Club history

Cammell Laird 1907 FC can trace its history back to 1899 when a team from the Upper Boilers Shop of Laird Bros played in Birkenhead Park, before turning to the rugby code. It was not until June 1907 that the Cammell Laird Institute AFC was established, with its first fixture taking place on 2nd September 1907 against Tranmere Rovers, finishing 9th in the West Cheshire League in their inaugural season (1907/08).

In the early years, the Club played at a number of grounds and won their first trophy, the Shipley Cup, in April 1921, before in the summer of 1922 they moved to St Peters Road (which still remains their current home) as Kirklands FC. They disbanded in 1939 but reformed in 1946. The Club had their most successful period during the 1970s and 80s, winning the West Cheshire League on a regular basis. 1994/95 saw the club reach the FA Vase quarterfinals before losing to Arlesey Town.

The 21st Century

The early part of the new millennium saw the Club reach new heights. They started the rise through the pyramid, making history by becoming the first

Club to win the championship of the Second and First Divisions of the North West Counties League, which they achieved in 2004/05 and then 2005/06. In the same year as that First Division triumph, the club reached the FA Vase semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Nantwich Town, and two years later, the Club gained promotion to the Unibond Premier League. However, they were relegated after just one season due to ground grading.

Having fought relegation battles successfully, the Club finished bottom of the Evo-Stik Division One North in 2011/12, but were reprieved, and bounced back the following season by finishing league runners up before losing on penalties in the play-off final against Trafford.

Season 2013/14 saw Lairds finish 11th, but the decision was taken to resign from the Evo-Stik NPL and form a new Club: Cammell Laird 1907 FC.

New

club, new era

The new Club was formed on 28th May 2014 and entered the NWCFL Division One for their inaugural campaign in 2014/15. In October, the Club lost manager Tony Sullivan to Witton Albion, and appointed Paul McNally in the same month. He ably guided the team to promotion, which was achieved on Saturday 4th April. In the end, Lairds finished 21 points clear of 3rd placed AFC Darwen.

2015/16 saw the Club finish 15th in its first season in the NWCFL Premier Division. Early on, Lairds didn’t get the results that their performances deserved, drawing or even losing games that they largely dominated. However, they soon found their feet in the Premier Division. Their best result was an emphatic 4-0 victory against eventual champions Colne in October. In February, Tony Sullivan returned to replace Paul McNally as manager, and the Club ended the campaign with a solid mid-table finish.

At the end of the season, Sullivan departed and was replaced by former Prescot Cables and AFC Darwen manager Neil Prince. The new man in charge made an excellent start, two fine performances deservedly seeing off the challenge of AFC Darwen in the FA Cup. It is fair to say that luck was not on the side of Prince’s team at the start of the league campaign, with several fine performances not getting the results that they deserved. However, after the 3-1 defeat to Squires Gate in September, Prince resigned on good terms with the Club, who were very appreciative of his efforts, and both parties wished each other well for the future.

Prince was replaced by former Lairds striker Mick McGraa, who had taken over the Reserve Team in the summer. McGraa has worked tirelessly to assemble a very promising young side, and again with a tad more luck in games that Lairds dominated, they could have picked up more points. Everything finally came together on Saturday 18th March 2017, as a brilliant performance saw Lairds beat AFC Darwen 4-1 to record their first league win of the season, which they followed up three days later with a 2-1 victory against in-form Hanley Town. Ultimately, results elsewhere consigned Lairds to relegation by the end of March, but the Club was now in a much stronger position ahead of the Division One campaign to follow in 2017/18. The rebuild commences opportunity to compete in the Wirral Senior Cup Final, which they had reached courtesy of victories over Poulton Royal, Ellesmere Port Town and Mersey Royal.

That season started off perfectly, the 4-1 win against a higher-ranked Maltby Main side in the Emirates FA Cup a sign of things to come! Lairds were eliminated from that competition despite a valiant effort at Evo-Stik League outfit Leek Town, but after a slightly shaky start, they went from strength to strength in the league. From 5th September to 21st April, they dropped just two points at Kirklands, also defeating Premier Division Congleton Town with ten men on their own patch in the Macron Cup. Lairds initially struggled on the road, but also improved on that front after the turn of the year. They finished the regular campaign as one of the division’s form teams, securing the final play-off place courtesy of a sensational 4-1 victory over championselect Silsden. The Cammells also enjoyed a run to the final of the LWC Drinks Cup, recording a notable 4-0 triumph at fellow top six challengers Alsager Town along the way. In the final against Prestwich Heys at Runcorn Linnets FC, Joe Malkin’s header drew Lairds level at 1-1 just before the hour mark. Despite hammering at the Prestwich door for much of the second half, there was a sucker punch as a brilliant late strike from John Main, followed by an even more incredible save by Heys’ Russell Saunders, saw McGraa’s men on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline. However, Lairds responded brilliantly in the play-off semi-final just three days later, stunning the division by going to a Prestwich side, who had hammered them 3-0 on the opening day and finished the season on 91 points, and coming from behind to win 4-1. That set up an all-or-nothing midweek play-off final away at Whitchurch Alport. There was to be more heartbreak as a nightmare start saw Lairds fall 2-0 behind within ten minutes. It just didn’t click for the visitors on the night, and despite Charlie MacInnes giving them hope late on, it was a case of so near yet so far. Two defeats in finals were a horrible ending to what was an outstanding campaign which saw McGraa’s team restore the pride around Kirklands, and deliver long-lasting memories.

