Skerton F.C.
 | This article needs more citations. (May 2026) |
| Full name | Skerton Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | the Lunesiders,[1] the Red and Blacks[2] | |
| Founded | 1888 | |
| Dissolved | 1900 | |
| Ground | Lune Road | |
| President | Councillor Turney (1889–94),[3][4] Councillor Gladstone (1897)[5] | |
| Secretary | J. Pye (1889),[6] A. Ireland (1894)[7] | |
|
| ||
Skerton Football Club was an association football club from Lancaster, Lancashire, active in the 19th century.
History
[edit]The earliest references to the club are from the 1888–89 season.[8] It took a more serious turn in 1891, when it decided to appoint a trainer for the first time, Councillor Smith agreeing to defray the expense.[9] In 1892 the club joined the Lancashire Alliance for its first experience of league football.
After a successful 1896–97 season, in which the club won more matches than ever before (27 out of 35), and won the Alliance title for the first (and only) time,[10] the club joined the Lancashire Combination for the 1897–98 season (having failed to gain admission to the higher profile Lancashire League),[11] and, to raise money for the extra expenses, was floated as a limited company.[12] The club then enjoyed two mid-table finishes,[13] and won the Lancashire Junior Cup in both of those seasons. The Skertonians had twice been runner-up before reaching the 1897–98 final, and the Skertonians had trained especially at Lytham St Annes for the match, against St Helens Recs at Deepdale; goals from Blatchford and Fryers in the first half, and Blatchford scoring his second with a shot in-off the crossbar in the second, saw the club lift the trophy for the first time.[14] The same two clubs contested the final at the same venue in 1898–99, Skerton winning 2–0,[15] and it proved more attractive than the Lancashire Senior Cup final the following week - fewer than 4,000 turned up to Burnden Park for the latter,[16] but there was a 50% higher gate for the Junior.[17]
However, the club's fortunes took a turn for the worse in 1899; the cost of erection of a new grandstand proved crippling.[18] In March 1900, having only registered 1 win in 22 Combination games,[19] and with debts of £150 (a third of which was due to the grandstand),[20] it resigned from the Combination, its record was expunged,[21] and the club dissolved.
Colours
[edit]The club traditionally wore red and black.[22] This caused an incident with Lytham in 1892, in which both clubs wore the same coloured kits.[23] By 1897–98 it was wearing red jerseys.[24][25]
Ground
[edit]The club's original ground was on Morecambe Lane.[26] It moved to Lune Road by 1895.[27]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Lancashire Junior Cup - final tie". Lancashire Evening Post: 4. 19 March 1898.
- ↑ "Athletic notes". Barrow Herald: 3. 26 March 1892.
- ↑ "Notice". Lancaster Gazette: 4. 31 August 1889.
- ↑ "Skerton Football Club". Lancaster Gazette: 5. 2 June 1894.
- ↑ "Another Lancashire club to be floated". Liverpool Echo: 3. 20 July 1897.
- ↑ "Notice". Lancaster Gazette: 4. 31 August 1889.
- ↑ "Skerton Football Club". Lancaster Gazette: 5. 2 June 1894.
- ↑ "Under Association rules". Lancaster Gazette: 7. 26 January 1889.
- ↑ "Local intelligence". Lancaster Gazette: 2. 20 May 1891.
- ↑ "Lancashire Alliance 1890–1935". Non-league Matters. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
- ↑ "Lancashire Football League". Middleton Guardian: 4. 22 May 1897.
- ↑ "Another Lancashire club to be floated". Liverpool Echo: 3. 20 July 1897.
- ↑ "Skerton". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ↑ "Lancashire Junior Cup - Final". Liverpool Mercury: 9. 21 March 1898.
- ↑ "Presentation of the Cup". Lancashire Evening Post: 3. 18 March 1899.
- ↑ "Notes on out-door sports". Derby Evening Telegraph: 4. 29 March 1899.
- ↑ "Sporting notes". Ramsbottom Observer: 2. 24 March 1899.
- ↑ "Registration of football clubs". The Citizen: 4. 16 March 1901.
- ↑ "Lancashire Combination". Manchester Courier: 9. 12 March 1900.
- ↑ "Another club in financial straits". Manchester Evening News: 4. 2 March 1900.
- ↑ "Lancashire Combination". Manchester Courier: 11. 17 March 1900.
- ↑ "Athletic notes". Barrow Herald: 3. 26 March 1892.
- ↑ "Lancashire Association". Lancaster Gazette: 7. 12 November 1892.
- ↑ "Lancashire Junior Cup - final tie". Lancashire Evening Post: 4. 19 March 1898.
- ↑ "A tight fit at Turf Moor". Burnley Express: 4. 15 November 1899.
- ↑ "Open handicap foot race". Lancaster Gazette: 2. 10 September 1890.
- ↑ "Association". Lancaster Standard and County Advertiser: 6. 22 January 1897.