Ashton United FC

Ashton United was formed in 1878 and is one of the oldest clubs in the Manchester area. The club was formerly known as Hurst F.C. - which was a separate district from Ashton-Under-Lyne, and it wasn't until 1947 that the club changed to it's present title.

In April 1885, Hurst became the first winners of the Manchester Senior Cup with a 3-0 win over the forerunners of Manchester United, Newton Heath.

Hurst made their league appearance in 1909 when the club moved to Hurst Cross and competed in the Manchester League where they won the championship in 1912, the same year that they retained the Manchester Junior Cup. The club joined the Lancashire Combination the following season, but by 1923 had moved to become Cheshire County League members.

Hurst struggled to make an impression in the new league and in a bid to pep up their fortunes, signed the legendary Dixie Dean, but the Everton forward only played a handful of games before the outbreak of the Second World War and the suspension of football.

In 1947 they joined the Lancashire Combination, and while League success was hard to find, Ashton enjoyed some notable cup runs during the fifties when they twice lifted the Manchester Challenge Shield and also won the Manchester Intermediate Cup. Ashton also reached the first round proper of the F.A. Cup on two occasions, losing a replay to Halifax Town in 1952 watched by a Hurst Cross record crowd of 7,474 and a couple of years later losing 6-0 to Southport.

The long awaited second League Championship came in 1961 when Ashton lifted the Lancashire Combination Second Division title, a season which saw the club win every home league game.

Another league change came in 1964, but Ashton United only stayed in the Midland League from 1964 until 1966 when they switched back to the Lancashire Combination. In 1968 they joined the Cheshire County League until the formation of the North West Counties League in 1982. Ashton suffered relegation to the Second Division of the North West Counties League in 1984, but returned to the top flight as Champions in 1988, but once again struggled as the majority of the side left for a higher grade of football.

By 1990, Ashton were struggling, the side were in the lower reaches of the table and the Main stand had been condemned by Tameside Council as a potential death trap, but Oldham businessman Terry Liversidge saw the potential of the ground and became Managing Director. Ashton United also became a Limited Company and within twelve months the club was transformed both on and off the pitch.

After finishing third in 1991, the Robins fought a season long battle with Great Harwood Town for the Championship and required 13 points from the remaining 7 games to win the title and promotion. The title race went to the final games of the season with Ashton needing a point at Bacup to win the Championship. They made no mistake with a 1-0 win. The Robins also collected the Manchester Premier Cup, the League Cup and Challenge Shield to crown the most glorious season in their history.

After a ten year battle to gain promotion from division one to the Premier division, including 6 third place finishes, the day finally came on 2nd May 2002 when Ashton beat Bamber Bridge in the play-off final at Irongate to take their place with the elite of the Northern Premier League. This was a long journey that culminated in that man from Yorkshire, Mr Gerry Quinn, moulding a team over a year and a half and making one or two influential signing in the 2001/2 season to propel Ashton into the Premier Division and twice win the Manchester Premier Cup.

Season 2003/04 Saw Ashton maintain good progress and sat in the top half of the league for the majority of the season. This was the year that the non-league was being re-organised and to gain movement into the Conference North, the team only had to finish in the top thirteen a position that the team was always in – until the last day of the season, the team were playing Harrogate on the last day of the season and had to win to gain the much sought after 13 th spot – Unfortunately although the team gave everything on the day, they went down 3 – 4 to push the club into a play-off position. The club went on to beat Hyde United (winners of the First division) but run out of steam in the Semi-Final to a revitalised Bradford Park Avenue.

During the Close season football being a sport of few surprises – provided the Club with other opportunities to gain entry into the Conference North – unfortunately it was the demise of another club (Telford) going into liquidation that gave Ashton a reprieve and found the Team taking it's place in the newly formed Conference North Division.

The season in the Nationwide North (2004-05) proved to be a step too far for Ashton, a change in Manager (twice) during the season was to have a detrimental effect on the club and unfortunately for the first time in 21 years they were relegated back into the Unibond Premier League.