Maine Road F.C.

Maine Road

Full name	Maine Road Football Club
Nickname(s)	'Road'
Founded	1955 as City Supporters Rusholme
Ground	Brantingham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy Manchester M21 0TT (Capacity: 1,000)
Chairman	Ronnie Meredith
Manager	Ian Walker
League	North West Counties Football League Premier Division
2010–11	North West Counties Football League Premier Division, 13th
Home colours Away colours

Maine Road F.C. are an English football club, based in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. They currently play in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division and are members of the Manchester Football Association. They play their home games at Brantingham Road.

History

The club was founded in 1955 by a group of Manchester City supporters under the name City Supporters Rusholme originally competing as a Sunday league team in the Rusholme Sunday League.

In the late 1960s the club joined the Manchester Amateur Sunday League, moved their headquarters to the Social Club at Maine Road and changed the name of the club to Maine Road F.C. In 1972 the club joined the Manchester League, seeking a new challenge after winning the a league and Manchester FA County Sunday Cup double in 1971–72.

Maine Road won the Manchester Premier Cup in 1975–76, beating Abbey Hey in the final and again in 1976–77, when they beat Little Lever in the final. The club then won the Manchester League four times consecutively from 1983–84 to 1986–87. The club joined the North West Counties Football League in 1987, playing the 1987–88 season in Division Two and finishing fifth. They also won the Manchester Premier Cup for a third time, beating Irlam Town in the final. The following season they were runners-up and were then promoted to Division One in 1988–89 as Division Two champions. They finished ninth in their first season, spending twelve seasons in Division One, mostly finishing in the lower half of the table. In 1994–95 they reached the fourth round of the FA Vase and were losing finalists in the Manchester Premier Cup in 1998–99. However, they were relegated to Division Two in 2001–02 after finishing 22nd. After a third place finish in 2002–03 the club were promoted back to Division One as runners-up in 2003–04. The reached the final of the Manchester Premier Cup again in 2004–05 and in 2005 Maine Road marked its 50th Anniversary.

In 2007–08 they finished fourth in Division One, the highest position in the club's history, led by manager Ian Walker. Walker left his position as manager early in the 2008–09 campaign, being replaced by former Maine Road player and coach Derek Barber, before making a return for of the 2009–10 season.

Stadium

Maine Road moved into their present home, Brantingham Road in 1980. They upgraded it to become eligible to join the North West Counties Football League in 1986.

Their record home attendance is 3,181 for a league match against FC United of Manchester on 4 November 2006. However, the game was played at Bower Fold in Stalybridge, the home of Stalybridge Celtic.

Manchester Football Association used to have their heaquarters at Brantingham Road before they moved to Salford Sports Village. They still hold their County Cup finals at the ground.

Players

As of 2nd June 2010.

Current squad

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

No. Position Player GK Andrew Jones GK Luke Bradley DF Lee McGregor DF Alex Jay DF Paul Robinson DF Josh Gittngs DF Steve Mason DF James Rothel DF Ben Beer DF Richard Gresty MF Danny Self MF Steve Cheetham MF Matt Struminskij

No. Position Player MF Rob Brocklehurst MF Neil Chappell MF Chris Hirst MF Declan O'Shea MF Danny Clare MF Colin Marshall FW Bobby Ashcroft FW Damon Clynes FW Greg Hall FW Steve Hibbert FW Luke Mack FW Rhys Nevins FW Paul Varden

Non-playing staff

Name	Role
Ronnie Meredith	Chairman
Colin Broadbent	Vice Chairman
Derek Barber	Treasurer/Club Secretary
Ian Walker	Manager
Jeff Newman	Physio

Honours

League

• North West Counties Football League Division Two champions: 1989–90
• Manchester League Premier Division champions: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87
• Manchester Amateur Sunday League champions: 1971–72

Cup

• Manchester Premier Cup winners: 1975–76, 1976–77, 1987–88
• Manchester Football Association Sunday Cup winners: 1971–72
• North West Counties Football League Challenge Cup winners: 2007–08

Attendances

Records

• Largest attendance: 3,181 vs FC United of Manchester, North West Counties Football League Division Two, 4 November 2006

Averages

• 2008–09: 81
• 2007–08: 75
• 2006–07: 227
• 2005–06: 52
• 2004–05: 71
• 2003–04: 54

Source: English football site

External links

• Official Site
• Maine Road FC forum
• Maine Road at the Football Club History Database

Coordinates: 53°26′40.24″N 2°15′40.46″W / 53.4445111°N 2.2612389°W / 53.4445111; -2.2612389