Runcorn F.C. Halton was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 that played in Runcorn,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

and Prescot at various points during its existence.

History

The club was founded in 1918 as Highfield and Camden Tanneries Recreation Club. They became members of the Lancashire Combination in the same year, winning a cup. As Runcorn F.C., they were founder members 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 ...

in 1919, and were its first champions. They won the league and Cheshire League Cup double in 1937. Runcorn were founder members 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 ...

in 1968 and won the Cheshire Senior Cup in 1973. The pinnacle of the club's history was the Alliance Premier League (now the National League) title success of 1982, but they were denied the chance of taking part in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

elections because the club did not meet league requirements. This re-election system was replaced by automatic promotion from 1987 onwards, but it came too late to help Runcorn who by then were no longer a top team in the Football Conference. In 1986, for the first time ever, Runcorn reached the final of the

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 ...

, but lost 1–0 to

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. That season the team had beaten

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

4–1 to reach the second round of the FA Cup.

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, ''Football: Robson Has No Argument With World Cup Choice 26 November 1985 In 1993–94, their stadium nearly fell apart. A perimeter wall collapsed during a cup game against Hull City, the roof blew off one stand, and the main stand was destroyed by a fire. This crippled the club, which was relegated in 1996 for the first time ever. In 2000, they sold the Canal Street ground where they had played since 1918, and moved to the 11,000-seat Halton Stadium in

, which was also used by the town's rugby team and Everton reserves. The club renamed itself Runcorn FC Halton to reflect its new location. In 2004, they finished in 13th place in the

, and were promoted to the new Conference North. Their spell at this level lasted just one season before they were relegated back to the NPL. During this season, the club's precarious financial state caused them to move out of the Halton Stadium permanently, having finished the previous season at Southport's Haig Avenue, and to share

Valerie Park IP Truck Parts Stadium, traditionally known as Hope Street, is a stadium in Prescot, Merseyside. It is located on Eaton Street in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. It is home to Prescot Cables of the Northern Premier League. A.F.C. Liverpoo ...

, home of local rivals

Prescot Cables Prescot Cables Football Club is a supporter-owned football club based in Prescot, Merseyside. It was established in 1884 and has also been known as Prescot and Prescot Town. They compete in the and play their home games at Valerie Park. They ...

, who also played in the Northern Premier League.

Demise

During its final season the club went into severe financial crisis and was unable to pay its players' wages, forcing it to offload many of its key playing staff and replace them with amateur players used to playing at a much lower standard. This made for an embarrassing end to the season, with Runcorn finishing bottom and frequently suffering defeats by five or more goals, though their record defeat of 9–0 remained intact. After a second successive relegation, the club's future was in doubt, and the decision was made to officially confirm its resignation from the league and cease activity. By this time, disgruntled supporters had already formed the breakaway club

Runcorn Linnets F.C. Runcorn Linnets F.C. are an England, English association football, football club based in Runcorn, Cheshire. The club currently plays in the , and is a full member of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club is run by a trust which is ...

, which was granted membership of the North West Counties League Division Two for the 2006–07 season.

Honours

* Alliance Premier League (now

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

) **Champions: 1981–82 *

**Runners up: 1985–86, 1992–93, 1993–94 *

**Champions: 1975–76, 1980–81 *

Northern Premier League Challenge Cup 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 Division ...

**Winners: 1974–75, 1979–80, 1980–81 *

Northern Premier League President's Cup The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, 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 ...

**Winners: 1998 * Cheshire Senior Cup **Winners 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club. *

Alan Cocks Alan William Cocks (born 7 May 1951) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. ...

* Jimmy Dunn *

John Fielding Sir John Fielding (16 September 1721 – 4 September 1780) was a notable English magistrate and social reformer of the 18th century. He was also the younger half-brother of novelist, playwright and chief magistrate Henry Fielding. Despite bein ...

Ken Furphy Kenneth Furphy (28 May 1931 – 17 January 2015) was an English football player and manager. Despite being on the books at Everton between 1950 and 1951, Furphy was a lower league player with Runcorn (1951–53) Darlington (1953–62) and then ...

Ian Woan Ian Simon Woan (born 14 December 1967) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of Premier League side Everton. As a player, he was a left winger who notably played in the Premier League for Nott ...

Billy Telford William Albert Telford (born 5 March 1956) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played in the Football League for Manchester City, Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English prof ...

References

External links

* *{{fchd, id=RUNCORNH, name=Runcorn Halton Association football clubs established in 1918 Association football clubs disestablished in 2006 Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Cheshire Runcorn 1918 establishments in England 2006 disestablishments in England Works association football teams in England Cheshire County League clubs Former National League (English football) clubs