Statistics

Match Summary
Biggest Home Win		No home victories at present
Biggest Away Win	3-0	03/08/21 v Irlam (Premier Division)
Biggest Home Defeat		No home defeats at present
Biggest Away Defeat		No away defeats at present
Highest Drawn Game		No draws at present
Highest Aggregate Scoreline	3	03/08/21 3-0 v Irlam (A) (Premier Division)

 

Season at a Glance
	Home		Away		Total
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Played	0		2		2
Won	0	0%	2	100.00%	2	100.00%
Drawn	0	0%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%
Lost	0	0%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%
Scored	0	0	4	2.00	4	2.00
Conceded	0	0	0	0.00	0	0.00

 

Progression in Cup Competitions
The Emirates F.A Cup	Extra Preliminary Round	v	Emley AFC	(A)
	To be played on Sun 08/08/21

 

Home Attendance Summary
No home matches played at present

 

Number of Games Since
Last Win	0 games
Last Defeat	2 games
Goalless Draw	23 games
Score Draw	4 games
Scored A Goal	0 games
Fail To Score	2 games
Clean Sheet	0 games

 

Scored / Conceded This Season
	Scored		Conceded
	#	%	#	%
None	0	0.00%	2	100.00%
One	1	50.00%	0	0.00%
Two	0	0.00%	0	0.00%
Three	1	50.00%	0	0.00%
Four	0	0.00%	0	0.00%
Five or more	0	0.00%	0	0.00%

 

When the Goals Went In
	For		Against		Total
	#	%	#	%	#	%
0-15	1	25.00%	0	0%	1	25.00%
16-30	0	0.00%	0	0%	0	0.00%
31-45	1	25.00%	0	0%	1	25.00%
46-60	0	0.00%	0	0%	0	0.00%
61-75	0	0.00%	0	0%	0	0.00%
76-90	2	50.00%	0	0%	2	50.00%
90-105	0	0.00%	0	0%	0	0.00%
105-120	0	0.00%	0	0%	0	0.00%

 

