1874 Northwich Football Club is a
football club based in
Northwich,
Cheshire,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Established in 2012 by supporters of
Northwich Victoria, they are currently members of the . Home matches are played at
Barnton's Townfield ground.
The club is fully
owned by its supporters, and is run by a democratically elected board.
History
The club was established on 15 November 2012 at a meeting at Lostock Social Club in
Lostock Gralam
Lostock Gralam is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England, east of Northwich. The civil parish also includes the small hamlet of Lostock Green. Hulse is the leading mayor and authority of the town, as of 2022. ...
, near Northwich, when members of the Northwich Victoria Supporters' Trust were given the opportunity to decide on creating a new football club due to growing disenfranchisement with how Northwich Victoria has been run over many years. The vote ended with a 141–4 vote in favour of a new club. It had emerged on the day of the vote that the owner of Northwich Victoria had been declared bankrupt (later annulled) and therefore failed the
FA Fit and Proper Persons test.
On 29 November 2012 fans attended an open meeting in Northwich, where they chose the name 1874 Northwich for the club. In order to avoid legal issues over the new club's name, none of the proposed options included the words Vics or Victoria. The date 1874 was chosen because it was the year in which the original club named Northwich Victoria was founded, or at least, when they played their first formal match. The original club became defunct and disbanded in 1890, when a new club, which elected to use the name Northwich Victoria was founded from an amalgamation of the original club bearing the same name and Hartford and Davenham United. Alongside the naming of the club, fans were also given the chance to vote on a motto; the phrase 'Ever Glorious', which was used by the
Cheshire Regiment
The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. ...
was chosen due to their links with the town of Northwich. One of the other options included the Latin translation, 'Semper Gloriosa'. Ever Glorious has also become established as the name of the club's match-day programme.
On 3 January 2013 it was confirmed that the club had been officially registered with the
Cheshire County Football Association
The Cheshire Football Association, also simply known as Cheshire FA, is the governing body of football in the county of Cheshire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.
About
Th ...
and had applied to join the North West Counties League in time for the
2013–14 season, and were accepted into Division One of the league on 23 May.
[FA League Allocation](_blank)
1874 Northwich F.C. The appointment of the club's first manager, former Winsford United and
Ashton Athletic boss Ian Street was announced on 25 April 2013, with his assistant Lee Duckworth being announced three days later. The club played their first match on 10 July 2013 against local team Lostock Gralam, winning 3–1. Their first honours came three days later in the
Supporters Direct Shield, when they defeated
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingboroug ...
3–0 in
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...
at the
Halton Stadium
The DCBL Stadium (historically known as Lowerhouse Lane and Naughton Park) is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, and American football side Halt ...
.
Their first
league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
game was played on 3 August 2013 against
Oldham Boro, where 490 fans attended the game which finished 1–1. In their first season, the club finished third in Division One, initially missing out on promotion to the Premier Division on goal difference. However, following the resignation of
Formby
Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census.
Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "Fo ...
in May, Northwich were promoted in their place.
[Further Announcement on League Constitution](_blank)
North West Counties Football League, 31 May 2014 In their
second season, the club finished third in the Premier Division and entered the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
for the first time. They finished fourth in the Premier Division in
2015–16, and also won the Mid-Cheshire Senior Cup, beating
Witton Albion in the final.
Ian Street resigned as first-team manager on 12 March 2017, with assistant Paul Bowyer and first-team coach
Wayne Goodison becoming caretaker joint managers before being appointed on a permanent basis. The club went on to win the Mid-Cheshire Senior Cup with a 1–0 win over Northwich Victoria in the final. In
2017–18 they reached the semi-finals of the
FA Vase, losing 4–2 on aggregate to
Thatcham Town. The
following season saw the club win the North West Counties Football League Cup, beating league champions
City of Liverpool 1–0 in the final at
Moss Lane. In July 2021 the club won the much-delayed 2019–20 League Cup, defeating
Runcorn Town
Runcorn Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Runcorn, Cheshire, England. After spending most of their years in the West Cheshire League, they were elected to the North West Counties League in 2010 and are currentl ...
6–3 in the final. After the
2020–21 season was curtailed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the club were promoted to Division One West of the
Northern Premier League having had the highest points-per-game (PPG) average in the North West Counties League Premier Division over the previous two curtailed seasons.
Season-by-season
Ground
The club play at the Townfield ground in
Barnton, groundsharing with
Barnton F.C. They previously played at
Winsford United's Barton Stadium from their establishment until the end of the 2018–19 season.
Managerial records
''Based on win % in all matches excluding friendlies'', correct as of 28 June 2022
Honours
*North West Counties League
**Challenge Cup winners 2018-19, 2019–21
*Mid-Cheshire Senior Cup
**Winners 2015–16, 2016–17
*Supporters Direct Shield
**Winners 2013–14
Records
*Best
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
performance: Third qualifying round,
2017–18
*Best
FA Vase performance: Semi-finals,
2017–18[
*Record attendance: 1,693 vs Thatcham Town, FA Vase semi-final, 24 March 2018Info]
North West Counties League
*Record home win: 9–0 vs
Wigan Robin Park
Wigan Robin Park FC was a semi-professional football club from Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.
The Robins had two senior sides, the first team competed in the North West Counties League Division One, and the reserve team competed in the Fou ...
, 5 October 2014,
FA Vase second qualifying round
*Record away win: 0–9 vs
Litherland REMYCA, 2 November 2019, North West Counties League Premier Division
*Record home defeat: 3–6 vs
City of Liverpool, 4 August 2018, North West Counties League Premier Division
*Record away defeat: 4–0 vs
Ashton Athletic, 6 October 2015, North West Counties League Premier Division
See also
*
1874 Northwich F.C. players
*
1874 Northwich F.C. managers
References
External links
Official website
{{Coord, 53.2746, N, 2.5465, W, display=title
2012 establishments in England
Association football clubs established in 2012
Fan-owned football clubs in England
Football clubs in Cheshire
Football clubs in England
Northwich
Northwich Victoria F.C.
North West Counties Football League clubs
Northern Premier League clubs