Formby F.C.

Formby

Full name	Formby Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Squirrels
Founded	1919 (as Formby United)
Ground	Altcar Road, Formby (Capacity: 2000 (220 seated))
Owner	Hugh McAuley
Manager	Jim Shirley
League	North West Counties League Division One
2010–11	North West Counties League Premier Division, 18th (relegated)
Home colours Away colours

Formby F.C. are an English football club based in Formby, Merseyside. They currently play in the North West Counties Football League Division One and are members of the Liverpool County Football Association. They play their home games at Altcar Road in Formby.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Post-war 1.3 North West Counties Football League 1.4 2011 rebirth 2 Notable former players 3 Honours 3.1 League 3.2 Cup 3.3 Best Performances 4 League history 5 Attendances 5.1 Averages 6 References 7 External links

History

Early years

The club were established in 1919 as Formby United playing on a ground between Philips Lane and Ravenmeols Lane.^[1] After a year, they dropped the 'United' and moved to a ground that would be their home for more than 80 years, Brows Lane.

Formby's first trophy came in the 1929–30 season when they won the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup. In 1931–32 they were runners-up in the I Zingari League Division Two. Then in 1932–33 they were Division Two champions and were promoted to Division One. They won the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup in 1934–35. In 1936–37 they were runners-up in Division One.^[1]

Post-war

The years immediately after World War II were something of a golden age for Formby. Now playing in the Liverpool County Combination, for eight out of ten seasons they were winners or runners-up for a trophy and/or league title.^[1]

In 1947–48 they won the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup and were also runners-up in the league. The following season, they won the double, being Liverpool County Combination champions and winning the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup. In 1949–50 they were losing finalists in the Liverpool County Combination knockout competition, the George Mahon Cup. In 1951–52 they were runners-up in the league and in 1952–53 won the Liverpool County FA Challenge Trophy. The following season they were again runners-up in the league. The 1954–55 season saw the club win the Liverpool County Combination Subsidiary Cup and the following season were again losing finalists in the George Mahon Cup, and once again in 1956–57.^[1]

In 1963–64 they won the Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup, and then won the George Mahon Cup in 1964–65^[1] when they were also runners-up in the league and losing finalists in the Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup. In 1967–68 they won the Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup for a third time.

In the 1968–69 season, they joined the Lancashire Combination, finishing in 10th place in the first season. They joined the Cheshire County League in 1971–72.

Formby reached First Round Proper of the 1973–74 FA Cup, where they lost 2–0 at home to Football League Third Division leaders Oldham Athletic.^[1] In 1978 they became the first non-league club to win the Liverpool Senior Cup.

North West Counties Football League

Then in 1982 Formby were founder members of the North West Counties League playing in Division One in the 1982–83 season and finishing in 16th place. In 1984–85 they were again finalists in the Liverpool Senior Cup, losing to Marine. In the 1985–86 season they finished bottom of the table and were relegated to Division Two, where they spent just one season before being promoted back to Division One. Their stay lasted just two seasons, and they were relegated again after finishing bottom in 1988–89.^[1][2]

Formby then spent the next thirteen seasons in Division Two. They won the division's knockout competition, the Lamot Pils Trophy, in 1994–95 and – a rare achievement for a lower division side – they won the league's knockout cup, the Worthington Challenge Trophy, in 2000–01.^[3]

In 2002 their new ground at Altcar Road failed to meet league standards, so they were demoted to the Liverpool County Football Combination where they spent the 2002–03 season, finishing in ninth place.^[1] In 2003–04 they rejoined the North West Counties Football League in Division Two, finishing in third place and winning promotion to Division One. They struggled at the higher level finishing in 20th in 2004–05, 22nd in 2005–06 (though they avoided relegation) and 21st in 2006–07.

