Droylsden

Droylsden FC are a non league football club based on the eastern suburbs of Manchester. The club were

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



After twenty years in the Lancashire Combination, Droylsden rejoined the Cheshire League in 1968.  In 1978 The Bloods reached the second round of the FA Cup, a feat that was replicated in 2009 when a very controversial tie with Chesterfield. After two abandoned games through fog and a floodlight failure 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. 

Between those ties the club progressed on and off the pitch. They progressed through the Northern Premier League under the Manager and Chairman, Dave Pace. Pace was never one to shirk publicity or controversy as he led the club to become founder members of the Conference North as he improved the facilities at Butchers Arms. In 2007 they became champions of that division and went on to spend one season in the Conference top flight.formed at the invitation of Joseph Cropper who was the landlord of the Butchers Arms pub which had a field behind it. They played friendlies before joining the Manchester League at the cessation of the First World War. 

They took on the club colours of red and white and the nickname of “The Bloods”. They suffered on the pitch after the Second World War and worse was to come as they were kicked out of their home ground as the lease was sold to Belle Vue FC. They changed their name to Droylsden United with The Bloods being forced to move and play home games at Moorside Trotting Stadium. 

Droylsden FC will play in the Conference North in season 2012-13.

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 disheveled 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. Butchers 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 half way 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 leg room.

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.

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.