Avro V Congleton Town Programme

The team initially played its matches on the Chaddock-Lowndes field at the top of Booth Street before moving to its current site on the upper-half of adjacent West Field in the summer of 1903.

The first Town team, known as the ‘Townies’, was a fine young side and included a 16 years old Hugh Moffat amongst its ranks, a full back who went on to play at the highest level and who remains the only Congleton born-and-bred footballer to have represented his country in a full international match. In those early days the team first sported red jerseys, then later claret and blue before adopting their famous black & white striped kit in 1920.

This vibrant young side immediately claimed a hat-trick of Crewe & District League titles prior to being accepted for the North Staffordshire & District League in 1905, where they finished as runners-up in 1915 and then champions in 1920 following the resumption of football after the Great War. Other successes prior to WW1 were a Crewe & District Cup win in 1904 and consecutive triumphs in the Cheshire Amateur Cup in 1906 and 1907. They were also beaten finalists in the Cheshire Amateur Cup in 1904 and 1909, and the Burslem Cup in 1913. In 1920 the club moved up to the Cheshire County League, then an elite league ranked just below the Football League. This switch coincided with the return to the club of Hugh Moffat, now in the twilight of his long career, who inspired the team to a runners-up spot in the league and a first-ever victory for the town of Congleton in the prestigious Cheshire Senior Cup when Winsford were beaten 1-0, with Moffat heading a goal-bound effort off the line in the final minute. This period also saw the introduction of accommodation at the football ground with the acquisition of an ex-Army Hut for changing rooms in 1920 and the building of a unique, wooden stand circa 1923. The latter, constructed by the aptly-named James Standeven, incorporated replacement changing rooms and a communal bath, in addition to providing sheltered spectator seating and a press box. It then served the club for the next 70 years. Although the club also finished as league runners-up the following season their successes leading up to the outbreak of WW2 in 1939 were limited to a further Cheshire Senior Cup win against Crewe Alexandra in 1938 following two replays and being the beaten finalists in that cup in 1928 and 1934, and the League Cup in 1928.

The Cheshire County League was suspended following the declaration of war, but the club did compete in the local Macclesfield & District League in 1939-40 finishing in equal first place with Bollington, eventually emerging as champions following a play-off. The club also won the Sentinel Cup in 1939. Following the resumption of football after WW2 the club once again participated in the Cheshire County League. However, the team perpetually struggled to compete at this level, always languishing in the bottom half of the table, culminating in a bottom finish in 1965 that saw them controversially voted out of the league. Their games did attract big crowds though. In particular, the local derbies versus Macclesfield Town when spectators turned up in their thousands. Indeed, the ground’s highest ever attendance is reputedly an estimated 7,000 for this derby in 1954. That said a far more plausible nominee for that record is the definite crowd of 5,448 that turned up at Booth Street on 7th April 1950 against the same opponents. In April 1949 the club sold their star player, inside-forward Desmond Frost, to Leeds United for a fee of £1K, the equivalent of £36K in 2021 money. That fee was, and still is, a club transfer record and it just happened to be the exact amount of money required to facilitate the club’s immediate purchase of the ground from the Lowndes-Yates family. Three seasons in the lowly Manchester League then followed before the club switched to the Mid Cheshire League in 1968. This proved to be a successful period for the club on the pitch under the guidance of ex-player Roy Campbell but the club’s perilous financial situation resulted in the ground being sold off to the Congleton Corporation for the sum of £4.5K early in 1971. The club had been desperate and, not for the first time, on the verge of collapse.

