Cammell Laird F.C.

Infobox Football club
clubname = Cammell Laird


fullname = Cammell Laird Football Club
nickname = The Lairds, The Camels
founded = 1907 (as Cammell Laird Institute)
ground = Kirklands Stadium Rock Ferry Birkenhead
capacity = 1,500
chairman = flagicon|England John Lynch
manager = flagicon|England Ken McKenna
league = Northern Premier League Premier Division
season = 2007-08
position = Northern Premier League Division One North, 2nd (promoted)
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=003399|body1=003399|rightarm1=003399|shorts1=003399|socks1=003399| pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=yellow|body2=yellow|rightarm2=yellow|shorts2=green|socks2=yellow

Cammell Laird Football Club is an association football club based at Kirklands Stadium in Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England.

Cammell Laird Football Club can trace its origins back to 1889 when a team from the Upper Boilers Shop of Laird Brothers (forerunners of the world famous shipyard whose name the club carries to this day) played in Birkenhead Park under the name of Grange Football Club. However, the club soon changed to the rugby code and it was not until June 1907 that the Cammell Laird Institute Association Football Club was established.

They have won the West Cheshire League 19 times in the past 35 years. They reached the Quarter-Finals of the FA Vase in the season 1994-95 but have since bettered that by reaching the Semi-finals. They lost 5-0 on aggregate to Nantwich Town.

In season 2005-06 'The Lairds' became the 1st team to win the championship of the second and first divisions of the North West Counties League at the first time of trying, scoring over 250 league goals in the process.

They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division after being promoted automatically in season 2007/08 due to Retford United, who won the league, failing their ground grading, meaning the 2nd placed team were promoted in their place.

Centenary Year

The story of Cammell Lairds Football Club began in Edwardian England at a time when the Cammell Laird shipyards were at their busiest and most prosperous. It seemed that every week a new dreadnought was rolling off the stocks to be launched into the very busy River Mersey. Consequently, it was with high hopes that the Cammell Laird Institute Football Club was launched in May 1907 only to founder with the massive downturn in shipbuilding in 1921 shortly after winning its only trophy, the Shipley Cup.

The football flag was immediately carried on by the workers in the shipyard who received no help whatsoever from the company. They played under the name of Kingsland, the name of the building in which the Cammell Laird Sports and Social Club operated. Kirklands won the first division of the Birkenhead League in 1924-25 season and the Regent Cup in 1926-27.

Interest in the club waned as the economic situation in Birkenhead deteriorated. With people struggling for food and jobs, football came well down in a list of priorities and the club folded in the summer of 1935.

As the Second World War was coming to a climax, the Company resuscitated the old club and Cammell Laird Football Club began operations again in September 1944. It would be another twenty five years in 1969 before silverware was won but subsequently the First Division of the West Cheshire League was won on 19 occasions together with five Second Division championships. The Pyke Challenge Cup was won 10 times, six Cheshire Bowls, 11 Wirral Senior Cups, 5 Wirral Amateur Cups and 9 Cheshire Amateur Cup.

Unchallenged locally, the management of the team decided to enter the English non-League football pyramid and were elected to the second division of the North West Counties League in the summer of 2004 winning the Championship of division 2 and division 1 in successive seasons. In addition, Lairds won the North West Counties League Second Division Trophy and the North West Counties League Challenge Cup. Finally, the club were also semi-finalists of the FA Vase. Promoted to the first division of the UniBond Northern Premier League, last season Lairds won the Cheshire Senior Cup bringing it to the Western end of the county for the first time in nearly half a century. They then went on to finish runners up in that league only to be beaten in the play off final.

tadium Address

Kirklands Stadium
St. Peters Road
Rock Ferry
Birkenhead
Wirral
CH42 1PY:07711 747 216

Players

*-Paul Whitfield-Anthony Sheehan-Anthony Lynch -Eddie Jebb-Lee Atherton-John Collins-Derek Ward-Carl Clampitt-Chris Adamson-Alex Hay-Ian Cooke (c)

-Graham Jones-Joe Gibiliru-Stuart Jones-Mark Reed-Chris Nezianya

External links

* [http://www.lairds1907.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.nonleaguezone.com/ Official Fans Forum]