Eagley 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 ...

club based in the village of

Eagley Eagley is a village of the unparished area of South Turton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies on southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Eagley Brook passes thro ...

, near

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

. They are currently members of the and play at the Dunscar Sports Complex. The club are affiliated to the

Lancashire 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 ...

. The club's colours are yellow shirts and dark blue shorts.

History

The original Eagley FC was formed in 1874. It was one of the first clubs in Lancashire playing under association football rules. The club was one of the founder members of the Lancashire County Football Association in

1878 Events January–March * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Bat ...

, and in 1878–79 it was the first recorded opponents of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, later to become the first ever English football champions. That season Eagley was the winner of the Turton Football Club Challenge Cup, the first football cup played for in Lancashire, 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 compet ...

for the first time. In 1879–80, Eagley was one of the competitors in the first Lancashire Cup competition. For the most part, Eagley were seen as a club "added to the fixtures as a make-up", but on 1 October 1881 the club pulled off a major shock result by beating

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the s ...

, away from home, in a friendly, and in 1884 won the Bolton Charity Cup. Nevertheless, with the rise of professional football, the original Eagley FC disbanded before the 1886-87 season. Many years later it was revived as Eagley Mills FC, which played in the Manchester League and in 1959–60 was the winner of the Lancashire Amateur Shield. The club declined in the 1970s until 1980 when a group of local enthusiasts stepped in to try to revive Eagley to some of its former glories. In 1981, the club appointed the ex-Walker Institute player Paul Thompson as manager with Peter Conroy as his assistant. This led to a further period of success in the Combination plus a Lancashire Junior Shield Final appearance, losing 3–2 to Latham & Burscough and a 2–1 Hospital Cup Final victory over Little Hulton. A new phase of the club's history was entered into on joining the West Lancashire League for the 1988–89 season. After two seasons settling into the league, the club appointed Terry Finney as team manager. Soon after, the club had success, being promoted to the Premier Division as champions. Finney's success continued over the next eight seasons with the club making appearances in the West Lancashire Presidents and Richardson's Cup finals, along with four Hospital Cup finals, winning two. However, during this period the club suffered a major blow when the clubhouse was completely destroyed by fire in August 1992. The Football and Cricket Clubs joined together to build a new clubhouse which is still used today. From December 2013 to 2014, the club was managed by former

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

striker Simon Haworth.

Colours

The original Eagley club wore white shirts and knickers, with blue hose.

Honours

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- ...

Premier Division **Runners-up 2003–04 *West Lancashire League Division Two **Champions 1990–91

Records

**Fourth Round 1882–83

References

External links

* {{coord, 53, 36, 57.82, N, 2, 26, 03.29, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Association football clubs established in 1874 Football clubs in England 1874 establishments in England West Lancashire Football League