Droylsden

Droylsden FC is a non-league football club based in the eastern suburbs of Manchester. The club was formed in 1892 on the invitation of Joseph Cropper, the landlord of the Butchers Arms public house, to play behind the pub.

The team first competed in the Ashton & District League, which they won in 1913-14 before the goals of Ernest "Gilly" Gillibrand led the ‘Bloods’ to the Manchester League title in 1930-31 and again in 1932-33. Droyslden joined the Lancashire Combination in 1936, as a nursery side for Manchester City.

The club joined the Cheshire League, finishing as runners-up in 1945-46. The lease of the Butchers Arms saw another club, Belle Vue FC purchase the lease and rename themselves Droylsden United. The Bloods moved out to play at Moorside Trotting Stadium, known affectionally as Pork Park.

 

There was a lot of ill feeling between the two clubs, but thankfully a merger was negotiated after the local council bought the lease on the ground in 1952. The town simply wasn’t big enough for two clubs.

By this time the club had returned to the Lancashire Combination before they returned to the Cheshire League after a twenty-year abeyance. In 1976-77 Droylsden reached the first round of the FA Cup, going out after a replay at Blundell Park to Grimsby Town.

The run to the second round in 1977-78 following a first-round win against Rochdale was ended in a home defeat by Altrincham. Droylsden became founder members of the North West Counties League in 1982-83, being placed in Division Two, of which they were crowned champions in 1986-87. 

This was enough to win a place in the newly formed Division One of the Northern Premier League, winning promotion to the Premier Division in 1989-90. The side went back down in 1995-96 before new owner and manager Dave Pace led the team to the Division One title in 1998-99 as well as overseeing improvements to the Butchers Arms.

Runners-up finish in 2003-04 saw Droylsden take up a place in the newly formed Conference North the following season, which saw them reach the playoffs, losing their semifinal to Kettering Town. Pace’s charges reached the playoffs again in 2005-05, this time defeating Nuneaton Borough before losing the final to Stafford Rangers. 

Pace was never one to shirk publicity or controversy, having been convinced to buy the club by his father who was a loyal fan of the club. He carried out further ground improvements and ran a tight financial ship, with several players moving on to join Football League outfits. 

In 2006-07 Droylsden won Conference North to become a team in the highest level of non-league football. The step was too steep with the team going back down twelve months later. The 2008-09 season saw the club embroiled in FA Cup controversy.

After two abandoned games through the fog and then a floodlight failure against Chesterfield, plus a replay, the Football League club were defeated at Butchers Arms. Only for the FA to find that Droylsden had fielded an ineligible player, so they were kicked out of the competition and denied a tie with Ipswich Town.

In 2009-10, Fleetwood Town ended hopes of promotion by winning their playoff semifinal tie. The following season saw the Bloods defeat Havant & Waterlooville in the first round of the FA Cup, then drawing at home to Leyton Orient. The replay was 2-2 before the O’s won the match 8-2 after extra time. 

Droylsden were relegated to the Northern Premier League in 2012-13 before a second successive demotion saw them drop down to Division One North. After several midtable finishes, Pace decided to protect the club during the pandemic and withdraw it from competition.

Debts were paid off before the team returned to action in 2023-24 in Division One South of the North West Counties League. They were defeated in the semifinal of the playoffs by Stockport Town before being transferred to Division One North for the 2024-25 season.

Droylsden FC will play in the North West Counties League Division One North in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Droylsden 1 Scarborough 3 (Saturday 4th November 2006) Conference North (att: 967)

I travelled up to the game on a packed Virgin Trains service. Manchester United were at home to Portsmouth that afternoon and fans from all over England and abroad were going to Old Trafford, which I found pretty depressing. What was wrong with them following their home town clubs?

I arrived at Piccadilly station to be met by Butch. We had major problems getting into the Wetherspoons pub because we weren’t Man Utd fans, but the bouncers let us in as long as I kept my Scarborough top covered up! The service at the bar was useless so we didn’t hang around for the privilege. Instead, we caught a double-decker bus past the City of Manchester Stadium to Droylsden.

We went on a pub crawl of three establishments before heading to the clubhouse inside the ground. Carl arrived in a bit of a dishevelled state after an epic journey on the train from Malton, owing to engineering works and the dreaded rail replacement bus service.

We went inside the ground and stood behind the goal. Butcher's Arms was a decent enough ground. The terracing we were on was new, covered and of a decent size. To our left, there was a low cover along the side. Opposite that was a Main Stand on the halfway line with a raised seating block and a few steps of terracing in front. 

The far end was set back behind the goal and was just flat open standing. There was room at this end for future developments. We laughed our heads off when we ordered some catering at the hatch built into the clubhouse. The hot dogs seemed amazingly cheap, so always looking for a bargain we went for that choice. 

A few seconds later we realised we’d ordered a kiddies-sized sausage so pies were requested as well so we didn’t go hungry. Boro played some scintillating football against the league leaders and went ahead through Mark Cartwright, much to the disgust of some younger home fans. 

The Bloods soon equalised, only for Boro to come straight back down our end and take the lead through the courtesy of a quality own goal. We expected an onslaught from the home team after the break and they did create some openings, but their normally lethal forward, Terry Fearns was have having a nightmare in front of goal. 

Boro played some excellent counter-attacking football. We enjoyed this from a seat in the elevated stand, which proved to have very little legroom. This resulted in a penalty, which Chris Thompson put away. Boro could well have added to the final score of 3-1. A lot of the home fans were very magnanimous in defeat, saying Boro were the best side to have visited for some time.

We went back to one of the impressive old local pubs, where a lot of football-loving customers had spent the afternoon in front of the TV, instead of offering support to their progressive local club. We caught the bus back into the city centre where I left my pals for the train home.

Kings Head. A fine local pub two minutes from the turnstiles

The train was full of supporters who didn’t look happy despite Man Utd beating Portsmouth 3-0. A victory seemed to be considered their right. I on the other hand was jubilant as we sped home past the hundreds of firework displays. I was glad to get back to Euston without any of them asking about my shirt. Some folk are beyond redemption.