 | |||
| Full name | Ashton Athletic Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Yellows | ||
| Founded | 1968 | ||
| Ground | Brocstedes Park,Ashton-in-Makerfield | ||
| Capacity | 400 (100 seated)[1] | ||
| Chairman | Jimmy Whyte | ||
| Manager | Jay Foulds & Dougie Pitts | ||
| League | North West Counties League Division One North | ||
| 2024–25 | North West Counties League Division One North, 13th of 18 | ||
Ashton Athletic Football Club is afootball club based inAshton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester, England. Affiliated to theLancashire County Football Association, they are currently members of theNorth West Counties League Division One North and play at Brocstedes Park.
The club was formed in 1968, initially as aSunday league club playing in the Wigan Sunday League.[2] After winning every division in the league in successive seasons, they switched to playing Saturday football, joining theWarrington & District League.[2]
Success in the Warrington League saw the club join theLancashire Combination in 1978.[2][3] However, the move up saw the club struggle, finishing bottom of the league in 1978–79 and 1981–82.[3] When the league merged with theCheshire County League to form the North West Counties League in 1982, Ashton were placed in Division Three, which they finished bottom of in both1982–83 and1983–84. After a fourteenth-place finish in1984–85, they finished bottom of the table again in1985–86.[3]
At the end of the season the club were expelled from the league due to Brocstedes Park failing to meet the ground grading criteria.[2] They subsequently dropped into Division One of theManchester League.[2] They continued to struggle in the Manchester League, with several lower-half finishes before finishing bottom of Division One in 1989–90.[4] They finished bottom again in 1994–95,[5]
The 2005–06 season saw them finish fourth in Division One, and after applying for rejoin the North West Counties League following improvements to Brocstedes Park, the club were accepted into Division Two,[2][3] bypassing the Premier Division of the Manchester League. In2007–08 a third-place finish saw them promoted to the renamed Premier Division of the league.[3] Although they finished bottom of the division in2010–11, they were reprieved from relegation afterNew Mills were promoted from the division andFormby were relegated due to a breach of the rules.[6] In2013–14 they won the Challenge Cup, defeatingMaine Road 1–0 in the final.[7] The 2016–17 season saw them win theLancashire FA Challenge Trophy with a 2–1 win overRadcliffe Borough in the final.[8]
In2022–23 Ashton finished bottom of the Premier Division and were relegated to Division One North.
53°30′13.651″N2°39′52.960″W / 53.50379194°N 2.66471111°W /53.50379194; -2.66471111
