Bootle Football Club were first formed in 1880. The club were Everton FC’s main rivals and competed with the Toffees fiercely through the 1880’s. The Bucks played their home games adjacent to Bootle Cricket Club, on Hawthorne Road. The old pavilion was used by both the cricket and football. Their colours were predominantly Navy and white.

​

In 1887-88, Bootle challenged Everton with an application for a prestigious place in the newly formed Football League. Due to only one club per area being permitted to join, Everton were successful in their application and became founder members of the English Football League.

​

Bootle were aggrieved, since Everton had been banned from the both the FA Cup and the Liverpool Senior Cup the previous year but history told and Everton became the founder members of this area.

​

Bootle were however invited in 1889–90 to become founder members of the Football Alliance. That inaugural season of the Football Alliance was the most successful as the club finished league runners-up and reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup, losing to Blackburn Rovers.

​

The Alliance then merged with the Football League in 1892, and Bootle became proud founder members of the new Football League Second Division. Despite finishing in a respectable 8th place, the club were forced to drop out after one season due to ongoing financial problems. Ironically a new local club applied in the Bucks’ place, and Liverpool took Bootle’s place in the second division.

 

The possible resurrection of a Bootle team became a distinct probability in August 1947 when local councillors identified the popularity and talent on show in the ‘Bootle JOC’ league and wanted the town to be back on the football map with its own team again. For years now it had been an exporter of its many players to other clubs, both professional and semi-professional.

​

The promise of sponsorship money from various local businesses brought great optimism and the issue of one-shilling shares further boosted club finances. After local residents were assured that the new ground based at Bootle Stadium (Maguire Avenue) would not be used solely as a football ground, an application to join the Lancashire Combination for the 1948/49 season was made, and accepted. Club colours posed a problem, red or blue were dismissed for fear of showing favour to either of the ‘big two’ so it was agreed that, as the original Bootle FC wore white shorts, this colour would be adopted.

​

Players mostly came from the local league and surrounding clubs, however one player that Bootle overlooked was a tall, blonde, ex-prisoner-of-war German, Bert Trautman. Trautman, then living in Huyton, trained with Bootle at the stadium for several weeks but, with the area taking such a heavy pounding during the war, it was decided not to tempt any local bitterness and he was allowed to join St Helens Town and of course moved on to Manchester City and FA Cup folklore.

 

They kicked off their new campaign in 1948 against Barnoldswick and district. The league was won at the first attempt. However, Bootle struggled in the top-flight and after several tough seasons and also a change in Council priorities they withdrew from the league and folded during the 1953–54 campaign.

 

In 1953, the current club was formed as Langton with Mr Frank Doran Senior being one of the founding members. The club played in the various local leagues. The clubs colours were predominantly blue.

​

After a very successful spell in the Liverpool County Combination – winning leagues and cups on various occasions the club began discussions with the local council and FA to change its name to become the latest incarnation of Bootle FC. This was accepted in 1973 and a year later ‘the Bucks’ joined the Lancashire Combination., and played their football on Orrell Mount, or Silcox as it is also known.

After winning the Combination in both 1976 and 1977, Bootle then joined the Second Division of the Cheshire County League, which was won in the first season, and were promoted to the First Division. 

​

In 1982 the Cheshire County League was one of the leagues that merged to form the North West Counties League, which Bootle duly joined, becoming a member of the First Division (Which is now called the Premier Division). The Bucks were now playing their football at Bucks Park, on Copy Lane.

​

The club spent most of their time in the First Division until 2000 when the club was relegated to the Second Division. Bucks Park had been sold by the council and Bootle were nomads, playing their football at Kirkby Stadium, which closed in 2002. Bootle were ruthlessly voted out of the league despite finishing 6th in 2002, and the club dropped into the Liverpool County Combination, and called Drummond Road its home for the next 4 years. 

 

In 2006, with a new ground on Vesty Road, Bootle were elected back to the North West Counties League, in Division 2. In 2009 the Bucks won the Championship and along with it promotion back to the NWCFL Premier Division. In 2009-10, the first season back in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division the club finished a NWCFL highest placing of 3rd which they achieved again in 2011-12. Bootle also won the Liverpool Senior Cup in 2013 for the first time since 1889. The club bettered their best league placing in the NW Counties in 2018-19 after a last day of the season draw, where a win would do.

​

Despite COVID hitting league fixtures across the country and the country going into lockdown’s for most of 2020 and 2021, the Football Association went ahead with its plans to re-structure the league pyramids. With Bootle having the best points per game ratio the club were promoted to the Pitching-In Northern Premier League West Division. During that time the club also overseen a new hybrid pitch installed at Vesty Road as a pilot alongside the Football Foundation and Sport England.

​

The Bucks found life difficult in the first few weeks of the 2021-22 season but ended the campaign in a respectable 8th finish. However, 2022-23 didn’t go as planned and a bottom half finish was all that could be mustered. The 2023-24 saw a positive turnaround as the team finished 4th in the league with the best away record in the division and achieved a play-off place. Unfortunately, Prescot Cables snatched a 1-0 win in extra time to see the Bucks bow out.