Rossendale United F.C.
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Rossendale United F.C.
CLUB HISTORY { credit to the official Rossendale United FC website} Formed back in 1898, Rossendale United Football Club, based in Rossendale, Lancashire, have had a long and eventful existence which has seen a lot of success, but also long periods of hardship which has seen the clubs existence in doubt on many occasions.
Their first competitive fixture took place on the 3 September 1898, and brought a 3-1 home win over Oswaldtwistle Rovers, Jack Read having the honour of scoring the clubs first ever goal. Part way through their first season Rossendale were invited to take over the fixtures of Darwen Reserves in the Lancashire Combination, as they had withdrawn from the League. The club took up the offer, but struggled at the higher level of competition winning just two games out of 17 played.
1899/1900 brought a third new League, and the first silverware to the club. The Central Lancashire League Championship was won at the first attempt, a feat that would have been repeated the following season but for teams withdrawing part way through the competition.
In 1901/02 Rossendale United began their long association with the Lancashire Combination. The club played in the League for 69 years until they left to join the Cheshire County League in 1970. Success was spread pretty thin on the ground during those years, one Division One Championship win in 1926/27, Runners-Up in 1954/55 and a Division Two Championship in 1956/57 being the only League success.
The Combination Cup was also won twice, in 1929 and 1944, with Rossendale bringing home the Lancashire Junior Cup in 1912 thanks to a 2-1 win over Eccles Borough in the Final. It was also during that time the clubs greatest ever goal scorer, Bob Scott, played for Rossendale United. Between 1959 and 1974 he netted 223 goals in just 203 appearances, including an astonishing 72 goals in the 1959/60 season.
It was when the club left the Combination for the Cheshire League in 1970 that success started to come. The Championship was won at the first attempt in 70/71, with Runners-Up spot claimed in 71/72 and 73/74. Eight other trophies were to arrive at Dark Lane in just five seasons. The Cheshire League Cup, Cheshire League Challenge Shield, Lancashire Floodlit Trophy (twice), Lancashire Floodlit League, Lancashire Junior Cup and Ashworth Cup (twice) were won by arguably the greatest Rossendale United side of all time. There were also two memorable FA Cup runs in the early seventies. The Second Round was reached in 1971/72 before defeat by Bolton Wanderers in front of 12,000 at Gigg Lane brought the run to an end. The other was in 75/76 when Shrewsbury Town claimed a controversial 1-0 win in the First Round to sneak through.
The cup run of 75/76 proved to be the last throw of the dice from that successful side as financial difficulties struck the club hard. Matters came to a head in February 1978 when the players walked out the night before the home game against would be Champions Marine. A scratch side managed to score two goals, the only problem being that Marine managed to score 14. The club staged something of a recovery at the start of the eighties as Glyn Watson managed to bring some respectability back to the side. Trouble wasn’t far away though, and 1981/82 brought a high court battle for the club’s Dark Lane home. During this time Rossendale United played their home games at Droylsden, and despite all the problems had their most successful season for a number of years. They finished fifth in the League and embarked on a FA Trophy run which took them to the Second Round before losing 1-0 at Slough Town.
In 1982 Rossendale United became founder members of the North West Counties Football League, and were placed in the Second Division on ground grading. Promotion to their rightful place in Division One was achieved in 1985/86 when they finished Runners-up to Kirkby Town. This proved to be the start of another successful period in the clubs history. 1986/87 brought a comfortable mid table finish, plus an eventful FA Vase run which eventually ended in Round Five at Emley.
NWCFL Division One Runners-Up spot was claimed in 87/88, Rossendale losing out to Colne Dynamoes on goal difference for the title. They went one better the season after, claiming the Championship and setting a couple of League records on the way. They remained unbeaten in the League until February, a run spanning 22 games, and set a new points record of 56 from just 34 matches (in the days of two points for a win). With the title came promotion to the Northern Premier League First Division (now UniBond League) and a respectable mid-table finish in their first season.
1990/91 proved to be the start of the decline as the club struggled both on and off the pitch. The extra cost of the higher League, combined with falling gates and increasingly poor performances on the field led to the inevitable relegation back to the NWCFL in 1992/93. The club’s final season in the NPL was a shambles. Three managers failed to halt the slide as the campaign ended with 18 straight defeats in the club’s worst ever season.
Back in the NWCFL for the 93/94 season, the club spent heavily to try to gain an immediate return to the NPL. Atherton LR pipped them to promotion as Rossendale finished Runners-up. They did however win the Challenge Cup, beating St Helens Town 1-0 in a drab Final at Gigg Lane.
The cost of that season had a tremendous effect on the club. With little or no money, the facilities at Dark Lane fell into disrepair, as the team struggled to avoid relegation. Rossendale United celebrated their centenary season in 1998/99, and until new owners took over at the end of the campaign, it could well have been the last season in the club’s history.
Since then there has been a complete turn around at the club. The facilities have been vastly improved, with new stands, perimeter fencing and terracing being installed as well as a complete revamp of the clubhouse.
Fortunes also changed on the field. After finishing fifth in 1999/2000, Jim McCluskie was installed as manager following a poor start to the 2000/01 season. Under his guidance the side embarked on a tremendous run which culminated in the lifting of the NWCFL Division Championship at Flixton on the last day of the season.
Promotion to the UniBond First Division came with the Championship, and an excellent start to the 2001/02 season saw Rossendale top the table in the early stages. Key players were lost through injury and the side dropped down to finish a highly respectable 9th place, their highest ever finish in the non-league pyramid.
2002/03 saw McCluskie resign following a poor start to the campaign and Jim McBride stepped up from Assistant to take over the reigns. McBride steered Rossendale away from the threat of relegation as well as guiding the club to the semi-final of the UniBond League Cup beating Premier League clubs Droylsden, Lancaster City and Vauxhall Motors along the way.
Unfortunately he failed to progress the club on the playing front and after a run of indifferent results he was sacked and replaced by former Rossendale player Paul Lynch, who on his appointment in September 2003 became the youngest ever manager of Rossendale United Football Club.
Despite bringing back recent Dark Lane favourites such as Steve Bird and Steve Cunningham results under Lynch were largely disappointing and the team were unable to re-create the heady days of the Championship winning side despite Lynch bringing back Jim McLuskie to assist him with coaching. Lynch eventually stepped down as manager to concentrate resurrecting his playing career. Once again Jim McLuskie stepped in and agreed to manage Rossendale until the end of the season.
With the much heralded restructing of the non-league football pyramid Rossendale would have gained promotion to the Unibond Premier division with a finish anywhere above 13th. Dale’s erratic form and small squad put pay to their dream of competing at the highest level in their history eventually finishing in 15th spot, a mere 4 points adrift of that all important promotion place.
‘Dale opted for a fresh approach during the close season, appointing former Burnley player Ashley Hoskin as their manager. Unfortunately, after a disastrous start Hoskin resigned at the end of September after just nine games in charge. Next to take up the Dark Lane challenge is Mark Molyneaux who had just been signed by Hoskin as the club’s goalkeeper. Hopefully , along with assistant Wayne Goodison, they can bring some much needed stability to the club.
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Alsager Town | Bamber Bridge | Belper Town | Bradford Park Avenue | Bridlington Town | Brigg Town | Buxton | Cammell Laird | Chorley | Clitheroe | Colwyn Bay | Eastwood Town | Goole | Gresley Rovers | Harrogate Railway | Kidsgrove Athletic | Ossett Albion | Rossendale United | Shepshed Dynamo | Skelmersdale United | Stocksbridge Park Steels | Wakefield | Warrington Town | Woodley Sports edit |
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