I HAVE always been fascinated by the assorted histories of now defunct football clubs. Many of these sides had famous old grounds and attracted bumper attendances.
Some have been reformed by loyal supporters and therefore appear nowadays in new guises amidst football betting and live betting stakes.
Here is a selection of past teams with more to follow in my future nostalgia blogs…
NEW BRIGHTON AFC
Sandheys Park was the home ground of New Brighton from 1921 until World War Two.
In 1924/25, a local derby against Tranmere Rovers saw the ground’s record Football League attendance of 15,173 registered.
In 1942, Sandheys Park was badly damaged during a bombing raid. Following the end of the war, the site was requisitioned by the local council to build temporary housing on. As a result, the football club moved to the Tower Athletic Ground.
New Brighton were members of the Football League from 1923 until 1951, when they failed to gain re-election. They then played in the Lancashire Combination and Cheshire County League before disbanding in 1983.
However, New Brighton were re-launched 1993. They became members of the West Cheshire League Division Two and staged their home matches at Harrison Drive.
But the club folded again in the close season of 2012, having been unable to raise a new committee to replace the outgoing one.
Furthermore, New Brighton Town AFC were established last year and play in the Wallasey and District Sunday Football league.
SOUTH LIVERPOOL FC
South Liverpool were founded in April 1935 to respond to the increasing south-end population in Liverpool. They became one of the top Non-League sides in the North West of England for many years.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘South’, the club unsuccessfully applied for election to the Football League on 10 occasions. The idea was to have another high quality team playing professionally in the Liverpool area.
Unfortunately, their much-loved Holly Park home was lost in 1989 and a groundshare was necessary at nearby Bootle FC.
Severe financial problems caused South Liverpool to fold in 1991 but long-standing supporters reformed the club the following year.
They currently play in the North West Counties League Premier Division with matches hosted at the Jericho Lane Community Football and Fitness Hub in Otterspool.
Meanwhile, the site of the original Holly Park venue in Garston is now covered by Liverpool South Parkway rail station.
No trace of the football ground exists but Merseytravel have erected a board at the entrance showcasing South Liverpool FC’s history.
Inside the station is a Ferenc Puskas plaque, which was unveiled in late 2018 to commemorate the fact that the Hungarian football legend played at Holly Park during a charity game in May 1967.
RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS FC
Rushden & Diamonds FC were formed by a merger of local teams Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds in 1992, taking Rushden’s place in the Southern League Midland Division.
Based at Nene Park, Irthlingborough, a succession of three promotions saw R&D rise up to the Football League by 2001 and they were Division Three champions in 2003.
However once the financial backing of their main benefactor began to dry up, the Diamonds suffered relegations in 2004 and 2006 and dropped back into Non-League football in the Conference (now the National League).
Worst was to follow in June 2011 when Rushden and Diamonds were expelled from the Conference for financial reasons with reported debts of around £750,000.
The club entered administration on 7th July 2011 and subsequently folded. Nene Park was eventually demolished.
Nevertheless, supporters got together to form a phoenix team called AFC Rushden & Diamonds. They returned to senior football in Division One of the United Counties League in the 2012/13 season.
Bringing the story up to date, AFC Rushden & Diamonds are currently members of the Northern Premier League Midlands Division and groundshare with Rushden & Higham United FC at Hayden Road in Rushden.
ASHFORD TOWN FC
Ashford Town were originally formed in 1881 and played at Essella Park from 1931 onwards. The record crowd at this venue was 6,525 against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup First Round in 1958.
The club sold Essella Park in 1987 to enable the purchase and development of a state of the art new stadium called The Homelands at Kingsnorth on the town’s outskirts.
However, Ashford Town sadly folded in 2010 due to unpaid debts. A phoenix club called Ashford United FC launched the following year at the same ground.
United are currently members of the Isthmian League South East Division and continue to use Ashford Town’s unusual club nickname of the ‘Nuts and Bolts’.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Tony Incenzo*
