Club History
History of Maine Road FC 1955-2010
The club was formed in 1955 as City Supporters Rusholme, when our past Chairman Frank Thompson and a few friends formed a team and after playing a few friendlies joined the local Rusholme Sunday League.
In the late sixties the club changed to the Manchester Amateur Sunday League and also moved it’s headquarters to the newly built Maine Road Social Club and hence the new name Maine Road FC was born. Ronnie Meredith was now running the club and in 1971-72 we won the Manchester County Sunday Cup and both the club’s sides won their respective leagues. This prompted Ron to look for a new challenge and he changed the whole future of the club by moving to Saturday football in the form of the Manchester League.
Success followed success on the field and after several years of moving grounds we settled on our present home at Brantingham Road in 1980. After a lean spell one of Ron’s ambitions was realised in Season 1983-84 when we won the Manchester League Premier Division. In fact we won the league four years running.
Derek Barber took over the managerial reins in 1986 and the clubs progress continued so much so that when the Manchester County FA’s new complex at Brantingham Road was built Ron’s other ambition was achieved. Entry to the Bass North West Counties League.
In only our second season (1989) we finished runners up to Vauxhall Motors but regrettably we denied promotion due to ground grading, so in 1980 we went one better to win the Second Division Championship and take our rightful place in Division One.
In Season 1987-88 we beat Irlam Town 1-0 at Maine Road (home of Manchester City) in the Manchester Premier Cup to complete a unique record in the Manchester County Competitions by winning all five County Cups. The five Manchester County Cups are Premier Cup (1), Amateur Cup (4), Sunday Amateur Cup (1), Intermediate Cup (2), Challenge Cup (4).
At the end of Season 2001-02 after twelve seasons in the top division Maine Road were relegated to the 2nd division. This was the first time a Maine Road side had ever been relegated and we hope it will be the last. Two seasons in the 2nd division when our very young side finished 3rd and runners up resulted in a return to the top division. Under the guidance of Chris Simms the club finished 8th and 10th in the following two seasons. The arrival of Ian Walker as Manager saw the club achieve it’s highest ever league finish with a 6th place swiftly followed by a magnificent 4th place. On top of that the team lifted the prestigious Vodkat League Cup for the first time. After a difficult early campaign in 2000-09, the team finished in a respectable 13th position. Last season could have been one of our most testing when, by the end of October, we had lost several influential players who had all gone to try out their considerable talents at a higher level. How would we cope without them? Well, pretty well as it happens! The young replacements took on the challenge and we ended up in a very respectable 6th position.
Maine Road has a long and proud reputation for introducing young players into the club. This began with the introduction of a Youth Team run by Derek in the late 1980’s, which brought a succession of fine young players to the club. This success in spotting and nurturing the best young talent has continued over the last decade with Maine Road’s domination of the Umbro International Football Tournament at Under 19 level. Over the last 11 seasons our Under 19’s have taken on and regularly outplayed talented youngsters from around the world. They have won the competition an amazing 6 times and been runners up 3 times. The record set by the team of 2003 may never be surpassed when 8 of the squad regularly played 1st team football in the same season.
Another factor in the continued success of the club is the outstanding loyalty shown by many players, the best examples are our 1st Team Manager Ian Walker who amassed 631 appearances, Chris Simms 556 appearances, Gordon Woods 465 appearances and Mark Mitchell 325 appearances.
The club was formed in 1955 as City Supporters Rusholme, when our past Chairman Frank Thompson and a few friends formed a team and after playing a few friendlies joined the local Rusholme Sunday League.
In the late sixties the club changed to the Manchester Amateur Sunday League and also moved it’s headquarters to the newly built Maine Road Social Club and hence the new name Maine Road FC was born. Ronnie Meredith was now running the club and in 1971-72 we won the Manchester County Sunday Cup and both the club’s sides won their respective leagues. This prompted Ron to look for a new challenge and he changed the whole future of the club by moving to Saturday football in the form of the Manchester League.
Success followed success on the field and after several years of moving grounds we settled on our present home at Brantingham Road in 1980. After a lean spell one of Ron’s ambitions was realised in Season 1983-84 when we won the Manchester League Premier Division. In fact we won the league four years running.
Derek Barber took over the managerial reins in 1986 and the clubs progress continued so much so that when the Manchester County FA’s new complex at Brantingham Road was built Ron’s other ambition was achieved. Entry to the Bass North West Counties League.
In only our second season (1989) we finished runners up to Vauxhall Motors but regrettably we denied promotion due to ground grading, so in 1980 we went one better to win the Second Division Championship and take our rightful place in Division One.
In Season 1987-88 we beat Irlam Town 1-0 at Maine Road (home of Manchester City) in the Manchester Premier Cup to complete a unique record in the Manchester County Competitions by winning all five County Cups. The five Manchester County Cups are Premier Cup (1), Amateur Cup (4), Sunday Amateur Cup (1), Intermediate Cup (2), Challenge Cup (4).
At the end of Season 2001-02 after twelve seasons in the top division Maine Road were relegated to the 2nd division. This was the first time a Maine Road side had ever been relegated and we hope it will be the last. Two seasons in the 2nd division when our very young side finished 3rd and runners up resulted in a return to the top division. Under the guidance of Chris Simms the club finished 8th and 10th in the following two seasons. The arrival of Ian Walker as Manager saw the club achieve it’s highest ever league finish with a 6th place swiftly followed by a magnificent 4th place. On top of that the team lifted the prestigious Vodkat League Cup for the first time. After a difficult early campaign in 2000-09, the team finished in a respectable 13th position. Last season could have been one of our most testing when, by the end of October, we had lost several influential players who had all gone to try out their considerable talents at a higher level. How would we cope without them? Well, pretty well as it happens! The young replacements took on the challenge and we ended up in a very respectable 6th position.
Maine Road has a long and proud reputation for introducing young players into the club. This began with the introduction of a Youth Team run by Derek in the late 1980’s, which brought a succession of fine young players to the club. This success in spotting and nurturing the best young talent has continued over the last decade with Maine Road’s domination of the Umbro International Football Tournament at Under 19 level. Over the last 11 seasons our Under 19’s have taken on and regularly outplayed talented youngsters from around the world. They have won the competition an amazing 6 times and been runners up 3 times. The record set by the team of 2003 may never be surpassed when 8 of the squad regularly played 1st team football in the same season.
Another factor in the continued success of the club is the outstanding loyalty shown by many players, the best examples are our 1st Team Manager Ian Walker who amassed 631 appearances, Chris Simms 556 appearances, Gordon Woods 465 appearances and Mark Mitchell 325 appearances.