Results improved in 2007–08 when they finished 13th out of 20,^[4] equalling their highest-ever placing of 1983–84, and also reached the fourth round of the FA Vase, their best performance to date in the competition, two stages beyond their previous record set in 1996–97.^[1][2]

The following season, 2008–09, they held this form, finishing 15th out of 22^[5] and reaching the 2nd round of the FA Vase.^[1]

Following a dire start to 2009–10, they appointed former Altrincham player Mark Maddox as manager in September 2009.^[6] This bucked up the outcome somewhat, and they finished the season in the same position as the previous year, 15th in a table of 22.^[7]

Maddox left in the summer break of 2010 to manage Leigh Genesis^[8] and Gary Martindale was hired less than a month before the start of the 2010–11 season.^[9] Stepping into a player-manager role, Martindale was a prolific scorer for the club.^[10][11] Despite turning the fortunes of the side around, he resigned in January 2011.^[12] He was replaced by a caretaker-manager, Tony Rowan,^[13] who quit after only one match (a 10-4 defeat), to be replaced by Michael Joyce.^[14] Despite being told he would keep the job if he did well, and subsequently delivering a remarkable turnaround in the team's results giving them a comfortable 18th placed finish, Joyce was not offered the role permanently.^[15]

The club were demoted to North West Counties League First Division on 18 June 2011 after being found guilty of a breach of rules regarding a change of entity not being notified to the League or the FA.^[16]

2011 rebirth

In the close season of summer 2011 the club had an almost complete change of personnel. They got a new chairman/owner, Hugh McAuley,^[17] new management of Jim Shirley and assistant Kevin Dally,^[18] an entirely new squad of players, and many new backroom staff. Additionally, the club reverted to its traditional colours of gold and royal blue, and the red squirrel badge was reinstated as the club's emblem.^[19]

Notable former players

Numerous Football League players had a spell at Formby.

• Tony Evans started his career at Formby playing in the 1972-73 season for the club.
• Ron Yeats, legendary 1960s Liverpool captain, ended his playing career at Formby in the 1977/78 season.
• Hughie McAuley, manager of the Liverpool Under-18 team, played for Formby. He is the father of Formby's present owner, Hugh McAuley.
• Ex-Everton starlet John Paul Kissock had a two-month spell restarting his career at Formby in autumn 2010.
• Former Everton player Adam Farley was signed by Formby in December 2010.
• Football League player and Burscough all-time hero Gary Martindale was hired as Formby manager in July 2010 but adopted the role of player-manager until his resignation in January 2011.

Honours

League

• I Zingari League Division Two champions: 1932–33
• Liverpool County Combination champions: 1948–49

Cup

• Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup winners: 1929–30, 1947–48, 1948–49
• Lancashire County FA Amateur Cup winners: 1934–35
• Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup winners: 1951–52, 1963–64, 1967–68
• Liverpool County Combination Subsidiary Cup winners: 1954–55
• George Mahon Cup (Liverpool County Combination knockout cup) winners: 1964–65
• Liverpool Senior Cup winners: 1977–78
• NWCL First Division Trophy (Lamot Pils Trophy) winners: 1994–95
• NWCL Challenge Cup (Worthington Challenge Trophy) winners: 2000–01

Best Performances

• FA Cup: First Round Proper, 1973/74
• FA Trophy: 1st Round Proper (2nd replay), 1973/74
• FA Vase: Fourth Round Proper, 2007/08
• North West Counties League: 13th place in Premier Division, 1983/84, 2007/08

