Season Summary 2004/05
This was a season of change for Atherton LR both on and off the field. After a period of success, the team started to break up and at the end of the season the Management team resigned as did long standing Secretary Steve Hartle.
As usual over the summer a lot of work was done behind the scenes to keep the ground up to the required standard. The new perimeter wall was completed and Keith Barber came up with a group of Lads in the Community Service programme to do general painting, cleaning etc. More work was done on the pitch which hadn't been good over the previous season. After the new drains had been fitted in the summer of 2003 and the pitch re-seeded, the weather didn't play fair and the seeds didn't take well, meaning the surface wasn't as good as hoped. In addition, Tom Foster and Ian Street spent quite some time getting a gym in place, drafting in family members such as Ian's wife Janet who proved very handy with a paintbrush.
For the first time, Atherton LR started the season without a reserve side. Since the early days of Laburnum Rovers, the club had always had a second string, but it was decided that the costs involved with running the reserve team far out-weighed any benefits. Very few players were progressing into the first team and they weren't making use of the clubs facilities after matches. While it reduced the pool of players which the managers could call on in emergencies, the saving in cost and time made it the right decision. The Directors promised to review the situation at the end of the season.
With Tom Foster and Ian Street remaining as the management team, hopes were high for another good year. Early in the season, influential players Steve Cunningham, Ben Obong, Wayne Jopson and Jason Kay all left the club, although Obong did return a few months later and both Kay and Jopson returned for a spell. Pre-season saw the team qualify for the knock out stages of the Goldline Trophy and by the end of August were in the Semi-Finals after a penalty shoot out against a stubborn Turton side.
In the League, up to the turn of the year, of 24 games the team had a good 50% return having won and lost 11 of the games and drawn two. Generally speaking results followed form, with a hard earned 1-0 win over Skelmersdale probably being the highlight. The game most supporters remember from this period was a bizarre game at Colne which saw the Atherton side end the game with 7 players on the pitch after an astonishing performance by the referee which ended with the official leaving the pitch in tears and one of his assistants, who had been so disgusted with the referees actions, offering to back LR at the Lancashire FA should there be any hearing. The official had a look at LR's website the next day, and not liking his shameful performance made public, complained to the Lancashire FA. They asked that the details be taken off and threatened to punish the club heavily. However, with so many neutrals at the game as well as a high ranking member of the Lancashire FA, the referee was only making things worse for himself. Letters of support for Atherton from people from other clubs who had gone to watch the match, plus one assumes, other investigations, meant the club received a mere slap on the wrist from the governing body.
Cup games varied. In the FA Cup, Atherton had failed to win a game for the previous three seasons, but this time they won through two rounds before meeting Hyde United, who were unbeaten at the time and were to end the season as Northern Premier League Champions. Atherton struggled to beat a determined Second Division Oldham Town, a solitary goal in extra time in a replay finally won the tie. The team then met Northern League side Whickham. Atherton had a dreadful record against Northern League sides and hadn't won two games in the FA Cup since 1996, so despite going into the match on the back of a run of five games without defeat, supporters weren't too confident before kick off. However, a good hardworking performance saw the team come through 3 - 0. That meant unfamiliar territory for Laburnums as they met Hyde United. An excellent performance by the Atherton side seemed certain to have earned them a replay, but a late goal sent Hyde through. The friendliness of the Hyde club was shown clearly when Atherton's managers went to watch Hyde's match the previous Monday and were allowed in free and the use of the hospitality lounge. They were made welcome and chatted freely with committee members and supporters. Hyde's manager, Steve Waywell, knew they were in for a competitive game as he had gone along to watch Laburnums in their game at Squires Gate in which the Atherton side had turned in their best performance of the season to win 6-1. In the FA Vase, Atherton met a confident Horden Colliery Welfare side which had been having great success in cup competitions. They had beaten Northern Premier League sides AFC Telford and Warrington Town in the FA Cup. As an aside, AFC Telford apparently asked for a Horden shirt as they wanted one from each team they beat in the FA Cup. After the match they were given one as a reminder not to be so cocky. Atherton took a 3-0 lead before being pulled back to 3-3 and disappointingly going out 4-3 in extra time. However, as said before Horden were having a good season in the cup competitions and after beating Atherton they went on to beat another Northern Premier League side, Frickly Athletic in the FA Cup before narrowly going out to Gateshead in the next round 3-2. The Horden side featured goalkeeper Steve Tierney who, sadly, was to pass away less than five years later.
