LANCASTER CITY FC Giant Axe, West Road, Lancaster Lancashire LA1 5PE Telephone & Fax: 01524 382238 Email: [email protected] Website: www.lancastercityfc.com Welcome . WWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWELCOME Good afternoon and welcome to our Northern Premier League game against league leaders Warrington Town. We would like to extend a warm welcome to their players, officials and supporters along with the match officials and hope they enjoy their visit. It is the best part of a month since we shared the points with Morpeth in our last home game and a lot has happened since then. The disappointing FA Cup exit at Skelmersdale was followed by the frustration of our home game against Gainsborough having to be postponed the day before as a precaution following Covid concerns around the visitors. The pandemic continues to have a big impact on our league at the moment with three clubs currently not being able to play for a short period of time. I am sure all other clubs send them their best wishes whilst hoping it is a situation they can avoid themselves. However, the season has taken a turn for the better in the last week with our first win of the season coming in con- vincing fashion at Grantham last Saturday which was then followed up by a hard earned point at FC United in mid- week. Warrington have made another excellent start to the season and arrive at Giant Axe with a three point lead at the top of the table having won five and lost one of their seven games to date. Five of the games have been at home though and they did lose their last away trip at Mickleover so they will be looking to strengthen their position today. They look to have a potent strike force with Josh Amis and Bohan Dixon being amongst the leading scorers in the league with four goals each. The two sides meet again next Saturday when we travel to Cantilever Park in the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy. Before that though, we finally get to play last season’s delayed Lancashire Cup final against Prestwich Heys at Leyland on Tuesday evening, kick off 7.30pm. The next home game is in a fortnight’s time when Nantwich Town visit Giant Axe. Enjoy the game. Andrew Satterthwaite Enjoy the game. Andrew Satterthwaite CITY CLUB DIRECTORY President Ian Sharp LIFE Vice President : Barry Neswham Chairman : Stuart Houghton General Manager : Graham Dockerty Non Executive Directors : Eric Williams (Supporters Club) : Keith Winder Club Secretary : Sarah Pearce Assistant Secretary : Mike Sparks Club Treasurer : Amy Evans Dolly Blue Lottery Co-ordinator : Pam Satterthwaite COACHING STAFF First Team Manager : Mark Fell Assistant Manager : Graham Lancashire First Team Coach : Rob Henry Goalkeeping Coach : Mark Thornley Sport Therapist : Paul Winstanley Medical Consultant : David Rhodes Kit Manager : Michael McGahon Assistant Kit Manager : Stuart Wilson Assistant Kit Manager : Michael Wilson OTHER PERSONNEL Club Solicitor : Peter Rutherford Club Chaplin : Fr Anthony Keefe Club Historian : David Cunliffe Commercial Manager: Alex Everett Club Webmaster : Eric Williams / Graham Dockerty LCFC Media : Alex Everett Club Safety Officer : Rob Hill Covid 19 Officer : Graham Dockerty Welfare Officers : Jan Walsh / Peter Davies Groundsman : Aran Rigg GroundStaff : David Hughes / Peter Benson / David Cunliffe / Moreen Cunliffe/ Rob Hill / Billy Heron / Tony Moorby / Steve Wright / Pam Satterthwaite PROGRAMME TEAM Editors : Andrew Satterthwaite / Barry Newsham Contributors : Fr Anthony Keefe / Steve Wright / Keith Winder / Ian Wood Printing / Compiling : Andrew Satterthwaite / Graham Dockerty Public Address : Eric Williams Raffle / Golden Goal Sellers : Jan & Ron Walsh SUPPORTERS CLUB General Secretary : Keith Winder Treasurer : Steve Wright LANCASTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB IS A TRADING NAME OF LANCASTER CITY FC LTD REG No 06010739 THERE ARE 8 SHAREHOLDERS ALL OWNING ABOVE 10% OF THE SHARE CAPITAL THESE ARE : D.NEEDHAM. I. SHARP. E.WILLIAMS. S.HOUGHTON. M.HOYLE. R.MUCKLE. G.DOCKERTY. AND T.CLARKSON. THERE ARE 10 FURTHER SHAREHOLDERS EACH HOLDING NO MORE THAN 1.3% OF THE SHARE CAPITAL REGISTERED OFFICE : THE CLOSE, QUEENS SQUARE, LANCASTER, ENGLAND, LA1 1RS ACCOUNTANTS : CWRCHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS, THE CLOSE, QUEENS SQUARE, LANCASTER, ENGLAND, LA1 1RS Fell’s View . with City boss Mark Fell . Mark Fell & Graham Lancashire Mark Fell was understandably in buoyant mood following the results at Grantham and FC United which saw City pick up four points out of six. “I thought Tuesday night was a good game actually,” said Fell. “It was a contrast in styles I suppose. I know we have taken a bit of stick from FC United. They have shown a little bit of a lack of class but they