Stockport Sports

Stockport Sports FC was a non-league football club that was formed in 1970, based in Woodley, which is a suburb of Stockport in Greater Manchester. The club resigned during the 2014-15 season as their record was expunged.

Originally called Woodley Athletic, the club played in the Manchester League; finishing as Division One champions in 1991-92. In 1992-93 the team ended as Premier Division runners-up. 

Sustained top seven finishes eventually led to elevation into the North West Counties League in 1997 after work was carried out to enclose the Lambeth Grove Stadium. 

Floodlights were soon erected and the club slowly improved before lifting the Cheshire Cup in 2004 as well as league restructuring allowing 'The Steelmen' entry into the Northern Premier League.

The following year a massive investment programme improved the clubs facilities, including the installation of the latest in artificial pitches, so the club could improve their income streams throughout the week.

Star forward Liam Dickinson was sold to Stockport County for £2,000 with additional clauses on future sell on fees. County sold Dickinson and owed Sports £150,000 from the deal. Unfortunately, County entered Administration and were unable to pay, meaning financial uncertainty for Woodley.

Worse was to follow at the end of the 2011-12 season when Sports were demoted from the Northern Premier League owing to ground grading issues, to join the North West Counties League.

In season 2011-13 Stockport Sports FC will be playing in the North West Counties League Premier Division.


My visit

Monday 19th July 2010

I was in the Manchester for a few days during my annual leave form work and keen to clock up plenty of new grounds. Woodley sports were on my list, but owing to a late train and a rescheduling earlier in the day I now travelled to The Neil Rourke Memorial Stadium as the ground was now called on a train from Piccadilly to Woodley station.

The area seemed quite rural. I used my misleading A to Z map which led me along small paths into a council estate and eventually the ground. I had read in the Non League Paper of a game being abandoned at the ground a few seasons earlier when an arrow from a crossbow landed on the artificial pitch. 

Without being disrespectful, I could see how it happened after walking through the estate. I entered the car park past a smart bowls club and saw an open gate into the ground. A gentleman was doing odd jobs and he couldn’t have been more helpful or friendly towards me. 

The stadium was very smart with a good sized seated Main Stand being the major structure. There was another stand combining seats and standing behind one goal. The rest of the ground was made up of open flat concrete and grass standing.

I was encouraged to go out onto the 3G artificial pitch to get better photos of the Main Stand and to generally go anywhere I wanted. It was lovely to come across someone so proud of their own club. Woodley Sports was just as important to him as the Camp Nou and Barcelona are no doubt are to a worker at the Catalonian giants.

I departed and followed the main road out of the estate and onto the main Stockport Road, past some decent looking pubs and onto Bredbury railway station to commence to my next port of call at Abbey Hey FC.