2012/13 SEASON
PROGRAMME ÂŁ1.50
Main club sponsor:
First Division Saturday, 15 December 2012
v Cheadle Town
WELCOME to WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC Club President Brian Cripps
First Team Manager: Andy Nelson 07952 567240 Asst Manager: Steve Eckersley
Chairman Glyn Meacher 07543 715784
Reserve Team Manager: Robert Madden 07730 655446 Asst Managers: Jim Hines & Shay Casey
Club Secretary Rob Turley 0161 448 1838 07891 298441
Physio First Team: Winston Luke Reserves: Neha Chhabra
Membership Secretary Monica Creer 0161 881 1135
Club Coach Kris Mahon
Treasurer Dave Cooper 07961 063195
‘A’ Team Manager Chris Argent 07962 352619
Head of Fundraising Steve Eckersley 07788 112909
Vets Manager Sam Hickey 07980 521988
Community Development Davy Iredale
Programme Production & Web John Churchman 07720 508082
ADD YOUR NAME TO OUR SPONSOR Join our growing list of sponsors, we have packages to suit your budget including:
THE CLUB
● Match Day Sponsor ● Player Kit Sponsor ● Pitch Advertising (3-year period) ● Programme Advertising
LIST
£100 £50 £250 per season £50 - £100
200
The 200 club is a vital source of income and is open to anyone. A monthly standing order payment of £2 entitles one entry into the monthly £200 of prizes to be won. If you are interested in joining please contact Brian, Rob or Monica or ask for a form in the club house. The sooner you complete a form and enter the draw the sooner you could win.
Editorial
15th December 2012 – Cheadle Town
Welcome again to The Recreation Ground, Brookburn Road as we reach the half way stage of this our inaugural season in the North West Counties League. So as we complete the first half of the season’s fixtures today we are encouraged that our progression to this level of football has been fully vindicated, and we have exceeded our expectations so far. However we will not get carried away with our current position as there are another 17 league games to come, as well as stern cup tests away at Bootle and Ashton Town. As we enter the Christmas period and New Year, still in both cup competitions and challenging the front runners in the league, we pay tribute and say thank you to Andy and Steve and the management and coaching team and all the players. They have all shown great commitment to the club and brought real enjoyment to all who have been watching us, home and away, with both the quality and manner of our play and on and off the field behaviour. We want to be a credit to the League and it has been very gratifying to have received so many kind remarks and compliments from other clubs, officials and fans both home and away. Long may it continue. WELCOME BACK TO CHEADLE TOWN We welcome back the players, officials and supporters of Cheadle Town today for our third meeting since September as we are still looking for our first victory over this well organised and quality side. Manager Steve Brokenbrow has assembled a very competitive squad who are hard on our heels in the league table with games in hand and we already know something of what to expect from our earlier games this season. Last weekend Town drew 2-2 at home with leaders Darwen, but we hope it will be 3rd time lucky for West today as we aim to finish the first half of our league programme with another home win. FESTIVE FIXTURES Next Saturday, 22nd, the Reserves are at home to Barnoldswick Town before two further 1st team home games on Boxing Day and Saturday 29th December. On Boxing Day we entertain Leek CSOB [kickoff 3pm] when we will be providing some festive fare in the clubhouse. We the finish 2012 with another home game against Irlam FC, again at 3pm, and we look forward to seeing many of you again at these games. In the meantime ENJOY THE GAME TODAY and in conclusion we wish you…
A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS from everyone at WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON Rob Turley
Thanks to Mike Fryer for providing photos we use on the web and in the programme, Mike has captured all our expressions on the front cover as Tommy whistled this shot past the post in a recent home game. WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/westdidsburychorlton/