have done that be- fore. They don’t like it when someone comes and does a job on them. I was told that our style was rudimental, but our rudimental style created double the amount of chances that their side created so I will take it as a compliment. I thought we were very good value for 1-1, we had the best chance of the game in the 94th minute when Niall Cow- perthwaite has had two shots cleared off the line. These past couple of results are just what we have needed. In the second half last night I felt a little bit more reassured about our identity and what we are about. We were back to doing the things which served us well last season.” “I thought we were absolutely brilliant at Grantham on Saturday. We were subjected to the most laughable sending- off after 20 minutes but I thought we were as good with 10 as we were with 11. Grantham are quite an expensively assembled side but we looked much more as unit, more cohesive.” He was also positively looking forward to the clash with league leaders Warrington Town “Warrington have started the season well, but they lost to Mickleover and drew with Nantwich thanks to a last mi- nute goal. There will be no fear from us. We know they are a team which we go in amongst and get a result. After the last two results, we go into the game with a bit of vigour and a bit confidence. I think if you look at this league and the way it’s gone over the first month of the season, it is absolutely anybody’s.” “Teams are beating each other, there’s loads of draws – it’s a bit like the Championship. If we can go on a bit of run now of four or five wins, we will be right up there.” Our Visitors ~ Warrington Town Introducing our Pitching In NPL Premier Division Opponents . Formed in 1949 under the eye of their late president, Jimmy Drinkwater the club began life as Stockton Heath play- ing at a ground called London Road in Appleton. We competed in the Warrington and District league until 1953, when a move to the Mid Cheshire League coincided with the appointment of Freddie Worrall as manager. During his thir- teen years at the helm, Heath were one of the most feared sides in Cheshire football, winning a string of honours in- cluding the Mid Cheshire League Championship in 1960, the League Cup three times, and making more ap- pearances (five) in the Cheshire Amateur Cup Final than any other club. Several players from this successful period went on to join Football League clubs, including Ian Weir (Scotland & Hibernian), John Green (Tranmere Rovers), and Alan Foster (Crewe). The most famous son must, however, be Roger Hunt who went on to score many memorable goals for Liverpool and gained the ultimate honour of winning a World Cup Winners Medal with England in 1966. At the 1961 AGM, it was decided to change the clubs name to Warrington Town, and in 1965, the club moved to their present home in Latchford. A neat, compact stadium with a capacity of around 3,500 the ground is on the banks of the Manchester Ship canal in the shadow of the imposing Cantilever Bridge which dominates the areas skyline, and from which the ground now takes its name. The late sixties and early seventies were mostly spent in the doldrums, and the club continued without success until the formation of the North West Counties League in 1982 proved to be a springboard to start to move up the pyra- mid. Originally placed in the third division of the new league, Town immediately gained promotion as runners up, and quickly established themselves as one of the second divisions most powerful clubs, missing out on promotion by small margins on no fewer than three occasions. 1985-86 saw Town's first serious attempt at winning the F.A. Vase, but following a tremendous run, they bowed out to eventual winners Halesowen Town in an epic semi-final replay at Bucks Park, home of Telford United. Promotion to division one of the NWCL was achieved in 1986-87 and the club again excelled in the F.A Vase, making it all the way to Wembley sadly losing 3-2 to local rivals St Helens Town in the final. Promotion to the Northern Premier League was gained in 1989-90. The club had consistency in the new division with three 7th place and a 5th place finish, but relatively little success until 1992-93 when a fantastic FA Trophy run ended in the quarter finals at Sutton United, earning them a cool £5.000 for being the furthest non-exempt team left in the competition. On the away to Sutton, Town had beaten Conference side Merthyr Tydfil, which earned them a team of the round prize. In the Cheshire Senior Cup, they were victorious at Macclesfield Town and Hyde United on way to a Semi Final Place, while in the League Cup, they went one further becoming the first ever Division One Side to reach the final, in front of a large crowd at Maine Road.