Good Luck To St Helens Town
Thu 7th July 2022 | St Helens Town | By
They have played more games in the NWCFL than any other team. They have also picked up the most points and scored the most goals. Unfortunately they have also conceding the most!. The club that has the honour of all is St Helens Town.
They were formed in 1901, and in 1904 became founder members of the Lancashire Combination Division Two. After some early success they struggled in between the Wars and folded midway through the 1928/9 season.
The club was reformed by local businessmen in 1946 and they had lofty ambitions and entered the Liverpool County Combination at the start if the 1947/8 season before joining the Lancashire Combination a league in which the club would compete for the next 27 years including winning the Championship in 1971/2 until moving to the Cheshire County League in 1975.
In 1982 there was a radical shake up of non-league football, with the Cheshire County League and the Lancashire Combination merging to become the North West Counties Football League. St Helens, once again, were founder members.
They were placed in Division One, finishing 19th of 20 teams that first season. But they soon began to pick up as they finished 8th the next season, and they became synonymous as a top flight club in the league. 1985/86 saw them reach the Final Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, and a 1-1 draw with Morecambe saw them "in the hat" for the First Round Proper. They drew York City, but lost to Morecambe in the replay to miss out. That was the closest they ever came.
If they missed out on that big game, then they didn't at the biggest of them all the following season. Their inaugural entry into the FA Vase saw them progress through nine rounds to reach Wembley Stadium and a game with local rivals Warrington Town. St Helens became the first NWCFL side to win the competition after a 3-2 win with a Phil Layhe brace and a goal from Brian Rigby.
They finished 3rd in the league in 1988/89, which was their highest ever finish. This was replicated in 1994/95 and 2004/05. St Helens were a solid, top half of the table team year in year out, and in the 20 years from 1986/87 to 2005/06, they only finished outside of the top half four times.
By the turn of the century, their Hoghton Road facility had fallen into disrepair and the site was sold for housing in 2002. They entered into a partnership with St Helens RLFC and shared Knowsley Road for 10 years, but they were not part of plans to move to the new Langtree Park. This saw them homeless and they embarked on a nomadic existence, playing at Ashton Town, Ashton Athletic and Prescot Cables. They finally returned to the town at the start of the 2017–18 season, moving into the multi-sports facility at Ruskin Drive.
This nomadic existance took its toll. They held the proud record of being the only club to play in the North West Counties top flight in every season until they were relegated in at the end of the 2014/15 season in dramatic fashion. They conceded an injury time equaliser to Silsden in the final game of the season in which, if they won, they would have stayed up. Life in the First Division was tough. They finished 7th in the first season, but just prior to Covid had just survived the drop with late runs to secure safety. Post Covid was no difference, and last season they won just four games, finishing bottom of the table and with it relegation. Their 40-year stay in the NWCFL was over.
Reflecting on the season, Jeff Voller, long time Secretary at the club said “It was always going to be a tough season we knew that we didn’t have the finances to compete with the majority of teams in the division. This allied with the fact that several key players from the previous season had left or in the case of club captain Danny Lomax were out injured, meant we had an uphill battle on our hands.
After a terrible start the confidence of the players was fragile but on the occasions that the belief was there they pulled off some shocks such as a 3-2 home win over play of winning Golcar United and a 1-1 home draw with Runners-Up Holker Old Boys. We also defeated Bacup 6-1 & Pilkington 3-1 in cup ties but injuries and player unavailability along with lots of individual errors meant consistency was hard to find.”
Next season will see St Helens Town returning in the Liverpool County Premier Division, a league in which a young Bert Trautmann competed for the club back in the 1940’s. With no promotions or applications coming from that league since Lower Breck, it appears they will need a top five finish next season in order for them to come back. It marks a new era at the club, one that is also being felt off the pitch with the club recently taken over.
Jeff won’t be with St Helens as they look to bounce back, but he will still be a familiar face to many having being elected to the NWCFL Management Committee at the AGM last month. Looking back on his time at the club, Jeff said "St Helens Town has dominated the last twenty odd years of my life. I will still look out for their results and am sure that they will turn it around at some point. Its a fresh start for them in a new league, with new owners and no doubt a host of new players. I wish them the best of luck."
Those words are something we can echo, and hopefully St Helens can bounce back and reclaim their NWCFL place in the not to distant future.
