Witton Albion F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Witton Albion


fullname = Witton Albion Football Club
nickname = Albion
founded = 1887
ground = Wincham Park, Wincham,
Northwich
capacity = 4,813 [ [http://www.talkaboutsport.co.uk/sports_grounds/Wincham_Park/ Wincham Park | Northwich Victoria FC | Vics ] ] [http://www.napit.co.uk/viewus/infobank/football/northern-premier-league/witton-albion.php]
chairman = Mark Harris (acting)
manager = Nigel Deeley
league = Northern Premier League Premier Division
season = 2007-08
position = 2nd Place
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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
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Witton Albion F.C. are a football club based in Northwich, England. They were founded in 1887. They have won the Cheshire County F.A. Senior Cup 11 times since 1902. Their most recent success in this competition was in 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 Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.

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

There is a fierce local rivalry between Albion and the other Northwich team, Northwich Victoria.

History

In the 1880's a number of clubs used the Witton district as a prefix with the first records of a Witton Albion in 1887. 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 1978-1979 the club finished as runners-up and gained promotion to the Northern Premier League. 1990-1991 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.

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.

The 2006-07 season saw Witton miss out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season to 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 7 years that Burscough had beaten Witton to promotion on goal difference! Witton subsequently lost the play-off final against Telford United and were thus denied promotion into the Conference North division.

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 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 in their last match, Witton lost at home 3-0 to Worksop Town and finished second. They went on to lose the first round of the promotion playoffs at home to 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 May 28.

Honours

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, although Wanderers ultimately won 2-1.

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 to play Colchester United. They finished a creditable second.

References

External links

* [http://www.wittonalbion.co.uk/ Witton Albion Official Web Site]