For the 2020/21 campaign, the club’s home at Kirklands was renamed the Prabhu Ventures Ltd Arena as part of a new sponsorship deal, while former player Stuart Humphreys was appointed as Director of Football. After a solid start to the delayed season, the North West Counties Football League was suspended from the start of November until mid-December as lockdown restrictions were re-imposed. During that time, Phil Burton and his backroom staff resigned after two-and-a-half years in charge. The season briefly resumed in December, but the season was soon curtailed due to Covid-19 after Lairds had played just seven league matches, with them team placed 13th in the table.

Silverware returns to CH42

With Lairds unable to play competitive football until May 2021, the club took their time before making a permanent managerial appointment. Stuart Keir was chosen as the man to take the club forward, the former AFC Liverpool boss’ CV impressing the committee as well as his strong reputation for developing youth players.

The Cammells finished 14th after a mixed season in the First Division South, but their exploits in the cup competitions were astonishing and made it a campaign to remember. A 3-0 victory over Heswall in the Wirral Senior Cup Final on 23 April 2022 clinched the first team’s maiden piece of silverware under the 1907 name, which was an afternoon to remember for all concerned. However, their season did not finish there, and an astonishing set of results sent them into the cup finals of both NWCFL cups. A famous comeback win in the A41 Derby at Vauxhall Motors was secured in the last minute by Jay Harvey, and featured in a successful Macron Cup run. Two semi-final wins in the space of four days – against Ilkley Town on penalties in the First Division Cup and Premier Division outfit Congleton Town in the Macron Cup – ensured that Lairds’ campaign would finish with two cup finals. The Macron Cup represented a remarkable feat for Keir’s team given that it included all 60 NWCFL clubs, but sadly the final against Charnock Richard, played at Chorley FC, proved a bridge too far as their opponents ran out 5-0 winners. The First Division Cup Final proved a more closely-fought affair away to promoted FC Isle of Man. Despite matching their opponents throughout, the Cammells unfortunately went down to a 1-0 defeat and they had to settle for finishing as runners-up. However, the incredible end to the season and appearance in three cup finals provides strong evidence that Keir’s team are on the right track going into the 2022/23 campaign.

Cheshire Senior Cup history-makers

An eventful close season saw McGraa depart for Vauxhall Motors, who rejoined the Hallmark Security League. The majority of the squad followed the manager to Rivacre Park, but the Committee acted swiftly and made a very exciting appointment in Phil Burton. He guided the club to a solid 15th place finish in the new First Division South, two cup quarter-finals, and extraordinarily Lairds became the lowest ranked team ever to reach a Cheshire Senior Cup Final, where they lost out to Nantwich Town. The 2019/20 campaign started off brightly for Burton’s team, and they were just outside the promotion places at Christmas, but their form then dropped off and only began to pick up shortly before the league was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lairds were 13th after the final fixtures were played, but the decision was made by the FA to null and void the season. The premature end to the season meant that Lairds missed the

Good afternoon, and a warm welcome back to the KR Couriers and Transport Ltd Stadium for today’s game against Rocester. We hope that the players, staff, officials and supporters from our visitors enjoy their stay with us here.

After a spell of league matches on the road, it is nice to be back on home soil this afternoon. Our last NWCFL First Division South fixture here came three weeks back, when we lost 3-1 to play-off chasing Stockport Georgians.

On the Tuesday following that, we faced the long trip down to Abbey Hulton United, and were desperately unfortunate to come away with nothing. It was the first game I had been able to attend in the new year, and I was extremely impressed with the team’s performance, and felt some of our new players showed plenty of signs of promise, not least Michael Speed who was a constant threat down the right.

We conceded a goal in the first 10 minutes despite probably starting the better of the two teams, and our performance only grew in strength as the game progressed. Home goalkeeper Dominic Kurasik made two stunning saves to keep the scores level, and we had what looked a very good case for a penalty turned down just before half-time. Louie Lancaster struck the bar too, and it was no more than we had deserved when Kalif Koura levelled the scores midway through the second half after good work by substitute Kieron Frost. Sadly, a controversial winning goal proved our undoing and ensured we came away with nothing to show for our efforts.

The visit to another strong opposition in Cheadle Town proved a similar story of missed opportunities, and there was some dispute over the home side’s opening goal in a 2-0 victory too, although I was not at the game so not best placed to comment.

The Wirral Senior Cup proved a source of joy as we progressed to the semifinals for our third consecutive entry into the competition, although were made to work extremely hard for it against a Higher Bebington Kelma side who performed brilliantly on the night. By all accounts it was a match that could have gone either way, so it was good to see Joel Ogiugo on the scoresheet and us hold our nerve from the penalty spot.

Last Saturday, we travelled to a team who have emerged as the favourites to win the NWCFL First Division South in Stockport Town. Despite an encouraging opening 20 minutes from the Cammells, the league leaders did not look back once they had opened the scoresheet, and proved why they are the best team in the division.

Today’s match against Rocester is a big one for both teams. We need the points as despite the encouragement from the recent displays, the gap to the bottom three is too close for comfort. Rocester have improved in recent months, but remain bottom of the table so are in search of results to claw them to safety. It was by all accounts a strange game at Hillsfield last month when we ran out 3-2 winners, Kieron Frost opening the scoring perhaps against the run of play, before we appeared to put ourselves out of sight at 3-0. However, the home side continued battling, and pulled it back to 3-2 with a couple of goals in the last 15 minutes to make it a nervy finish. Another victory however it comes would be most welcome today.

Thank you to our opposition to agreeing to the 2pm kick-off today too, and I wish them well for the rest of the season.

I hope to see you on Tuesday night as well, when we welcome Sandbach United in a big league game.

Many thanks for your valued support, without which we as a club could not survive and thrive.

I hope you enjoy today’s issue and the game.

Up them Cammells.

All the best, Patrick Burke