Altrincham F.C.: Difference between revisions

Altrincham

Altrincham crest
Full name	Altrincham Football Club
Nickname(s)	Robins
Founded	1903
Ground	Moss Lane Altrincham
Capacity	6,085
Chairman	Geoff Goodwin
Manager	Graham Heathcote
League	Conference National
2007–08	Conference National, 21st
Home colours Away colours

Altrincham Football Club is a football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in Conference National.

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Altrincham were founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now the Conference) at the beginning of the 1979-80 season and were champions of the league in its first two seasons, but each time failed to gain election to the Football League via the voting system in place at the time.

In 1980, Altrincham fell short of election to the Football League by the narrowest of margins. [1]

It wasn't until 1987 that automatic promotion was awarded to the league winners, by which time Altrincham never made another serious push for the title and were relegated to the Northern Premier League in 1997. They won that division title two years later, only to go back down again after just one season. It was five years before they gained promotion, in 2005 as winners of the Conference North/Conference South playoffs beating Eastbourne Borough of Conference South in the final match.

Altrincham have been uniquely reprieved from relegation for two successive seasons (2005-06 and 2006-07) as a result of other clubs issues. In the 2005-06 season Altrincham finished 18th in the Conference, outside of the relegation zone. However, they were found to have fielded an ineligible player for 15 matches, during which he scored 6 goals. This led to an 18 point deduction which saw them finish in bottom place. An appeal to the FA on May 23 failed, which meant that Altrincham finished in bottom place. However, with Canvey Island resigning from the league and Scarborough suffering a total points deduction for an as yet undeclared breach of the league's rules, Altrincham remained in the Conference.^[1] The 2006-07 season saw Altrincham "relegated" on the final day of the season, after a 0-0 draw with Aldershot Town,^[2] although they were later reprieved when Boston United were expelled from the Conference National.^[3]

Altrincham have also given a fine account of themselves in the FA Cup against top league opposition; they held Tottenham Hotspur to a draw at White Hart Lane in 1978 and defeated Birmingham City 2-1 at St. Andrews in 1986. This was only the second time in history that a non-league side had beaten a 1st Division club in a FA Cup tie away from home; Wimbledon were the only previous non-league side to achieve this when they beat Burnley 1-0 in 1975.

Altrincham's traditional rivals are Macclesfield Town, a rivalry dating back to when both clubs were in the Cheshire League, and later the Northern Premier League and Conference. However, the clubs have not shared the same division since 1996; as of the 2006-07 season, Macclesfield are ranked higher in the Football League, playing in League Two. So they also have discovered a recent rival in the form of Northwich Victoria F.C. who have been coming in and out of the Conference recently. Rivalry was brought to a maximum when they beat Northwich 3-0 at Moss Lane earlier in the 2006-07 season.

As of January 1, 2008.^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Stuart Coburn 2 DF  ENG Steve Aspinall 3 DF  ENG Gary Scott 4 DF  ENG Karl Munroe 5 DF  ENG Darren Tinson 6 MF  ENG Jake Sedgemore 7 MF  ENG Robbie Lawton 8 MF  ENG Val Owen 9 FW  ENG Colin Little 12 FW  ENG Joe O'Neill 13 GK  ENG Richard Acton

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 FW  ENG Tom Cahill (on loan from Rotherham United) 15 DF  ENG Chris Lane 16 DF  ENG Ryan Shotton (on loan from Stoke City) 18 FW  ENG Pat McFadden 19 FW  ENG Chris Senior 22 MF  ENG Carlos Logan 23 MF  ENG Ryan Toulson (on loan from Halifax Town) 24 DF  ENG James Jennings (on loan from Macclesfield Town) 25 DF  ENG Liam King (on loan from Rotherham United)

Altrincham's most expensively signed player was Keith Russell, who joined them from Blackpool in the summer of 1998 for £15,000. Their most expensively sold player was Ian Craney, who joined Swansea City for £150,000 from Accrington Stanley in January 2007. Altrincham received £75,000 of this figure due to a sell-on clause in his contract.

Altrincham's record attendance was 10,275 for a friendly against Sunderland on 28th February 1925.

Their top scorer was Jackie Swindells, who scored 56 goals in 42 games in the 1965-66 season [2].

Altrincham F.C.'s honours list includes the first two Alliance Premier League (now Conference) championships (1980 and 1981), the Bob Lord Trophy (1981), Cheshire Amateur Cup (1904), Cheshire County League Championship (1966 and 1967), Cheshire League Cup Winners 1933, 1951 and 1964, Cheshire Senior Cup Winners 1905, 1934, 1967, 1982, 1999 and 2005.

They have qualified for the FA Cup competition proper 29 times, in 1986 they progressed to the Fourth Round.

Altrincham were FA Trophy Winners in 1978 and again 1986, as well as being on the losing side in 1982.

Altrincham were also Manchester League Winners in 1905 and 1907.

Altrincham lifted the Northern Premier League Cup in 1970.

Altrincham were Northern Premier League Challenge Shield winners in 1980.

As members of the Northern Premier League, Altrincham won the Unibond League Challenge Cup in 1998. The competition was so named because Unibond were sponsors of the Northern Premier League at this time. They were promoted back to the Conference as Unibond Premier Division Champions in 1999.

Altrincham won the Nationwide (Conference) North Play-Offs in 2004-05 with a 2-1 win over Eastboune at Stoke's Britannia Stadium.

• Altrincham at the Football Club History Database

• Altincham F.C. official website
• Altrincham FC Supporter's Trust

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