History

CTFC HISTORY
Congleton Town Football Club was founded in 1901. It was effectively an offspring of the late
Congleton Juniors’squad bolstered by other local, amateur players with a view to creating a new town
representative side, as indicated by its choice of club title, to fill the void left by the Congleton Hornets
following that club’s demise through financial difficulties in April 1900. The team initially played its
matches on the Chaddock-Lowndes field at the top of Booth Street before moving to its current site
on the upper-half of adjacent West Field in the summer of 1903.
The first Town team, known as the ‘Townies’, was a fine young side and included a 16 years old Hugh
Moffat amongst its ranks, a full back who went on to play at the highest level and who remains the
only Congleton born-and-bred footballer to have represented his country in a full international match.
In those early days the team first sported red jerseys, then later claret and blue before adopting their
famous black & white striped kit in 1920.
This vibrant young side immediately claimed a hat-trick of Crewe & District League titles prior to being
accepted for the North Staffordshire & District League in 1905, where they finished as runners-up in
1915 and then champions in 1920 following the resumption of football after the Great War. Other
successes prior to WW1 were a Crewe & District Cup win in 1904 and consecutive triumphs in the
Cheshire Amateur Cup in 1906 and 1907. They were also beaten finalists in the Cheshire Amateur Cup
in 1904 and 1909, and the Burslem Cup in 1913.
In 1920 the club moved-up to the Cheshire County League, then an elite league ranked just below the
Football League. This switch coincided with the return to the club of Hugh Moffat, now in the twilight
of his long career, who inspired the team to a runners-up spot in the league and a first-ever victory for
the town of Congleton in the prestigious Cheshire Senior Cup when Winsford were beaten 1-0, with
Moffat heading a goal-bound effort off the line in the final minute. This period also saw the
introduction of accommodation at the football ground with the acquisition of an ex-Army Hut for
changing rooms in 1920 and the building of a unique, wooden stand circa 1923. The latter, constructed
by the aptly-named James Standeven, incorporated replacement changing rooms and a communal
bath, in addition to providing sheltered spectator seating and a press box. It then served the club for
the next 70 years.
Although the club also finished as league runners-up the following season their successes leading up
to the outbreak of WW2 in 1939 were limited to a further Cheshire Senior Cup win against Crewe
Alexandra in 1938 following two replays, and being the beaten finalists in that cup in 1928 and 1934,
and the League Cup in 1928. The Cheshire County League was suspended following the declaration of
war, but the club did compete in the local Macclesfield & District League in 1939-40 finishing in equal
first place with Bollington, eventually emerging as champions following a play-off. The club also won
the Sentinel Cup in 1939.
Following the resumption of football after WW2 the club once again participated in the Cheshire
County League. However, the team perpetually struggled to compete at this level, always languishing
in the bottom half of the table, culminating in a bottom finish in 1965 that saw them controversially
voted out of the league. Their games did attract big crowds though, in particular the local derbies
versus Macclesfield Town when spectators turned up in their thousands. Indeed the ground’s highest ever
attendance is reputedly an estimated 7,000 for this derby in 1954. That said a far more plausible
nominee for that record is the definite crowd of 5,448 that turned up at Booth Street on 7th April 1950
against the same opponents. In April 1949 the club sold their star player, inside-forward Desmond
Frost, to Leeds United for a fee of £1K, the equivalent of £36K in 2021 money. That fee was, and still
is, a club transfer record and it just happened to be the exact amount of money required to facilitate
the club’s immediate purchase of the ground from the Lowndes-Yates family. Three seasons in the lowly
Manchester League then followed before the club switched to the Mid Cheshire League in 1968.
This proved to be a successful period for the club on the pitch under the
guidance of ex-player Roy Campbell but the club’s perilous financial situation resulted in the ground
being sold off to the Congleton Corporation for the sum of £4.5K early in 1971. The club had been
desperate and, not for the first time, on the verge of collapse. Conversely the team, made up of quality
local amateur players, was in great shape and it finished champions of the Mid-Cheshire League in
1974, 1976 and 1978; runners-up in 1970, 1972 and 1977; and won the League Cup in 1972 and 1978.
They also won the Bartlett Memorial Trophy in 1972, and the Cheshire Amateur Cup in 1978.
In 1978 the club re-joined the Cheshire County League. This time in its newly-formed second division
and they were crowned champions of that division in 1982. Immediately afterwards though the
Cheshire County League merged with the Lancashire Combination to create the North West Counties
League with Congleton Town FC being one its founder members. The club finished runners-up in 1986,
only losing the title on goal difference. In 1980 better times had obviously prevailed as significant
ground improvements had been undertaken with the pitch’s infamous slope now levelled and the
club’s first set of floodlights installed. In 1983 the team had again contested the Cheshire Senior Cup
final narrowly losing 1-2 to the much higher-ranked Macclesfield Town, and in 1987 the club were
elevated to the Northern Premier League’s newly-formed second tier.
The 1989-90 season witnessed the club’s finest achievement when the team battled through all of the
qualifying rounds to reach the First-Round proper of the FA Cup. They were drawn away to Football
League side Crewe Alexandra and 1,000 supporters made the short journey to cheer them on. They
acquitted themselves well but eventually lost 0-2 after holding out for 60 minutes. They were also
League Cup finalists that season.
The NPL years were very much a repeat of the post-war Cheshire County League period with the team
struggling most seasons until a bottom finish in 2001, the club’s centenary year, saw them relegated
to the NWCFL. The team did reach the 4th round of the FA Trophy that season though, the team’s best
progression in that competition to date. There were again turbulent times off the field with the club
once more being close to extinction. In 1993 a new cantilever stand had been erected in place of the
old wooden one, or rather what was left of it, and this undertaking nearly broke the club as they fell
£10K short of the required £41K. Fortunately, the Congleton Town Council came to the club’s rescue.
There was also talk in 1996 of the club relocating to Back Lane Playing Fields following a proposal by
Congleton Borough Council but, despite high hopes on both sides, nothing came of it in the end.
Since season 2001-02 the club has been back in the NWCFL and it remains there to this day despite
the FA inexplicably placing the club in the Midland League in 2021 as part of its reorganisation of the
Pyramid. Thankfully, the club’s appeal against that decision was successful. Unfortunately, there has
been little success during this second stint in the NWCFL with the team’s highest placing to date being
third position in 2019. The team did win the Mid-Cheshire Senior Cup in 2007 for a first time and had
been runners-up in 1997, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2014 but they now no longer enter this
competition. There were also notable runs in the FA Vase when they reached the 5th round in 2004
and 2021, the team’s best progressions to date. Conversely off the field there have been massive
strides. The club has been community-owned since 2014 thanks to the club shareholders from that
time generously gifting all their Congleton Town Ltd shares to the community benefit society that is
Congleton Town Community FC Ltd at a financial loss to themselves, there have been continuous and
significant facilities improvements since 2006 including replacement floodlights in 2019 and then,
most significantly of all, the club kicked off an exciting new era in June 2020 following its merger with
Congleton Vale (now CTFC Reserves) and Congleton Rovers Juniors (now CTFC Juniors). The future
looks bright for the Bears in their new club colours of yellow, black and white in spite of these Covid
19 times, which resulted in NWCFL seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 being declared null and void.
The Bears narrowly escaped being laterally moved for season 2021-22 to the Midland Football League
as a result of the restructuring of the non-league pyramid. Only a well-constructed appeal to the FA,
which was upheld, meant the Bears were reassigned back to the NWC. Whilst all that was taking place,
new manager Richard Duffy with support from Director of Football Chris Rowley set about putting together
a side that would be tasked with pressing for the much sought after promotion to step 4. Among notable
signings were ex-Port Vale’s Tom Pope and ex Crewe and Chester’s Gary Roberts to give the Bear’s fans some real optimism.