The League Cup match against Glossop should have
been played at Surrey Street, but the game was postponed twice after a spell of
poor weather, so under the rules of the competition it was switched to Crilly
Park. The weather still played a part as the rearranged fixture at Atherton on
the Saturday was postponed, but it eventually went ahead on the Tuesday night. The Atherton side had a comfortable ride through to the next round, but
then met St Helens Town when a closely fought game was decided three minutes
from time in St Helens favour. The match marked an unexpected anniversary for
the club. Just two weeks before the game an old newspaper cutting came to light
which reported the passing of the club's then Chairman Jack Crilly, after who the
ground was renamed Crilly Park. Most long standing club members had it in mind
that Jack had passed away a couple of years earlier, but the newspaper article,
complete with date at the top, showed that Jack died on 29th January 1980,
exactly 25 years to the day when LR met St Helens in the League Cup. Strange
that the article should appear so close to the game - perhaps Jack was making
sure we didn't forget.
In the Lancashire Trophy Atherton's win over
Blackpool Mechanics gave them a big match against Accrington Stanley. Although
LR went down 5-2, their two goals both coming from Paul Crompton penalties,
supporters were treated to an excellent display of football from a virtually
full Accrington first team.
During this period the Atherton team also reached the final of the Goldline Trophy, after a tough battle against Charnock Richard at Radcliffe Borough.
After the New Year, things began to change. The loss of Captain Ian Callaghan to Chorley earlier in the season had been a blow to the side and he had never been successfully replaced. With a number of other changes forced on the managers through players moving on, injuries and suspensions, the team lost their way. Performances were generally good, but results didn't follow with just one win in the last 16 League games and an early exit from the Bolton Hospital Cup, to West Lancs League side Tempest United.
Unusually, during the course of the season there was a switch in roles of the managers. With work commitments restricting Tom Foster's time available, Ian Street took over as Manager with Tom becoming his assistant.
Despite the disappointing final run-in, there was still cause for celebration as the team won the Goldline Trophy for the third time after a thrilling game against Eagley - a match which is still considered to be the best final in the competition's history. An incident packed game saw Atherton come from behind to lead 3-1 before the West Lancs side levelled the score. It took two superb late strikes from Phil Howard to earn LR a 5-3 victory.
Over the course of the season, Brian Seddon continued to work hard to obtain funding from various sources. He became involved in the Wigan Townships forum and the local Hag Fold Community Forum, set up to try to improve the facilities on the estate. Along with money received from the Wigan Community Chest Fund, the Neighbourhood Co-ordination Project and the Wigan Brighter Borough fund, Brian's efforts were invaluable and took the total he'd managed to raise in funding to around £100,000 in two years. The money was available but with minimal publicity and sometimes complicated paperwork to complete, the assistance of the local council was a huge help.
The money raised through the funding was for specific items or work needed at the ground and behind the scenes, club officials were becoming concerned that the club was starting to slip into old ways, spending more than they could afford and decided it would be necessary to cut back on spending on the team, amongst other actions. Tom Foster had already pretty much decided that this would be his final season at LR due to work committments, but both managers felt they wouldn't be able to take the team forwards on the money that would be available to them, so tendered their resignation. They actually resigned a few weeks before the end of the season, but agreed to carry on to see the season out. This did cause other problems though. The decision to make cut-backs wasn't taken at a full meeting of the Board, some Directors weren't at the meeting and when they discovered that the decision had been taken without their input they resigned, disagreeing that the cut-backs to the team were needed and that other avenues of raising money for the team should have been explored. That left just four people to run the club.
The club were also looking for a new secretary after Steve Hartle decided to resign. Hartle had intended to leave in the summer of 1998 with Mark Salt taking over, but the sudden loss of Salt over the summer months meant that Hartle stayed in the post for a further seven years. Christine Rowlands agreed to take over the job, despite not having held that position before. With Steve resigning, the club also lost the services of his wife Sharron who had successfully run the cabin and made the refreshments for the Directors, players and officials. Both Steve and Sharron were still to be seen at the club, helping out at times behind the scenes over the following years.
As the season ended, it somehow felt like the end of an era and the club began the search for a new management team.