Droylsden F.C.
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| Full name | Droylsden Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Bloods, The Butchers, Red Army | ||
| Founded | 1892 | ||
| Ground | Butcher's Arms Ground Droylsden | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 (500 seated) | ||
| Chairman |  David Pace | ||
| Manager | David Pace | ||
| League | Conference North | ||
| 2005-06 | Conference North, 4th (play-off finalists) | ||
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Droylsden Football Club of Conference North are based in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, only a few miles from neighbours, FA Premier League side Manchester City.
Droylsden were originally formed at the invitation of Joseph Cropper, Landlord of the Butchers Arms, to play behind the pub. After twenty years of friendlies and local leagues, disbandment, reformations and changes of strip, the club emerged from the First World War the sole survivors amongst the village teams, and as members of the Manchester League.
The club also adopted their now traditional colours of red and white, the inspiration for the almost unique nickname of 'The Bloods'.
Two games in the 1921 Manchester Junior Cup Final against Hyde United of the newly formed Cheshire League attracted over 15,00 people to see Hyde prevail but the Bloods had their revenge two years later, taking the Cup from their local rivals.
The thirties was the era of Droylsden's record goal scorer, Ernest 'Gilly' Gillibrand, scorer of 275 goals in just four seasons. Gilly's goals saw Droylsden to the Manchester League Championship in 1931 and again in 1933, and in the latter season he aided Droylsden to the Third Qualifying Round in their first season in the FA Cup. That benchmark would take over 40 years to pass!
In 1936, the club successfully applied to join the Lancashire Combination and, a season later, became a nursery club to Manchester City. City's 'A' team played at the Butchers Arms and their surplus players were available to Droylsden, although the Bloods were disqualified from the FA Cup.
Following World War 2, Droylsden entered the prestigious Cheshire League, reaching their highest ever league position as runners-up in their first season. But the club couldn't build on that start and, four seasons later, failed in their second successive bid for re-election. Worse was to come; the sale of the Butchers Arms lease to Belle Vue FC - who renamed themselves Droylsden United - saw the Bloods forced out to the nearby Moorside Trotting Stadium. The town wasn't big enough for two clubs, especially with bad feeling between them, and after the local council bought the ground, a merger was negotiated.
Droylsden came home in 1952 to a renovated ground whose pitch had been rotated to its present position, finally eradicating a long-standing drainage problem.
Two decades in the Combination ended in 1968 with a return to the Cheshire League, after the formation of the Northern Premier League. The club won the Manchester Senior Cup in 1973, 1976 and 1979 and enjoyed considerable FA Cup success, reaching the Fourth Qualifying Round four times in five seasons and the Cup proper twice. In 1976 Droylsden lost 5-3 in a First Round Replay at Grimsby Town, after a late home 'goal' was disallowed, but in 1978 Dave Taylor's goal at Rochdale sent the Bloods through to a Second Round tie at home to Altrincham, who ended the run with a 2-0 win. But when the late seventies side broke up, Droylsden's fortunes slumped. The club finished a distant bottom of the First Division in 1982 and were placed in Division 2 of the new North Western Counties League. The unstable period ended with the appointment of Mark Fallon as player-manager. In his second season Fallon guided his team to the Second Division Championship - Droylsden's first senior honour.
After finishing 2nd in the Conference North's inaugural season (2004-05), Droylsden were looking go one better and reach the top tier of non-league football for the first time in their history.
A fourth-place finish in the 2005-06 season gave Droylsden a second chance to reach the Conference through the play-offs, but they narrowly missed out on penalties in the final against Stafford Rangers.
On March 29th 2006 Droylsden lost 2-1 to Hyde United in the final of the Manchester Premier Cup.
Record Attendances
(League) 15,000 Vs Hyde - Chesire League, 1921
(Cup) 4250 Vs Grimsby Town, FA Cup 1st round, 1976
External links
- Photographs taken at the latest Droylsden games can be viewed at Droylsden FC Photographs
- A discussion forum dedicated to all things Droylsden can be found at Droylsden FC Forum
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