Skelmersdale United F.C.
 | |||
| Full name | Skelmersdale United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Skem / Skem | ||
| Founded | 1882 | ||
| Ground | West Lancashire College Stadium, Skelmersdale | ||
| Capacity | 2,500 | ||
| Chairman |
 Paul Griffiths | ||
| Manager |
Tommy Lawson | ||
| League |
Northern Premier League Premier Division | ||
| 2012–13 |
Northern Premier League Division One North, 1st (promoted) | ||
| |||
Skelmersdale United F.C. are an English football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire competing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division which sits under the conference and is level 7 in the National League system. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Football Association.
History
The first 75 years
When United were founded in 1882, Skelmersdale was a small coal-mining town. In 1891 the club was a founder member of Lancashire Combination (the premier league for non-league football in the north-west of England until the creation of the Northern Premier League in 1968), although by 1893 the club had left. They rejoined in 1903 as founder members of new Division 2 although, again, they had left by 1907. For most of the next 50 years United competed in the Liverpool County Football Combination. The club had finally found their comfort zone. They were crowned champions on 10 occasions, Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup winners on 8 occasions and winners 5 times.
United transferred into the 2nd Division of the Lancashire Combination in 1955–56, and in their first season they won the Championship.
A new team for a new town
Skelmersdale became a designated new town in 1961 and ushered in a whole new era for the area. Coincidentally, around the same time, in August 1961, Wesley Bridge was made Secretary/Manager of United and began the radical restructuring the club. In 1966–67 the changes began to pay dividends on the pitch. The FA Amateur Cup quarter final victory against Slough Town was a record gate for Whitemoss Park (Sandy Lane) – 7,500 – in March 1967. That year United won their way to the FA Amateur Cup Final at Wembley in front of 75,000 spectators (which, at the time, was the biggest Wembley attendance for any game other than an FA Cup Final, League Cup or International game). A nil-nil draw with Enfield resulted in a replay at Maine Road, Manchester. Whilst United lost 3–0, the whole experience was the basis of an extraordinarily successful period in their history. The following season United lost away to football league club Scunthorpe United in the first round proper of the FA Cup. In 1968–69 United again qualified for the FA Cup first round only to lose away to football league club Chesterfield. The same season, after transferring from the down-graded Lancs Combination to the Cheshire County League, United won the league championship, a feat they would repeat the following year. The club also got through to the semi finals of the FA Amateur Cup, another feat that they would repeat the next year. In 1970–71 United finally won the FA Amateur Cup in a 4–1 thrashing of Dagenham at Wembley. Despite only finishing third in the Cheshire County League, United also secured promotion to the Northern Premier League, the highest level the club had ever played at. In 1971–72 United qualified again for the first round proper of the FA Cup where they were beaten at home by football league club Tranmere Rovers. They finished in the top half of the Northern Premier League.
Decline and revival
By 1976 United had dropped into the Lancashire Combination. In 1982, when the Combination was amalgamated with the Cheshire County League to form the North West Counties League (NWCL), United found themselves in Division Two of the NWCL. The club reached the inaugural League Challenge Cup Final, only losing in a replay to Darwen. In 1987 the NWCL was restructured when a large number of clubs left to join the Northern Premier. This restructuring saw the club move up to the NWCL First Division. United struggled for three seasons before being relegated.
Towards the end of 1996–96 the club itself was restructured with a new Manager, Russ Perkins. Perkins led the club to promotion in his first season. In May 2000 United won the League Challenge Trophy. Perkins was replaced as Manager by the club's Assistant Manager, Paul Gallagher, towards the end of the 2001–02 season, and the following season United finished a very respectable fifth in NWCL. The 2003–2004 season was spent at Victoria Park, home of Burscough, whilst a new stadium was being prepared. In 2004–2005 United moved into their new home, the Westgate Interactive Stadium, and finished runners up in the NWCL League Cup. The following season, 2005–2006, the club finished runners-up in the NWCL First Division and were promoted to the Northern Premier League First Division. Also a change of Club sponsor led to a stadium name change (to the Ashley Travel Stadium).
Northern Premier league to present day
In 2008, Skelmersdale United finished third in the inaugural season of the Northern Premier League Division One North. They were only 4 points off the top spot and won the semi final of the playoffs against Curson Ashton 3-1. The final was against FC United. Despite scoring first in front of 4000 fans at Bury FCs ground, they lost 4-1.
The 2009 season saw Skelmersdale finish 2nd by 1 point and lose in the semi finals of the playoffs to Newcastle Blue Star 1-0. Both teams that were promoted that season went into administration in the off-season.
The 2010 season saw Skem finish in 5th place and lose in the semi final of the playoffs 2-0 to Lancaster city.
In the 2011 season Skelmersdale again finished in 2nd place to Chester. They were on the same points but were placed second on goal difference. The final day of fixtures saw Skem needing to win by 7 clear goals and for Chester to lose. Chester did in fact lose to the bottom team, but skem only won their game 7-2, so missed out on promotion by 2 goals. Their misery was completed by losing in the semi finals yet again to AFC Fylde 1-0.
The 2012 season saw Skem finish outside the playoffs for the first time in 7th place.
Skelmersdale continued to improve under manager Tommy Lawson. In the 2013 season they finished top of the league, being promoted to the Northern Premier League Premier Division which sits under the conference and is level 7 in the National League system. They won it by a 16 point margin from second place, scoring 110 goals in the league alone that season. This is their highest position in non-league football 'pyramid' to date.(see the National League System).
Their first season at the higher level sees them doing better than many fans thought possible with their limited player budget. Going into January 2014, they sit at the top and have been in the top 4 all season.[1]
Trivia
August 2008 saw the announcement of a new one year sponsorship deal with Skelmersdale & Ormskirk College that also saw the stadium renamed to The Skelmersdale & Ormskirk College Stadium, a boost to both sport and education in the area. The sponsorship deal was renewed for the 2009/2010 & 2010/2011 seasons respectively.
In line with the club main sponsor's change of name, on 1 August 2011, Skelmersdale's stadium was renamed accordingly to the West Lancashire College Stadium. On 5 March 2011, Skelmersdale entertained Chester in an Northern Premier League Division One North fixture and broke the attendance record for The Skelmersdale & Ormskirk College Stadium when 1,171 attended, it had previously been 1,002 for an FA Cup tie in 2004 against Burscough.
Players
Current Squad
- As of 28 December 2013.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Non-playing staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Tommy Lawson |
| Assistant Manager | Bryan Richardson |
| First Team Coach |  Jacob Holden |
| Physio | Michelle Scott |
| Football Secretary | Bryn Jones |
Former players
Players who left the club directly for league clubs include:
- Micky Burns – Blackpool & Newcastle United (1971–76)
-
Steve Heighway – Liverpool. Steve gained an International Cap with the Republic of Ireland whilst he was still playing for Skelmersdale. - Sean McConville – Accrington Stanley January 2009
- Josh Lennie (2009)
- George Donnelly – Plymouth Argyle & Stockport County (Loan), March 2009
Those who played for the club and progressed into league football after leaving the club include:
- Paul Futcher – Chester City & Manchester City
- Ron Futcher – Chester City & Manchester City
- Craig Noone – Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City (Loan) and Brighton & Hove Albion
- Peter Withe – Nottingham Forest & Aston Villa
- Gerry Keenan – Port Vale
References
- ↑ Acknowledgement – all historical data from the 'Football Club History Database' (non copyrighted)
External links
Coordinates: 53°33′26″N 2°48′06″W / 53.55725°N 2.80169°W