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'''Witton Albion F.C.''' are a [[football club]] based in [[Northwich]], [[England]]. They were founded in [[1887 in football (soccer)|1887]]. They have won the Cheshire County F.A. Senior Cup 11 times since [[1902 in football (soccer)|1902]]. Their most recent success in this competition was in [[2006 in football (soccer)|2006]], when they defeated [[Stalybridge Celtic]] in the final. They have also reached the [[FA Cup]] 2nd round on at least three occasions. They are currently playing in the [[Northern Premier League Division One South]], the eighth tier of the [[English football league system]]. |
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The club's ground was for many years in the centre of the town, just behind the library. In 1989 they moved a couple of miles to Chapel Street in nearby Wincham. Sainsbury's Supermarket now occupies the old Central Ground site |
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There is a fierce local rivalry between Albion and the other Wincham team, [[Northwich Victoria F.C.|Northwich Victoria]]. |
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==History== |
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In the 1880s a number of clubs used the Witton district as a prefix. Amongst these was '''Witton F.C.''', who were in existence in 1880 and entered the [[FA Cup]] between [[FA Cup 1884-85|1884]] and [[FA Cup 1888-89|1889]], including reaching the third round in [[FA Cup 1887-88|1888]] where they were eliminated by [[Darwen F.C.|Darwen]] after a replay.<ref>{{cite book |author= Mike Collett|title= The Complete Record of the FA Cup|year= 2003|publisher= Sports Books|pages=p.659| isbn=1-899807-19-5}}</ref> |
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The first records of a '''Witton Albion F.C.''' are in 1887. The club first entered the FA Cup in [[FA Cup 1907-08|1907–08]] but failed to reach the First Round proper until [[FA Cup 1948-49|1948–49]]. |
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Early on in their history the club played in a number of leagues including the Northwich & District League, Crewe & District league. Cheshire League, The Combination, The Manchester League and [[Lancashire Combination]]. Finally in 1920, the club became founder members of the [[Cheshire County League]]. They won the league three times after World War 2 including the league and cup double in 1953–54. In 1978–79 the club finished as runners-up and gained promotion to the [[Northern Premier League]]. 1990–91 proved to be one of the best seasons in the clubs history as they won the NPL by 16 points gaining promotion to the [[Football Conference]]. However the club found this tough going and continual relegation struggles resulted in the first relegation in the clubs history in 1994. A further relegation from the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League followed in 1997. |
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In 2004, club captain Brian Pritchard enjoyed worldwide fame following his sending off during the Cheshire County F.A. Senior Cup final against Woodley Sports. He was sent off after he tripped a streaker that had run on to the pitch, incensing the Witton fans. Many football fans around the world deemed this sending off unfair, including when the referee was criticised for his decision on the BBC's Football Focus program. |
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The 2006–07 season saw Witton miss out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season to [[Burscough F.C.|Burscough]], by 1 goal on goal difference. Witton hit the woodwork 3 times in the last 20 minutes, but were unable to score the goal that would have taken them into the Conference North as league champions. This was the second time in seven years that Burscough had beaten Witton to promotion on goal difference. Witton subsequently lost the play-off final against [[Telford United F.C.|Telford United]] and were thus denied promotion into the [[Conference North]] division. |
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Witton narrowly missed promotion again in 2007–08. After having led the Northern Premier League Premier Division since November, at one stage by 14 points, they lost the lead to [[Fleetwood Town F.C.|Fleetwood Town]] in mid-April, and entered the last game of the regular season a point behind Fleetwood, but with a much better goal difference. Although Fleetwood could only manage a draw at home to [[Frickley Athletic F.C.|Frickley Athletic]] in their last match, Witton lost at home 3–0 to [[Worksop Town F.C.|Worksop Town]] and finished second. They went on to lose the first round of the promotion playoffs at home to [[Buxton F.C.|Buxton]] on penalties. After the season ended, the club were wracked with management upheavals. Manager Jim Vince and assistant Nigel Deeley resigned after a disagreement with long-time charman Mike Worthington, and shortly afterwards Worthington himself severed ties with the club. Vince and Deeley were re-appointed by acting chairman Mark Harris, but Vince resigned again two weeks later on the grounds of ill-health. Nigel Deeley was appointed manager on 28 May. |
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A substantial reduction in the playing budget led to the departure of most of the established squad members during the 2008 close season. Manager Nigel Deeley and assistant Andy Nelson were fired on November 2, after an unprecedented sequence of nine consecutive defeats. They were replaced by former manager Gary Finley, assisted by Lee Coathup. After a brief change in fortunes, when Witton moved out of the relegation zone, the Albion finished third bottom, and were relegated to the [[Northern Premier League First Division South]]. |
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==Honours== |
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In 1990 Albion featured as BBC TV’s "[[Match of the Day]]". The crowd of 3,784 (plus millions on TV) saw the club give an honourable performance against [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]], although Wanderers ultimately won 2-1. |
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Witton Albion were regular semi-finalists in the [[FA Trophy]] (1990/91, 91/92, 92/93). In 1992 they made it to the old [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] where they lost to [[Colchester United]]. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 21:42, 7 March 2010
| File:Wittonalbionfc.jpg | |||
| Full name | Witton Albion Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Albion | ||
| Founded | 1887 | ||
| Ground | Wincham Park, Wincham, Northwich | ||
| Capacity | 4,813[1] [2] | ||
| Chairman | Mark Harris (acting) | ||
| Manager | Gary Finley | ||
| League | Northern Premier League Division One South | ||
| 2008-09 | 20th Place (Northern Premier League Premier Division) | ||
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References
External links
- Witton Albion Official Web Site
- Witton Albion Supporters Online
- Witton F.C. on Football Club History Database
- Witton Albion on Football Club History Database
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