View from the Dugout Since the last programme, we are pleased to make progress in the First Division Trophy with a 2-0 home victory over Atherton LR, this turned out to be a comfortable win over a team that beat us in the early part of the season, so it was good to get one back over them and set up an away game against Ashton Town in the next round. December kicked off with an away game at Irlam, where on a cold crisp day we dominated the game for long spells playing some good football, it was also very noticeable how quickly we pressed Irlam which reduced their chances to a few long range efforts, however, disappointingly we only went in at the interval with a 1-0 lead. The second half was more of the same as we continued to press, creating and missing chance after chance… this was to be our downfall as late into injury time Irlam managed to score an equaliser from a corner when their goalkeeper up for a corner managed to get his head on a ball which was scrambled home. But how our expectations have risen as we would have been pleased with a point at Irlam at the beginning of season! We were then ready to go on the road again last Saturday for the longest trip of the season to face an improving Holker Old Boys team, only to get an earlier call that the game was postponed, what a relief that there was an early pitch inspection!! It seems early to be wishing you all a Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year, but as this is the last home game before Christmas we both hope you have a great time and look forward to seeing you at the home game against Leek on Boxing Day. Andy Nelson and Steve Eckersley
Match day Sponsorship… A big thank you to all who have sponsored our home matches so far this season, we have been pleased with the support shown…We are now looking for match sponsors in the remaining home matches. The sponsorship package costs £100 and includes: 4 match day tickets; Pre-match drinks; Half-time refreshments and an advert in the match day programme.
Interested in sponsoring one of our matches? Then please speak to Rob, Steve or John – refer to details inside the front cover
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
OUR SPONSORS We would like to express our sincere thanks to our current pitch side board sponsors for their support. Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/westdidsburychorlton/
First Team – Fixtures, Results and Goalscorers… Date KO H/A Opposition Score AUGUST 2012 Sat Aug 4 3.00 H Formby 2–3 Wed Aug 8 7.45 A Chadderton 3–0 Sat Aug 11 3.00 A Oldham Boro 4–2 Tues Aug 14 7.45 H Northwich Villa 1–1 Sat Aug 18 3.00 A AFC Darwen 0–2 SEPTEMBER Sat Sept 1 3.00 H Cheadle Town FA - V 1–3 Tues Sept 4 7.45 A Leek CSOB 2–1 Sat Sept 8 3.00 A Atherton LR 1–4 Sat Sept 15 3.00 H Oldham Boro 4–1 Wed Sept 19 7.45 A Nelson 2–2 Sat Sept 22 3.00 A Cheadle Town 2–3 Sat Sept 29 3.00 H Holker Old Boys 3-0 OCTOBER Sat Oct 6 3.00 H Eccleshall LCC 1st Rd 4-0 Tues Oct 9 7.45 A Bamber Bridge LCT 1-3 Sat Oct 20 3.00 H Rochdale Town 2-0 Sat Oct 27 3.00 H Norton United LCC 2nd Rd 3-1 NOVEMBER Sat Nov 3 3.00 A Northwich Villa 0-2 Sat Nov 10 3.00 H Abbey Hey 2-1 Sat Nov 17 3.00 A Daisy Hill 1-0 Sat Nov 24 3.00 H Atherton LR FDT 2nd Rd 2 -0 DECEMBER Sat Dec 1 3.00 A Irlam 1-1 Sat Dec 15 3.00 H Cheadle Town Sat Dec 22 3.00 A Eccleshall Wed Dec 26 3.00 H Leek CSOB Sat Dec 29 3.00 H Irlam JANUARY 2013 Sat Jan 5 3.00 H Ashton Town Sat Jan 12 3.00 A Formby Sat Jan 19 3.00 H Eccleshall FEBRUARY Sat Feb 3 3.00 A Ashton Town FDT Q-Final Sat Feb 9 3.00 H AFC Darwen Sat Feb 16 3.00 A Bootle LCC 2nd Rd Sat Feb 23 3.00 H Chadderton MARCH Sat Mar 16 3.00 H Atherton Collieries Sat Mar 23 3.00 A Abbey Hey Sat Mar 30 3.00 H Daisy Hill APRIL Mon Apr 1 3.00 A Rochdale Town Sat Apr 6 3.00 H Atherton LR Sat Apr 13 3.00 H Nelson Sat Apr 27 3.00 A Ashton Town FA V = FA Vase FDT= First Div Trophy LCC = League Challenge Cup
Scorers Beckford, Walsh Potts, Walsh (2) Aston, C Jones, Walsh, Beckford Baird
Bryant Shillito, Bryant Bryant Kilbride, Summers, Shillito L. Schofield, C Jones L. Schofield, Malkin L. Schofield, Baldwin, Walsh Aston, S Jones, Baldwin, Walsh Summers Baldwin (2) Malkin, L. Schofield, Walsh
C. Schofield, M Woodcock Potts Summers. Aston (pen) Baldwin
LCT = Lancashire Challenge Trophy
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
