History
AFC Liverpool was formed in 2008 by 1,000 Liverpool FC fans who had become
increasingly frustrated at the cost and difficulty in obtaining tickets for Premier
League matches. The mooted ‘39th game’, in which Premier League fixtures would
be played in different parts of the world, proved to be the final straw as it clearly
highlighted that those who ran top flight football were more concerned with money
than its fans.
A website was created and, with the response being positive, work began to move to
the next stage and create a steering group to make the club a reality. At the
beginning of March 2008, AFC Liverpool was officially formed and it was made clear
that the club was not in any way a response to the contentious ownership issue at
Anfield or as a protest against Liverpool Football Club. It was a response to issues at
the top end of football in general.
The new club spokesman, former Radio Merseyside commentator, Alan Parry
explained: This has nothing to do with the ownership issue (at Liverpool FC), its
about affordability. I've been going to Anfield since the late Seventies when I was six
years old. A season ticket in the Kop cost £45 in 1985, today it's £650, which I know
is a lot cheaper than some other Premier League clubs, but in inflation terms
Eighties prices should equate to £98 today.” Parry added: Far from wishing to be
estranged from the club, we are hoping that Liverpool will look upon us as a little
brother.
By May, AFC Liverpool had appointed its first manager in Derek Goulding. The
following month the club arranged a ground share with Prescot Cables and had been
accepted into the North West Counties Football League.
On 16 July 2008 the club played its first game at the home of Ashton Town, a 1-1
draw in a friendly with St Helens Town. Mark Crowder scored the Reds first goal with
a well taken penalty and a crowd of nearly 600 augured well for the season ahead.
The club began its first league season extremely well, beating AFC Darwen 5-0 in
their opening competitive game which heralded a run of ten wins in the first eleven
games. However, we failed to keep this momentum going, eventually finishing a
creditable fourth in the league. The season did prove fruitful though as a 1-0 victory
over Padiham in First Division Trophy Final at Ashton Athletic provided the club’s
first piece of silverware.
The 2009/10 season began with three successive victories but after this became
indifferent at best. After a 5-2 home defeat to Atherton Collieries on Easter Monday,
Derek Goulding left the club and ex- assistant and goalkeeping coach Paul Moore
was appointed caretaker manager.
Under Moore’s stewardship the club had a strong end to the campaign, winning five
out of their last seven league games and achieving a fifth place finish in the league.
We also retained the First Division Trophy, coming from behind to beat Cheadle
Town 2-1 in the final at Flixton. In doing so, AFC Liverpool became the first club to
win the Trophy twice and to successfully defend it.
The 2010/11 began in promising fashion with a ten-game unbeaten run after an
opening day loss at AFC Darwen. However, despite amassing their highest ever
points total, promotion never looked likely because of the form of would-be
champions AFC Blackpool and second placed Runcorn Town. We eventually
finished fourth, narrowly missing third place on goal difference. There was further
disappointment in the First Division Trophy when they reached the final for a third
successive season only to lose to Atherton Collieries 3-2 after extra time. In the FA
Vase, steady progress was made to the third round, where our dreams of Wembley
were dashed by defeat at holders and eventual winners, Whitley Bay.
However, at the League AGM in July 2011, there was a surprise when Rossendale
United were expelled from the league and, in a travesty of justice that still rankles
today, the legendary Formby FC were demoted to the First Division. Holker Old
Boys, who finished above us on goal difference, were offered but declined an
invitation to take up a place in the Premier Division. We were invited to take the
place and duly accepted, meaning we would play Premier Division football the
following season.
The 2011/12 season started badly in terms of results as the club had to wait until
November for their first League victory, a 7-0 demolition of Winsford United. Indeed
the result proved to be something of a turning point as the club, who had been
rooted to the foot of the table, began the steady climb out of relegation danger,
ultimately finishing in nineteenth place.
The 2012/13 season saw the club consolidate its position in the Premier Division
with an eleventh placed finish, accumulating sixty points in the process. As the
season progressed, manager Paul Moore built a core squad of players, which played
some of the most exciting, attractive football in the league and, post-Christmas, won
fifteen and drew five of twenty eight games, including a defeat of eventual Premier
Division champions Padiham on their home patch.
The performances were rewarded in the final game of the season as we beat
recently crowned champions of the Evo-Stik NPL First Division North, Skelmersdale
United, 3-0 in the Liverpool Senior Cup semi-final to book an all North West Counties
League clash with Bootle in the final.
In 2013/14 we started the campaign at a pace, topping the early tables. They fell just
short of being the youngest club to claim the Liverpool Senior Cup, losing the final to
Bootle on penalties, and remained among the league’s pacesetters until November
and December when they began to drop away. Paul Moore’s side regained their
consistency though and eventually achieved their highest ever league finish, ending
up seventh with a total of seventy points.