Conversely the team, made up of quality local amateur players, was in great shape and it finished champions of the Mid-Cheshire League in 1974, 1976 and 1978; runners-up in 1970, 1972 and 1977; and won the League Cup in 1972 and 1978. they also won the Bartlett Memorial Trophy in 1972, and the Cheshire Amateur Cup in 1978. In 1978 the club re-joined the Cheshire County League. This time in its newly-formed second division and they were crowned champions of that division in 1982. Immediately afterwards though the Cheshire County League merged with the Lancashire Combination to create the North West Counties League with Congleton Town FC being one its founder members. The club finished runners-up in 1986, only losing the title on goal difference. In 1980 better times had obviously prevailed as significant ground improvements had been undertaken with the pitch’s infamous slope now levelled and the club’s first set of floodlights installed. In 1983 the team had again contested the Cheshire Senior Cup final narrowly losing 1-2 to the much higher-ranked Macclesfield Town, and in 1987 the club were elevated to the Northern Premier League’s newly-formed second tier. The 1989-90 season witnessed the club’s finest achievement when the team battled through all of the qualifying rounds to reach the First-Round proper of the FA Cup. They were drawn away to Football League side Crewe Alexandra and 1,000 supporters made the short journey to cheer them on. They acquitted themselves well but eventually lost 0-2 after holding out for 60 minutes. They were also League Cup finalists that season. The NPL years were very much a repeat of the post-war Cheshire County League period with the team struggling most seasons until a bottom finish in 2001, the club’s centenary year, saw them relegated to the NWCFL. The team did reach the 4th round of the FA Trophy that season though, the team’s best progression in that competition to date.

There were again turbulent times off the field with the club once more being close to extinction. In 1993 a new cantilever stand had been erected in place of the old wooden one, or rather what was left of it, and this undertaking nearly broke the club as they fell £10K short of the required £41K. Fortunately, the Congleton Town Council came to the club’s rescue. There was also talk in 1996 of the club relocating to Back Lane Playing Fields following a proposal by Congleton Borough Council but, despite high hopes on both sides, nothing came of it in the end. Since season 2001-02 the club has been back in the NWCFL and it remains there to this day despite the FA inexplicably placing the club in the Midland League in 2021 as part of its reorganisation of the Pyramid. Thankfully, the club’s appeal against that decision was successful. Unfortunately, there has been little success during this second stint in the NWCFL with the team’s highest placing to date being third position in 2019. The team did win the Mid-Cheshire Senior Cup in 2007 for a first time and had been runners-up in 1997, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2014 but they now no longer enter this competition. There were also notable runs in the FA Vase when they reached the 5th round in 2004 and 2021, the team’s best progressions to date. Conversely off the field there have been massive strides. The club has been community-owned since 2014 thanks to the club shareholders from that time generously gifting all their Congleton Town Ltd shares to the community benefit society that is Congleton Town Community FC Ltd at a financial loss to themselves, there have been continuous and significant facilities improvements since 2006 including replacement floodlights in 2019 and then, most significantly of all, the club kicked off an exciting new era in June 2020 following its merger with Congleton Vale (now CTFC Reserves) and Congleton Rovers Juniors (now CTFC Juniors). The future looks bright for the Bears in their new club colours of yellow, black and white in spite of these Covid 19 times, which resulted in NWCFL seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 being declared null and void. The Bears narrowly escaped being laterally moved for season 2021-22 to the Midland Football League as a result of the restructuring of the non-league pyramid. Only a well-constructed appeal to the FA, which was upheld, meant the Bears were reassigned back to the NWC. Whilst all that was taking place, new manager Richard Duffy with support from Director of Football Chris Rowley set about putting together a side that would be tasked with pressing for the much sought after promotion to step 4. Among notable signings were ex-Port Vale’s Tom Pope.

Season 2022/23 proved the most successful season for many years. Great progress in the FA Cup, beating 3 Northern Premier League sides to reach the third qualifying round before exiting to National League North AFC Fylde after a replay. Reaching the Isuzu FA Vase semi final where the then current holders Newport Pagnell defeated the Bears on penalties. Winning the Macron Cup (NWC League Challenge Cup) and winning the Cheshire Senior Cup defeating full time National League side Altrincham. Added to that, although their league performance was just above ordinary, no side completed the double over the Bears. Building on that success and following lateral transfer to the Midland Football League (MFL), the Bears had little success in FA competitions in 2023/24 but ran our League Champions with promotion to Step 4 (Northern Premier League First Division West with a 34-match campaign that saw them win 25, draw 6 and lose just 3 with all defeats by Nov 23. 101 goals scored and 31 conceded plus winners of the MFL Cup saw Richard Duffy deservedly pick up the Manager of the Year award. The Bears now prepare for a new, and welcome, challenge. Progress over the opening half of the 2024/25 season has been sound with the Bears consolidating as Christmas approached. They will miss Anthony Griffith’s contributions as he has been accepted on the FA’s accelerated referee’s programme for ex-players and his progress so far means he will need to be refereeing frequently. This has meant he has had to step away from his role as assistant manager at the club. He leaves with the best wishes from both officials and supporters.