Altrincham

Altrincham FC is a non-league club from the district of the same name in Greater Manchester. They were originally formed as Broadheath FC in 1891 before changing to their present name in 1903.

'The Robins' joined the Lancashire Combination in 1911, before becoming founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919. The club plied their trade there for several decades without standing out, but during the mid 60's the club made its mark. 

One of the clubs directors; Noel White appointed Freddie Pye as manager. He signed Jackie Swindells who had been a journeyman Football League forward. His goals propelled Altrincham to the league title in the 1965-66 season, as well as a run to the FA Cup Third Round. 

Alty started right form the first qualifying round and then dumped out Scarborough and then Rochdale, before they went down 5-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The club retained the Cheshire League title the following season, before becoming founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968.

Altrincham were a consistent side in that league, without ever winning it. However, success was to come via FA Cup runs. It took Blackburn Rovers to end Alty's run in a Round Two replay during the 1973-74 season. 

The following season they went one round further and pulled off a tremendous 1-1 draw away to Everton, before the Toffeemen saw through in the replay which was moved to Old Trafford to accommodate the large crowd.

In 1977-78 The Robins won the FA Trophy at Wembley under the managership of Tony Sanders after defeating Leatherhead and then reached the third round of the FA Cup once more the following season. Once again they drew away to a top flight club. This time it was Tottenham Hotspur who required a replay, this time played at Maine Road, to get through.

Altrincham became founder members of the Alliance Premier League, which was in time to become the Football Conference. In their first season they reached the third round of the FA Cup, eventually going out to Orient, as well as being crowned as the inaugural league champions. They retained their title the following season and yet again reached round three of the FA Cup. This time they went out 4-1 to Liverpool at Anfield.

Sanders built a great team that was full of steel and ability. Star players included John King, Stan Allen, Barry Whitbread, John Rogers, Graham Heathcote and Graham Barrow. The 1981-82 saw another FA Cup third round tie, but the side gradually began to split up and Sanders eventually left the club.

Altrincham continued towards the top of the non league tree and very nearly won promotion to the Football League in 1991, before finishing third despite having the title in their own hands with three games remaining. 

The 1994-95 season brought back memories for older fans as Alty reached the third round of the FA Cup and returned to White Hart Lane. This time they fared less well than their previous visit as Tottenham ran out 3-0 winners.

In 1997 they were relegated from the top tier for the very first time. They went straight back up but suffered another relegation. It was 2005 before they regained their position in the Football Conference National. By now the club struggled in the new professional era against clubs with full time squads.

Chairman Geoff Goodwin and manager Graham Heathcoate performed wonders with more than a little luck. Alty would have been relegated on three occasions but were reprieved each time owing to problems at Scarborough, Boston United and Halifax Town.

In 2009 Australian cricketing legend Ricky Ponting became a major shareholder of the club. He and many other players had struck up a friendship with chairman Goodwin after he provided coaches to each international cricketing touring side for several years.

In 2010 Goodwin and Heathcoate left the club. The new incumbants were to have a tough job to emulate their predecessors, and so it proved as the club stuck to its principles of financial prudency, but were relegated at the end of the season. Lee Sinnott was appointed as manager with the task of taking Altrincham back to the top of the non league tree.

Sinnott led The Robins to the play offs in 2012-13, where they lost out to Brackley Town in the semi finals, but they went one better the following campaign as Hednesford Town and then Guiseley were seen off in the play offs to win promotion back to the Conference National.

Alty were relegated to the retitled National League North in 2015-16 under new boss Neil Tolson following the departure of Sinnott. Neil Young came in but lasted just a few months before the appointment of Jim Harvey who didn’t stay much longer.

Matt Doughty took over team affairs in December 2016 as the team went down in bottom place at the end of the season. The board replaced Doughty with ex Nantwich boss Phil Parkinson as Altrincham won the Northern Premier League title in 2017-18.

The Robins finished the 2018-19 season in fifth position of the National League North, defeating Blyth Spartans in the playoffs before losing the semi-final to Chorley. The playoffs were reached again in 2019-20. This time Chester, York City, and Boston United were defeated to win promotion thanks to the goals of Josh Hancock and Jordan Hulme.

The team consolidated at the top table of non-league football before reaching the playoffs in 2023-24 helped by the goals of Chris Conn-Clarke. Bromley ended hopes of a Football League place in the semifinals.

Altrincham FC will play in the National League in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Altrincham 4 Scarborough 3 (Saturday 1st November 1980) Alliance Premier League (att: 1,818)

Throughout Altrincham's most successful spell, one of their greatest rivalries was with my team, Scarborough. Alty had a really good team but were prone to pushing the rules to the limit. Their captain was a big bearded hunk of a man called Johnny King who was a real enforcer. I couldn't stand them.

We set off on one of the supporters club coaches to Moss Lane on Saturday 1st November 1980 full of hope because Boro had got off to a good start to the season, but so had Alty. We got there early to watch the teams warm up before the game to receive a bit of a shock. 

Regular keeper, Peter Springett was declared unfit and was to be replaced by an old favourite of mine from Hull City. I'm not sure what Ian McKecknie had been up to since his days at Boothferry Park but it was a fair guess that a lot of eating and drinking had been involved.

Boro flew out of the traps and went two up in no time through Jack Lewis and flying winger Martin Harris. All was well but ten minutes before half time the home side bounced back in emphatic fashion. I will be kind and describe "Keckers" as not being too agile between the sticks as Altrincham fired in four goals in eight minutes.

At half time there had been a big argument in the clubhouse with the home fans not being very hospitable to the visiting Boro fans. Boro played well in the second half, puling one back through Harry "A" Dunn but they couldn't find the equaliser.

Moss Lane was not a bad ground at all. We watched the game from the terraced paddock in front of the Main Stand by the players tunnel. There was open terracing top our left with a small cover for spectators to our right. The Chequers End was open terracing where one or two Alty fans tried to intimidate the away following. The Popular Side opposite was a long low cover while a covered terrace at the Golf Road End completed the ground.

We boarded our coach pretty fed up as we'd played really well but had been let down by eight minutes of madness and a lead heeled keeper plus the atmosphere had been nasty. We were just hearing the familiar sounds of the band striking up for sports report on the coach radio, when crash! 

Some hooligans had thrown bricks and rocks at our window which had shattered. There were a lot of middle aged and elder fans on our bus who were badly shaken up. I was with my Dad and Nick.

We went to a coach works and had to spend an hour in Altrincham town centre while they repaired the window, meaning everyone got home late. They found two youths and charged them at a later date.

Altrincham won the league that season and Boro finished seven points behind in third.

Monday 19th July 2010

I was in the Greater Manchester area for a few days groundhopping and socialising. I had arrived on the train from Euston and had already called in on Stockport County and Cheadle Town before taking the train to Altrincham. I was staying in nearby Sale so a visit to Moss Lane fitted my plans perfectly.

My time was spent in pain. Somehow a wasp had got inside my polo shirt and stung my on my back. I carried on relentless and took the fairly long walk down the lane and luckily found a gate open. The figure of manager at the time Graham Heathcoate was at the other side on his mobile phone. He ushered me in before retiring to his office.

The ground had been upgraded slightly since my last visit, most noticably with the addition of a new seated stand between the Chequers End and the Main Stand. Everything was neat and tidy.

I walked back to the station to catch a tram to my hotel in the knowledge I'd be seeing Alty in pre season action the following evening at Trafford.