In 2014/15 we managed to record our highest ever win with a 9-0 victory against St
Helens Town before eventually finishing ninth in the Premier Division. We also
reached their second Liverpool Senior Cup final, beating Ashton Town, Everton and
Bootle along the way. In an exciting final, which saw both teams score in the opening
two minutes, we were unable to claim the trophy, losing 5-4 to NPL side
Skelmersdale United.
We started the 2015/16 season in fine form, winning five out of our first six games,
including a 9-2 away win at Chadderton in the FA Cup and a 3-2 win against NPL
side Radcliffe Borough in the following round, sending us through to the First
Qualifying Round for the first time. At the end of September 2015 though, manager
Paul Moore decided to move on and his place as taken by former midfielder Joe
Gibbons, who had been on Moore’s backroom staff since July 2013, firstly as coach
and then assistant manager. However, after a good start to his tenure, a string of
poor performances and results saw Gibbons resign after just nineteen games in
charge. First team coach Kevin Dally was then appointed as the interim manager
and with most of the players also having departed, Dally had just five days to bring in
almost an entirely new squad before his first match in charge at Alsager. The Reds
came from two goals down to secure a creditable 2-2 draw. Dally’s appointment was
made permanent in March 2016.
With the luxury of a secure league position Dally was able to use the remaining
fixtures to embed his style of play and try out players almost in preparation for the
following season. As a result the club finished seventeenth in the league but were in
a stronger, more stable position from which to move forward.
Despite much optimism around what the 2016/17 season would bring, due in no
small part to the quality of players Dally had convinced to join the club, we endured
an inconsistent campaign. An early exit from the FA Cup at the hands of West
Didsbury & Chorlton and a humiliating 6-0 home defeat to local rivals Bootle in the
FA Vase meant we could concentrate on the league. For much of the season we
were in the top six but a dreadful final two months of the campaign saw is finish
twelfth, having had three points deducted for fielding an ineligible player earlier in the
season.
At the beginning of June 2017 Kevin Dally offered his resignation as first team
manager, a decision the Board reluctantly accepted. After a rigorous recruitment
process former first team coach Chris Stammers accepted the job and with it the
responsibility for taking us forward into the new season.
After some signs of promise in the opening weeks, we went on a catastrophic twelve
match losing run lasting from mid-September up until early November. The nadir was
a 4-5 defeat at Squires Gate, a team on a worse losing run and managed by their
chairman on the day. It was already then apparent that a relegation battle was a real
possibility. That unacceptable losing run ended with a deserved, if unlikely, 1-1 draw
at local rivals City of Liverpool. Stammers side continued to stutter along beating
relegation rivals AFC Darwen and Abbey Hey, but losing to promotion chasing
Widnes. Defeat at home to Burscough on 23 December proved to be the last straw
for Stammers, who resigned shortly after, bringing his deeply disappointing tenure to
an end. He was followed out of the door by a host of players whose motivation
clearly wasn't playing for the shirt.
The Board were now left with the task of appointing a second Manager in six
months. Stammers assistant Stuart Keir and reserve team manager Ben Williams
were appointed joint managers on an interim basis. They marked their first match
with a dogged 0-0 draw at home to Squires Gate and were eventually appointed as
permanent managers. The final weeks of the season saw some encouraging
performances from a team the fans were proud to turn out and support. Keir and
Williams had ensured that our fate was in our own hands on the final day of the
season; victory over Charnock Richard would ensure Premier Division status.
Despite taking the lead in the opening ten seconds, we eventually lost 2-1 confirming
relegation to the First Division North.
Regardless of the disappointment of relegation, Keir and Williams ensured the core
of players who gave us hope were retained for the 2018/19 season. Our opening
game away at Longridge Town started well as we cruised into a 2-0 lead, but we
ended up losing 5-3 to the eventual champions. Another 5-3 defeat followed four
days later at home to Chadderton then we were eliminated from the FA Cup by
Premier Division Ashton Athletic after a replay. Victory over Ashton Town, achieved
with a last minute penalty, started a run of seven straight league wins. However, we
were knocked out of the FA Vase by Barton Town. Three more league wins followed
before a heavy defeat away at Carlisle City started a run of inconsistent results and
performances. We were eliminated from the League Cup by Sandbach United and
beaten at home by bottom of the league Holker Old Boys.
Three days after the Holker defeat we were about to set off for Cleator Moor Celtic
when we received the tragic news that Ben Williams had passed away.
The club needed a week or so to take stock before returning to the field of play,
winning 1-0 at Litherland REMYCA in the Liverpool Senior Cup. With Stuart Keir now
in sole charge of playing matters and coach Chris Anderson promoted to Assistant
Manager, the team won six of their next eight games.
