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SATURDAY 18 JANUARY 2025

NWCFL First Division North vs ASHTON ATHLETIC

KO 3:00PM

“THE LADS ARE PREPARED AND DETERMINED”

THOUGHTS FROM THE DUGOUT

Good afternoon and welcome back to Rakesmoor Lane for today’s North West Counties Football League fixture against Ashton Athletic.

It feels like a long time since we last played in front of our home crowd, and we’re all eager to make the most of today’s challenge. Ashton Athletic are a welldrilled side that will undoubtedly test us. That said, the lads are prepared and determined to give their all as we aim to build on a solid first half of the season. The focus now is on maintaining momentum and pushing toward those playoff spots as we head into the business end of the campaign.

We’ve had a few changes recently but are starting to see the squad stabilise. Mitch returns to the lineup today, which is a big boost, as does Luke Ellis. We’re also delighted to welcome Brad Hubbold, whose quality and experience will be a massive asset to the group over the next three months. Unfortunately, both Brandon and Tommy are unavailable today, which gives opportunities for Reidy, Luke, Charlie, Tyler, and others to step up and show what they can do.

Let’s make sure we keep pushing forward. Enjoy the game.

KEVIN WATKIN

GOLD PARTNERS

SILVER PARTNERS

FACTSHEET

COLOURS

Yellow & Blue

NICKNAME

The Yellows

GROUND NAME

Brocstedes Park

CAPACITY 400

RECORD ATTENDANCE

610 (vs Chorley - 30th September 2017 [FA Cup])

CURRENT POSITION 10th

ON THE OPPONENT

THEIR HISTORY

Ashton Athletic Football Club was founded in 1968, playing in the Wigan Sunday League – winning every Division in consecutive seasons and many cup competitions before switching to the Warrington League on Saturdays, where similar success was sustained.

The Club developed Brocstedes Park and was admitted to the Lancashire Combination before becoming a founding member of the North West Counties League when the Combination merged with the Cheshire League in 1982. Unfortunately, financial constraints prevented the required ground improvements from being completed, and the Club was relegated to the Manchester League Division One in 1986. The drop of two leagues resulted in most of the playing staff moving to other clubs. For numerous years, the Club endeavoured to rebuild. Players came and went, lacking the Club loyalty that had brought success to the Club in the 1970s and 1980s until the Committee embraced an ambitious youth development policy in 1999.

The Yellows then embarked on a ten-year development plan to enhance its recreational facilities and expand the Club, particularly its junior section. The Club members worked tirelessly to progress the Club within its means and with some help from external grant sources. Assistance from the Football Foundation, Awards for All programme, and Wigan Council enabled a series of improvements to be completed. The main pitch was re-drained, a second pitch was acquired/improved, and new changing rooms and a Clubhouse were built.

Disabled access was provided, and other improvements were made to the grounds. The ground was brought up to the necessary Ground Grading for the NWCFL, and further improvements provided additional seating.

The 2008/09 season also saw further progression for the Yellows, having been promoted to the Premier Division of the North West Counties League. The FA Cup proved very lucrative for the Club, progressing through 3 stages and beating two teams from higher leagues. The previous season also saw cup success for the Yellows, retaining the Atherton Charity Cup at the end of the season. Following an impressive 6th place finish in the 2008/09 season, the Yellows struggled in the league for the next four seasons, finishing in the bottom three of the league in three of the next four seasons. 21st (09/10), 22nd (10/11), 14th (11/12) and 20th (12/13).

In 2013, the Yellows took the unusual step of bringing in a trio of joint managers -Jay Foulds, Ben Kay and Dougie Pitts. Jay and Ben were brought in from Wigan Robin Park, and Dougie came in following a break from the game. The trio needed to entirely rebuild the squad for the 2013/14 season. It made an excellent start to their managerial careers, creating club history with a 6th place finish and beating Maine Road 1-0 to win the League Challenge Cup at Curzon Ashton. More club history was made in the 2014/15 season with a highest-ever 5th-place finish in the league, conceding only 38 goals and losing only seven league games that season.

Brocstedes Park, Ashton

EYES ON THE OPPONENT

The Yellows were successful in the Wigan Cup, beating Newburgh Harrock United 5-1 in the final at Brocstedes Park. The 2015/16 season brought a solid 7th-place finish in the league.

The 2016/17 saw another top-10 finish, with the Club ending the season in 9th place. Still, the Yellows made history in the cups, reaching the 2nd qualifying round for the first time ever, losing 5-0 against Halifax Town and winning the Lancashire Cup for the first time, coming from a goal down to win 2-1 against Radcliffe Borough. Lee Vaughan scored the winner in the final minute of the game. With the impact the management trio made at the Club in the four seasons that they were in charge, the success was noticed by clubs at a higher level and following the 2016/17 season. Ben Kay left his role as joint manager to take up the role of assistant manager to Simon Howarth at Clitheroe FC.

The following seasons progressed further with finishes of 12th (17/18), 5th (18/19), and 5th and 14th in the COVID-19 curtailed campaigns of 19/20 and 20/21. The Club enjoyed further cup success - the 2017/18 season saw Ashton Athletic see off Squires Gate, Runcorn Linnets, Bamber Bridge and Albion Sports in the FA Cup to set up a mouthwatering 3rd qualifying round local derby with Chorley with the yellows suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat in front of live BBC cameras and the biggest home crowd in their history of 610. In the 2019/2020 season, wins over AFC Liverpool, Skelmersdale and Morpeth set up an away trip to York City with the yellows beaten 5-0 by their illustrious opponents in front of over 1,000 spectators at Bootham Crescent. In November 2021, Dougie Pitts stepped down from his position of joint manager due to family and work commitments. Shortly afterwards, Richard Brodie joined Jay Foulds at the Club, with the pair operating as joint managers of the yellows.

A new vision for the Club is under discussion to further develop the Club. These will include plans for improvements to the access road, new junior changing rooms, additional playing fields for the junior section and a proposed girls/ladies section. The main ground is also scheduled for enhancement works with additional covered spectator areas. The Club is a voluntary organisation run by a Committee of 14 alongside approximately 25 coaches and managers. Any money raised by the Club has been ploughed back into improving the facilities and developing the youth section.

The Club now has a total membership of more than 400. We have nine junior teams consisting of approximately 160 children who take advantage of the improvement of our now excellent facilities, whilst hundreds of children and adults from opposition teams also benefit from the continually improving facilities. The Club is keen to maintain the pace of development of the Club. Future plans will enable increased activity at the Club, additional Junior teams and a much safer and more secure environment, particularly for spectators and Children.

The Club was awarded the FA Charter Standard in 2013.