CLUB NEWS… Club Helpers Our club is dependent on the time and effort of volunteer helpers who act as club officials, manage and staff the bar and clubhouse on match days, produce the match day programme and undertake a host of other tasks around the clubhouse and grounds. Every little helps so if you are interested in getting involved please contact us at www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com Or contact the secretary, Rob Turley on 07891 298441 or e-mail to: rob.turley@btinternet.com
Follow us on Twitter Our username is WD_CFC (picture of club badge) please follow us and re tweet information so as many people see it as possible.
Shirt Number Sponsors For as little as £20 you can sponsor a club shirt, your support will be recognised in the clubhouse and every match day programme through the season. Please ask one of the committee for further details or sign up on the poster in the entrance area of the clubhouse… there is now only 1 shirt left so don’t delay.
This month the 200 Club winners are: £100 JP Williams £60 D Otway £40 Kris Parry The next draw is on Monday 7th January so get a form and get signed up by the end of the month if you want to have the chance of a cash prize.
Ground Safety In the interest of spectator comfort and safety, the following conditions apply at the clubs Brookburn Road ground and must be observed at all times.
In case of fire or other emergency that requires the clubhouse or ground to be evacuated instructions will be given over the public address system, and we ask that you comply with those instructions immediately.
The chanting of racist or obscene chanting is strictly forbidden.
Glasses, bottles, gas canisters, knives, darts, tools, flag poles or any other articles likely to cause injury are not permitted into the ground.
Alcohol may be purchased and consumed in the bar area only.
Children are not allowed in the Club House unless accompanied by an adult. Encroachment onto the playing area is forbidden at all times.
Standing is not allowed in front of the seated areas.
All forms of transport on the clubs car park is at the owners’ risk.
The club reserves the right to remove any person from the ground who is in breach of these rules or whose presence is a source of danger or annoyance to others. We hope you understand the reasons for the above are in order for the game to be enjoyed in safe and pleasant conditions. Thank you, West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC Committee
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/westdidsburychorlton/
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
Our visitors… Cheadle Town Cheadle Town was formed in 1961 as Grasmere Rovers playing in the Manchester & District Sunday Football League in their Under-16s Division. As the team developed the Under-21 Championship was won in 1968, followed by the Premier Division title two years later. In 1972 the club made the significant decision to play their football on Saturdays and joined the Manchester Football League. Success on the playing field coincided with the arrival of Albert Pike as manager in 1978. In Albert’s first, full season he led the team to a terrific double of First Division Champions and Manchester Amateur Cup Winners; this was the prelude to even more success as the club won both the Manchester & Derbyshire F.A. Cups. Grasmere Rovers moved into their own ground at Park Road Stadium in 1982 and, a year later, changed their name to Cheadle Town when they also joined the North West Counties Football League. Membership has mainly been in the Second Division but in 1996 the club was promoted to the First Division. Sadly, relegation back to the second tier occurred in 2001, a position they still occupy in the now-named First Division. Park Road Stadium has a fine history with, initially, Cheadle Rovers being the owners. On their demise Manchester City used it as their training ground. Portugal, along with Eusebio trained there during the 1966 World Cup and, in 1993, the world-famous Brazilian player, Jairzinho, hosted a Soccer School for Cheadle Town. Floodlights were installed in 1995 and Manchester United provided the opposition for the official ‘switch-on’ when, on a memorable evening, Town beat United’s youngsters, 3-2 in front of almost 2,000 fans. The biggest gate to watch Cheadle on domestic soil came ten years later against