League history

Season	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Pos	League	Significant Events
Joined Lancashire Combination upon league re-organisation
1968–69	42	17	7	18	82	72	10	41	10/22	Lancs Com
1969–70	38	13	7	18	48	71	−23	33	12/20	Lancs Com
1970–71	30	15	7	8	47	35	12	37	5/16	Lancs Com
Joined Cheshire County League
1971–72	42	11	10	21	61	92	−31	32	20/22	Ches
1972–73	42	17	12	13	60	64	−4	46	8/22	Ches
1973–74	42	17	12	13	62	53	9	46	7/22	Ches
1974–75	42	16	13	13	55	55	0	45	9/22	Ches
1975–76	42	10	15	17	44	59	−15	35	15/22	Ches
1976–77	42	17	9	16	59	56	3	43	9/22	Ches
1977–78	42	18	11	13	71	57	14	47	10/22	Ches
Cheshire County League added Division Two; Formby play in Division One
1978–79	42	20	9	13	73	57	16	49	8/22	Ches-1
1979–80	38	13	7	18	50	58	−8	33	16/20	Ches-1
1980–81	38	21	7	10	65	39	26	49	4/20	Ches-1
1981–82	38	12	11	15	42	55	13	35	12/20	Ches-1
Joined North West Counties League Premier Division (then called Division One) as founder members
1982–83	38	10	8	20	48	69	−20	28	16/20	NWCL-1
1983–84	38	14	7	17	48	61	−13	35	13/20	NWCL-1
1984–85	38	9	9	20	41	79	−38	25*	17/20	NWCL-1
1985–86	38	5	8	25	35	86	−51	18	20/20	NWCL-1	Relegated
North West Counties League Division One (then called Division Two)
1986–87	34	13	7	14	54	55	−1	33	11/18	NWCL-2	Promoted
North West Counties Football League Premier Division (then called Division One)
1987–88	34	6	10	18	32	63	−31	22	14/18	NWCL-1
1988–89	34	3	4	27	24	77	−53	10	18/18	NWCL-1	Relegated
North West Counties Football League First Division (then called Division Two)
1989–90	30	7	7	16	33	57	−24	28	12/16	NWCL-2
1990–91	34	5	9	20	46	63	−17	24	17/18	NWCL-2
1991–92	34	17	5	12	49	39	10	56	5/18	NWCL-2
1992–93	34	14	9	11	49	49	0	51	8/18	NWCL-2
1993–94	34	12	11	11	59	50	9	47	10/18	NWCL-2
1994–95	30	11	6	13	57	53	4	39	10/16	NWCL-2
1995–96	34	10	7	17	59	76	−17	37	13/18	NWCL-2
1996–97	38	21	6	11	86	57	29	69	7/20	NWCL-2
1997–98	40	22	7	11	90	63	27	73	6/21	NWCL-2
1998–99	36	17	7	12	81	59	22	58	7/19	NWCL-2
1999–2000	34	12	8	14	52	68	16	44	11/18	NWCL-2
2000–01	38	15	8	15	65	56	9	53	12/20	NWCL-2
2001–02	38	15	8	15	65	56	9	53	12/20	NWCL-2	Relegated
Relegated to Liverpool County Combination due to ground inadequacies
2002–03	34	14	7	14	74	72	2	49	9/18	LCC	Promoted
Returned to North West Counties Football League First Division (then called Division Two)
2003–04	38	21	9	8	86	48	38	72	3/20	NWCL-2	Promoted
North West Counties Football League Premier Division (then called Division One)
2004–05	42	8	8	26	47	99	−52	32	20/22	NWCL-1
2005–06	42	4	7	31	43	105	−62	19	22/22	NWCL-1
2006–07	42	6	4	32	43	111	−68	22	21/22	NWCL-1
2007–08	38	14	3	21	52	60	−8	42*	13/22	NWCL-1
2008–09	42	15	3	24	57	67	−10	48	15/22	NWCL-1
2009–10	42	14	3	25	57	81	−24	45	15/22	NWCL-1
2010–11	42	11	10	21	67	95	−28	43	18/22	NWCL-1	Demoted

Attendances

Averages

The average league-game attendance at Altcar Road for the 2008–09 season was 42, less than half the average for the division, and is a decrease of 42% from the previous season.^[20]

Past averages:

• 2007–08: 72
• 2006–07: 70
• 2005–06: 53
• 2004–05: 71
• 2003–04: 69

Source: English football site

References

External links

• Official website
• Full details of Formby's FA Cup runs

North West Counties Football League Premier Division Alsager Town Ashton Athletic AFC Blackpool AFC Liverpool Atherton Laburnum Rovers Bacup Borough Barnoldswick Town Bootle Colne Congleton Town Flixton Glossop North End Maine Road Padiham Ramsbottom United Runcorn Linnets Runcorn Town St Helens Town Silsden Squires Gate Stone Dominoes Winsford United Division One Abbey Hey Ashton Town AFC Darwen Atherton Collieries Chadderton Cheadle Town Daisy Hill Eccleshall Holker Old Boys Formby Irlam Leek County School Old Boys Nelson Norton United Northwich Villa Oldham Boro Rochdale Town Wigan Robin Park Seasons 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12