Mossley

Mossley AFC, from the small town which borders Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, were originally known as Park Villa FC when they were born in 1903. The club played in local league football, becoming Mossley Juniors in 1904 and then their present title in 1909. “The Lillywhites” moved into their Seel Park home in 1912, having previously performed at Luzley.

Mossley were founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919. They ambled along in the league, picking up local cups until their best season in 1969-70, when they finished runners-up, reached the FA Cup first round, going out in a home replay to Stockport County, and the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy under manager Don Wilson. 

Election to the Northern Premier League came in 1972. Towards the end of the decade, Mossley became one of the biggest names in non-league football under manager Bob Murphy. They won the NPL title in 1978-79 and 1979-80 and finished runners-up for the next three seasons. 

They also reached the 1979-80 FA Trophy final where they went down to Dagenham. Appearances in the competition proper of the FA Cup were regular, ending in first round away defeats to Rotherham United in 1977-78, York City in 1979-80, Stockport County in 1981-82, Huddersfield Town in 1982-83, and Darlington in 1983-84.

The second round was reached in 1980-81 which saw a home win against Crewe Alexandra, before Mansfield Town were victorious at Seel Park. The club did not apply to reach the newly formed Alliance Premier League, which would eventually become the National League. 

The golden era saw Mossley field a formidable forward line consisting of the legendary Leo Skeete, Dave Moore and Ian Smith alongside first Eamonn O'Keefe, who was sold to Everton, and then Kevan Keelan.

The success ended in 1983-84 as huge financial problems hit the club, with the team finishing bottom of the league. The ship was steadied under managers Bryan Griffiths and then Dave Jones. Murphy returned but could not help to save his side from relegation to Division One in 1991-92.

A total of six different managers were appointed at Seel Park over the following few years, as Mossley slid to relegation to the North West Counties League in 1994-95. Former playing hero Keelan took his side to the quarter-final stage of the FA Vase in 1996-97.

Another former Lilywhites player, Benny Phillips, took over as manager in 1997, with his side ending as league runners-up in 1998-99 before the following campaign saw another run to the last eight of the Vase. November 2001 saw the appointment of former top-flight player Ally Pickering as team boss.

Another player with a high pedigree, Jason Beckford, replaced him ahead of the 2003-04 campaign, a season after a third quarter-final Vase run. The side was promoted back to the Northern Premier League, going on to go up to its Premier Division in 2005-06 as Division One champions.

However, twelve months later Mossley were relegated to Division One North. Gerry Quinn was brought in as manager before he gave way to Chris Willcock in the summer of 2008. Assistant manager John Flanagan got his chance to lead the first team in January 2010, with Shaun Higgins replacing him a few months later. 

Gareth McClelland arrived as manager in time for the hundredth season of football at Seel Park in 2011-12. Steve Halford was brought in as player-manager in January 2012. In 2012-13 Mossley reached the playoffs, only to lose their semifinal to Cammel Laird.

Peter Band and Lloyd Morrison were named as joint managers for the 2013-14 season, taking their side close to the playoffs on a couple of occasions. Dave Wild replaced them in April 2018. Dave Fish took over as manager during the two abandoned seasons, with the side now playing in Division One West of the NPL.

Mossley AFC will play in the Northern Premier League Division One West in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Mossley 2 Scarborough 2 (Saturday 10th January 1981) FA Trophy Round One (att: 1,249)

I went to this game with my Dad on the supporters coaches from Scarborough, a week or so after John Lennon’s assassination. "Imagine" was never off the radio. We got to Seel Park in good time which enabled the adults to go straight into the clubhouse. As was the norm I wandered around for a look and to see if there were any offers in the club shop. 

I was soon in the clubhouse myself as I was chased by some locals wearing Man Utd scarves on an absolutely freezing cold day, so they probably did me a favour in hindsight. The pitch was hard and so were the Mossley team. I stood with my Dad and his pals in the paddock in front of the old wooden Main Stand. 

Open terracing also stood down this side. Opposite was a low-covered shelter. One end was open and designated to away fans, while the other had a substantial roof and decent terrace. Boro centre-back, Bryan Magee suffered a broken nose, but Boro had plenty of tough guys of their own to back up their teammate including the formidable Richard Dixey. 

Somehow we managed a draw from the game with goals from Harry A Dunn and Pat Olney. All through the way through proceedings on the pitch there was trouble off it on the far side by the segregation barriers. Some Boro fans battled with the local police as well. 

The local fans and troublemakers had also turned out in force to offer a warm welcome. My pals from school kept close to us and managed to get seats on our coach on the way home. Mossley rode into Scarborough for the replay and left the Athletic Ground with a 1-0 win a few days later.

Tuesday 20th July 2010

I was in Manchester for three days groundhopping and enjoying the sights. I had just been in Ashton under Lyne to visit Ashton United and Curzon Ashton before taking the bus across the moors to Mossley. I soon found Seel Park on Market Street and was happy to see the gates open.

I spoke to a club official and a younger bloke who could well have been the captain or coach. They were curious but happy to see what I was doing. I mentioned my previous visit and the cold. They smiled wryly and said it’s always cold there and that’s their biggest home advantage! 

The ground still looked fine and similar to what I remembered from years ago, apart from the newish Main Stand. Like many grounds in the area, it was very traditional and a credit to the club.

I was in for a slight surprise after leaving. My good Boro friend Butch had mentioned about a steep hill from the station to the ground. He wasn’t joking! Fortunately, I was going downhill and I cut through the gardens of a fine-looking hall. The town was built in two parts, Upper and Lower Mossley. The lower part was like a separate village with its own high street.

I had time to kill but I didn’t really want a beer at that stage of the day, so I waited on the extremely spartan station to wait for the train back to Manchester.