FC United of Manchester. Due to the huge interest in the game Town officials moved the fixture to Stockport County’s Edgeley Park, and they were rewarded with a bumper 3,227 attendance that witnessed a pulsating 3-3 draw. The club is famous for its legendry foreign tours, having played 96 games in 30 different countries in front of over 312,000 fans and scoring 111 goals. Playing under their tour name, Manchester AFC, they have played against SEVEN national sides and once played in front of 65,000 people in Mexico City’s world-famous Aztec Stadium. Their epic journeys have taken them just over 210,000 miles all over the world. Alfredo di Stefano, Ronnie Biggs, Brazilian superstar Jairzinho and Rajiv Ghandi have all met the touring side as exotic locations such as Cannes, Acapulco, Rio de Janeiro, the Bahamas and Phuket have mixed with non-exotic places like Dar es Salaam, Haiti and Guangzhou in China. The club celebrated its 50th birthday in 2011 and, if the next 50 years are anything like the first, then there is a lot of excitement to come.
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/westdidsburychorlton/
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
First team match reports… Saturday 24th November: WEST 2 Atherton LR 0 We progressed to the quarter final of the First Division Trophy with a competent and efficient display against a youthful Atherton LR side who had previously given us a hard time in the away league game earlier this season. The first 20 minutes saw a pretty even contest played largely in midfield with neither side able to penetrate or create chances in the opponent’s penalty area. Indeed the only penalty area action was corner at either end. West gradually began to control the bulk of possession with Woodcock and Summers closing down the visitors time and time again denying them space and time but t was 24 minutes before we had a shooting chance when Lee Malkin created a chance for Lewis Schofield who shot straight at the keeper. Minutes later Anthony Potts picked up a yellow card, for a mistimed tackle on half way as the Atherton forward threatened to break clear. The breakthrough came after 33 minutes when Woodcock and Summers combined with the later getting in behind the visitors defence to draw the tall keeper off his line before scoring in the corner – a well worked move and goal giving West a 1-0 interval lead. The second period started with a better tempo from the home side and 5 minutes into the second period the irrepressible Lee Malkin made a great break to run clear down the right and send the ball low across the area. Lewis Schofield’s attempt was cleared for another corner and when the corner came in at the near post the keeper made a good save from brother Callum for yet another corner. This time Lee Shillito went close as the Atherton defence began to find difficulty in stemming the flow and pace of the West attack. Atherton were restricted to half chances as the central defence of Schofield and Potts stood firm. West were not to be denied much longer and a well time run by Shillito saw him get the better of his marker as he surged into the area only to be felled from behind. Mike Aston stepped up to end the penalty hoodoo and calmly send the keeper the wrong way from the spot kick. Lee Shillito had been leading the line intelligently all afternoon on a heavy surface and after 65 minutes gave way to Tre Baldwin Willis, shortly before Atherton’s highlight of the second period when Ben Simpson touched the ball for the first time in the second half after 72 minutes. Five minutes later and with some tired legs in midfield Paul Lewis and Matt Eckersley came on to close things out and continue to frustrate the visitors who could just not get possession of the ball. Tre Baldwin Willis was unlucky not to increase the margin of victory when he was put clear and was unlucky with a first time effort just wide.The final whistle saw some enthusiastic applause from a decent crowd who had seen a very entertaining game played in a great spirit by both sides despite the difficult conditions and incessant rain in the second half. The pitch stood up well despite the weather which was testament to the hard work put in by grounds man Nick Brearley the day before and on the morning of the game.
