Formby F.C.


Formby Football Club was an English football club based in Formby, Merseyside. They last played in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division in 2013–14 and were members of the Liverpool County Football Association.

History

Early years

The club were established in 1919 as Formby United. After a year at various pitches in the town they moved to a ground that would be their home for more than 80 years, Brows Lane. Three years later they dropped the 'United' to become simply Formby FC.
After a first season in the Southport & District League, the club competed in the Liverpool and District League, where they were First Division champions in 1924–25. Later they transferred to the Liverpool League, achieving two honours in 1927–28, being finalists in the league's knockout trophy, the RP Houston Cup as well as winning the Barnes Benevolent Cup. In 1929–30 the Squirrels achieved an extraordinary double, winning the RP Houston Cup on 2 May 1930, and just three days later winning the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup.
In the early 1930s Formby moved on to the I Zingari League. In 1931–32 they were runners-up in the Division Two, then in 1932–33 they were Division Two champions and were promoted to Division One. They won the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup for the second time in 1934–35. In 1936–37 they were runners-up in Division One.

Post-war

The years immediately after World War II were something of a golden age for Formby. Now playing in the Liverpool County Combination, for eight out of ten seasons they were winners or runners-up for a trophy and/or league title.
In 1947–48 they won the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup and were also runners-up in the league. The following season, they won the double, being Liverpool County Combination champions and winning the Liverpool County FA Amateur Cup. In 1949–50 they were losing finalists in the Liverpool County Combination knockout competition, the George Mahon Cup. In 1951–52 they were runners-up in the league and in 1952–53 won the Liverpool County FA Challenge Trophy. The following season they were again runners-up in the league. The 1954–55 season saw the club win the Liverpool County Combination Subsidiary Cup and the following season were again losing finalists in the George Mahon Cup, and once again in 1956–57.
In 1963–64 they won the Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup, and then won the George Mahon Cup in 1964–65 when they were also runners-up in the league and losing finalists in the Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup. In 1967–68 they won the Liverpool County FA Challenge Cup for a third time.
In the 1968–69 season, they joined the Lancashire Combination, finishing in 10th place in the first season. They joined the Cheshire County League in 1971–72.
Formby reached First Round Proper of the 1973–74 FA Cup, where they lost 2–0 at home to Football League Third Division leaders Oldham Athletic. In 1978 they became the first non-league club to win the Liverpool Senior Cup.

North West Counties Football League

Then in 1982 Formby were founder members of the North West Counties League playing in Division One in the 1982–83 season and finishing in 16th place. In 1984–85 they were again finalists in the Liverpool Senior Cup, losing to Marine. In the 1985–86 season they finished bottom of the table and were relegated to Division Two, where they spent just one season before being promoted back to Division One. Their stay lasted just two seasons, and they were relegated again after finishing bottom in 1988–89.
Formby then spent the next thirteen seasons in Division Two. They won the division's knockout competition, the Lamot Pils Trophy, in 1994–95 and – a rare achievement for a lower division side – they won the league's knockout cup, the Worthington Challenge Trophy, in 2000–01.
At the turn of the century, their ground was sold for development into a swimming pool and leisure centre. They moved to a new ground on the Altcar road industrial estate but it did not meet league standards in time and they were expelled from the league. They spent 2002–03 in the Liverpool County Football Combination, finishing in ninth place.
The following season, 2003–04, they rejoined the North West Counties Football League in Division Two, finishing in third place and winning promotion to Division One. They struggled at the higher level finishing in 20th in 2004–05, 22nd in 2005–06 and 21st in 2006–07.
Results improved in 2007–08 when they finished 13th out of 20, equalling their highest-ever placing of 1983–84, and also reached the fourth round of the FA Vase, their best performance to date in the competition, two stages beyond their previous record set in 1996–97.
The following season, 2008–09, they held this form, finishing 15th out of 22 and reaching the 2nd round of the FA Vase.
Following a dire start to 2009–10, they appointed former Altrincham player Mark Maddox as manager in September 2009. This bucked up the outcome somewhat, and they finished the season in the same position as the previous year, 15th in a table of 22.
Maddox left in the summer break of 2010 to manage Leigh Genesis and Gary Martindale was hired less than a month before the start of the 2010–11 season. Stepping into a player-manager role, Martindale was a prolific scorer for the club. Despite turning the fortunes of the side around, he resigned in January 2011. He was replaced by a caretaker-manager, Tony Rowan, who quit after only one match, to be replaced by Michael Joyce. Despite being told he would keep the job if he did well, and subsequently delivering a remarkable turnaround in the team's results giving them a comfortable 18th-placed finish, Joyce was not offered the role permanently.
The club were demoted to North West Counties League First Division on 18 June 2011 after being found guilty of a breach of rules regarding a change of entity not being notified to the League or the FA.

2011 rebirth

In the close season of summer 2011 the club had an almost complete change of personnel. They got a new chairman/owner, Hugh McAuley, new management of Jim Shirley and assistant Kevin Dally, an entirely new squad of players, and many new backroom staff. Additionally, the club reverted to its traditional colours of gold and royal blue, and the red squirrel badge was reinstated as the club's emblem.
After a mixed 2011–12, Formby romped to the league Championship in 2012–13 in what they called their 'best ever' season. Numerous records were set for the modern era; striker Jason Carey scored 49 goals, the Squirrels landed their first league title since 1949 and winning 28 of their 34 league games was the highest proportion ever. They also got to the NWCFL League Cup final, losing 3–0 to Runcorn Linnets.
However at the end of the season the Altcar Road ground was deemed unfit for their level of football and they were denied promotion. A two-year groundshare deal was agreed with neighbours Burscough for 2013–15.
In 2013–14, they took league and cup honours for the second season running, winning the First Division Trophy and finishing runners up in the First Division, securing promotion to the Premier.

Disbandment

Despite having had two of the best seasons in the club's history, without a ground or junior teams the organisation was in a precarious state. When manager Jim Shirley resigned for family reasons in the close season it left the club without a basis to continue. They announced their disbanding on 2 June 2014.

Notable former players

Numerous Football League players had a spell at Formby.

League

Attendances

Averages

The average league-game attendance at Victoria Park for the 2013–14 season was 58.
Past averages for home league games:
Source: Tony Kempster's site Non League Matters NW Counties Football League site