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| Full name | Altrincham Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Robins | ||
| Founded | 1891 | ||
| Ground | Moss Lane,Altrincham | ||
| Capacity | 7,873 (1,323 seated)[1] | ||
| Executive Chair | Mark Luby[2] | ||
| Manager | Neil Gibson | ||
| League | National League | ||
| 2024–25 | National League, 9th of 24 | ||
| Website | altrinchamfc | ||
 Current season | |||
Altrincham Football Club is a professional[3]football club based inAltrincham,Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1891 and nicknamed "the Robins", they are currently members of theNational League, the fifth tier of English football, and play atMoss Lane.
Altrincham was established by aSunday school around 1891 as Rigby Memorial Club.[4] They soon merged with another local team, Grapplers, to form Broadheath Football Club,[4] and were founder members of theManchester League in 1893.[5] Their first match in the league on 16 September 1893 saw them lose 7–0 to Hulme, and they went on to lose 14 of the remaining league matches as they finished bottom of the table.[6]
After playing at various grounds inBroadheath,Timperley and Altrincham, the club moved to Pollitt's Field in 1903, at which point they changed their name to Altrincham.[4] They won the Cheshire Amateur Cup in their first season under the new name, and went on to win both the Manchester League and theCheshire Senior Cup the following season.[4] They won the Manchester League again in1906–07, and moved to their currentMoss Lane ground in 1910.[4]
In 1911 the club joined Division Two of theLancashire Combination.[5] They finished as runners-up in their first season in the division, only missing out on the title ongoal average and earning promotion to Division One.[5] They remained in Division One untilWorld War I. When football resumed in 1919, the club were founder members of theCheshire County League, where they remained untilWorld War II, the highlights being finishing as runners-up in1934–35 and1935–36 and a League Cup win in1932–33.[4][5] In1934–35 they reached the first round of theFA Cup for the first time, losing the subsequent game 1–0 toGainsborough Trinity.[5]
After missing out the1945–46 season, they rejoined the Cheshire County League in 1946, achieving little success until the 1960s, when Altrincham director Noel White hired Freddie Pye as manager. A key turning point in the history of the club is often cited as the signing ofJackie Swindells in 1965, who in his first full season (1965–66) scored 82 goals.[7] helping Altrincham to the first of back-to-back Cheshire County League titles, scoring over 120 goals in the league in both seasons. After finishing as runners-up in1967–68, they were founder members of theNorthern Premier League in 1968.[5]
They reached the semi-finals of theFA Trophy in1976–77, losing 2–1 toScarborough in a second replay;[5] the season also saw them apply for election to theFootball League for the first time, but they received only 12 votes compared to the 27 received by the electedWimbledon.[9] The following season they went one better in the FA Trophy, reaching theWembley final, where they beatLeatherhead 3–1. In1978–79 they finished as runners-up in the Northern Premier League and applied for election to the Football League again. Although they finished as the topnon-League club in the ballot, they received only 13 votes to the 37 received byHalifax Town, the lowest-placed Football League club.[9] Instead, Altrincham became founder members of theAlliance Premier League, the top level of non-League football, the winner of which would be the sole non-League nomination for future Football League election ballots.
