Fairfield Athletic F.C.

Fairfield Athletic or Fairfield Football Club was an Association football team from Fairfield, now a suburb of Droylsden, Greater Manchester.

Fairfield Athletic
Full nameFairfield Athletic Football Club
Nickname(s)the Reds[1]
Founded1880s
Dissolved1897
GroundGransmoor Road, Greater Manchester

History

Fairfield were formed in the 1880s, entering the Lancashire League in 1892. Two 9th out of 12 positions followed.

Their first successful season was 1894–95, where the championship was won ahead of Blackpool. The season provided their greatest progression in the FA Cup, winning through the qualifying rounds to the first round proper. The club was however drawn away to Sunderland, the reigning Football League champions, who would retain their title that season. The foregone conclusion of the tie ensured a "beggarly" crowd of 2,000, paying £67. who saw the home side dominate in appalling conditions, going in at half-time 6–0 up and winning 11–1, Clark netting the consolation when eight down with a shot that was so hard that it rebounded back into the pitch from the back of the net.[2] At the end of the season the club made its first attempt at entry to the Football League, losing out to Loughborough, who replaced Walsall Town Swifts.

The following season another failed attempt was made with only 3 votes received. This was more than Tottenham Hotspur.

The 1896–97 season resulted in a runners up spot and the last attempt to gain entry to the Football League. The club failed again but did gain more votes than Crewe Alexandra and Millwall Athletic.

However the attempt to join the League was a last throw of the dice; the club struggled for gates, with locals preferring to go to Bank Lane or Hyde Road to watch the other Manchester clubs. The final gate for the club (for a 1–1 draw with South Shore, the club starting the match with only 8 players[3]) amounted to £12, as against an average weekly wage bill of £14,[4] and, on 9 October 1897, after the South Shore match, the directors agreed to close up shop.[5] The club's Lancashire League record for the season (three draws and a defeat) was expunged.[6]

Colours

The club played in red shirts.[7]

Ground

The club played at Gransmoor Road.[8]

Notable players

Sources
  • Twydell, Dave (2001). Denied F.C. pp. 80–81. ISBN 1-874427-98-4.

References
  1. "The death of the Fairfield football club". Manchester Evening News: 2. 12 October 1897.
  2. "English Cup - First Round". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette: 4. 4 February 1895.
  3. "Fairfield v South Shore". Lancashire Evening Post: 3. 9 October 1897.
  4. "The death of the Fairfield football club". Manchester Evening News: 2. 12 October 1897.
  5. "Dissolution of the Fairfield football club". Manchester Evening News: 3. 11 October 1897.
  6. "Lancashire League". Manchester Evening News: 3. 22 October 1897.
  7. "Answers to correspondence". Athletic News: 4. 20 November 1893.
  8. "Lancashire League". Manchester Courier: 7. 26 December 1893.
  9. "Fairfield v South Shore". Lancashire Evening Post: 3. 9 October 1897.
  10. "Football items". Lancashire Evening Post: 3. 12 October 1897.
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