However, further sad news followed over the Christmas period when popular
supporter and club statistician Don Steele unexpectedly passed away.
The team continued to build on our pre-Christmas form reaching the quarter finals of
the Liverpool Senior Cup and First Division Trophy and losing only one more league
game to secure a third place finish in the First Division North.
Indeed the 2018/19 season turned out to be our best yet in terms of points gained. It
was especially satisfying to have our efforts rewarded by the League as Callum
Schorah won the First Division North Player of the Year Award and the club won the
Divisions FA Fair Play Award.
Stuart Keir stepped down as manager at the end of the season due to family
commitments so Assistant Manager Chris Anderson was given the opportunity to
take charge of the first team. Anderson appointed Matt Potter as his assistant,
retained the core elements of the squad he inherited, and made some judicious
additions.
We had played twenty nine league games and progressed to the semi-finals of both
League cup competitions when the FA controversially declared season 2019/20 null
and void because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We channelled our
disappointment into participating in the ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge
against the FA’s decision.
The North West Counties Football League decided the previous season’s cup
competitions should be played to their conclusion so we resumed playing on 4
September 2020 when we lost on penalties to Runcorn Town in the League
Challenge Cup semi-final after a thrilling 3-3 draw. A week later we suffered penalty
heartbreak again, this time losing to Sandbach United in the First Division Trophy
final.
In December a further national lockdown curtailed the 2020/21 season, but not a
planned FA restructure of steps 4 to 6 of the National League System. To determine
who would be promoted, each club was allocated an unweighted points per game
figure on the basis of its completed fixtures in both the 2019/20 and 2020/21
seasons. Clubs were ranked within their respective leagues on the basis of those
calculations. Our performances in those seasons put us comfortably in-line for
promotion so the hard work of the last two years was rightfully rewarded with a place
in the NWCFL Premier Division for the 2021/22 season.
Consolidation as a Premier Division side was achieved with a creditable fourteenth
place finish in the league. Early exits in both the FA Cup and League Challenge Cup
were somewhat offset by a thrilling run in the FA Vase in which we progressed to the
fourth round before being beaten on penalties by Abbey Hey.
Prior to the start of the 2022/23 season, Matt Potter was appointed as manager
following the departure of Chris Anderson, who accepted an assistant manager role
at National League North side Chorley FC. Potter’s team had an impressive start to
the season, keeping pace with the front-runners Vauxhall Motors, Avro and
Wythenshawe Town but, following an FA Vase exit on penalties in January, a poor
run of form saw us slip down the table. Despite the setback we finished in an
impressive sixth position in the NWCFL Premier Division, our highest ever placing.
In May 2023 there was an unexpected turn of events as, unbeknown to our Society
Board, manager Matt Potter had been approached by newly relegated Skelmersdale
United to become their new manager, a position he accepted. The irony wasn’t lost
on us as Skelmersdale United had issued a statement deploring poaching of
managers after another NWCFL club took their previous manager. Reacting
decisively and properly, we approached FC Bootle SE for permission to speak to
their manager and our former club captain, Phil Stafford. Talks were swiftly
concluded, and Stafford was announced as our new manager on 1 June 2023. In an
epic ending to this saga, Potter was sacked by Skelmersdale United in October 2023
and the club was relegated to the NWCFL First Division North.
Stafford’s side opened their campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat at Kendal Town, who
would be the Division’s early pace setters. Ironically, our first home game was
against Matt Potter’s Skelmersdale United, a match we just couldn’t lose. We
triumphed 3-2, a scoreline that flattered the visitors. We suffered an early exit from
the FA Cup at the hands of Lower Breck, from the Liverpool Senior Cup by South
Liverpool, the FA Vase, beaten by Blyth Town and the League Challenge Cup,
beaten by Atherton LR. On 30 December, we recorded our highest ever home
attendance v Bury FC as 877 spectators paid to see the game. Our league form was
inconsistent, winning and losing in equal measure but by season’s end we finished
fourteenth in the Division. Backed to the hilt by the fans, Stafford’s first season in
charge was certainly something to build on.
CLUB HONOURS
NWCFL First Division Trophy Winners: 2008/09, 2009/10
NWCFL First Division Trophy Runners Up: 2010/11, 2019/20
Liverpool County FA Senior Cup Finalists: 2013, 2015
Fans Club Trophy Winners: 2008, 2009, 2010
Joe Fagan Commemorative Trophy Winners: 2008, 2009
Record Victory: St Helens Town 0-9 AFC Liverpool 13th
September 2014
Most League Goals in a Season: Ryan Cox 24 (2014/15)
Most Goals (All Competitions) in a Season: Ryan Cox 33
(2014/15)
