Burscough

Burscough FC come from a large village of the same name in West Lancashire which is located between Liverpool and Preston. The club were formed in 1946, but they are not the first club to represent the village.

The first Burscough AFC were formed in 1880 and played local football before folding ten years later. Burscough Rangers FC came into existence in 1905 and based themselves at a new ground in Mart Lane in 1908. The club played in green and were nicknamed 'The Linnets' like the current club. In 1926 a grandstand was purchased from Everton FC and erected at Victoria Park as the ground was now called. Unfortunately in 1935 they hit financial problems in 1935 and folded.

After formation after World War Two, Burcough played in Liverpool based competitions before entering the Lancashire Combination in 1953. In 1956 the lifted the league title and three years later they reached the FA Cup First Round. A crowd of 4,200 flocked to Victoria Park to see Crewe Alexandra end their run.

In 1966 local born former Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers and England star Bobby Langton took the reigns as manager. The Linnets lifted some cup competitions as well the league once more.

In 1970 the club joined the Cheshire County League, and in their spell there they reached the first round of the FA Cup on three further occasions. In 1982 they became founder members of the North West Counties League and became the first ever champions. A new grandstand was built in celebration to replace the sixty year old structure.

In 1998 Burscough became members of the first division of the Northern Premier League. In 2000 they made the step up to the Premier Division and went on to lift the Liverpool Senior Cup for the first time. During this period the club had set up an excellent youth development scheme which produced Lee McEvilly who was sold to Rochdale for £20,000. Within three months he had made his Northern Ireland debut.

In May 2002 former Aston Villa defender Shaun Teale was appointed as player manager and in his first season he took the side on to lift the FA Trophy after defeating Tamworth 2-1 in the Villa Park final. Despite this he left the club six weeks later over a fall out over finances.

Managers came and went as The Linnets came close to Conference football before losing in the play off final. The second round of the FA Cup was reached for the first time in the 2005-06 season. After beating Gillingham 3-2 at Victoria Park, Burton Albion knocked them out.

2006-07 was probably the most successful in the clubs history as they lifted the Northern Premier League title, The Lancashire Junior Cup and the Peter Swailes Memorial Shield under the managership of Liam Watson. Promotion was secured to the Conference North, but with it financial worries as the club overspent. The club was bought from its previous benefactor around this period by businessman Chris Lloyd for a very small fee on the understanding he was responsible for the mounting debts.

The Linnets lasted two seasons in the Conference North before they were relegated to the Northern Premier League. After a while the club were sold to Southport based Chequer Properties, who unveiled plans to sell Victoria Park and replace it with a new stadium to increase income streams and sort out the clubs finances. They promised not to interfere in the playing side of the club, but they soon sacked the manager and slashed the playing budget.

Chequer Properties are owned by father and son Martin and Paul Gilchrist. The company also owns the stadium of near neighbours, Skelmersdale United. Alarm bells started ringing amongst the Burcough fans when news broke that Chequer had sacked long serving secretary Stan Petherbridge and Chairman Frank Parr. Petherbridge was replaced by Paul Gilchrist. Then the news broke that the owners went to the NPL AGM and got permission for Burscough to play their home games for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons at Skelmersdale to allow them to develop Victoria Park and build a new ground for the club.

Supporters were furious and many vowed to look towards setting up a new club and not give money to Chequers at Skelmersdale. The team were reprieved from relegation owing to the demise of Ilkeston Town. However, in February 2012 it was announced that the team would return to Victoria Park to play home matches. Alas, that didn't help their form on the pitch as the team were relegated.

Burscough FC will play the 2012-13 season in the Northern Premier League Division One North.

My visit

Sunday 17th October 2010

I was on my first day of three around Merseyside, enjoying visiting football stadiums, sightseeing and socialising and had the use of my all day travel card.

I had previously been denied access by the walls of both the grounds of Marine and Southport and was hoping for better luck as I boarded the train at Meols Cop station. My ticket didn't cover me all the way to Burscough Bridge station but the conductor was fine and didn't ask for any extra money.

I walked around past the shoppers going into the large modern Tesco store and into Bobby Langton way which bordered Victoria Park. Again the gates to a ground were locked! I walked past 'The Barons' private clubhouse which had access outside the ground and round the playing fields so that I could get some brief views inside the ground, but get some pictures as the perimeter fence wasn't too high.

It looked a decent enough ground. The near side had covered standing on the half way line and the goal at this end also had a cover in the centre. A Main Stand was on the far touchline towards the Mart Lane end with the changing rooms and social club next to it.The far Mart Lane end was open terracing with spectator facilities. The majority of the open areas consisted of terracing or concrete paths.

I walked back around to the Mart Lane End for further pictures by the grounds turnstiles, before I decided to return back to Southport and call in at Formby and have another more successful visit to Marine.