The league'sinaugural season saw Altrincham crowned champions.[5] In the subsequent elections to the Football League, the club missing out by a single vote, receiving 25 toRochdale's 26; this was considered especially unfortunate as the club had been promised the votes ofGrimsby Town andLuton Town, but the Grimsby representative was prevented from voting by being in the wrong part of the meeting room, whilst the Luton representative arrived too late after a mix-up over the start time.[10]
Altrincham retained the APL title thefollowing season, but again failed in the Football League elections, this time only receiving 15 votes to the 41 received by Halifax, who were again the lowest ranked Football League club.[9] The next two seasons saw the club finish in mid-table, together with another FA Trophy final appearance in1981–82, this time losing 1–0 toEnfield. This was followed by four consecutive top-five finishes between 1984 and 1987 and a second FA Trophy win in 1985, beatingRuncorn 1–0 in the final. The1985–86 season saw them record one of the biggest FA Cup giant-killings of all time when they defeated top divisionBirmingham City 2–1 at Birmingham'sSt Andrew's.[11][12]
The club then returned to mid-table with occasional successful seasons, finishing third in1990–91 (by which time the league had become the Football Conference) and fourth in1994–95.[5] After finishing bottom of the Conference in1996–97 the club were relegated to the Premier Division of theNorthern Premier League. An eighth-place finish in1997–98 saw them return to the Conference two seasons later asPremier Division champions.[5] However, they lasted only asingle season in the Conference as they finished second-from-bottom and were relegated back to the Northern Premier League.
A twelfth-place finish in2003–04 saw them qualify for the newly formedConference North. They finished fifth in the new division in itsfirst season, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After defeatingNuneaton Borough 4–2 on penalties following a 1–1 draw and thenKettering Town 3–2, they were promoted to the Conference National division with a 2–1 win overEastbourne Borough in the north–south final played at theBritannia Stadium.[5]
In2005–06 Altrincham finished bottom of the Conference National after receiving an 18-point deduction when they were found to have fielded an ineligible player,James Robinson, for 15 matches, during which he scored six goals and Altrincham won 18 points. However, they were reprieved from relegation afterCanvey Island resigned from the league and Scarborough were demoted.[13] Thefollowing season they again finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved afterBoston United were demoted.[14] A third successive relegation reprieve occurred in2007–08 when Halifax wereliquidated.[15]
After mid-table finishes in2008–09 and2009–10 andRicky Ponting becoming a shareholder of the club in 2009,[16] Altrincham were relegated to the Conference North at the end of the2010–11 season. In2012–13 a fourth-place finish saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost 4–2 on aggregate toBrackley Town. However, after finishing fourth thefollowing season, they beatHednesford Town 4–3 on aggregate in the semi-finals and then defeatedGuiseley 2–1 in the final to earn promotion back to the Conference National.[5] In2015–16 the club finished in the relegation zone and were relegated to the renamed National League North.[5] Thefollowing season they finished bottom of the National League North, leading to a second successive relegation to the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League. However, the2017–18 season saw the club win the Northern Premier League title, earning promotion back to the National League North.
In2018–19 Altrincham finished fifth in the National League North, earning a place in the play-offs; in the quarter finals, they drew 2–2 withBlyth Spartans before winning 7–6 in a penalty shootout, setting up a semi-final tie withChorley, which they lost 3–1 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. Thefollowing season ended with a sixth-place finish, resulting in another play-off campaign. After defeatingChester 3–2 andYork City 2–0, the club beatBoston United 1–0 in the final, earning promotion to the National League. In May 2022 the club announced they would transition to full-time professional status for the first time in their history.[17] In2023–24 they finished fourth in the National League, before losing 3–1 toBromley in the play-off semi-finals.
Altrincham have a history ofgiant-killing in theFA Cup, holding the record of knocking out more Football League sides than any other club that has spent its entire history playing innon-League.[18] They reached the third round of the FA Cup in four consecutive seasons between 1978–79 and 1981–82,[5] holding a better record in the competition than any club playing in the Third or Fourth divisions during this period.[citation needed] To date the club has recorded seventeen victories against Football League clubs:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Neil Gibson[20] |
| Assistant Manager | Lee Jones[21] |
| Assistant Coach | Ross Speight |
| Head Analyst | Jack Farrell |
| Club Doctor | Dr Robert Jackson |
| Head Physiotherapist | Tom Jones |
| Sport Therapist | Thomas Cadman |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Matthew Fox |
| Performance Analyst | Mark Bushall |
| Kit Manager | Steven Foster |
| Kit Manager | Dylan Barlow |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Ben Williams |
