| Full name | Radcliffe Borough Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Boro | ||
| Founded | 24 April 1949 | ||
| Ground | Stainton Park, Radcliffe (Capacity: 3,500) |
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| Chairman | Bernard Manning | ||
| Manager | Benny Phillips | ||
| League | Northern Premier League Division One North | ||
| 2010–11 | Northern Premier League Division One North, 18th | ||
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Radcliffe Borough F.C. is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. The club was formed on 24 April 1949 and currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One North. Radcliffe Borough reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in its history in 2000.
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The club was formed on 24 April 1949 at the Owd Tower Inn in Radcliffe by Jack Pickford, and became a member of the South East Lancashire Football League. After a short period in that league, the club joined the Manchester League before gaining access to the Lancashire Football Combination in 1963. In 1972, Radcliffe won the League Cup and finished third in the league. Two years later it was accepted into the Cheshire League, which subsequently became the North West Counties League.
The first season again brought success when Radcliffe secured the Second Division championship in front of a record Stainton Park crowd of 1,468. After one season in the First Division, Radcliffe lifted the First Division championship and made the step up into the newly formed Northern Premier League. 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.
Under previous manager Kevin Glendon who has been at the club since 1990, the playing side has gone from strength to strength. Kevin is renowned for producing young players and selling them on, in total he has made £80,000 in selling players. Radcliffe achieved its highest honour in the 1996–1997 season, winning the Northern Premier League First Division title by 2 points ahead of local rivals Leigh RMI. Unfortunately, the club's stay in the `top flight' lasted only one season. Having sacrificed all its revenue on ground development, to allow it to be promoted, it found itself without the resources to invest in quality players to stay in the division. Each year since then, however, it has competed for promotion, finishing regularly in the top six.
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 2001–2002 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. In 2004–05 the club finished 9th in the Northern Premier League. In 2004–05 Radcliffe narrowly avoided the playoffs due to the Spennymoor problem in which the team was liquidated 10 games from the end, but they could not follow this as in 2005–06 they narrowly avoided relegation on the last day as Steve Foster scored the goal that kept them in the Northern Premier League Premier Division at the expense of Bradford PA. The trend continued as, in April 2007, following the 4–0 loss to Ossett, Radcliffe lost their place in tier 3 of the NLS, being relegated to the new Northern Premier League Division One North.
The season started strongly for the Boro. They started with a 1–1 draw away at newly promoted side AFC Fylde but followed it up with three straight wins to finish August in 3rd place. At the end of August the club had a heavy 7–0 defeat at home to Colwyn Bay, and weeks after a 5–1 loss to Curzon saw a drop in morale from all parts of the club.
In the cups, Radcliffe Boro made it to the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, beating Atherton Collieries, Woodley Sports and Warrington in the process before losing 3–0 to Blue Square North Side Workington on a day with a depleted squad due to injury and suspensions. However with defeats to Clitheroe and Mossley, they went out of both the League Cups. In the Manchester Cup Boro got to the semi-final and the highlight of the run was a 6–2 win at Salford City in January in the 1st round; Boro lost in the semi-final away at Trafford with a 2–1 defeat in March, in a stormy encounter where after a bad tackle towards the end of the game 4 players were sent off. And in the Lancashire cup Boro lost 4–3 to Lancaster after going 4–0 down at half time, and hit the woodwork in the final minute and nearly made a dramatic comeback. Boro had a fairly good year in the league, finishing 9th in the league; highlights of the season included a 4–0 win away at promotion hopefuls Skelmersdale, a 4–1 win at Promoted Colwyn Bay and a dramatic 3–2 win over Champions FC Halifax coming from 2–0 down in the final 20 minutes. Boro had a run during the middle of the season including only losing three games out of 14 between January and March and going as high as 6th in the table. Boro had an outside chance of reaching the playoffs but inconsistency cost the side and a bad run during March cost them an unlikely play-off berth. Boro finished 9th in the table.
