The club
Witton Albion in the FA Cup, FA Trophy and Cheshire Senior Cup
Three FA Cup second-round appearances, a televised tie with Bolton Wanderers, three FA Trophy semi-finals in three years and a Wembley final against Colchester United in 1992, plus the players who went on from Witton to the Football League.
Witton Albion have never been a Football League club, so their best days in national competition have come as outsiders: an FA Cup tie in front of the television cameras, a win at a League ground, and one afternoon at Wembley. Almost all of it happened within three seasons at the start of the 1990s, just after the move to Wincham Park described in the club history.
The FA Cup
The club first entered the FA Cup in 1907–08 but did not reach the first round proper until 1948–49. By the time the old club website was written, in 2007–08, it counted thirteen appearances in the first round draw.
Three of those runs went one round further. Witton reached the second round in 1951–52 and again in 1953–54, taking the tie to a replay each time, during the years when they were winning the Cheshire County League (see league history and honours). The third came forty years later.
Bolton Wanderers, November 1990
On 17 November 1990 Witton played Bolton Wanderers at home in the first round. According to the club's history the BBC made it the main game on Match of the Day, with Barry Davies commentating, and 3,784 people, about 800 of them from Bolton, watched in foul weather on a heavy pitch. Bolton, managed by Phil Neal, won 2–1.
Halifax Town and Preston North End, 1991–92
A year later Witton, by then a Conference club, drew 1–1 at home with Halifax Town of the Football League in the first round, then won the replay 2–1 at The Shay. The club's history calls it the one occasion on which Witton have beaten Football League opposition. The reward was a second-round tie at Preston North End, which Preston won 5–1.
The FA Trophy: three semi-finals in a row
The FA Trophy is the national knockout cup for the leading non-league clubs. Between 1990–91 and 1992–93 Witton reached the semi-final in three consecutive seasons, a sequence the club's own history describes as unique.
| Season | Route | How it ended |
|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | Colwyn Bay 3–1 (a); Guisborough Town 2–2 (a), 2–1 (h, replay); South Bank 3–2 (h); Gloucester City 3–0 (h); Colchester United 2–0 (a) | Semi-final v Kidderminster Harriers: lost 1–0 away, won 4–3 at home, then lost the replay 2–1 at Stafford |
| 1991–92 | Billingham Synthonia 2–2 (h), 2–1 (a, replay); Aylesbury United 1–0 (h); Stalybridge Celtic 1–0 (h); Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 (a) | Beat Marine 6–3 on aggregate in the semi-final (2–2 home, 4–1 away); lost the final 3–1 to Colchester United |
| 1992–93 | Macclesfield Town 0–0 (a), 2–1 (h, replay); St Albans City 2–0 (a); Marine 1–0 (h); Farnborough Town 3–2 (h) | Semi-final v Runcorn: lost 2–0 away, won 1–0 at home, out 2–1 on aggregate |
Scores are given with Witton's goals first; (h) and (a) show the venue.
The 1990–91 run produced the result of the three years, a 2–0 quarter-final win at Colchester United, and the biggest crowd Wincham Park has held: 3,940 for the home leg of the semi-final against Kidderminster Harriers. The tie finished 4–4 on aggregate and went to a third match on neutral ground.
Wembley, 10 May 1992
Twelve months on, Witton went one better and met Colchester again, this time in the final. Colchester had just won the Conference title and promotion back to the Football League; Witton were in their first Conference season.
Colchester scored twice in the first twenty minutes, through Mike Masters and Nicky Smith. Mike Lutkevitch headed Witton back into the match early in the second half, and Colchester finished with ten men after Jason Cook was sent off, but with Witton pushing forward for an equaliser Steve McGavin made it 3–1 in the closing moments.
The Football Association gives the attendance as 32,254. The club's history puts Witton's own following at about 5,000 and calls it the largest crowd ever to watch a mid-Cheshire team. It also records that Sky showed the whole final live.
The Cheshire Senior Cup
Witton's most regular silverware has come in the county cup. The old club page, written before the most recent success, counted ten Cheshire Senior Cup wins since 1902 and nine losing finals, with back-to-back wins in 1995 and 1996. An eleventh followed in March 2006, when a side mixing first-team players and reserves beat Stalybridge Celtic 2–0; it was the first trophy under manager Jim Vince.
The 2004 final against Woodley Sports is remembered for a different reason. Captain Brian Pritchard was sent off after tripping a streaker who had run onto the pitch, an incident reported well beyond Cheshire.
Players who moved on
The original page closed with a roll-call of players who had worn Witton's red and white stripes on the way to, or from, the professional game. The names below are the ones it listed; career details are given only where they could be checked.
- Peter Henderson, a winger born in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1952, played for Witton in 1978 before joining Chester. He later had spells with Gillingham, Crewe Alexandra and a second with Chester, then moved into physiotherapy and coaching, working at Birmingham City, Stoke City and Celtic.
- Chris Nicholl went on to Aston Villa and Southampton and played for Northern Ireland.
- Peter Mellor kept goal for Burnley and for Fulham, including the 1975 FA Cup final.
- Geoff Horsfield, at Witton in the 1990s, later played in the Premier League.
- Mike Whitlow went on to play for Leeds United, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers.
- Andy Oakes became a goalkeeper with Derby County.
- Carl Alford played in the 1992 Wembley final and was later, the club noted, the subject of a record transfer fee between non-league clubs.
- Nicky Maynard had a short loan at Wincham Park from Crewe Alexandra in 2005–06.
Others named were John Doolan, Neil Parsley, Mark McCarrick, Phil Power, Dave Carrick, Mark Leonard and the Chester goalkeeper Grenville Millington. Colin Rose, a Northwich-born midfielder, won England semi-professional caps in 1996, and Andy Lee, John Davison and David Constantine were also capped at that level while with the club.
The page also listed well-known professionals who appeared for Witton late in their careers: Nigel Gleghorn, Kevin Langley, Ray Wallace, Ray Ranson, John Burridge, Arthur Albiston, Nicky Reid, Tony Henry, Neil McNab, Billy Garton, Scott McGarvey, Mark Lillis, Brendan Batson, Frank Carrodus and Drew Brand. From an earlier generation it named the Manchester City wing-half Ken Barnes, the former Manchester United forward Dennis Viollet and Ken Higgs, better known as a Lancashire and England fast bowler.
Sources and notes
The attendance at the 1992 final is sometimes misquoted. The club's page said only "in excess of 32,000"; the Football Association's list of finals gives 32,254, and that is the figure used here. The 3,784 crowd for the Bolton tie, the size of the two travelling supports and the claim that no other club has reached three successive Trophy semi-finals come from the club's own history and could not be checked against an independent record.