There are a few teams who have been important
in the Non-League game before moving up and
on to the Football League - and staying there.
Some of these are covered below.
ACCRINGTON STANLEY
The original Accrington Stanley joined the
Lancashire Combination in 1900, winning the title in 1903 and 1906, plus
the first Northern section played in the
1915-1916 season. Leaving the competition in 1916, Accrington
returned in 1919, after the Great War.
They became founder members of the 3rd Division (North) in 1921, with the reserve side joining the Combination. Accrington Stanley’s first-team
came back into non-league football in 1962 for a couple of seasons, joining the
Lancashire Combination Division Two, which was won in 1964.
Promotion to Division 1 proved a disastrous
experience and the club folded completely in January 1966, shortly after winning its first match of
the campaign.
In 1968 a new club was formed and this joined the Lancashire Combination in 1970. The title was won in 1974 and again
in 1978, at which point Stanley switched to the Cheshire County League, as a founder member of the new Division
2. After missing out on promotion because
of ground problems in 1980, Accrington were
promoted to Division 1 in 1981. In
1982 the club joined the new North West Counties
League after the amalgamation of the Cheshire and
Lancashire competitions and in 1988 they moved again to join the new Northern
Premier League Division 1. Promoted to the Premier Division
in 1991, Accrington were relegated to Division
1 in 1999, but bounced back a year later.
In 2003, having won the NPL, the club was promoted to the Conference, of which they became champions in 2006 and won promotion to the Football League.
MACCLESFIELD TOWN
Under the name ‘Macclesfield’,
the club joined the Lancashire Combination in 1911 from The Combination. In 1915, the Great War began and most
competitions were closed down. When
peace returned, Macclesfield joined the new
Cheshire County League in 1919, missing only the 1945-1946 season before
moving on to the Northern Premier League in 1968 after taking their 6th Cheshire League title, under the name adopted
in 1966 of ‘Macclesfield Town’.
Two NPL championships and the first-ever
F.A. Trophy were won in the next 2 years,
after which there was relatively little to
shout about for some years. Town joined
the Conference in 1987 after a 3rd NPL title success and hoped to be promoted
to the Football League when taking the Conference
crown in 1995, only to be rejected on ground
grading rules. Another F.A. Trophy
triumph in 1996 was followed by a second
Conference title in 1997 and this time ... promotion to the Football League.
MORECAMBE
Morecambe became members of the Lancashire Combination in 1920. Winners of the title in 1924, the club
had to wait 38 years for its next league
championship in 1962, after which three more
were added by 1968. Morecambe were founder members of
the Northern Premier League in 1968 and won the F.A. Trophy in 1974. The
next move came with elevation to the Conference in 1995. By 2003, Morecambe were a major force
in non-league’s top division and, at
the third attempt, the club emerged triumphant
from the play-offs to earn promotion to League 2 in 2007.
WIGAN ATHLETIC
Wigan Athletic was founded in after the collapse
of Football League side Wigan Borough and
joined the Cheshire County League in 1932. The Latics joined the Lancashire Combination in 1947, remaining there until re-joining the Cheshire League in 1961. Founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968, Wigan were elected to the Football League in 1978. As a non-league club, Wigan won the
Cheshire League and the Lancashire Combination
4 times each and the Northern Premier League
twice. In 1973 the team reached the
Final of the F.A. Trophy at Wembley, but
lost after extra time to Scarborough 1-2.
The club’s reserve side played in the Lancashire Combination, while a team named Wigan Rovers also featured in North West soccer circles
in the shadow of Athletic. More recently,
Wigan Robin Park have joined the North West Counties League.
