Mossley A.F.C.

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Mossley

Full name

Mossley Association Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Lilywhites

Founded

1903

Ground

Seel Park
Mossley

Capacity

4,000 (200 seated)

Chairman

Sam Rigby

Manager

Jason Beckford

League

Northern Premier League Premier Division

2005-06

Northern Premier League First Division, 1st





Home colours





Away colours

Mossley Association Football Club are an English football club from the town of Mossley, Greater Manchester, currently playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. They were founded in 1903 and are nicknamed the Lilywhites owing to their colours (white shirts, black shorts and stockings). They are currently managed by Jason Beckford and play at Seel Park.

1 History
2 Records
3 Honours List
4 External Links and Sources

[edit] History

Mossley were formed in 1903 as Park Villa and initially competed in local competitions. After just one season the club’s name was changed to Mossley Juniors. In 1909 they became Mossley AFC and moved to their present ground Seel Park in 1912 from their previous site at Luzley. The early years of Mossley AFC were spent in the Ashton & District League culminating in a superb season in 1914-15 when Mossley won the League, Manchester Junior Cup and the Lady Aitken Cup (see above picture), progressing to the South East Lancs League in 1915, the Manchester Amateur League in 1916, the Lancashire Combination in 1918 and then were founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919, finishing runners up in the first season in both League and League Cup and returning to win the League Cup the following season beating Sandbach Ramblers in the final.

Apart from many successes in the Ashton Challenge Cup and various Manchester Cup wins Mossley had many lean years in the League and rarely finished in the top half of the table, although in 1961 they won the Cheshire League Cup for only the second time when they beat a strong Tranmere Rovers Reserve side 6-3 at Hyde United's ground under the guidance of former Blackburn Rovers star Eddie Quigley.

Mossley’s most successful season in their Cheshire League days was in 1969-70 when Don Wilson's side finished runners-up in the League, reached the 1st Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time in 20 years losing narrowly in a replay to Stockport County and made it to the quarter finals of the inaugural F.A.Trophy going out to Southern League giants Barnet.

After more than fifty years in the Cheshire League, the Lilywhites were elected to the Northern Premier League in 1972.

During the late 70’s, Mossley grew into a formidable force in non-league football. They won successive League titles in 1978-79 and 1979-80 and finished runners-up in each of the next three seasons. With influential manager Bob Murphy at the helm the club also saw it’s greatest moment. May 1980 saw the Lilywhites at Wembley in the Final of the F.A.Challenge Trophy. After defeating supposedly bigger clubs like Altrincham, Blyth Spartans and Boston United on the way, Mossley unluckily lost 2-1 in the final to Dagenham, their first defeat in 31 games. A crowd of 26,000 were at Wembley, and a memorable day for the Club and town was captured for posterity by Granada TV in their documentary “Mossley Goes To Wembley.” At this time Mossley had the most formidable strike force in non-league football with the legendary Leo Skeete, Dave Moore and Ian Smith alongside first Eamonn O’Keefe (sold to Everton) and then Kevan Keelan.

The following season saw Mossley take their only Football League scalp in the FA Cup when they beat Crewe Alexandra at Seel Park. Other League clubs faced in the glory years were Rotherham United, York City, Mansfield Town, Stockport County, Huddersfield Town and Darlington. The great run of success ended abruptly in 1984 when following financial upheavals the Lilywhites finished bottom of the then one division NPL and had to seek re-election.

A gradual recovery took place through the 80’s with 1988-89 being the most successful since the glory days. Under the guidance of Bryan Griffiths and the now Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Dave Jones Mossley won the NPL Cup, Manchester Premier Cup, Reporter Floodlit Cup and at the start of the following season the NPL Shield. After this, fortunes faded again following further financial problems with the Club narrowly avoiding relegation in 1992. The following year, after a calamitous series of results not even the return of the legendary Bob Murphy could save the Club from the drop. Over the next two years Mossley saw no fewer than six managerial changes and the Lilywhites run of 23 years in the Unibond/NPL came to an end in 1995 when they were relegated to the North West Counties League.

1995-96 saw Mossley make a highly promising NWCL debut, involved in the promotion race for most of the season they eventually finished 4th, reaching the final of the NWCL Floodlit Trophy into the bargain. The following season, after a bright start, the team failed to stay the pace with the leaders and finally finished in 7th position, but did have a great run in the FA Carlsberg Vase, reaching the quarter finals.

In 1997 the Club parted company with manager Kevan Keelan and installed another former Lilywhites player, Benny Phillips as his replacement. Also appointing a new Chairman in the Club’s main sponsor Sam Rigby of club sponsors NEC and with a rebuilt team finished in 9th position.

Season 1998-99 saw the team more than unfortunate not to win the title, losing out in controversial circumstances to Workington F.C. on the last day of the season. It was a bitter pill to swallow after leading the table for the last three months which included a club record 12 successive wins.

