2022 Year Review - NWCFL First Division South
Wed 28th December 2022 | A Look Back | By Jay Cooper
This is the second of three articles covering the major talking points surrounding all the divisions in the NWCFL throughout 2022. This piece will focus on the First Division North as the 2021/22 season came to a close and the 2022/23 season began.
As January rolled around, we were waist-deep into a season with quite the race for promotion going on in the NWCFL First Division South. With FC Isle of Man, Abbey Hey, New Mills and Wythenshawe Amateurs all desperate to make their mark, at the top of the tree, sitting unmoved, was West Didsbury and Chorlton.
Chris Rowley and his players broke a number of their own club records en route to promotion as champions in the 2021/22 season, including their biggest home attendance ever recorded against Macclesfield in the FA Cup in September last year. However, their most impressive record-setting accomplishment came on March 12th, and I was in attendance for it. St. Martins (more on them later) were languishing at the foot of the division, and came to Step Places Stadium, only to leave with their tails firmly between their legs after an astonishing 18-0 rout by West – their biggest ever recorded win, and the NWCFL’s biggest ever recorded win.
Abbey Hey were their closest chasers for a while, certainly during the early season, but they wound up making history of their own in a different competition. Like Wythenshawe Town from the last article, Abbey were one of 3 representatives left in the FA Vase by the turn of the year, and they went further than they've ever gone before in the competition, by defeating Premier Division side AFC Liverpool on penalties after a 2-2 draw to reach the 5th round proper, before they bowed out to Loughborough Students, just as Wythenshawe did one round later.
Abbey would also see their play-off campaign come to an earlier end than they would have hoped, as they and Wythenshawe Amateurs bowed out at the semi-final stage. In the final, FC Isle of Man, in their first season of NWCFL football, defeated New Mills to earn promotion to the Premier Division, alongside West Didsbury and Chorlton. The top 5 teams all managed to get themselves over the 80-point line, with 5th place Ammies finishing on 82. The team just below them in the table by March, Maine Road, were 20 points poorer.
At the bottom of the table, the aforementioned St. Martins had a long, painful season on the pitch. A few off-field, admin issues saw them sink like a stone in the league table, and the 2 points they managed as the season got underway would eventually be all they would ever manage. Without a win all campaign, they finished 27 points off the pace and with an unfortunately staggering goal difference of -223, helped along by the 18-0 thrashing at the hands of the eventual champions. Joining them in the bottom three would be Rocester and Alsager Town, both of whom would receive a reprieve from relegation.
With the first full season of NWCFL First Division South football since the 2018/19 campaign in the rear view mirror, there was a long summer to be had before we got back underway in September. There would also be 3 new sides joining the division, all of whom were here happily via promotion rather than relegation – Ashville came on board from the West Cheshire League; Foley Meir came up from the Staffordshire County Senior League, and Stockport Georgians joined their rivals Stockport Town in the division after coming up from the Manchester League.
Speaking of Stockport Town, they started the season like a house on fire and were one of the early pacesetters for promotion. Interestingly, last season, they only finished 11th in the league despite their +20 goal difference. They’ve kept up their scoring habits this time out, firing themselves to 16 wins from 19 at the time of writing, including one 8-0 drubbing of Abbey Hey. They currently look right at home at the top of the pile.
They haven’t been top from the first whistle, mind you. Wythenshawe Amateurs led the way for some time between September and November and are still plenty hungry as we go into 2023, sitting comfortably in 2nd and with a nice 6-point cushion between themselves and the rest of the chasing pack, currently led by Brocton in 3rd. Sandbach United and Ellesmere Rangers currently make up the rest of the play-off places.
Last years other promotion hunters, New Mills and Abbey Hey, currently find themselves in 8th and 10th place, respectively. The newly promoted sides are batting 2 for 3 at the moment, with Stockport Georgians doing very well for themselves in 6th place and Ashville in 12th. Foley Meir, however, are struggling. They’ve notched 2 wins this season, and only 1 draw, and are currently being kept off the foot of the league by Rocester. The Romans have only managed 1 win thus far, and that was against Foley Meir, but they’re currently 2 points behind their adversaries and have a long road ahead in 2023.
Unfortunately, the turn of the year won’t bring any good news stories for any First Division South teams in the FA Vase, as the remaining teams in the cup competition from this division; Cheadle Town, Brocton and Abbey Hey, were all beaten in December’s 3rd round.
At this level of the game, there are transfers, managerial changes and shocking results a-plenty, and they can all happen at any time. After Christmas, elite level football can become somewhat predictable, but there's still everything to play for in the NWCFL, and the only way to see how it all happens is to come and watch.
