Ashton-in-Makerfield F.C.

Ashton-in-Makerfield F.C.
Full nameAshton-in-Makerfield Football Club
Nicknamethe Pikeites[1]
Founded1887
Dissolved1899
GroundRecreation Ground
ChairmanRichard Latham (1888), J. Winstanley (1889)
SecretaryT. H. Davis

Ashton-in-Makerfield F.C. was an association football club from Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, active in the 1890s.

History

The club was founded in 1887,[2] as a winter activity for a cricket club.[3] The club enjoyed patronage from the local Member of Parliament T. W. Legh,[4] and gained its first successes in winning the Liverpool and District League in 1889–90 and 1890–91.[5]

After the latter triumph was elected to the Lancashire Alliance, and it remained a member until 1898–99. It reached the semi-final of the Lancashire Junior Cup in 1892–93, going down 4–2 at eventual winner Clitheroe, despite 500 of the 2,000 crowd being Ashton supporters conveyed on a special train.[6] The same season the club recorded its record victory, a 12–2 hammering of Adlington in the Alliance in February.[7]

Its best season Alliance season was a runner-up finish in 1895–96, albeit 7 points behind champion Earlestown.[8] The club led the table until February, and even fielded a reserve side in the Junior Cup to focus on the Alliance.[9]

Although the club received a significant benefit in 1897 by taking on a number of players from Park Lane Wanderers, which had folded in the summer due to lack of support,[10] the 1897–98 season was the club's final full season. It started the 1898–99 season, but did not complete it; as at January 1899 the club had played 8 fixtures, when all of the other sides were in double figures - three wins and four defeats had the club in 9th out of 12.[11] It failed to turn up to the away fixture with Astley Bridge Wanderers on 14 January, resulting in the Alliance suspending the club sine die[12] - a suspension which was never lifted. A new club - Ashton Town - was formed four years later.

Colours

The club wore chocolate and blue[13] stripes.[14]

Ground

The club played at the Recreation Ground,[15] at the end of Council Avenue, to the west of Bryn Street, and north of the Liverpool Road.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Alliance championship". Wigan Examiner: 3. 7 February 1896.
  2. ↑ "Ashton Football Club". Leigh Chronicle and Weekly District Advertiser: 4. 27 January 1888.
  3. ↑ "Ashton-in-Makerfield v Kirkdale". Wigan Observer and District Advertiser: 3. 13 September 1890.
  4. ↑ "Ashton-in-Makerfield Football Club". Wigan Examiner: 8. 7 March 1891.
  5. ↑ "Lancashire Football Association". Leigh Chronicle: 6. 28 August 1891.
  6. ↑ "Lancashire Junior Cup". Preston Herald: 6. 15 February 1893.
  7. ↑ "Ashton-in-Makerfield v Adlington". Wigan Examiner -: 4. 22 February 1893.
  8. ↑ "The Lancashire Alliance 1890–1935". Non-league Matters. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Alliance championship". Wigan Examiner: 3. 7 February 1896.
  10. ↑ "Football notes". Manchester Evening News: 4. 4 September 1897.
  11. ↑ "Lancashire Alliance". Liverpool Echo: 6. 14 January 1899.
  12. ↑ "Lancashire Alliance". Wigan Examiner -: 4. 18 January 1899.
  13. ↑ "The Corinthian" (18 October 1895). "Football notes". Newton and Earlestown Guardian: 5.
  14. ↑ "Earlestown v Ashton-in-Makerfield". Newton and Earlestown Guardian: 5. 18 October 1895.
  15. ↑ "Ashton-in-Makerfield v Park Lane Wanderers". Wigan Examiner: 3. 30 December 1893.
  16. ↑ "Lancashire CI.7". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.