Atherton Collieries Association Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Atherton, Greater Manchester Atherton () is a town in Greater Manchester, England and historically a part of Lancashire. The town, including Hindsford, Howe Bridge and Hag Fold, is south of Bolton, east of Wigan, and northwest of Manchester. From the 17th century, for ...

, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Alder House. They are full members of the

Lancashire County Football Association The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foot ...

. Between 1919 and 1965 Atherton Collieries were winners of the Bolton Combination ten times. By 1964–65 they had won the

Lancashire FA The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foo ...

Amateur Shield six times, a record which is still unsurpassed. They are nicknamed "Colls".

History

The club was established in 1916 by miners from the six pits in

Atherton Urban District Atherton was, from 1863 to 1974, a local government district in Lancashire, England. History The township of Atherton historically lay in the large ecclesiastical parish of Leigh and Leigh Poor Law Union formed in 1837. In 1863 Atherton Local ...

with the aim of raising money for locals involved in the

war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative size ...

.Atherton Collieries FC
Pyramid Passion After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the club joined the Bolton Combination,History
Atherton Colleries A.F.C. winning the title in their first season. The season also saw them win the Lancashire FA Amateur Shield, beating Dumers Lane 3–2 after extra time. They joined the Lancashire Alliance in 1921, and won the Shield again in 1923 with a 4–1 against Barnoldswick Town. The club later returned to the Bolton Combination, winning the league in 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39 and 1940–41, followed by another Lancashire FA Amateur Shield in 1942 after Royal Engineers were beaten 3–2. Another title came in 1944–45, after which the club joined the

Manchester League The Manchester Football League is a football league in England, affiliated with Manchester FA, covering a 30-mile radius from Manchester Town Hall. It was formed in 1893, although play ceased between 1912 and 1920. Currently it consists of fiv ...

for the 1945–46 season. Their first season in the new league saw them finish third and win the Shield for a fourth time with a 3–2 win over Moss Rovers in 1948 the club joined the

West Lancashire League The West Lancashire Football League is a football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The league is currently sponsored by Lancaster ...

, in which they spent two seasons before joining Division Two of the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...

in 1950. However, after finishing sixteenth (out of 22) in 1950–51 and second-from-bottom in 1951–52 they left the league to rejoin the Bolton Combination. Back in the local league, they won the league title again in 1956–57 (also winning the Shield, beating Burnley Albion 3–2 after extra time), 1958–59, 1960–61 and 1964–65 (combined with another Shield win, this time by beating Breightmet United 6–1). In 1971 they rejoined the Lancashire Combination, which was now a single division. Following their only top-half finish in the league in 1977–78, the club switched to the new Division Two of the

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

, where they failed to break into the top half of the table during their four years in the league. At the end of the 1981–82 season the league merged with the Lancashire Combination to form the North West Counties League, with Atherton placed in Division Three. This started a spell of relative success for the club, who finished in the top half of the table for four successive seasons, before winning the title in 1986–87 and earning promotion to Division Two. After nine seasons in Division Two, Atherton were runners-up in 1995–96, resulting in promotion to Division One. In 2001–02 they won the Goldline Trophy with a 1–0 win against

Charnock Richard Charnock Richard is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Chorley, Lancashire, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,748. History The village was named in the early 13th century by the local ...

at the

Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...

. Division One was renamed the Premier Division in 2008, but the following season saw the club finish bottom of the Division, leading to relegation to Division One. Following their demotion, the club consistently finished in the top six in the division and won the Division One Trophy in 2010–11. After winning the division in 2014–15 they were promoted back to the Premier Division. In 2015–16 they won the League Cup, beating

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...

5–1 in the final. The following season saw the club win the Premier Division, earning promotion to Division One North of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

. They won the League Challenge Cup in 2017–18, beating Coalville Town 2–1 in the final. The 2018–19 season saw Atherton placed in Division One West as the Northern Premier League's second tier was reorganised on an east–west basis. They went on to win the division, earning promotion to the Premier Division.

Ground

The club have played at Alder House since their establishment, and it is currently known as 'The Skuna Stadium' for sponsorship purposes. At some point during their tenure, the pitch was rotated 90º, and

floodlights A floodlight is a broad-beamed, gas discharge lamp#High-intensity discharge lamps, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is Night game, being held during low-li ...

were installed in 1994. One stand was described "leaning forward as if in prayer for its continued survival", before it was demolished in 2007. Following ground works crowdfunded by supporters in 2020, the ground currently has two stands with covered seating, with two more covered stands for standing spectators, one of which has been expanded to provide cover for disabled spectators. Alongside the clubhouse, the ground has an additional two outdoors refreshment facilities.

Managerial history

Honours

*Northern Premier League **Division One West champions 2018–19 **Challenge Cup winners 2017–18 *North West Counties League **Premier Division champions 2016–17 **Division One champions 2014–15 **Division Three champions 1986–87 **League Cup winners 2015–16 **Division One Trophy winners 2010–11 *Bolton Combination **Champions 1919–20, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1944–45, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1964–65 *Lancashire County FA Amateur Shield **Winners 1919–20, 1922–23, 1941–42, 1945–46, 1956–57, 1964–65 *Bolton Hospital Cup **Winners 1973–74, 1986–87, 2011–12, 2014–15

Records

*Record attendance: 3,300 in the Bolton Combination in the 1920sMike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p720 *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, 1994–95, 2021–22 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

performance: First round, 2019–20 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

performance: Fifth round, 2016–17

References

External links

Official website
* {{coord, 53, 31, 24.64, N, 2, 29, 05.90, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan 1916 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 1916 Atherton, Greater Manchester Manchester Football League West Lancashire Football League Lancashire Combination North West Counties Football League clubs Northern Premier League clubs Mining association football teams in England Cheshire County League clubs