winning 4–2 on penalties after Chorley scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to make it 2–2 and take the game into extra time. Boro's Jody Banim got 46 goals in what was an unbelievable season for him.

With Boro back in the Northern Premier League Premier Division and a place in the newly formed Conference North up for grabs, promotion was obviously the aim. By November Boro were as high as sixth thanks to the 22 goals of Jody Banim who set an English record by scoring in 14 consecutive games. Boro sold Banim to Conference promotion chasers Shrewsbury Town for a record fee of £20,000 in December 2003, and without his goals the club slid down the table eventually finishing 19th and into the relegation play-offs beating Whitby Town on penalties 8–7 in the quarter-finals, before bowing out to Burscough in the semi-finals at home. This resulted in the club returning to tier seven after one season once more as a result of the pyramid restructure.

In 2004–05 the club finished 9th in the Northern Premier League. The club continued to be near the play-offs and solid midtable finishes followed but after 4 seasons were relegated back to the first division in 2007, where the club have remained until 2019. Mid-table finishes and the occasional battle against relegation was the order of the next decade after a decade of success and a few cup runs.

In 2016 management changed, a new chairman and manager took the reins. Off the field investment was given to the stadium, a new stand at the Pilkington Road end of the stadium, a new press area and director's area after being destroyed by fire. And a new covered turnstile block, a TV Gantry, Boardroom, club shop, Sponsors Lounge and Social Club. Giving the stadium a fresh new look. The club changed name dropping the borough officially in 2018. Reaching the Lancashire Cup Final in 2017 nearly brought silverware to the new era. League finishes for the first two seasons were roughly the same as before. But with a new manager in charge Jon Macken with Frank Sinclair as his assistant brought some positive results towards the end of 2017–18 from when he took the reins in October 2017. The future looked bright and the hard work and investment on and off the pitch paid off as the club was promoted via the play-offs back to the Northern Premier League in 2019. The 2023–24 season saw Radcliffe crowned champions of the Northern Premier League Premier Division, earning promotion to the National League North for the first time and a return to Step 2 of the National League System after a 20-year absence.

Women's team

1994-95 saw the first Radcliffe Borough Ladies team appear at Stainton Park, with Bury Girls & Ladies joining the club and changing their name accordingly. The women competed in the North West Women's Regional League for three seasons under the Radcliffe Borough name, before re-establishing their links with Bury F.C. and taking a Bury name once again in 1997.

History was to repeat itself somewhat when in 2023-24 Bury Foundation Women were to establish links with Radcliffe FC, moving to Stainton Park and changing their name to Radcliffe Women. They currently compete in the North West Women's Regional League under the management of Steve Jones, with a Reserve team in the Lancashire Womens County League and an Under 18s in the Greater Manchester Womens Football League.

In the intervening years Blackburn Rovers W.F.C. played for a few seasons at Radcliffe's ground, Stainton Park.

Notable players

The following players played for the Boro and later went on to sign for clubs in the Football League, Scottish Football League, MLS, A-League, I-League or played internationally whilst at the club.

* Jimmy Hayman
* Steve Fleet
* Billy Myerscough
* Edward Rayner
* Bob Hutchinson
* Brian Hart
* Gary Pierce
* Kevin Hulme
* Gary Curtis
* Niell Hardy
* Paul Mullin
* Mark Redshaw
* Rory Patterson
* Domaine Rouse
* Craig Dawson
* Andy Parry
* Lamin Jagne
* Kole Hall
* Jordan Slew
* Tunde Owolabi
* Raheem Hanley
* Jack McIntyre
* Lois Maynard
* Sean Tse

The following players have played at the highest level of English football or internationally and later turned out for the Boro.

* Tommy Heron
* Arthur Barnard
* Gordon Clayton
* Gordon Hill
* Fred Hill
* Dave Lennard
* Trevor Ross
* Len Cantello
* Frank Worthington
* Alan Kennedy
* Darren Sheridan
* Peter Barnes
* Frankie Bunn
* Neil Whitworth
* Gordon Armstrong
* Ian Bishop
* John Foster
* Paul Gascoigne
* Lee Sharpe
* Nick Culkin
* Mike Flynn
* Neil Danns
* Chris Makin
* Jem Karacan
* David Goodwillie

Honours

League

*Northern Premier League Premier Division
**Champions: 2023–24
*Northern Premier League Division One
**Champions: 1996–97
**Play-off winners: 2002–03 2018–19
*North West Counties League First Division
**Champions: 1984–85
*North West Counties League Second Division
**Champions: 1982–83
*North West Counties League Reserve Division
**Champions: 1986–87
*Manchester Football League Division Two
**Runners-up: 1965–66
*Northern Football Combination
**Winners: 1991–92
*South East Lancashire League Division One
**Runners-up: 1949–50, 1950-51
*South East Lancashire League Division Two
**Champions: 1950–51

