Winsford United

Winsford United FC 

Ground: The Barton Stadium

Capacity: 3,000

Club Founded: 1883

League: Midland League Premier Division - Step 5/9th Tier (current level)

Winsford United from the Mid-Cheshire town of the same name has a long, proud history with many ups and downs, giving Neville Southall his break while maintaining its football reputation in the region.

Club History

The 'Blues’ began life as Over Wanderers FC, initially competing in the Welsh Combination Football League. Games were played at the Bean Latham Playing Field, which would later become Barton Stadium. 

The club changed its name to Winsford United and joined a local competition, The Combination, for the 1902-03 season. The club went into abeyance before returning post World War I, owing to excessive spending.

In 1919, Winsford became a founder member of the Cheshire County League, where they won the title a year later. For several decades, the team finished no higher than third place before finishing runners-up in 1974-75.

The following season was one of relative success in the FA Cup as the first round was reached for the first time. Four qualifying rounds were negotiated before Winsford were paired with an away tie at London Road against Peterborough United, which ended in a 3-1 defeat. 

Neville Southall

The season ended with a second Cheshire County League title being delivered to Barton Stadium. In 1977-78, Altrincham ended a fine FA Trophy run in the last eight tie. The club gave future Welsh international and Everton legend Neville Southall his senior debut at Barton Stadium, which at the time also staged greyhound racing.

Winsford became a founder member of the North West Counties League (NWCL) in 1982-83 as a Division One team. When the Northern Premier League (NPL) was extended in 1987, the Blues were given a place in Division One.

The NPL Years

Promotion followed in 1991-92 before finishing as Northern Premier League runners-up the following season. The campaign also saw Wrexham beat United 5-2 in the first round of the FA Cup at the Racecourse Ground.

Manager Mike McKenzie moved on to local rivals Witton Albion, with many of the players following. Another first-round FA Cup appearance followed, with Chester City winning the tie. The team went down to the NPL Division One in the last season of the millennium before suffering a second successive relegation.

Recent Years

Back in the NWCL, the team was soon demoted to Division Two, before going back up as champions in 2006-07. Manager Joe Gibiliru led the side to a second successive promotion as Winsford headed to the Premier Division of the competition.

Managers came and went regularly after Gibiliru's departure. Newly formed 1874 Northwich became tenants at Barton Stadium from the 2013-14 campaign. Meanwhile, United continued to finish in mid-table before being relegated to Division One South of the NWCL in 2022-23.

Duxbury remained in the post until March 2024, when the combination of Dom Johnson and Dean Jones came in. The Blues won their league title in 2024-25 and were promoted to the Premier Division of the Midland Football League. The following season ended in a semi-final playoff defeat to former tenants 1874 Northwich.

My visit

1874 Northwich 1 Congleton Town 1 after extra time

FA Vase Second Qualifying Round - Sunday 25th September 2017

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To read about my day out to the Barton Stadium and to see additional photos, please click here.