Season Summary 2006/07
After the traumas of the previous season, Atherton LR were looking for some form of stability for the clubs 50th anniversary season. Mark Cox had been appointed Manager and was faced with building a new team from scratch on a limited budget. Mark brought in Dave Tulloch as his assistant and Roy Sweeney as coach. He used his contacts from his time at Winsford United to bring in a number of experienced players from that area and brought in a number of youngsters. It seemed, at first, that he had built a strong squad and early results promised a good season. It seemed at last that supporters could go to a match expecting to get something rather than wondering if the team could just keep the scoreline down. It was hard work for club officials at the start of the season, with eight out of the teams first nine games being played at home, two games a week. The teams 2-0 win over Formby on 15th August was the first League win for Atherton LR since a win over Glossop on 7th January and three consecutive victories were gained. However, a 7 - 0 defeat at Chorley by FC United towards the end of August, signalled the start of a poor run. Just one victory was claimed in seventeen games and that was an FA Vase win over Ramsbottom United. In the League, three draws and ten defeats and exits from the FA Vase against a Parkgate side the team had already beaten 5 - 1 in the FA Cup back in August, and defeat to Manchester League side Prestwich Heys in the Goldline Trophy all seemed to point to problems.
There was quite a turnover of players during this time, with injuries and suspensions taking their toll as well as the management trying to find the right blend. Manager Mark Cox commented at the time that in the past, when he had seen clubs using an unusually large number of players, he had assumed it was down to poor management. This season though had shown him that there were times when it was beyond a managers control. He also pointed to other problems after using the analogy of climbing a mountain. He commented that "While others have the footballing equivalent of up to date nylon twined rope, oxygen masks, liquidised food capsules and state of the art climbing boots - we have boating rope, vics nasal spray, cheese doorstep sandwiches and carpet slippers" !!
There was also a temporary link up with Chester University which allowed Atherton players to train using the excellent facilities available there, while some of the youngsters from the University could get match experience playing for Laburnums.
It was puzzling for supporters though, as there were some very talented individual players and in most games the team didn't play badly. As an example, Cox secured the services of David Derefaka. The player had started as a trainee with Bolton Wanderers and played in the Football League for Chester City and Hull as well as a spell in the Conference League with Leigh RMI. They showed what they could do by ending their barren run by beating a strong Radcliffe Borough side 5 - 4 in the Lancashire Trophy. It became obvious to supporters that things weren't right behind the scenes when the team travelled to Formby and a very public dispute between the management team blew up which led to the Atherton Directors feeling the need to write to Formby to apologise. It didn't come as too much of a surprise when Tulloch left the club a couple of weeks later.
Roy Sweeney took over as Assistant Manager, unofficially at first before Cox confirmed the appointment. The teams performance was generally still good, although only three victories were won in the following 11 games. The seasons low came at Ramsbottom just before Christmas. At half time Ramsbottom led 2-1 in a closely fought game, but a total collapse in the second half saw the Atherton side concede seven goals. It looked as if the club would be safe from relegation, but finish just above the bottom clubs. However, on a visit to Newcastle Town things changed.
A row blew up between Cox and Sweeney over players expenses. The matter rumbled on for a few days before the Directors decided the best thing to do was to hold a meeting for the players, management and Directors to get together and thrash out the problems. Accusations and counter-accusations flew around and Cox refused to attend the meeting which was held in his absence to explain the clubs position to the players. After the meeting Cox resigned and Sweeney was promoted to Caretaker Manager for the remainder of the season.
With all the events at the club, things got off to a slow start under Sweeney with three defeats, although that might not have been the case. On Tuesday 6th March LR went to Nelson and were leading 4 - 1 at half time when the floodlights all went out and smoke was emerging from the electricity box. The referee held on as long as possible to see if repairs could be made, but it became apparent that it would need the services of an electrician and the game was abandoned. However, things then turned for the better. Up until that point, the team had gained 21 points from 29 games. In final 13 games of the season, they doubled their total with another 21 points. There were a few hiccups along the way, but overall the team was playing some good football and supporters were once again going to matches thinking that perhaps they could get something from the game rather than wondering if they could avoid defeat.
The club were a part, albeit not by choice, of FC United of Manchester's successful season when the fans club defeated Atherton 7 - 1 at Gigg Lane on 18th April 2007 and the result meant that FC United were League Champions.
The reserves had a tough season, their three point deduction leaving them propping up the table. Three managers over the course of the season - Scott Westwood, Eddie Haslam and Malcolm Anderton - didn't allow for any consistency.
The club received a boost when they were awarded £10,000 by the local Coalfields Trust, money which was to be used to have mains gas connected and to buy and have fitted a new boiler. This was the second grant received from the Coalfields Trust, the last time had been in 2004 when the money went towards constructing the new perimeter wall.
It was, of course, a season to celebrate for the club as they completed their 50th season, their first match having been played in the 1956/57 season. For the first time in over ten years the club released 1" metal badges. The badges were made to celebrate the anniversary and a picture of the badge can been seen on the photos page.
On 9th September the club held a dinner to celebrate their anniversary. The team had been drawn at home to Ramsbottom United in the FA Vase that day, but the Riverside club happily agreed to have an early kick off for the match to give Atherton officials time to prepare for the evening celebrations. The evening was a great success. Guest of honours were, of course, the club founder Joe Riley with his wife Jean. During the evening Paddy Mulcahy presented Joe with a beautiful Lancashire crystal bowl which had been engraved for the occasion. Almost every era of the club was represented at the meal. The management duo of Dave Morris and Peter Lee, Harold Crilly, Bob Leyland, Paul Yates, Keith Sumner, Dave Lee, Dave Clempson, Steve Hilton, Kenny Baker, Wilf McGuinness to name just a few. The club also received a congratulatory message from Roy Hodkinson, part of the early Laburnums team and now living in Australia.
In February the club were in mourning as Alan Bradbury passed away. Alan had been gateman for the club for 12 years from 1989 and watched as much of each game as possible, usually just the second half of home games. For many years he was also a regular at away matches. After retiring from the job he still came up to watch the team play whenever possible.
Director Ray Price made the decision to step down. A long period of ill health hadn't helped his situation and with the running of the club becoming more stressful he decided that for his own welfare it was better to resign from the Board after many years excellent service. Ray remained at the club however and still fulfilled various roles.
So, while nothing like as bad as the previous season, another year with problems came to an end. On the pitch things were looking good as most of the players committed themselves to return for the following season and if they could maintain the form shown in the final two months, supporters were hopeful of a good performance for 2007/08.
While Atherton's programme again won awards, including being placed 2nd Nationally by the Soccer Club Swap Shop, programme editor Tim Lees was more impressed by an email from Trafford's Dave Murray. Amongst various jobs done by Murray at Trafford FC, he produced their programme. A congratulatory email from a fellow programme editor, who understands the amount of work that goes into producing the final product, was much appreciated.