Good Luck To St Helens Town
Thu 7th July 2022 | St Helens Town
By
They have played more games in the NWCFL than any other team. They have also picked up the most points and scored the most goals. Unfortunately they have also conceding the most!. The club that has the honour of all is St Helens Town.
They were formed in 1901, and in 1904 became founder members of the Lancashire Combination Division Two. After some early success they struggled in between the Wars and folded midway through the 1928/9 season.
The club was reformed by local businessmen in 1946 and they had lofty ambitions and entered the Liverpool County Combination at the start if the 1947/8 season before joining the Lancashire Combination a league in which the club would compete for the next 27 years including winning the Championship in 1971/2 until moving to the Cheshire County League in 1975.
In 1982 there was a radical shake up of non-league football, with the Cheshire County League and the Lancashire Combination merging to become the North West Counties Football League. St Helens, once again, were founder members.
They were placed in Division One, finishing 19th of 20 teams that first season. But they soon began to pick up as they finished 8th the next season, and they became synonymous as a top flight club in the league. 1985/86 saw them reach the Final Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, and a 1-1 draw with Morecambe saw them "in the hat" for the First Round Proper. They drew York City, but lost to Morecambe in the replay to miss out. That was the closest they ever came.
If they missed out on that big game, then they didn't at the biggest of them all the following season. Their inaugural entry into the FA Vase saw them progress through nine rounds to reach Wembley Stadium and a game with local rivals Warrington Town. St Helens became the first NWCFL side to win the competition after a 3-2 win with a Phil Layhe brace and a goal from Brian Rigby.
They finished 3rd in the league in 1988/89, which was their highest ever finish. This was replicated in 1994/95 and 2004/05. St Helens were a solid, top half of the table team year in year out, and in the 20 years from 1986/87 to 2005/06, they only finished outside of the top half four times.
By the turn of the century, their Hoghton Road facility had fallen into disrepair and the site was sold for housing in 2002. They entered into a partnership with St Helens RLFC and shared Knowsley Road for 10 years, but they were not part of plans to move to the new Langtree Park. This saw them homeless and they embarked on a nomadic existence, playing at Ashton Town, Ashton Athletic and Prescot Cables. They finally returned to the town at the start of the 2017–18 season, moving into the multi-sports facility at Ruskin Drive.
This nomadic existance took its toll. They held the proud record of being the only club to play in the North West Counties top flight in every season until they were relegated in at the end of the 2014/15 season in dramatic fashion. They conceded an injury time equaliser to Silsden in the final game of the season in which, if they won, they would have stayed up. Life in the First Division was tough. They finished 7th in the first season, but just prior to Covid had just survived the drop with late runs to secure safety. Post Covid was no difference, and last season they won just four games, finishing bottom of the table and with it relegation. Their 40-year stay in the NWCFL was over.
Reflecting on the season, Jeff Voller, long time Secretary at the club said “It was always going to be a tough season we knew that we didn’t have the finances to compete with the majority of teams in the division. This allied with the fact that several key players from the previous season had left or in the case of club captain Danny Lomax were out injured, meant we had an uphill battle on our hands.
After a terrible start the confidence of the players was fragile but on the occasions that the belief was there they pulled off some shocks such as a 3-2 home win over play of winning Golcar United and a 1-1 home draw with Runners-Up Holker Old Boys. We also defeated Bacup 6-1 & Pilkington 3-1 in cup ties but injuries and player unavailability along with lots of individual errors meant consistency was hard to find.”
Next season will see St Helens Town returning in the Liverpool County Premier Division, a league in which a young Bert Trautmann competed for the club back in the 1940’s. With no promotions or applications coming from that league since Lower Breck, it appears they will need a top five finish next season in order for them to come back. It marks a new era at the club, one that is also being felt off the pitch with the club recently taken over.
Jeff won’t be with St Helens as they look to bounce back, but he will still be a familiar face to many having being elected to the NWCFL Management Committee at the AGM last month. Looking back on his time at the club, Jeff said "St Helens Town has dominated the last twenty odd years of my life. I will still look out for their results and am sure that they will turn it around at some point. Its a fresh start for them in a new league, with new owners and no doubt a host of new players. I wish them the best of luck."
Those words are something we can echo, and hopefully St Helens can bounce back and reclaim their NWCFL place in the not to distant future.
