A Look Back - 1982/83 Third Division
Wed 1st April 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 we continue this series with a look at the Third Division.
Third Division
Unlike the top two divisions, the Third Division was made up of 18 teams, with four coming from Division Two of the Cheshire County League and thirteern coming from the Lancashire Combination. There was one team that stepped up from the Mid-Cheshire League, now known as the Cheshire League, and that was H.B. & H. Newton, who rebranded that summer as simply Newton.
The opening day on Saturday 14th August saw Prestwich Heys record the biggest win, winning 4-0 away at Oldham Dew, with Warrington Town and Blackpool Mechanics both also scoring four that day. However the main story came at Colne Dynamoes where Bolton ST won 3-2, with Stones scoring all three goals for Bolton, thus becoming the first recorded player to score a hat-trick in the new league. A whopping 36 goals were scored in the Third Division that day, a record that wasn't beaten for a while.
Bolton ST then claimed the biggest Third Division win on Saturday 4th September, beating Ashton Athletic 5-1 with Stones again hitting a hat-trick, and a month later on Saturday 9th October the divisions aggregate score was set when Colne Dynamoes beat Bacup Borough 5-3. Two weeks later and Colne set the highest score, beating Whitworth Valley 6-1.
Colne Dynamoes were by far the most superior team in the Third Division that season, and they further increased that highest score on Saturday 11th December with a 6-0 away win at Bolton ST, avenging that opening day loss. The eight goals in a game record was equalled twice on Saturday 5th February 1983, Ashton Town and Vulcan Newton setting the highest draw following a 4-4 with Clitheroe winning 6-2 away at Maghull.
Saturday 5th March saw the highest win smashed, both in the Third Division and league as a whole, with Newton winning 8-0 away at Ashton Athletic. Saturday 30th April was a record breaking day, with two sides joining the eight goals in a game club. Bacup Borough and Clitheroe both won 7-1 at home against Newton and Maghull, with Bacup's Hilton scoring five goals in that game, the first player in league history to score five in a game. The day itself saw 40 goals, which was a Third Division record.
Colne Dynamoes were the eventual champions, securing the most wins with 25 and most goals with 95. They also had least losses with four, a record shared with Warrington Town who finished just one point behind them. Warrington had the best defensive record, conceding just 33 goals. The most draws was a whopping 16 from 34 games, that going to Nelson. That was a league as well as divisional record. Colne had the least, drawing just three.
At the other end Ashton Athletic won just three games and conceded 23. They scored only 18 goals which was a league record in a season, whilst conceding 92. Ashton's goal difference of -74 was also a league record, as was the 14 points they finished on.
With others from the First and Second Division's leaving the league, Ashton were not relegated. Wigan Rovers, who finished one place above them, left the league at the end of the season and were replaced by newly admitted Cheadle Town and Urmston Town.
A Look Back - 1982/83 Third Division
Wed 1st April 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 we continue this series with a look at the Third Division.
Third Division
Unlike the top two divisions, the Third Division was made up of 18 teams, with four coming from Division Two of the Cheshire County League and thirteern coming from the Lancashire Combination. There was one team that stepped up from the Mid-Cheshire League, now known as the Cheshire League, and that was H.B. & H. Newton, who rebranded that summer as simply Newton.
The opening day on Saturday 14th August saw Prestwich Heys record the biggest win, winning 4-0 away at Oldham Dew, with Warrington Town and Blackpool Mechanics both also scoring four that day. However the main story came at Colne Dynamoes where Bolton ST won 3-2, with Stones scoring all three goals for Bolton, thus becoming the first recorded player to score a hat-trick in the new league. A whopping 36 goals were scored in the Third Division that day, a record that wasn't beaten for a while.
Bolton ST then claimed the biggest Third Division win on Saturday 4th September, beating Ashton Athletic 5-1 with Stones again hitting a hat-trick, and a month later on Saturday 9th October the divisions aggregate score was set when Colne Dynamoes beat Bacup Borough 5-3. Two weeks later and Colne set the highest score, beating Whitworth Valley 6-1.
Colne Dynamoes were by far the most superior team in the Third Division that season, and they further increased that highest score on Saturday 11th December with a 6-0 away win at Bolton ST, avenging that opening day loss. The eight goals in a game record was equalled twice on Saturday 5th February 1983, Ashton Town and Vulcan Newton setting the highest draw following a 4-4 with Clitheroe winning 6-2 away at Maghull.
Saturday 5th March saw the highest win smashed, both in the Third Division and league as a whole, with Newton winning 8-0 away at Ashton Athletic. Saturday 30th April was a record breaking day, with two sides joining the eight goals in a game club. Bacup Borough and Clitheroe both won 7-1 at home against Newton and Maghull, with Bacup's Hilton scoring five goals in that game, the first player in league history to score five in a game. The day itself saw 40 goals, which was a Third Division record.
Colne Dynamoes were the eventual champions, securing the most wins with 25 and most goals with 95. They also had least losses with four, a record shared with Warrington Town who finished just one point behind them. Warrington had the best defensive record, conceding just 33 goals. The most draws was a whopping 16 from 34 games, that going to Nelson. That was a league as well as divisional record. Colne had the least, drawing just three.
At the other end Ashton Athletic won just three games and conceded 23. They scored only 18 goals which was a league record in a season, whilst conceding 92. Ashton's goal difference of -74 was also a league record, as was the 14 points they finished on.
With others from the First and Second Division's leaving the league, Ashton were not relegated. Wigan Rovers, who finished one place above them, left the league at the end of the season and were replaced by newly admitted Cheadle Town and Urmston Town.
