Stand Athletic F.C. was a football club based in Whitefield,

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

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 ...

History

The club was founded in 1964 and played at Elms Park in Whitefield from 1969. The club was originally in the Bury Sunday School League but in 1970 was accepted into the South East Lancashire League where it became a very successful Club running two teams managed by Harry Molineux with John Roebuck as Secretary and assisted by Warren Derbyshire with Coaching until 1973; A regular player, Tom Edwards then took over as Manager In 1981 they joined the Lancashire & Cheshire Amateur League and won Division Two in 1982–83. In 1993, they 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 ...

. In 2000, the club moved from Whitefield to the Ewood Bridge ground formerly used by

Haslingden F.C. Haslingden F.C. was a football club based in Rossendale, Lancashire. In 1994, they won the North West Counties Football League Division Two. Haslingden played at Ewood Bridge, later used by Stand Athletic and were members of the North West ...

on a seven-year lease but financial difficulties meant that they returned to Whitefield after two years. The club secretary said that "We were successful on the pitch but not off it. It's a large site and it could be a great opportunity for someone". They joined the North West Counties League in 2001. In their first season at the higher level, they won the Division Two title, but were not accepted for promotion to Division One due to issues with this new ground. After 12 matches of the 2002–03 season, they resigned from the North West Counties League, and rejoined the Manchester League for 2003–04. They finished fourth in the Manchester League Division One in 2008–09 and had also fielded a team in Division Three. They were forced to leave the Elms Park site in the summer of 2008 when the local council closed the changing facilities, which were used by various local sports teams. The club played one season at

Agecroft Agecroft is a suburban area of Pendlebury, within the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It lies within the Irwell Valley, on the west bank of the River Irwell and along the course of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal. It compris ...

in Salford and then, in the summer of 2009, merged with another local club, called Standians F.C., that was to be managed by former

Bury F.C. Bury Football Club is an English association football club based in Bury, Greater Manchester, whose team last played in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football, in the 2018–19 season. The team are known as "The Shakers", and ...

striker Kevin Hulme. The new arrangements were fractious, with on-field brawls in pre-season training, and the merged club resigned from the Manchester League. A team calling itself Standians F.C., comprising mostly players from the former club of that name, went on to play in the Lancashire and Cheshire League for the 2009–10 season, leading to accusations from the Athletic coach that his players had been "stabbed in the back", although he did acknowledge that there were disciplinary problems.

Colours

The club's home kit was yellow and black stripes.

Ground

The club's overgrown pitch and dilapidated home supporters' stand at Ewood Bridge can be seen from the East Lancashire Railway, close to the

Irwell Vale railway station Irwell Vale railway station is a station built as part of the East Lancashire Railway. It serves the small village of Irwell Vale in Lancashire. History Irwell Vale was built by the East Lancashire Railway in connection with the local authorit ...

. The ground is located just off Blackburn Road (B6527) between the railway line and the

River Irwell The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary be ...

. The ground included a match pitch, a synthetic training pitch, a two-story clubhouse with changing rooms, a function room and bar, and a stand.

Honours

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...

Division Two **Champions 2001–02 *

Premier Division **Champions 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 *Manchester League Division One **Champions 1995–96 Stand Athletic at the Football History Database
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References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in England Football clubs in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury 2009 disestablishments in England Association football clubs disestablished in 2009 North West Counties Football League clubs Association football clubs established in 1964 Whitefield, Greater Manchester Defunct football clubs in Greater Manchester Manchester Football League