The Unforgotten

Maghull  1  FC Bootle  1

West Cheshire League – Division One

Admission / Programme – Donation / No

Maghull Football Club, now there’s a blast from the past!

I can recall my days at University, sat in my room in the house that I shared in the former mining village of Silverdale in Staffordshire. I wasn’t big on study of the academic kind, no, I was more of a student of non-league football, after what had been a few years where my attentions had been taken elsewhere.

When I say elsewhere, I was a non-league obsessive right through school, but then as I moved into Sixth Form, got a car, a girlfriend, a job and all that, I had become a regular watching Derby County home and away. It was all about the Rams, and stuff like watching Belper Town, and checking the league tables in the Mail on Sunday fell by the wayside somewhat.

But University kind of changed things, the season ticket at the Baseball Ground lapsed, the away games stopped, the job came to an end and the girlfriend also moved on…..I had time on my hands. I started to buy ‘Team Talk’ magazine again, I started to check out the results and the tables, and then before long I felt I was back up to speed with all that was happening, particularly in the North of England.

The North West Counties League became a source of interest, largely because I was now based in the Potteries, and it was the competition in which the Potteries sides played. Eastwood Hanley, Kidsgrove Athletic, Newcastle Town, Nantwich Town, and another name that won’t be overly familiar to many people, K Chell were names that spring to mind, but other names such as Burnley Bank Hall, Stantondale and Haslingden were clubs that you simply don’t hear about anymore.

One club who’s name was prominent at that time was Maghull, a team based on the Northern edges of Liverpool not far from Aintree. Maghull were founder members of the North West Counties League, joining in the 1982-83 season having previously been members of the Cheshire County League. They remained in the competition until 1999 when they stepped back into the West Cheshire League, a move that came about from what I recall, because the club was unable to secure floodlighting which was to become mandatory in the NWCL.

So Maghull, they came, they had a good few years, and then they dropped back into more local football, and from my own perspective, they fell off the radar. When I say fell off the radar, on the occasional trip to Southport I’ve seen a sign for the place as we passed, and it would make me wonder what may have happened to them, but other than that, nope, they’d been forgotten.

But then as we moved into 2024 and the lists of Regional Feeder League clubs who had applied for promotion to Step 6 came out, they re-appeared, they’d applied, they were rocking along very nicely in the West Cheshire League and now was the time to look to get back to where they once came from.

I’ve had my eye on it since, always planning on venturing over for an early evening midweek kick off as the season drew to a close. After a weather related postponement the previous week, that time had come.

The M62 behaved pretty well, and the ground itself is easy to get to from the motorway network. You head up the M57 to it’s conclusion at Aintree and then carry on for a very short while along the A59 dual carriageway before entering into Maghull. The ground is off to the right, located between the dual carriageway and the Leeds / Liverpool Canal.

I must admit to being a bit surprised to find out that the venue the club use on Hall Lane is in fact the very same ground the club used back in the North West Counties League days. It’s a large expanse and as you drive in the cricket ground is immediately in front of you, with the football ground off to the right. The football ground is separated from the cricket pitch by some green fencing, while the pitch itself is surrounded by a modern looking barrier. The clubhouse and dressing rooms is a single story building set back from the half way line, while in front of it, slightly to the right is a small area of covered terracing of the metal construction type that arrives pre-built.

Floodlights haven’t landed yet, but having spoken to a club official (who was very helpful and welcoming), they are due shortly after what has not been an especially straightforward planning process, in terms of objections etc.

It’s very tidy in terms of a venue, and while the area itself is very urban, it does have a bit of a rural feel to it, probably due to the size of the expanse and the proximity of the tree lined canal and perimeter. 

Maghull need to finish top five to get promoted, and that was as a good as in the bag. The league is going to be won by Mossley Hill Athletic, but second place is very much up for grabs and the visitors, FC Bootle, were also in contention for that spot.

On a very pleasant evening, a decent crowd approaching three figures rocked up for a game that was evenly matched and tense out on the park. The visitors took a first half lead through Jacob Jones, and it did look as if the three points were heading West, but, as the game moved into added time the hosts grabbed an equaliser through Darren Brannigan. It was probably about right on the balance of play.

So, Maghull Football Club, a real community club with numerous teams and players under it’s umbrella, look like they are back, not that they ever went away of course. But they are back into prominence in terms of the National League System, and recent history tells us that clubs from the North West feeder leagues typically do well when they step up to the NWCL, and I see no reason why they can’t do the same.

Maghull are finally unforgotten.