Saturday 1st December: Irlam 1 WEST 1 An added time equaliser from the home side left West counting the cost of missing several clear cut chances in the second half as a 1-0 interval lead was surrendered in added time and another two points thrown away. West started with confidence and after some opening exchanges in midfield created the first scoring opportunity when Aston played in Lewis Schofield after 5 minutes to shoot straight at the home keeper Brewer. Irlam were slower to get going and had to wait 11 minutes for their first chance which Ben Simpson saved to his right after a neat one tow just inside the area. It was all one way at this stage with West pressing play superbly and putting the Irlam defence under constant pressure and after 17 minutes Brewer rode his luck when his clearance from a short back pass crashed against Shillito before going narrowly wide. Irlam had shown little treat up to this stage but a minute later we lost possession just outside the area and a first time shot from distance went well wide. The next 15 minutes were uneventful but then on 35 minutes Tre went clear in the inside left channel only to pull his shot wide of the goal and this was followed by a similar effort from Lee Shillito which suffered the same fate. Continued…
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Irlam 1 WEST 1 continued 43rd minute free kick from Lewis Schofield was blocked by an effective defensive wall and as Irlam momentarily switched off as the ball was cleared Lee Shillito beat his defender when the ball came back in to head on for Tre to race clear and plant a firm drive just inside the post to give West a deserved interval lead from the one clear cut scoring chance of the first half. H-T 1-0. West started the second period at a terrific tempo and in the 46th minute a dangerous Shillito cross was turned behind by the Irlam No2 and the ensuing corner was only partially cleared before Aston again played a defence splitting pass to send Lewis Schofield clear only for his first time effort to beat the corner and go inches wide of the far post. Then Shillito was sent clear of the defence and honed in on goal shooting straight at keeper Brewer who made a strong save and saw the ball rebound to safety. Irlam were really struggling to stay in the game but the final pass, shot and some decision making could all have been better. Next up was Callum Jones on 58 minutes who also beat the keeper only to shoot wide and 5 minutes later Summers suffered the same fate. Callum Jones then robbed the full back to surge forward and shoot over the bar, moments before Danny Summers beat the offside trap to race clear and send his pass across the area where the retreating Irlam defender deflected the ball away as he fell to ground 10 yards inside the area. West claims for the penalty were waved away and further half chances and a string of corner kicks came and went somehow without addition to our lead. Gareth Thomas came on for Tre as Lee Shillito became the spearhead in attack and again showed his experience with some well timed runs to beat the offside trap and then Tommy Walsh went close a couple of times having replaced Danny Summers for the closing stages. Irlam mounted a late fight back throwing men forward and winning a flurry of corner kicks as we endeavoured to hold on, and from the last of these in added time West and the traveling support were left feeling gutted as a deep corner to the back post wasn’t cleared and Bailey Jones scrambled home an equaliser. All in all a dominant display but our failure to kill off the game and take our good chances again cost us dearly. Rob Turley
View from the Referee… This is from an e-mail sent to the NWCFL… A courtesy email from me to say, how thoroughly I enjoyed the above game today (Irlam v WDC) Both set of players were a credit to their clubs with fantastic attitude and discipline shown in today's game. Yours in Sport Abid Hussain
Reserve team match reports… Both the games on Saturday 24th November and 1st December were postponed the report for the 8th December will be in the next programme. Robert Madden
GREAT NORTH WEST PROGRAMME FAIR Programme and football memorabilia collectors in the North West of England will have the best opportunity of the year to buy and sell items at this event. On Friday 28th December from 11am to 3pm at the Cresta Court Hotel, Church Street, Altrincham, WA14 4DP Admission is £1 for adults, schoolchildren free. WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
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NWCFL 2012-2013 Division One Fixtures - 15th December AFC Darwen v Atherton LR Atherton Collieries v Leek CSOB Chadderton v Holker Old Boys Daisy Hill v Ashton Town Irlam v Oldham Boro Northwich Villa v Eccleshall Rochdale Town v Formby West Didsbury & Chorlton v Cheadle Town
West Reserve team fixtures: Silsden Res, 15 December (A) 3.00pm Barnoldswick Town Res, 22 December (H) 3.00pm Glossop North End Res, 5 January, (A) 3.00pm AFC Darwen Res, 12 January, (A) 3.00pm Reserve Team Cup – Round 1 Ashton Town Res, postponed to be rearranged (H) 3.00pm
NWCFL recent landmarks and news… Saturday 24th November 2012 Maine Road’s 2-1 win at Colne was their 200th away League win. Padiham achieved a double landmark, achieving their 300th League win and their fourth goal scored by Dave Sherlock on the stroke of half time was the Storks 700th home League goal.
