Harrogate Railway FC

Lancaster Athletic Football Club was formed in 1905 and during its first twenty years experienced many highs and lows. It was during this period that the club disbanded (1911), was reformed (as Lancaster Town F.C) then played a season in the West Lancashire League before returning to the Lancashire Combination Division 2. Four years after being reformed Town gained promotion to the Lancs. Combination Division 1 and it was during this successful campaign that the clubs record victory was recorded against Appleby (17-2) in an F.A Cup preliminary round tie, at the end of this 1914/15 season league football was suspended due to hostilities with Germany.

League football was resumed in season 1919/20 and Lancaster Town finished as runner-up, which was followed the next season with a 5th final placing. At the end of this season (1920/21) it was a case of 'what might have been' as the club failed with its application to join the Third Division (North) in its inception season of 1921/22.

Despite this disappointment Lancaster Town went on to win the Combination Championship and had a fine F.A Cup run which ended 0-1 Northampton Town of the Third Division (South). Before this Lancaster had knocked out two Football League Third Division (North) sides Barrow and Stockport County (who finished as Champions).

Lancaster fans had to wait until the end of the decade before they could celebrate another Championship success, and what a wait. Town won their final twelve matches, which saw them grab the title by a point over Manchester Central. This decade had provided the Town fan with players whose names were fondly remembered by following generations. Players such as Harry Abbott, Fred Johnson, 'Derby' Wilson, Richard Bond, Joe Hodkinson, Anthony Alstead, Ellis Fisher, Fred Marquis and Joe Myerscough to name a few.

Lancaster also had a support worthy of a higher grade of football. Often crowds at the Giant Axe exceeded 3,000 which was a match for some in the Football League. On a number of occasions clubs benefited from Lancaster's visit by recording their record crowds.

During the next decade the club had more successes as it added two more Combination Championships (1934/35 and 1935/36) to its role of honours. The Lancashire Junior Cup (now Lancashire Challenge Trophy) was collected on two occasions (1930/31 and 1933/34) as it had been in the previous decade. Indeed the win for the first time in 1927/28 was after the club had appeared on four occasions as the losing finalist.

Between the seasons 1928/29 and 1938/39 the side appeared in the F.A Cup 1st round on seven occasions, the seasons they did not make it saw them appear in the 4th Qualifying round.

When the Town of Lancaster became a City the football club also changed its name and has had City attached to it since the 1937/38 season. Sadly this name change coincided with the decline of the club as the years leading up to World War Two were often filled with financial struggle, infact reflecting the social history of Britain at that time.

As with all football over the country in the immediate years after the last World War City enjoyed some tremendous support with gates often reaching 4 and 5,000 and on some occasions more. Success on the field was still missing, although the club did reach the F.A Cup 2nd round in 1946/47, and the nearest the Combination Championship came to returning to the Giant Axe was in 1951/52 when the side finished as runners-up and picked up the Lancashire Junior Cup.

The next twenty years saw the club treading water with rarely a challenge at the top made- even an appearance in the F.A Cup 1st round was a thing of the past. Once again this lack of success, which coincided with the emergence of Morecambe as a force, saw the support dwindle from a regular 1,500 to around 200. The formation of the Northern Premier League (1968/69) proved a blessing in disguise, although the club were not admitted straight away-they had to wait until season 1970/71. Initially this was a good move for City with crowds five times higher than they had been in the latter days of the Combination. But within 10 years the financial problems that have dogged the club throughout its history once again surfaced. This led to the clubs resignation from the NPL (1981/82) and the joining of the newly formed North West Counties League. Problems were never far away and the club were relegated at the end of the 1984/85 season for the first time in its long history.

The 1987-88 formation of Northern Premier League First Division represented a new start with City being accepted into the new league due mainly to their ground status rather than their recent league performances. Healthier crowds and even healthier league positions and cup runs followed over the next few seasons, culminating with the club under the management team of Alan Tinsley and Mick Hoyle winning the First Division title in 1995-96, their first league title for nearly 60 years. Numerous cup wins and cup-final appearances, as well as excellent FA Cup runs, followed and the crowds started to return. With Tony Hesketh and former player Barrie Stimpson now in charge of team affairs, results continued to improve, with gates regularly topping 500. City even managed to attract crowds of over 2,000 for the numerous cup games they played against arch rivals Morecambe, and even though, financially, things could have been easier, the club as a whole was in a much better position overall. For the 2004-05 season, the club was accepted into the newly-formed Nationwide Conference North via their league position in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

The start of the 2006-07 season saw Gary Finley and ex-Blackpool and Tranmere Rovers midfielder Micky Mellon taking over team affairs. Also, new owners Charlie Moore and Ian Clarke promised some much-needed financial stability via new sponsorships and wise investment, enabling the club to go out and sign the players they need to mount a serious challenge on the league.

However problems regarding the paying of players wages as well as other outstanding bills led to the walk out of several players and coaching staff including manager Finley. It also led to the resignation of Ian Clarke and Honorary Vice President John Bagguley a man who had proudly served the club for 25 years, many of them as chairman. Also a transfer embargo was imposed on the club by the league due to an unpaid bill for 100 footballs meaning that new management team had been unable to add to the much depleted squad forcing Lancaster to play many of their young reserve team and local league players.

Following these events, an emergency AGM took place, and chairman Moore was ousted after being given a unanimous vote of no confidence by the rest of the directors. His position was taken by Mick Hoyle, a loyal servant of the club who has served in a number of capacities since first getting involved almost fifteen years earlier. He had originally left the club in 1998 and had spells as manager of both Kendal Town and Fleetwood Town. One of Hoyle's first moves after taking charge was appoint former player, assistant manager and City legend Barrie Stimpson as team manager. However, with the club now having to make serious cutbacks, the supporters of the club were rocked by the press release issued on 18 December 2006, stating that the club had gone into administration because they couldn't find any way to pay reported debts of nearly £700,000. Aside from the indignity of conceding over 100 goals and at one stage being on negative points, a ten-point penalty was handed to the club. The club has since gone into liquidation but immediately a new company was formed with them changing the company name from City of Lancaster A.F.C. Ltd to Lancaster City F.C. Ltd. This new company will now deal with the day to day running of the club. Lancaster finished the season bottom of Conference North with just one point and for financial reasons they asked for a double-relegation to the Northern Premier League Division One North, which was granted to them.