 | |||
| Full name | Runcorn Linnets Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Yellows | ||
| Founded | 28 April 2006 (2006-04-28) | ||
| Ground | APEC Taxis Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 1,600 | ||
| Coordinates | 53°18′58″N2°40′14″W / 53.3161°N 2.6705°W /53.3161; -2.6705 | ||
| Chairman | Peter Cartledge | ||
| Manager | Brad Cooke | ||
| League | Northern Premier League Division One West | ||
| 2024–25 | Northern Premier League Division One West, 11th of 22 | ||
| Website | www | ||
Runcorn Linnets F.C. are anEnglishfootball club based inRuncorn,Cheshire. The club currently plays in theNorthern Premier League Division One West, and is a full member of theCheshire County Football Association. The club is run by a trust which is a registered society under theCo-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, and is registered with theFinancial Services Authority.[1]
The club was formed on 28 April 2006 as a replacement for the town's previous club,Runcorn F.C. Halton, which had resigned from theNorthern Premier League due to financial difficulties. The original Runcorn club's biggest success had been winning the1981–82Alliance Premier League title, although they failed to reach theFootball League as the league's members had voted against them joining. The club is run by the Supporters Trust, which had been set up as "The Linnets Independent Supporters Trust", and the new club joined two levels further down thefootball pyramid, in theNorth West Counties Football LeagueDivision Two, having been accepted into the league on 17 June. A groundshare withWitton Albion was arranged at the start of the 2006–07 season, until a suitable ground could be found in Runcorn.[2] This was achieved in 2010, when the club moved into a newly built ground on Murdishaw Avenue and named it the Millbank Linnets Stadium as part of a three-year sponsorship deal.
Steve Carragher who had played for and managed Runcorn FC Halton, joined the club as manager,[2] with Mark Philips as his assistant player-manager. Several players from the old club also joinedthe Linnets. Their first game was a 4–0 away win againstAshton Town, followed by a 5–0 victory at home toCastleton Gabriels. Runcorn finished their inaugural season as runners-up, losing out on the league title toWinsford United on goal difference, and won promotion to the First Division. Thomas Lamb finished the season as the top scorer, with 22 goals in all competitions.[citation needed]
In the 2007–08 season,Linnets spent most of their time in mid-table. They won their first everFA Vase game againstDaisy Hill, before losing toSalford City in the First round. After a string of poor results, the board decided that a change of management was needed and Steve Wilkes was appointed as manager in January 2008. They finished the season twelfth out of 20 clubs. During the close season, the league was restructured with the First Division becoming the Premier Division. In the 2008–09 seasonLinnets entered theFA Cup for the first time, winning their first game 3–2 at home toRossington Main on 17 August 2008. In the next round, they lost 4–0 toCurzon Ashton on 30 August.[2] Recently the club has announced a youth team in every age group up to the under 16s. In 2011–12 they were the only team from the NWCFL to get to the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup.[3]
After three consecutive seasons of finishing runners-up, Runcorn finished fourth in the 2016–17 season, which was their lowest in four years. In the 2017–18 season, Runcorn Linnets finished the season in first, four points ahead of second placedWidnes, who also gained promotion. Runcorn also went on to have the highest number of goals scored and the fewest goals conceded.
After two seasons being cancelled due to the Covid pandemic, Runcorn finished 4th in the 2021–22 season. They beatLeek 4–1 in the playoff semi final but lost 2–1 toMarine in the playoff final with a sellout crowd of 1,600 at the APEC Taxis Stadium. Calum McIntyre left his role as manager at the end of season to joinChester.
In the 2022–23 season Runcorn made it to theLiverpool Senior Cup final where they once again lost toMarine on penalties at theDCBL Stadium after a 0–0 draw in front of 2,651 fans.Runcorn finished 6th in this season with manager Dave Wild leaving the club before the play offs, with Billy Paynter taking over till the end of the season. The club went on to win away atLeek in the playoff semi final before losing their third final in a year againstWorkington 2–1 after extra time in the play off final, despite going 1–0 up early on. Billy then remained as Runcorn manager for the upcoming season.
In the 2023–24 season Runcorn once again qualified for the Northern Premier League West playoffs with a second-place finish. They lost 2–0 toCity of Liverpool FC in the semi final. Following the loss, manager Billy Paynter stepped down from his position, after just over a year in charge.Antony Kay was announced as the new Runcorn manager ahead of the 2024–25 season, after appearing 41 times for the Yellows the previous season.
The club used togroundshare withWitton Albion at theWincham Park stadium inNorthwich. However, they had a stated aim to move back to Runcorn with a new stadium project –R2R (Return 2 Runcorn). A working party was established to work towards the move. The club had been in discussion withRiverside College about leasing a plot of land at the Runcorn Campus, but this proposal was rejected. The next plan involved a move to Halton Sports in Murdishaw, Runcorn for the start of the2010–11 season, and this has now been completed, largely due to the backing of thelocal council. The club's aims were to build a ground that would meet theNorthern Premier League standard, together with aCommunity centre which would be used as the clubhouse on matchdays. The club also want to include anall-weather pitch on the site for use by local sporting organisations and groups.[4] The opening match took place on 17 July 2010 and was a friendly againstWitton Albion, partly as old rivals but mainly as an appreciation of their help in establishing a base for Runcorn Linnets F.C. in its foundation years.[5]
From the start of the2020–21 season Runcorn Linnets will play on a state of the arthybrid grass pitch. The pitch will also enable the club to increase community engagement.