2022 Year Review - NWCFL First Division South
Wed 28th December 2022 | A Look Back
By Jay Cooper
This is the second of three articles covering the major talking points surrounding all the divisions in the NWCFL throughout 2022. This piece will focus on the First Division North as the 2021/22 season came to a close and the 2022/23 season began.
As January rolled around, we were waist-deep into a season with quite the race for promotion going on in the NWCFL First Division South. With FC Isle of Man, Abbey Hey, New Mills and Wythenshawe Amateurs all desperate to make their mark, at the top of the tree, sitting unmoved, was West Didsbury and Chorlton.
Chris Rowley and his players broke a number of their own club records en route to promotion as champions in the 2021/22 season, including their biggest home attendance ever recorded against Macclesfield in the FA Cup in September last year. However, their most impressive record-setting accomplishment came on March 12th, and I was in attendance for it. St. Martins (more on them later) were languishing at the foot of the division, and came to Step Places Stadium, only to leave with their tails firmly between their legs after an astonishing 18-0 rout by West – their biggest ever recorded win, and the NWCFL’s biggest ever recorded win.
Abbey Hey were their closest chasers for a while, certainly during the early season, but they wound up making history of their own in a different competition. Like Wythenshawe Town from the last article, Abbey were one of 3 representatives left in the FA Vase by the turn of the year, and they went further than they've ever gone before in the competition, by defeating Premier Division side AFC Liverpool on penalties after a 2-2 draw to reach the 5th round proper, before they bowed out to Loughborough Students, just as Wythenshawe did one round later.
Abbey would also see their play-off campaign come to an earlier end than they would have hoped, as they and Wythenshawe Amateurs bowed out at the semi-final stage. In the final, FC Isle of Man, in their first season of NWCFL football, defeated New Mills to earn promotion to the Premier Division, alongside West Didsbury and Chorlton. The top 5 teams all managed to get themselves over the 80-point line, with 5th place Ammies finishing on 82. The team just below them in the table by March, Maine Road, were 20 points poorer.
At the bottom of the table, the aforementioned St. Martins had a long, painful season on the pitch. A few off-field, admin issues saw them sink like a stone in the league table, and the 2 points they managed as the season got underway would eventually be all they would ever manage. Without a win all campaign, they finished 27 points off the pace and with an unfortunately staggering goal difference of -223, helped along by the 18-0 thrashing at the hands of the eventual champions. Joining them in the bottom three would be Rocester and Alsager Town, both of whom would receive a reprieve from relegation.
With the first full season of NWCFL First Division South football since the 2018/19 campaign in the rear view mirror, there was a long summer to be had before we got back underway in September. There would also be 3 new sides joining the division, all of whom were here happily via promotion rather than relegation – Ashville came on board from the West Cheshire League; Foley Meir came up from the Staffordshire County Senior League, and Stockport Georgians joined their rivals Stockport Town in the division after coming up from the Manchester League.
Speaking of Stockport Town, they started the season like a house on fire and were one of the early pacesetters for promotion. Interestingly, last season, they only finished 11th in the league despite their +20 goal difference. They’ve kept up their scoring habits this time out, firing themselves to 16 wins from 19 at the time of writing, including one 8-0 drubbing of Abbey Hey. They currently look right at home at the top of the pile.
They haven’t been top from the first whistle, mind you. Wythenshawe Amateurs led the way for some time between September and November and are still plenty hungry as we go into 2023, sitting comfortably in 2nd and with a nice 6-point cushion between themselves and the rest of the chasing pack, currently led by Brocton in 3rd. Sandbach United and Ellesmere Rangers currently make up the rest of the play-off places.
Last years other promotion hunters, New Mills and Abbey Hey, currently find themselves in 8th and 10th place, respectively. The newly promoted sides are batting 2 for 3 at the moment, with Stockport Georgians doing very well for themselves in 6th place and Ashville in 12th. Foley Meir, however, are struggling. They’ve notched 2 wins this season, and only 1 draw, and are currently being kept off the foot of the league by Rocester. The Romans have only managed 1 win thus far, and that was against Foley Meir, but they’re currently 2 points behind their adversaries and have a long road ahead in 2023.
Unfortunately, the turn of the year won’t bring any good news stories for any First Division South teams in the FA Vase, as the remaining teams in the cup competition from this division; Cheadle Town, Brocton and Abbey Hey, were all beaten in December’s 3rd round.
At this level of the game, there are transfers, managerial changes and shocking results a-plenty, and they can all happen at any time. After Christmas, elite level football can become somewhat predictable, but there's still everything to play for in the NWCFL, and the only way to see how it all happens is to come and watch.
