Witton Albion
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Witton Albion F.C. are a
football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...
based in
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. They were founded in
1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...
. They have won the
Cheshire Senior Cup The Cheshire County Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Cheshire Senior Cup, is a football knockout tournament founded in the 1879–80 season and involves teams from Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, England. I ...
11 times since
1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's ...
. Their most recent success in this competition was in
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, when they defeated
Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921, Stalybridge Celti ...
in the final. They have also reached 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 ...
Second Round on at least three occasions. The club will play in the
Northern Premier League Division One North The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...
(eighth tier of the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...
) in the 2015–16 season. The club's ground was for many years in the centre of the town, just behind the library. In 1989, they moved a couple of miles to Chapel Street in nearby Wincham. Sainsbury's Supermarket now occupies the old Central Ground site. Witton's current home, U Lock It Stadium (Wincham Park), holds in excess of 4,500 and is equipped with floodlights, segregation, a club shop and a museum. There used to be a fierce local rivalry with
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
.


History

The first records of a Witton Albion F.C. are in 1887. The club first entered the FA Cup in 1907–08 but failed to reach the First Round proper until 1948–49. Early on in their history the club played in a number of leagues including the Northwich & District League, Crewe & District league, Cheshire League,
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 ...
, The Manchester League and
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 ...
. Finally in 1920, the club became founder members of the
Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...
. They won the league three times after World War 2, including the league and cup double in 1953–54. After the formation of the
Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...
in 1969, many Cheshire clubs left the
Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...
, although Witton were denied entry on a vote. It is thought that Northwich Victoria's decision to persuade other clubs not to allow their town rivals in was the deciding factor. Albion continued to be a decent side in the
Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...
and eventually earned promotion to the
Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...
in 1978–79, when the club finished as runners-up. Although they missed out on joining their arch-rivals, as they had just left to form the Alliance Premier League. The sale of the club's Central Ground to Sainsbury's allowed the club to move to a much more modern stadium, although it was over a mile away in nearby Wincham. The second season at
Wincham Park Wincham Park is a football stadium in Wincham, a parish on the edge of Northwich, England. The home ground of Witton Albion F.C., Witton Albion, it first opened in 1989, after the club left their former Central Ground. Capacity is 4,813, with 6 ...
in 1990–91 proved to be one of the best seasons in the club's history as they won the NPL by 16 points, gaining promotion to the
Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...
. However, the club found this tough going and continual relegation struggles resulted in the first relegation in the club's history in 1994. A further relegation from the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League followed in 1997. In 2004, club captain Brian Pritchard enjoyed worldwide fame following his sending off during the Cheshire County F.A. Senior Cup final against Woodley Sports. He was sent off after he tripped a streaker that had run onto the pitch, incensing the Witton fans. Many football fans around the world deemed this sending off unfair, including when the referee was criticised for his decision on the BBC's ''Football Focus'' program. The 2006–07 season saw Witton miss out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season to
Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...
, by 1 goal on goal difference. Witton hit the woodwork 3 times in the last 20 minutes, but were unable to score the goal that would have taken them into the Conference North as league champions. This was the second time in seven years that Burscough had beaten Witton to promotion on goal difference. Witton subsequently lost the play-off final against Telford United and were thus denied promotion into the
Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...
division. Witton narrowly missed promotion again in 2007–08. After having led the Northern Premier League Premier Division since November, at one stage by 14 points, they lost the lead to Fleetwood Town in mid-April, and entered the last game of the regular season a point behind Fleetwood, but with a much better goal difference. Although Fleetwood could only manage a draw at home to
Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History The club was formed on 30 July 1908, and became a member of the South Yorkshire Lea ...
in their last match, Witton lost at home 3–0 to Worksop Town and finished second. They went on to lose the first round of the promotion playoffs at home to
Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...