Saturday 1st December 2012 Alan Coar's opening goal for Squires Gate in their 3-0 win at Alsager Town was Gate's 1200th League goal. Norton United's 2-1 win over AFC Liverpool saw them reach 600 League points. Jamie Hay's last gasp winner for Bootle in their 3-2 win over Congleton Town was the Bucks' 900th home League goal.
Player & Goalkeeper of the Month Awards for November… Player of the Month: Premier Division: Mark Battersby - Glossop North End Division One: Tom Wakefield - Eccleshall Goalkeeper of the Month: Premier Division: Richard Brandon - Norton United Division One: Joe Brobbin - Rochdale Town WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
NWCFL Division One Table 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
AFC Darwen Abbey Hey Ashton Town West Didsbury & Chorlton Atherton Collieries Cheadle Town Formby Oldham Boro Chadderton Rochdale Town Northwich Villa Atherton LR Leek CSOB Daisy Hill Irlam Nelson Holker Old Boys Eccleshall
P 17 14 16 16 13 14 9 16 12 14 17 16 16 17 17 11 12 15
W 11 11 10 8 8 7 8 7 6 5 5 4 5 3 3 3 4 3
D 1 0 2 3 1 4 0 2 2 3 3 4 1 4 4 3 0 3
L 5 3 4 5 4 3 1 7 4 6 9 8 10 10 10 5 8 9
F 46 40 46 30 35 29 35 29 27 24 25 21 30 24 21 18 15 25
A 31 13 19 23 25 22 17 29 22 29 42 32 44 37 35 25 32 43
GD Pts 15 34 27 33 27 32 7 27 10 25 7 25 18 24 0 23 5 20 -5 18 -17 18 -11 16 -14 16 -13 13 -14 13 -7 12 -17 12 -18 12
NWCFL Reserves Table 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
Irlam Wigan Robin Park Padiham New Mills Barnoldswick Town Cheadle Town Runcorn Linnets Glossop North End Nelson Ashton Town * Silsden West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC Darwen
P 12 13 11 10 9 12 11 12 11 10 12 13 12
W D L 7 2 3 7 2 4 6 4 1 6 2 2 6 1 2 6 0 6 4 4 3 5 1 6 5 0 6 4 1 5 4 0 8 3 1 9 1 2 9
*Point deducted for breach of rule
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F 23 32 34 32 22 21 25 18 20 19 21 22 17
A 11 29 16 16 14 24 20 15 26 21 33 30 51
GD 12 3 18 16 8 -3 5 3 -6 -2 -12 -8 -34
Pts 23 23 22 20 19 18 16 16 15 12 12 10 5
Shirt Number Sponsors…
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
North West Counties Football League First Division Saturday 15th December 2012
Today’s squads
West Didsbury & Chorlton White shirts, black shorts & socks
Ben Simpson (gk) Callum Jones Scott Jones David Kilbride-Ratcliffe Anthony Potts Callum Schofield Mike Aston (Capt) Danny Summers Mark Woodcock Gareth Thomas Steve Settle Lee Malkin Lee Shillito Lewis Schofield Tommy Walsh Paul Lewis Matt Eckersley
Cheadle Town Green shirts, shorts and socks
Stephen Piggott (gk) Sam Dee Ben Roberts Adam Roberts Warren Gaskin (Capt) Paul Walley Matthew German Josh Taylor Ben Brooks Arron Carroll Paul McCormack Paulo David Andrew Lindon Arron Riley Adam Tiffany Callum Jones Myles Livesey Anthony O’Keefe (gk)
Manager: Andy Nelson
Manager: Steve Brockenhurst
Assistant: Steve Eckersley
Assistant: Charles Henry
OFFICIALS: Referee: James Mulligan Assistants: Peter Rapaport & Garrie Stockley NEXT HOME GAME: Weds, 26th December, 2012 – Kick-off:3.00pm
WEST v Leek CSOB Please check the club website or www.nwcfl.com for up to date information http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/westdidsburychorlton/
WHAT’S OUR
STORY?
