Earlestown F.C. (1945)

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Earlestown
Full nameEarlestown Football Club
Founded1945
Dissolved1963
GroundVista Park

Earlestown Football Club was an association football club from St Helens in Lancashire.

History[edit]

The club was formed in 1945 and, after playing in the Liverpool County Combination for four years, joined the Lancashire Combination second division in 1949.[1]

The club was promoted in its first season, and promptly relegated; it was promoted a second time in 1958–59. Its best finish in the competition was 13th (out of 22) in the first division in 1961–62. In the FA Cup it never got beyond the second qualifying round.[2]

In 1960, the club was ambitious enough to sign Wilf Mannion as player-manager, spending £3,000 on buying him a house in the town.[3] Shortly after his dismissal in 1962,[4] the club withdrew from the Combination.[5] The club's last recorded match was a 10–0 defeat at Altrincham in the first qualifying round of the 1963–64 FA Cup, Taberner scoring a double hat-trick and Wilson in goal being credited with keeping the score down to a mere ten.[6] Mannion sued the club committee for breach of contract and in 1965 settled for £75 plus £50 costs.[7]

Colours[edit]

The club played in tangerine shirts and white shorts.[8]

Ground[edit]

The club played at Vista Park.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Earlestown F.C. moves". Liverpool Echo: 3. 14 July 1949.
  2. ^ "Earlestown F.C." Football Club History Database. Retrieved 11 May 2024. References from before the First World War refer to the 1880 club.
  3. ^ "Earlestown buy house for Wilf Mannion". Liverpool Daily Post: 14. 13 October 1960.
  4. ^ "New Brighton "Sales" are over". Liverpool Echo: 12. 22 December 1962.
  5. ^ Edwards, Leslie (26 June 1963). "Looking at sport". Liverpool Echo: 16.
  6. ^ "Altrincham 10, Earlestown 0". Liverpool Daily Post -: 9. 9 September 1963.
  7. ^ "Judgment for Wilf Mannion". Coventry Evening Telegraph: 20. 2 March 1965.
  8. ^ Official Programme. St Helens: Earlestown Supporters Club. 7 September 1957. p. 2.
  9. ^ "Balmer Reds' next for demob". Liverpool Evening Express: 3. 13 September 194.