The club
Witton Albion league history and honours
From the Northwich and District League in 1892 to three Cheshire County League titles, the Northern Premier League championship of 1990–91 and three seasons in the Football Conference: the club's league record, with a season-by-season table from 1989–90.
Witton Albion have played league football since 1892. For most of that time they have been a leading club in whichever league covered Cheshire, and for three seasons in the early 1990s they played at the top level of the non-league game. This page follows the club through each league in turn; the cups are covered separately in the club's record in FA competitions.
Local leagues, 1892–1915
According to the club's own history, Albion first entered a league in 1892, the Northwich and District League. They soon moved on to the Crewe and District Junior League and then to the Cheshire League, where the club's first championship was won in 1896–97.
A step up followed in 1901–02 with entry to The Combination, a regional league in which, the club's history notes, the opposition included Wrexham, Chester, Tranmere Rovers, Bangor and Burslem Port Vale. Witton stayed three seasons before switching to the Manchester League in 1904–05, which brought regular meetings with Altrincham, Macclesfield, Hyde, Buxton and Northwich Victoria.
In 1912 the club joined the stronger Lancashire Combination. Albion finished eighth in the Second Division in their first season, won it in 1913–14 and came tenth in the First Division in 1914–15, the last season before football stopped for the First World War.
| Years | League | Best finish |
|---|---|---|
| 1892 onwards | Northwich and District League, then Crewe and District Junior League | Not recorded |
| To 1901 | Cheshire League | Champions, 1896–97 (club history) |
| 1901–02 to 1903–04 | The Combination | Not recorded |
| 1904–05 to 1911–12 | Manchester League | Not recorded |
| 1912–13 to 1914–15 | Lancashire Combination | Second Division champions, 1913–14 |
| 1919–20 to 1978–79 | Cheshire County League | Champions 1948–49, 1949–50, 1953–54 |
| 1979–80 to 1990–91 | Northern Premier League | Champions 1990–91 |
| 1991–92 to 1993–94 | Football Conference | 10th, 1991–92 |
| 1994–95 onwards | Northern Premier League (Premier Division and Division One) | Runners-up 2006–07, 2007–08 |
The Cheshire County League, 1919–1979
When football resumed in 1919, Witton were founder members of the new Cheshire County League, and they stayed in it for sixty years.
The great period came straight after the Second World War. Albion were champions in 1948–49 and again in 1949–50, runners-up in 1950–51 and champions for a third time in 1953–54, a season the club's history records as a league and cup double. The same sides took the club into the first and second rounds of the FA Cup.
The Northern Premier League was formed at the end of the 1960s as a single senior division for the north of England, and several Cheshire clubs left to join it. Witton were not among them: the club's history says entry was decided on results from two seasons earlier, and other accounts say Albion lost out on a vote. Promotion had to be earned instead, and it came in 1978–79, when Witton finished as Cheshire County League runners-up.
Northern Premier League champions, 1979–1991
Albion came close to winning the Northern Premier League at the first attempt. They finished second in 1979–80, a single point behind the champions, Mossley, and seventh the season after.
The title arrived a decade later. Witton were third in 1989–90, the first season at Wincham Park, and in 1990–91 they won the league with 28 wins from 40 matches and 93 points, sixteen clear of Stalybridge Celtic. They also won the league's President's Cup that season.
The Conference years and two relegations, 1991–1997
Promotion took Witton into the Football Conference, one step below the Football League. Their opponents over the next three seasons included Colchester United, Wycombe Wanderers, Macclesfield Town, Cheltenham Town and Yeovil Town, all of whom later became League clubs.
Albion finished a respectable tenth in 1991–92, the season of the FA Trophy final at Wembley, but slipped to seventeenth in 1992–93 and bottom in 1993–94. It was the first relegation in the club's history. Financial problems followed them back to the Northern Premier League, and a second relegation came in 1996–97, when Albion won only five league matches and dropped into Division One.
The way back, 1997–2008
The club spent seven seasons in Division One and finished in the top half in all of them. In 1999–2000 Witton lost only four league games and ended level on points with both Accrington Stanley and Burscough, missing promotion on goal difference.
A fifth-place finish in 2003–04 was enough to return to the Premier Division when the non-league pyramid was reorganised that summer. Jim Vince, promoted from reserve-team manager in October 2005, then built the side that came closest to going up:
- 2006–07: runners-up, level on 80 points with the champions, Burscough, and behind them by a single goal on goal difference. Witton beat Matlock Town 4–2 in the play-off semi-final and lost the final 3–1 to AFC Telford United.
