Northwich Victoria F.C.

Northwich Victoria Football Club is an English football club based in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire.

Northwich are an old club. Records go back to 1874. They played at the same Drill Field ground for over 125 years, but after a ground sharing period with local rivals Witton Albion they started the new 2005-06 season in their new stadium (Victoria Stadium) in Wincham, just outside Northwich and across the Trent & Mersey Canal which separates them from Witton Albion.

The club were briefly members of the Football League Second Division from 1892 to 1894, but otherwise played in various regional leagues until joining the newly formed Cheshire County League after World War I. They won the title just once. In 1968 they became founder members of the Northern Premier League. In 1884, Northwich reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, but were knocked out by Blackburn Olympic.

The season 1976-77 warrants a special mention in the history of the club, being their best FA Cup run in modern times. In November 1976 they beat Rochdale 2-1 in an FA Cup first round 2nd replay at Maine Road, the then home of Manchester City after drawing 1-1 at Spotland and 0-0 at home, beat Peterborough United 4-0 in the 2nd round and beat Elton John's Watford 3-2 in a pulsating cup tie at the Drill Field in the third round with Frank Corrigan securing an interview on Match of the Day for scoring the winner. All hopes of a dream draw in the 4th round were foundered when Oldham Athletic at home came out of the hat. The match was moved to Maine Road to get more fans in and 29,000 witnessed the Vics going down 3-1.

During the same season Northwich and Boston United were fighting it out for the Northern Premier League and Vics went to Scarborough on the last day of the season knowing a win won bring them the title. They drew 1-1 effectively handing the Lincolnshire side the title.

In 1979, Northwich were founder members of yet another league, when the Alliance Premier League (later the Football Conference) was formed, and were the last club to be ever-present in that league 1979-2005. They finished last in the 2003-04 season and were slated for relegation to the Conference North division as part of the National League System restructuring, but circumstances including the bankruptcy of Telford United, Hucknall Town's Watnall Road ground not being good enough and the demotion of Margate led to Northwich Victoria being allowed to remain at the Conference National level. In the 2004-05 season, the team went into administration, and thus were deducted 10 points under National League rules, which left them in relegation trouble. However, the team recovered and finished in 19th place, nine points clear of the relegation zone (had they not had a points deduction, they would have finished 14th). Unfortunately for the Vics, this turned out to be for nothing, as they were voluntarily demoted from the Conference National due to legal problems (after going into administration they renamed the club Northwich Victoria 2005 and FA deadlines over the transfer of their Conference membership to the club's new owners were not met) (the alternative would have been outright expulsion from the Conference, which would have forced them into starting again in one of the lower regional divisions).

In the 2005-06 FA Cup, Northwich reached the 3rd round with over 4,000 fans travelling to Sunderland to watch the game. After an honourable fight, Northwich were defeated 3-0 and the team received huge applause from their fans. However at the end of the season, compensation came in the form of the Conference North Championship. In the penultimate game the team beat their nearest rivals, Stafford Rangers, in front of more than 3,000 supporters to guarantee an immediate return to the Conference National.

In October 2007 it was reported that the club was up for sale,^[2] and that the club could fold due to an unpaid tax bill.^[3] The club had applied to go into administration to stave off closure.^[4] In December 2007 a consortium led by Jim Rushe completed a takeover, and Rushe became the chairman of the club.^[5] The stadium is still owned by Connett's real estate company Beaconet Ltd. In January 2009 with Beaconet in receivership, Connett removed safety equipment from the stadium, causing the club to move temporarily to Altrincham's Moss Lane ground. Rushe's consortium is in the process of securing funding to buy the stadium.^{[6] [7]}

As of 6 March 2009.^{[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]}

• FA Trophy
  • Winners 1984
• Conference North
  • Champions 2005-06
• Cheshire County League
  • Champions 1956-57

• Official website
• Northwich Victoria Supporters Trust

Template:Fb start

Template:Fb end