Cup

*FA Cup Best - First Round Proper: 2000–01
*FA Trophy Best - Third Round (Last 16) : 1995–96
*FA Vase Best - Fourth Round: 1993–94
* Lancashire FA County Cup
**Finalists: 2008–09, 2016–17
*Manchester Premier Cup
**Winners: 2007–08, 2022–23
**Finalists: 1997–98
*Manchester Senior Cup
**Finalists: 1972-73
*Manchester Junior Cup
**Finalists: 1958–59
* Northern Premier League President's Cup
**Finalists: 2007–08
*North West Counties League Challenge Cup
**Finalists: 1984–85
*Lancashire Combination League Cup
**Winners: 1969–70
*Lancashire Combination League George Watson Trophy
**Finalists: 1970–71
* Manchester League Gylchrist Cup
**Winners: 1958–59 (joint)
**Finalists: 1961–62
*South East Lancashire League Shield
**Winners: 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52
*South East Lancashire League Moore Cup
**Winners: 1950–51, 1952–53, 1954–55
*Bury Amateur League Cup
**Winners: 1949–50

Players

The club has performed exceptionally well in the Northern Premier League's Player awards since their inception in 2011. The following players have picked up the following prizes:

* Jordan Hulme - Player of Season (Premier) - 2023/24, Team of the Season (Premier) - 2023/24, Third in Supporters Player award - 2023/24
*Elliot Rokka – Young Player of the Season (North Division) – 2017, Supporters Player Runner Up - 2017. Team of the Season - 2017
* Tunde Owolabi – League Supporters Player of the Season – 2019, Team of the Season - 2019
* Nick Culkin – Team of the Season - 2011, 2012
*Sheldon Barrington – Academy Player of the Season - 2019
*Callum Grogan – Team of the Season - 2019

6 Players were also represented in the Northern Premier League's Top 100 players named for its 50th Anniversary -
Andy Johnston (7th), Craig Dawson (14th), Karl Marginson (62nd), Jody Banim (65th), Cieran Kilheeney (66th), Simon Carden (93rd)

Managers

* John Pearson (1949–1953)
* John Bradshaw (1953–1954)
* David Robbie (1954–1955)
* Harry Cunliffe (1955–1963)
* Archie Lennon (1963–1964)
* John Pimlott (1964–1968)
* Les Grimsditch (1968–1969)
* Ray Gill (1969–1973)
* Don Wilson (1973–1974)
* Ken Wright (1974–1978)
* Tommy McLoughlin (1978–1979)
* George Jones (1979–1980)
* Dave Morris (1980–1986)
* Frank O'Kane (1986–1987)
* Ken Bridge (1988–1989)
* Len Cantello (1989–1990)
* Ken Wright (June-Nov 1990)
* Kevin Glendon (1990–2006)
* Frankie Bunn (March–May 1998)*
* Mike Farrelly (Dec 2001–2002)*
* Andy Johnston (2006-2007)
* Peter Coyne (2007-2008)
* Kevin Glendon (2008–2010)
* Gerry Luczka (2010–2011)
* Benny Phillips (2011–2013)
* Kevin Glendon (2013–2014)
* Paul McGuire (2014–2015)
* Bill Prendergast (2015)
* Danny Johnson (2015–2016)
* Bill Prendergast (2016–2017)
* Joe Gibbons (Apr-Sept 2017)
* Jon Macken (2017–2020)
* Lee Fowler (2020–2021)
* Bobby Grant (2021–2023)
* Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley (2023–present)

Statistics and records

Appearances

*Simon Kelly has made the most appearances for the club, making 502 starts.

Goals

* Ian Lunt has scored the most goals for the club, scoring 147 times.
*The record for the most goals in a season is 46 by Jody Banim.

Biggest Win

11-0 v New Mills - Cheshire County League Division Two - Wed 21 April 1982

Biggest Defeat

11-0 v Witton Albion - Cheshire County League Division One - Sat 28 October 1978

Attendances

*The highest home attendance was during the 2024/25 FA Cup, where their first ever competitive meeting against Bury FC ended up with a sold out attendance of 2800.

Transfer Fees

*The highest transfer fee received was from Shrewsbury Town for £20,000 for Jody Banim; however, the club has received more in add on fees from the sale of Craig Dawson to Rochdale AFC although the total sum remains undisclosed.
*The highest transfer fee paid was for Gary Walker for whom they paid £5,000 to Buxton.

References

External links

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Football clubs in England
Association football clubs established in 1949
Northern Premier League clubs
Football clubs in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury
Lancashire Combination
1949 establishments in England
North West Counties Football League clubs
Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
Cheshire County League clubs