- 2007–08: runners-up again with 89 points, two fewer than Fleetwood Town, after leading the table from November until mid-April. Albion then lost the play-off semi-final to Buxton on penalties. The season is covered match by match in the fixtures and results archive.
A year later the squad had broken up and Witton were relegated; the final 2008–09 standings are on the league table page.
Season by season, 1989–90 to 2012–13
| Season | Division | Pos | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–90 | NPL Premier | 3rd of 22 | 42 | 22 | 7 | 13 | 67 | 39 | 73 |
| 1990–91 | NPL Premier | 1st of 21 | 40 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 81 | 31 | 93 |
| 1991–92 | Conference | 10th of 22 | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 63 | 60 | 58 |
| 1992–93 | Conference | 17th of 22 | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 62 | 65 | 50 |
| 1993–94 | Conference | 22nd of 22 | 42 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 37 | 63 | 34 |
| 1994–95 | NPL Premier | 10th of 22 | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 54 | 56 | 56 |
| 1995–96 | NPL Premier | 13th of 22 | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 60 | 62 | 59 |
| 1996–97 | NPL Premier | 22nd of 23 | 44 | 5 | 14 | 25 | 41 | 91 | 29 |
| 1997–98 | NPL Division One | 7th of 22 | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 77 | 55 | 66 |
| 1998–99 | NPL Division One | 8th of 22 | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 70 | 63 | 63 |
| 1999–2000 | NPL Division One | 3rd of 22 | 42 | 23 | 15 | 4 | 88 | 46 | 84 |
| 2000–01 | NPL Division One | 7th of 22 | 42 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 51 | 50 | 61 |
| 2001–02 | NPL Division One | 10th of 22 | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 72 | 68 | 61 |
| 2002–03 | NPL Division One | 7th of 22 | 42 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 67 | 50 | 72 |
| 2003–04 | NPL Division One | 5th of 22 | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 61 | 56 | 63 |
| 2004–05 | NPL Premier | 8th of 22 | 42 | 15 | 17 | 10 | 56 | 44 | 62 |
| 2005–06 | NPL Premier | 8th of 22 | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 68 | 55 | 60 |
| 2006–07 | NPL Premier | 2nd of 22 | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 90 | 48 | 80 |
| 2007–08 | NPL Premier | 2nd of 21 | 40 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 84 | 28 | 89 |
| 2008–09 | NPL Premier | 20th of 22 | 42 | 12 | 6 | 24 | 53 | 73 | 42 |
| 2009–10 | NPL Division One South | 7th of 22 | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 76 | 53 | 67 |
| 2010–11 | NPL Division One North | 10th of 23 | 44 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 75 | 64 | 62 |
| 2011–12 | NPL Division One North | 3rd of 22 | 42 | 28 | 6 | 8 | 101 | 44 | 90 |
| 2012–13 | NPL Premier | 4th of 22 | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 85 | 57 | 80 |
NPL is the Northern Premier League. Figures are from the Football Club History Database.
Honours
| Competition | Achievement | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Premier League | Champions | 1990–91 |
| Northern Premier League | Runners-up | 1979–80, 2006–07, 2007–08 |
| Northern Premier League Division One North | Play-off winners | 2011–12 |
| Northern Premier League President's Cup | Winners | 1990–91 |
| Cheshire County League | Champions | 1948–49, 1949–50, 1953–54 |
| Cheshire County League | Runners-up | 1950–51, 1978–79 |
| Lancashire Combination Division Two | Champions | 1913–14 |
| FA Trophy | Runners-up | 1991–92 |
| Cheshire Senior Cup | Winners | Eleven times, most recently 2005–06 |
After 2013
Witton were relegated from the Premier Division in 2014–15, returned through the play-offs in 2016–17 and, in 2026–27, play in the Northern Premier League's Division One West. A short account of those years is on the club history page.
Sources and notes
The club's page was vague about several early dates, and the early local leagues are poorly documented: the 1892 entry, the Crewe league and the 1896–97 Cheshire League title rest on the club's own history alone. The seasons in The Combination, the Lancashire Combination and the Cheshire County League, and every position from 1979 onwards, were checked against the Football Club History Database. The club's page did not give the years of its three Cheshire County League titles; they are confirmed as 1948–49, 1949–50 and 1953–54.