Vauxhall Motors F.C.
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| Full name | Vauxhall Motors Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Motormen | ||
| Founded | 1963 | ||
| Ground | Rivacre Park, Ellesmere Port (Capacity: 2,500 (350 seated)) |
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| Owner | Vauxhall Motors | ||
| Chairman | Alan Bartlam | ||
| Manager | Carl Macauley | ||
| League | Conference North | ||
| 2010–11 | Conference North, 17th | ||
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Vauxhall Motors Football Club is an English football club based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, who play in the Conference North. It was originally the works team of the car manufacturer Vauxhall. It had a lot of success in its local leagues and fought its way up to be among the highest ranked amateur football teams in England and currently has a semi-professional status.
It is generally regarded as the local team of Ellesmere Port, although another team, Ellesmere Port F.C. plays further down the pyramid in the West Cheshire League.
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[edit] History
Vauxhall Motors F.C. was founded in 1963, shortly after the opening of the new Vauxhall Motors car plant in Ellesmere Port, in Cheshire. Early in its history, it played in the Ellesmere Port League and the Wirral Combination, but it soon grew too strong for those leagues. By 1970, the club had achieved several promotions and played on the company-owned Hooton Park. By 1987 however, it had opened its own ground, Rivacre Park, where the club plays today. The opening of the new ground was especially important as then England manager Bobby Robson brought a number of former international stars for the opening game.
On the pitch, the club also started finding some success, winning its first West Cheshire League championship in the 1985–86 season. Soon after, they reached their first Cheshire Amateur Cup and triumphed in the Wirral Senior Cup. These accomplishments did not go unnoticed, as the club successfully applied to join the North West Counties League for 1987–88. They easily won the league's Second Division in their second season at that level, and finished fourth in the First Division in 1989–90. Despite expectations to challenge for the league title the next season, the team only finished fifth, but won the North West Counties League Cup in the process, defeating Darwen 2–0.
Soon after its fifth place finish, the board took the decision to move back down to the West Cheshire League where the club finished in third place in the two following seasons. However, in 1994–95, the club won both divisions of the league — only the third time any club had achieved that in the 103-year history of the league. Soon after, they were accepted back into the North West Counties League. Just as before, they easily won the Second Division of the NWCL, but did not have the best of seasons in Division One, although they did reach the semi-final of the Cheshire Senior Cup. It continued to play in Division One, and reached the final of the NWCL Cup, losing to Kidsgrove Athletic in a closely contested match.
The 1998–99 season was the team's best by far to that point, reaching the fifth round of the FA Vase and earning its best ever league position in third place, and won the NWCL Cup. However, the next season was even better, with the team reaching the semi-finals of the FA Vase and winning the NWCL title, thus earning a spot in Division One of the Northern Premier League. The reserves also enjoyed a successful season, winning a number of smaller trophies.
The club enjoyed considerable success in the Northern Premier League as well, earning promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division in their first season, and finishing in second place in the league. The team continued to play well, with its high point coming when they defeated Queens Park Rangers in their first appearance in the FA Cup first round,[1][2] before losing in the next round in a televised match against Macclesfield Town.[3] The season after, the club hired manager Owen Brown and they earned promotion to Conference North.
The club finished twenty-first in the 2007–08 season, and were due to be relegated but after Nuneaton Borough's liquidation and the Conference's decision to expel Boston United, the club were reprieved. In the 2009–10 season, the club finished twentieth. However due to the earlier resignation of Farsley Celtic and the subsequent relegation of Northwich Victoria due to financial troubles, Vauxhall Motors was again given a reprieve from relegation.
In the 2010–11 season, they again qualified for the first round proper of the FA Cup, but were unable to repeat the success of eight years previously, although Josh Wilson scored in the 38th minute, his header was disallowed, drawing 0–0 against Hartlepool United before going on to lose 1–0 in the replay. On 26 May 2011 it was announced that, due to a promotion at work, Carl Macauley was stepping down from his role as manager and that his assistant Anthony Wright would be taking over the reins with former Notts County, Peterborough United, Burscough and Vauxhall Motors striker Gary Martindale as his number two. However results didn't go as hoped despite assembling one of the strongest squads the club had seen, resulting in Carl Macauley making a shock return to the Rivacre Park hotseat in November 2011 with Anthony Wright reverting to Assistant Manager and Gary Martindale to First Team Coach.
[edit] Colours and badge
Vauxhall Motors' colours are white with a strip of blue for the top and blue shorts with blue socks. The away kit is yellow shirts, black shorts and black socks. The kits have been sponsored by car retailer Lookers Wirral since 2000.
The team badge is the same as the logo of its parent company, Vauxhall Motors.
[edit] Stadium
Rivacre Park has been the home of Vauxhall since the 1980s, the club having formerly played at Hooton Park. It has a capacity of 2,500 with covered stand and terracing, with space for 269 seated guests. The stand has just been refitted with new seats along with a step in the terrace at the golf course end of the ground. A new toilet block, disabled toilet and a new turnstile block have also been added. To increase capacity, more barriers have been installed to the covered terrace. The club shop has since been re-opened after the roof was damaged in a storm and work is ongoing to get the ground up to the required league grading. The ground also has a large sports and social club. This was originally for employees of the Vauxhall plant but is also open to the public on match days etc.
[edit] Current squad
- As of 2 March 2012.[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] Notable players
Several players have gone on to play in the Football League, including
- Gregg Blundell - Currently playing at Barrow
- Danny Collins - Currently playing at Stoke City
- Mark Duffy - Currently playing at Scunthorpe United
- Leighton McGivern - Formerly with Accrington Stanley. He has since returned to Vauxhall Motors F.C.
- Mark Roberts - Currently playing at Stevenage
- Paul Taylor - Currently playing at Peterborough United
[edit] Honours
- Northern Premier League
- Premier Division Runners-up 2001–02
- Division One Runners-up 2000–01
- North West Counties League
- Division One Champions 1999–2000
- Division Two Champions 1988–89, 1995–96
- Floodlit Trophy Winners 1999–2000
- League Cup Winners 1990–91, 1998–99
- West Cheshire League
- Division One Champions 1985–86, 1994–95, 2002–03 (Reserves)
- Division Two Champions 1994–95 (Reserves)
- Division Two Bowl Winners 1967–68
- Pyke Cup
- Winners 1999–2000 (Reserves), 2004–05 (Reserves)
- Runners-up 1972–73
- Wirral FA Senior Cup
- Winners 1986–87, 2010–11 (Reserves)
- Runners-up 1982–83, 1994–95, 1999–2000 (Reserves)
[edit] Records
- Best League Position: 11th, Conference North, 2008–09
- Best FA Cup performance: 2nd Round proper, 2002–03
- Best FA Trophy performance: 4th Round proper, 2001–02
- Best FA Vase Performance: Semi-Finals, 1999–00
[edit] References
- ^ "Vauxhall Motors 0–0 QPR". BBC News. 2002–11–16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/2429769.stm. Retrieved 2010–05–27.
- ^ "Vauxhall Motors stun QPR". BBC News. 2002–11–26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/2502973.stm. Retrieved 2010–05–27.
- ^ "Macclesfield 2–0 Vauxhall Motors". BBC News. 2002–12–07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/2530783.stm. Retrieved 2010–05–27.
- ^ First Team Vauxhall Motors FC
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Vauxhall Motors at the Football Club History Database
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