on penalties. After the season ended, the club were wracked with management upheavals. Manager Jim Vince and assistant Nigel Deeley resigned after a disagreement with long-time charman Mike Worthington, and shortly afterwards Worthington himself severed ties with the club. Vince and Deeley were re-appointed by acting chairman Mark Harris, but Vince resigned again two weeks later on the grounds of ill-health. Nigel Deeley was appointed manager on 28 May. A substantial reduction in the playing budget led to the departure of most of the established squad members during the 2008 close season. Manager Nigel Deeley and assistant Andy Nelson were fired on November 2, after an unprecedented sequence of nine consecutive defeats. They were replaced by former manager Gary Finley, assisted by Lee Coathup. After a brief change in fortunes, when Witton moved out of the relegation zone, the Albion finished third bottom, and were relegated to the Northern Premier League First Division South. Witton entered the 2009–10 season with high hopes of promotion. Consistently in the top half of the league, they were as high as third by February 2010. However, an indifferent last third of the season saw them fall to seventh, finishing 6 points out of playoff contention. Finley resigned from the club prior to the last game of the season. League restructuring saw the club relocated to Northern Premier League First Division North for the 2010–11 season. In May 2010, former long-serving Leek Town manager Paul Ogden was appointed to the managerial position, assisted by Brian Pritchard, who will remain on the playing staff, and Dave McPherson. Six years previously, Ogden had turned down the management job at Witton, a decision which he described as 'a mistake'. On 11 April 2011 Dave MacPherson and Brian Pritchard were appointed joint managers of the club for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. Dave MacPherson left the club in the close season and Brian Pritchard became the permanent manager for the 2011–12 season. Mike Moseley, one of Albion's leading goalscorers became Assistant Player/Manager with former boss Nigel Deeley becoming First-Team Coach. On 28 April 2012, Witton beat Curzon Ashton 3–0 in the Northern Premier League Division One North Play-off Final winning promotion to the Northern Premier League (the seventh tier of the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...
) in the 2012–13 season. An impressive 2012–13 season saw Witton finish 4th in the league making the play-off's. A 3-1 semi final defeat to
FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester, more commonly known as FC United, is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home m ...
brought an excellent season to a close. The 2013–14 season was tougher, with Albion finding themselves in the relegation zone for most of the season. However a good run of form inspired by club favourite Alex Titchiner the club managed to finish 16th. On Monday 25 August 2014 after beating Marine 3–1, Manager Brian Pritchard announced his resignation after 19 years at the club. He was replaced by Player/Coach Anthony Sheehan. Sheehan's reign lasted just 5 games all of which ended in defeat. He handed in his resignation and was replaced by Tony Sullivan. Sullivan moved quickly to bring in his management team appointing Kevin Hodgson and Andy Robertson to the coaching staff. Albion were relegated on the last day of the 2014–15 season. Needing only a point to guarantee league survival away at Stamford, Albion raced into a two-goal lead, however collapsed in the 2nd half eventually losing 3-2 and finding themselves finishing 22nd. Immediately after the game both Tony Sullivan and his assistant Kevin Hodgson resigned. The board moved quickly to replace Sullivan with former
Norton United F.C. Norton United F.C. was a football club based in Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. They were established in 1989 and joined the Staffordshire Senior League in the same year. They were the Midland Football League (1994), Midland ...
manager Scott Dundas taking over. However Dundas was fairly unsuccessful despite building a team of ex pro's and proven goalscorers. Dundas was sacked just two months into the season after the club slipped to its lowest league position in its history. The board replaced Dundas with ex Vauxhall Motors F.C. and
Marine F.C. Marine Association Football Club is an English football club based in Crosby, Merseyside. The club, which was founded in 1894, is a member of both the Liverpool County and Lancashire County Football Associations, and currently plays in the , ...
manager Carl MaCauley. The club also caused a stir amongst fans at the start of the 2015–16 season by allowing bitter rivals
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
back into the town by allowing them to share their Wincham Park stadium. Carl Macauley who along with his assistant Gary Martindale were the management team at Conference North
Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors Limited , ;Company No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. is a British Automoti ...
until the club's resignation. They thankfully succeeded in steadying the ship and despite the club, once again being forced to change regional divisions set about recruiting their own team, both on and off the field. Their dedication certainly paid off in '16/17 when, in practically any other scenario picking up nigh on 100 points and scoring 100 goals along the way would secure automatic promotion, the team won their Play-off games against AFC Rushden & Diamonds and Spalding United to regain their place back in the NPL's top flight. The first season back exceeded expectations as it was only in the final month that Albion missed out on a play-off position whilst in 1’8/19, playing catch-up, the team finished in the top ten. Last season saw them well placed, with games in hand, before the season was curtailed