The Millennium season saw Mossley again reach the quarter finals of the FA Vase before going down 3-1 at eventual winners Deal Town F.C. and slip from the title race after that blow to finish 4th, but they did reach the final of the Manchester Premier Cup unluckily losing by a last minute goal to Droylsden F.C. at Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park.

2000-01 was a disappointing one after a great start which saw the record 12 successive wins equalled, but hampered by injuries and suspensions Mossley eventually finished in mid-table.

In November 2001 Benny Phillips was replaced as manager by former Coventry City and Stoke City star Ally Pickering and Mossley finished in 8th position.

Mossley finished their Centenary Season 2002-03 in 3rd position, reached the quarter finals of the FA Vase for the third time and won their first cup in over a decade when they beat Clitheroe F.C. 2-1 to win the NWCL Worthington Trophy at Gigg Lane, Bury F.C.

The 2003-04 season saw Jason Beckford replace Pickering as manager just prior to the season and the club fought tooth and nail to win promotion to the UniBond League going on a 21 match unbeaten run up to the new year. They were then hit by a 3 point deduction due to an aministrative error and form took a nosedive as the team quickly crashed out of four cups and lost pole position in the League. The drama continued to the end as Mossley were just pipped to the title by Clitheroe on the last day of the season.

2004-05 season saw Mossley consolidate back in the UniBond League and were unfortunate to miss out on a place in the promotion play off's finally finishing in 7th place.

In 2005-06 Mossley excelled by becoming Champions of the UniBond League Division One by two points above Fleetwood Town F.C. on the last day of the season despite losing their last two games, earning promotion to the Premier Division where they had last competed in 1993.

[edit] Records

Previous Names: Park Villa (1903/04), Mossley Juniors (1904-09)
Record Attendance: 6,640 v Stalybridge Celtic, Cheshire League, 1946
Record Victory: 9-0 v Urmston, Manchester Shield, 1947
Heaviest defeat: 2-13 v Witton Albion, Cheshire League, 1926
Most Appearances for Club: 613, Jimmy O'Connor 1972-1987
Most Goals for Club: 235, David Moore 1974-1984
Most Goals in a Season: 58, Jackie Roscoe 1930-31
Largest Transfer Fee Received: £25,000 from Everton for Eamonn O'Keefe, 1979
Largest Transfer Fee Paid: £2,300 to Altrincham for Phil Wilson, 1980
England Semi-Pro Internationals: Eamonn O'Keefe (1979), Ian Smith (1980), Phil Derbyshire (1981)

Best F.A. Cup Performance - 2nd Round

Lost 0-0, R0-3 v Nuneaton Borough 1949/50
Lost 1-3 v Mansfield Town 1980/81

Best F.A. Trophy Performance - Finalists

Lost 2-1 v Dagenham 1979/80 at Wembley

Best F.A. Vase Performance - Quarter Finalists

Lost 5-1 v Whitby Town 1996/97
Lost 3-1 v Deal Town 1999/2000
Lost 0-2 v AFC Sudbury 2002/03

[edit] Honours List

Ashton Challenge Cup Winners: 1921/22, 1922/23, 1929/30, 1934/35, 1948/49, 1951/52, 1953/54, 1955/56, 1961/62
Ashton & District League Champions: 1911/12, 1914/15
Ashton Junior Cup Winners: 1909/10
Cheshire League Cup Winners: 1920/21, 1960/61
FA Cup 2nd Round: 1949/50, 1980/81
FA Trophy Runners Up: 1979/80
Floodlit Cup Winners: 1974/75, 1988/89
Lady Aitken Cup Winners: 1913/14, 1914/15
Manchester Intermediate Cup Winners: 1960/61, 1966/67, 1967/68
Manchester Junior Cup Winners: 1914/15, 1933/34
Manchester Premier Cup Winners: 1988/89, 1990/91
Manchester Senior Cup Winners: 1971/72, 1976/77
Manchester Shield Winners: 1937/38, 1948/49
Northern Premier League Challenge Shield: 1989/90
Northern Premier League Champions: 1978/79, 1979/80
Northern Premier League Runners Up: 1980/81, 1981/82, 1982/83
Northern Premier League Division One Champions: 2005/06
Northern Premier League Cup Winners: 1978/79, 1988/89
North West Counties League Runners Up: 1998/99, 2003/04
North West Counties League Trophy Winners: 2002/03

[edit] External Links and Sources

www.mossleyweb.com Official website

Northern Premier League Premier Division 2006/07

Football in England

v • d • e

League competitions	The FA	Cup competitions
Premier League	England	FA Cup
The Football League (Champ, 1, 2)	(U-21) (B)	Football League Cup
Football Conference (Nat, N, S)	List of clubs	Community Shield
Northern Premier League (Prem, 1)	List of venues	Football League Trophy
Southern League (Prem, Mid, S&W)	(by capacity)	FA Trophy
Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S)	List of leagues	FA Vase
English football league system	Records	FA NLS Cup