Beating Bury U21s Trophy :Winners 2025-26
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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| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Peter Cartledge | Chairman |
| Jeff Jago | Vice-chairman |
| Paul Eastup | Club Secretary |
| David Bettley | Trust Secretary |
| Brad Cooke | First Team Manager |
| Rob Sadler | First Team Assistant Manager |
| Adam Rigby | First Team Goalkeeper Coach |
| Lee Bignall | First Team Coach |
| Darren Berrill | Head Of Medical |
| Daniel Jago | Kit Manager |
| Ron Corn | Mascot |
Past averages:
Source:Tony Kempster's siteNon-League MattersNW Counties Football League site
Key to league record
| League | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joined theNorth West Counties Football League in 2006 | |||||||||||
| Year | League | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Significant Events | Top Scorer (League) |
| 2006–07 | NW Counties Division Two | 34 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 77 | 35 | 76 | 2nd | Promoted | |
| 2007–08 | NW Counties Division One | 38 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 53 | 64 | 48 | 12th | ||
| League Renamed to Premier Division | |||||||||||
| 2008–09 | NW Counties Premier Division | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 64 | 84 | 55 | 11th | ||
| 2009–10 | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 75 | 78 | 57 | 11th | |||
| 2010–11 | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 68 | 77 | 56 | 12th | |||
| 2011–12 | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 70 | 62 | 76 | 5th | Rob Whyte – 15 | ||
| 2012–13 | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 82 | 58 | 72 | 6th | NWCFL League Cup:Winners: 2012–13 | Ross McDowell – 14 | |
| 2013–14 | 42 | 29 | 8 | 5 | 103 | 39 | 95 | 2nd | Antony Hickey – 19 | ||
| 2014–15 | 40 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 89 | 39 | 92 | 2nd | Kevin Towey – 18 | ||
| 2015–16 | 42 | 32 | 2 | 8 | 97 | 35 | 98 | 2nd | Kyle Hamid – 19 | ||
| 2016–17 | 42 | 27 | 9 | 6 | 105 | 45 | 90 | 4th | Mark Houghton – 22 | ||
| 2017–18 | 44 | 31 | 7 | 6 | 122 | 36 | 100 | 1st | NWCFL Premier Division:Champions: 2017–18 | Freddie Potter – 24 | |
| 2018–19 | Northern Premier League | 38 | 22 | 6 | 10 | 68 | 50 | 72 | 6th | Freddie Potter – 8 | |
| League Renamed to North West Division | |||||||||||
| 2019–20 | 27 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 41 | 40 | 38 | 9th | Season Curtailed Due ToCOVID-19 pandemic. | Louis Corrigan – 7 | |
| 2020–21 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 8th | Season Curtailed Due ToCOVID-19 pandemic. | Craig Linfield – 4 | |
| League Renamed to West Division | |||||||||||
| 2021–22 | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 72 | 39 | 76 | 4th | Lost in play-off final | Ryan Brooke - 28 | |
| 2022–23 | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 58 | 38 | 63 | 5th | Lost in play-off final | Jamie Rainford - 14 | |
| 2023–24 | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 63 | 39 | 68 | 2nd | Lost in play-off semi-final | Oliver Molloy - 15 | |
| 2024–25 | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 54 | 70 | 61 | 11th | Cheshire Senior Cup: Winners: 2024-25 | Ryan Brooke - 11 | |
Source:FCHDFootball Web PagesRLFC
| Season | FA Cup | FA Trophy | FA Vase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | – | – | – |
| 2007–08 | – | – | R1 |
| 2008–09 | PRE | – | R3 |
| 2009–10 | PRE | – | 2Q |
| 2010–11 | PRE | – | R1 |
| 2011–12 | 2Q | – | R1 |
| 2012–13 | EPr | – | R1 |
| 2013–14 | 3Q | – | R1 |
| 2014–15 | PRE | – | R1 |
| 2015–16 | 1Q | – | R2 |
| 2016–17 | EP | – | R1 |
| 2017–18 | PRE | – | R3 |
| 2018–19 | PRE | EP | – |
| 2019–20 | PRE | 3Q | – |
| 2020–21 | 2Q | R1 | – |
| 2021–22 | 3Q | 3Q | – |
| 2022–23 | 1Q | R2 | – |
| 2023–24 | 2Qr | 1Q | – |
| 2024-25 | PREr | 1Q | - |
| 2025-26 | 4Q | 3Q | - |
| Name | From | To | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Carragher | 2006 | 2008 | |
| Steve Wilkes | 2008 | 2010 | |
| Paul McNally | 2010 | 2012 | |
| Joey Dunn | 2012 | 2016 | NWCFL League Cup: Winners: 2012–13 |
| Michael Ellison | 2016 | 2020 | NWCFL Premier Division: Champions: 2017–18 |
| Calum McIntyre | 2020 | 2022 | |
| Dave Wild | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Billy Paynter | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Antony Kay | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Brad Cooke | 2025 | Present | Cheshire Senior Cup Winners: 2024-25 |