Newly elected North West Counties League side West Didsbury and Chorlton FC, have come a long way in their 105 year history which began back in 1908 when the club was founded as Christ Church A.F.C. by Mr R F Hartley, a Sunday School Superintendent at the church on Princess Parkway, West Didsbury. West first played in the Manchester Alliance League until the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918). After the War the club joined the Lancashire and Cheshire League for the 1920/21 season and had to change its name to West Didsbury AFC, as the League did not permit association with any other body. The club was placed in Divisions 1 and A and stayed in the top flight for 25 seasons. The first honours were double runners up in Div 1 and Rhodes Cup in 1922/23, and the club remained in that league until 2006, winning many honours and providing 4 League Presidents along the way. Many of the current committee were players in that league. The club played at Christie Playing Fields from before 1914 but had to relocate when given notice to quit by the Playing Fields Society in the mid 80’s when that body decided to sell the land for commercial gain. After several years nomadic existence the club kicked off the 1997-98 season at their splendid new home at The Recreation Ground at Brookburn Road, and began to develop a vision for a community club. This was down to the hard work of a core of players and Committee who refused to let the club fold and secured the new facilities via a Lottery grant, new sponsors and fundraising, but without a penny of help from the Playing Fields Society proceeds. Further name change followed in 2003 to reflect our new location in Chorlton and we were elected to the Manchester League in 2006. In 2007/8 Season West won Manchester League silverware for the first time, lifting the Murray Shield in the last game of our centenary year. That team was the nucleus of the previously successful junior team and the following season West just missed promotion to the Premier Division and again reached the Murray Shield Final.
With a new management team led by Andy Nelson, who had previously managed at Leigh RMI, the 2009/10 season was very successful and honours spread throughout the club. The 1st team won the Murray Shield, (the third consecutive year we have been in the final) and finishing runners-up in the league. The second team won the Bridgewater League Cup and the U17 Youth team won their League. In 2010/2011 the 1st team won the Manchester League First Division title in style with a fantastic points total (65 points out of 72 possible). This ranks as one of the highest points totals per game in the history of the Manchester League dating back over a century. The clubs reserve team and youth teams also had terrific seasons, resulting in promotion and for the second year reaching the Bridgewater Cup Final. The clubs ‘A’ team finished and the Youth team reached yet another final where they were just pipped to the trophy by New Mills. The Veterans were runners up in the Premier Division of the Cheshire Veterans League and then started a second veterans team such was the interest in the club. Plans were also made to formally integrate junior football as the club Vision is to be a FA Charter Standard Community Club in every sense. In recent seasons several players who started at West have been signed by top non league clubs, but such is the spirit of the club that many players return to what they see as a family club. The club now looks forward to fulfilling its ambition to play at the highest possible level it can whilst continuing to be run as a community club and transition to the NWCFL. The ground and facilities have been further improved and floodlights erected to meet grading requirements and West competed in the FA Vase for the first time in 2011-2012 as a Step 7 club. The club was duly elected to the NWCFL at the AGM on 16th June 2012.
MATCH DAY‌
CLUB INFO To contact the club please use the club website. West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC The Recreation Ground, Brookburn Road, Chorltonville, Manchester, M21 8FF
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