Rivalries

The club's main rival is
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
. Witton Albion were formed in the late 19th century by a group of
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
players, officials and supporters who chose to break away from the Vics in protest of the clubs' decision to become a 'professional' side. Both Witton and Northwich were prominent figures during the days of the Cheshire League with Albion winning the league three times to Northwich's twice. The clubs haven't met in a league fixture since 1994, although there have been numerous local cup clashes. Good Friday 1949 saw 11,290 locals attend the derby fixture. In recent times, Witton have developed a rivalry with 1874 Northwich, a club ran by the disgruntled
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
fans, with Witton winning 3–2 on the first meeting between the two sides in February 2015. Witton also enjoy minor rivalries with other Cheshire clubs including
Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...
and Winsford United.


Notable former players

Former players include Neil McNab. Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop played for the club during the late 1980s. Former Premier League striker Geoff Horsfield played for Witton during the 1990s as well as former Derby County goalkeeper Andy Oakes. Cardiff City forward
Nicky Maynard Nicholas David Maynard (born 11 December 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career at Crewe Alexandra, following over a decade in the club's Academy, and scored on his senior debut in Apr ...
spent a short spell on loan at the club during the 2005–06 season. Alex Titchiner left the club after the 2011–12 season to join League Two side Fleetwood Town, rejoining in 2014. Other players include
Mike Whitlow Michael William Whitlow (born 13 January 1968) is an English former professional footballer and Under-18s coach at League Two club Mansfield Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1987 to 2007. He notably played for Leeds United, and in the ...
,
Dennis Viollet Dennis Sydney Viollet (20 September 1933 – 6 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and Stoke City as well as the England national team. He was famous as one of the Busby Babes and survived the Munich air disa ...
,
Peter Mellor Peter Mellor (born 20 November 1947) is an American former professional footballer whose playing career as a goalkeeper spanned three decades. He played 17 years in the top three tiers of English professional football with Burnley, Fulham, Here ...
,
Chris Nicholl Christopher John Nicholl (12 October 1946 – 24 February 2024) was a professional footballer who later worked as a coach and manager. A centre-back, Nicholl began his playing career at Burnley, but moved to Witton Albion after failing to br ...
and Samuel Challinor. Witton were also managed by former Manchester City players Ken Barnes and Ray Ranson.


Honours

Witton Albion were regular semi-finalists in the
FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
(1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93). In 1992, they made it to the old
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
where they lost to
Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...
. *
FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
**Runners-up: 1991–92 *
Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...
**Winners: 1990–91 **Runners-up: 2006–07, 2007–08 **Play-offs runners-up: 2006–07 *
Northern Premier League Division One North The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...
**Play-offs winners: 2011–12 * Northern Premier League President's Cup **Winners: 1990–91 **Runners-up: 1989–90, 1994–95, 2004–05 *
Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...
**Winners: 1948–49, 1949–50, 1953–54 **Runners-up: 1950–51, 1978–79


References


External links

*
Witton Albion Supporters OnlineWitton F.C. on Football Club History DatabaseWitton Albion on Football Club History Database
{{Northern Premier League Football clubs in England Football clubs in Cheshire Association football clubs established in 1887 1887 establishments in England Northwich The Combination Lancashire League (football) Lancashire Combination Northern Premier League clubs National League (English football) clubs Cheshire County League clubs