Putting the spotlight on a newcomer to the Northern Premier League West Division next season.
Wythenshawe FC
The announcements of the fixtures for the new 2024/25 league campaign about one month away, Bucks supporters will be looking forward to visiting a handful of new grounds facing new teams who have entered the league.
Firstly we’ll start with Wythenshawe, who were promoted to the division after becoming champions of the North West Counties League Premier Division champions winning the league by a wide goal difference margin, The Ammies finished with an impressive 95 points in 46 games.
Brief History:
The club was established in 1946 by Reg Gauntlet under the name Wythenshawe Lads Club, and joined the Manchester Federation of Lads' Clubs League. In 1949 the players had become too old for the league, resulting in the club developing an adult side that entered the South Manchester and Wythenshawe League, with the club's name changed to Wythenshawe Amateurs.
After several promotions, they were Division One champions in 1952–53. The club then joined the Altrincham & District League, in which they played for a single season before switching to Division 3A of the Lancashire & Cheshire League.
Wythenshawe's first season in the Lancashire & Cheshire League saw them win the Hellawell Shield and the Division 3A title, resulting in promotion to Division Three. The following season saw the club finish second in Division Three and earn promotion to Division Two, as well as reaching the final of the Altrincham FA's Whitaker Cup, holding Manchester United to a 1–1 draw after extra time, resulting in the cup being shared. In 1956–57 the club secured a third successive promotion after winning the Division Two title. After becoming members of Division One, the club won the league's Rhodes Cup in 1957–58 and 1960–61, before becoming Division One champions in 1961–62.
Wythenshawe won the Rhodes Cup again in 1971–72, after which they moved up to Division One of the Manchester League. The club were Division One champions at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[3] In 1975–76 they won the Lancashire Amateur Cup. The club were Premier Division runners-up in 1979–80 and 1984–85, and won the Gilgryst Cup in 1985–86 and 1986–87. The 1989–90 season saw the club win a treble, finishing as Premier Division champions and winning both the Lancashire Amateur Cup and the Gilgryst Cup.
Wythenshawe were Premier Division runners-up in 1991–92, before winning the league again in 1992–93 and finishing as runners-up the following season. They won the Lancashire Amateur Cup again in 1995–96, and the Gilgryst cup in 1998–99, 2000–01 and 2008–09. In the league, they finished as runners-up six times between 2000 and 2017.
After finishing as runners-up and winning the Gilgryst Cup again in 2017–18, the club were accepted into Division One South of the North West Counties League In 2022/23 they were Division One South champions, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2023 the club dropped "Amateurs" from their name and went on to achieve back-to-back promotion by winning the Premier Division in 2023/24 beating rivals Wythenshawe Town the title on the final day of the season.
The Manager:
Young promising Wythenshawe boss Shane Goldrick was named manager back in October 2020. In his last two seasons in the hot seat at Wythenshawe, Goldrick has collected three honours for The Ammies including a double in the 2022/23 double claiming the First Division South title and the First Division South Champions Cup followed up by clinching the North West Counties League Premier Division title and gaining his second promotion as a manager.
The Ground:
Their home turf is known as the Hollyedge Park Community Stadium which holds a capacity of 1,500. Wythenshawe relocated to Hollyedge Park in September 2017 from Wythenshawe’s Cricket Club’s Longley Lane ground after several years of funding. The grounds address is Altrincham Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe, M22 4US, and is approximately 50 minutes from the Berry Street Garage Stadium (42 miles).