2010–11 has proven to be an eventful season at the Boro. The season started slowly with Boro losing the first 3 games of the season in August conceding 12 goals and scoring 2. Boro didn't win their first game until September 14 in a 1–0 over Harrogate Railway. Also in September, Boro were knocked out of the FA Cup at the 1st Qualifying round stage by FC United of Manchester 3–0 at Gigg Lane. FC United would later go on to reach the 2nd round Proper losing to League One Champions Brighton and Hove Albion. On 25 September, manager Kevin Glendon resigned after a 2–0 defeat at Clitheroe for unknown reasons. He would return later in the season as a coach. This left director of football Gerry Luczka in charge of 1st team affairs. His first game came in a one sided 2–1 win over Rochdale Town in the Lancashire Cup. Between October and November, Boro went on a 6-match unbeaten run in the league which came to a shuddering halt with a 5–2 defeat at AFC Fylde and then an exit from the FA Trophy after a replay at Witton Albion. In December, only 2 games were played. Boro made it into the semi-finals of the Lancashire Cup after a tough home quarter-final against Wigan Robin Park, but the other game was probably the most famous result in the club's history as Boro managed to win 3–2 at eventual champions Chester FC after a wonder goal from Alistair Brown and a 93rd minute winner from Mark Jones in front of a crowd of 2,153 at the Exacta Stadium. In January, Boro only managed to win one league game. Defeat at home to Chorley, and two 4–0 defeats at home to Mossley and away at Woodley Sports plunged Boro towards the relegation spots, as well as losing the Lancashire Cup semi-final 3–1 against Bamber Bridge at Leyland. January was to end in total chaos at the club. After the Warrington Town game was postponed due to bad weather, the club held a team meeting where, after heated discussions about the future of the club between Gerry Luczka and the management of the club, he resigned as manager. In the impending fallout from the resignation, striker Adam Roscoe was released from the club hours before Luczka's resignation, which caused a huge rift between the supporters and the board, with various news articles in the local paper from both sides accusing the other of foul play. The next match after this was an away trip to Wakefield where only 11 players were available for the trip. With no manager or assistant to take charge, chairman Bernard Manning took charge of the team himself with Steve Howson as assistant. The game was abandoned after 8 minutes due to floodlight failure. A week later, Benny Phillips was appointed as manager and the club's very public off-the-field problems appeared to be solved for the time being. In a mixed end of season for Boro, with a creditable draw at home to Chester and some good performances as well as bad ones away from home, Phillips chose to use the rest of the season to blood new players to see what was available for next season. So far, he has released five players from the club but new signings Fletcher and Adabaki seem to have added some flair to the team. Boro finished 18th in the Evostik Division 1 North, a far cry from 9th the year before, but after a turbulent season, there once again seems to be optimism around the club for 2011–12.
| Season | League | Placing | FA Cup | FA Trophy | Other Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Northern Premier League 1st Division North | 16/18 | 1st Qualifying | 1st Qualifying | Manchester Cup - WINNERS,Presidents Cup - Runners Up |
| 2008–09 | Northern Premier League 1st Division North | 17/21 | Preliminary Qualifying | 1st Qualifying | |
| 2009–10 | Northern Premier League 1st Division North | 9/22 | 3rd Qualifying | 1st Qualifying | Lancashire Cup R2,Manchester Cup SF,League Cup R1,Presidents Cup R2 |
| 2010–11 | Northern Premier League 1st Division North | 18/22 | 1st Qualifying | 2nd Qualifying | Lancashire Cup SF,Manchester Cup R1,League Cup R3,Presidents Cup Prelim |
Radcliffe Borough over the last few seasons have built up a few rivalries against other teams. The club's most fierce games are against Leigh Genesis and Bury F.C. due to the location of the teams, but after their quick rise in recent years FC United of Manchester has been seen as the fiercest rivals due to them playing at Gigg Lane close to Radcliffe. Other rivals include Garforth Town, Chorley F.C., AFC Telford United, Salford City and Trafford F.C.
Off the field the club is widely recognized as having made more progress than many other non-league clubs. With the help of grants from the Football Association, Football Foundation, Lottery Sports Fund, Club Funds and personal investments, it has so far been able to provide the following: Floodlit all weather pitches, Upgrade the terracing, New car park, Purchase the social club & Refurbish the building, Build a new sponsors lounge, Changing room block, 350-seater stand and six brand new Nationwide Conference standard floodlights. The club now claims to have one of the best non-league grounds at its level. In 2006 the club upgraded its facilities with the addition of two 3G Synthetic 6 a-side football pitches available to hire, a Sports Bar, Sports Injury Clinic, and a refurbished Function room.
Simon Kelly has made the most appearances for the club, making 450+ starts. Ian Lunt has scored the most goals for the club, scoring 147 times. Their highest attendance overall came in the FA Cup first round in 2000 when they faced York City. 2,495 people went to see the game. Their highest attendance at home was against Caernarfon Town when 1,468 people went to the game. Their highest transfer fee they received was from Shrewsbury Town for £20,000 for Jody Banim. The highesy transfer fee they paid was for Gary Walker as they paid £5,000 to sign him from Buxton. The record for the most goals in a season is 46 – which is held by Jody Banim.