A Look Back - 1982/83 Second Division
Tue 31st March 2020 | A Look Back | By Martin Fallon
To keep us going through these times without football, we thought that we would take a look back through the archives and look at when records were set in the North West Counties Football League. This first three articles in this series will focus on our first season in 1982/83 when obviously many records were set and broken over the course of the season, and continue this series with a look at the Second Division.
Second Division
The Second Division was made up of 20 teams, with six coming from the Lancashire Combination and the remaining 14 coming from the Cheshire County League. It was the widest footprint of all of the new divisions, with teams as far apart as Caernarfon Town, New Mills, Eastwood Hanley and Wren Rovers playing in this division.
The opening day on Saturday 14th August saw the biggest win in the league come from this division as Droylsden beat Ellesmere Port & Neston 7-1, with six different goalscorers in that match. Radcliffe Borough had a 3-0 win, with victories also on the opening day for Atherton LR, Irlam Town, Caernarfon Town, Chadderton, Eastwood Hanley and Salford. 30 goals in total were scored in the Second Division that day.
Tuesday 24th August was an interesting evening. It saw just four games but there were 25 goals in those games, with a 1-1, a 5-3, a 6-1 and a 4-4 draw. That 4-4 draw, between Fleetwood Town FC and Prescot BI, set the record for highest scoring drawn game. Tuesday 31st August brought two more victories by six goals. Irlam Town beat Fleetwood Town FC 6-0 whilst Wren Rovers beat Ellesmere Port & Neston 8-2 to set a new highest score record.
That record lasted four days, Radcliffe Borough beating Kirkby Town 7-0 on Saturday 4th September, with Haworth becoming the first player in league history to score four in a game. There was just eight games on Saturday 23rd October but they brought 36 goals, the highest of the season. Radcliffe Borough scored five that day, wth Ford Motors, Kirkby Town, Wren Rovers and Caernarfon Town all scoring four.
With a lot of records being set early on, the rest of the season was pretty uneventful until Saturday 23rd April, when Kirkby Town set the highest win by beating New Mills FC 8-0. The most goals in a game record was equalled on Wednesday 18th May, when Rossendale United beat New Mills FC 8-2.
The final table saw Radcliffe Borough top of the league, and they set several league records as well as divisional records. They won 33 of their 38 games, losing just one league game all season, and they were both the leading scorers with 110 goals and conceded the least with just 25 goals. That gave a goal difference of +85.
Only four teams in history have won more games in a season than this, all of which were over a 42 game season. Losing just one game in a season remains a league record, and only one team since 1982 has done this in a season. Kirkby Town, who left the league after this season despite finishing 5th, recorded just three draws all season, whilst New Mills FC finished bottom with the fewest wins (7), most losses (27), fewest goals scored (40) and most goals conceded (106).
They also left the league after this season, their 18 points though was one more than Nantwich Town managed in the First Division. Padiham were also relegated after finishing second from bottom.
A Look Back - 1982/83 Second Division
Tue 31st March 2020 | A Look Back
By Martin Fallon
To keep us going through these times without football, we thought that we would take a look back through the archives and look at when records were set in the North West Counties Football League. This first three articles in this series will focus on our first season in 1982/83 when obviously many records were set and broken over the course of the season, and continue this series with a look at the Second Division.
Second Division
The Second Division was made up of 20 teams, with six coming from the Lancashire Combination and the remaining 14 coming from the Cheshire County League. It was the widest footprint of all of the new divisions, with teams as far apart as Caernarfon Town, New Mills, Eastwood Hanley and Wren Rovers playing in this division.
The opening day on Saturday 14th August saw the biggest win in the league come from this division as Droylsden beat Ellesmere Port & Neston 7-1, with six different goalscorers in that match. Radcliffe Borough had a 3-0 win, with victories also on the opening day for Atherton LR, Irlam Town, Caernarfon Town, Chadderton, Eastwood Hanley and Salford. 30 goals in total were scored in the Second Division that day.
Tuesday 24th August was an interesting evening. It saw just four games but there were 25 goals in those games, with a 1-1, a 5-3, a 6-1 and a 4-4 draw. That 4-4 draw, between Fleetwood Town FC and Prescot BI, set the record for highest scoring drawn game. Tuesday 31st August brought two more victories by six goals. Irlam Town beat Fleetwood Town FC 6-0 whilst Wren Rovers beat Ellesmere Port & Neston 8-2 to set a new highest score record.
That record lasted four days, Radcliffe Borough beating Kirkby Town 7-0 on Saturday 4th September, with Haworth becoming the first player in league history to score four in a game. There was just eight games on Saturday 23rd October but they brought 36 goals, the highest of the season. Radcliffe Borough scored five that day, wth Ford Motors, Kirkby Town, Wren Rovers and Caernarfon Town all scoring four.
With a lot of records being set early on, the rest of the season was pretty uneventful until Saturday 23rd April, when Kirkby Town set the highest win by beating New Mills FC 8-0. The most goals in a game record was equalled on Wednesday 18th May, when Rossendale United beat New Mills FC 8-2.
The final table saw Radcliffe Borough top of the league, and they set several league records as well as divisional records. They won 33 of their 38 games, losing just one league game all season, and they were both the leading scorers with 110 goals and conceded the least with just 25 goals. That gave a goal difference of +85.
Only four teams in history have won more games in a season than this, all of which were over a 42 game season. Losing just one game in a season remains a league record, and only one team since 1982 has done this in a season. Kirkby Town, who left the league after this season despite finishing 5th, recorded just three draws all season, whilst New Mills FC finished bottom with the fewest wins (7), most losses (27), fewest goals scored (40) and most goals conceded (106).
They also left the league after this season, their 18 points though was one more than Nantwich Town managed in the First Division. Padiham were also relegated after finishing second from bottom.
