Morecambe FC

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Morecambe FC
Logo of the association since 2010
Basic data
Surname Morecambe Football Club
Seat Morecambe , England
founding 1920
president EnglandEngland Peter McGuigan
Website morecambefc.com
First soccer team
Head coach ScotlandScotland Derek Adams
Venue Globe Arena , Morecambe
Places 6,476
league EFL League Two
2019/20 22nd place
home
Away

The Morecambe FC (officially: Morecambe Football Club ) - also known as The shrimp or The Eric - is an English football club from the northwest of the county Lancashire nearby seaside resort Morecambe . Since the first promotion to professional football in the Football League in 2007, the club has played in the EFL League Two , which is the fourth highest division in England.

history

The first years (1920–1939)

Although football had been played in the city since the beginning of the 20th century, it was not until 1920 that the Morecambe Football Club was founded. On May 7, 1920, a gathering at the local West View Hotel kicked off and soon became the Joining the Lancashire Combination before the start of the 1920-21 season followed.

Initially, the young football club shared its home ground with the city's cricket club , but immediately attracted up to 3,000 spectators for derby matches against Lancaster City and Fleetwood Town. Success was a long time coming and after a placement in the lower half of the table, the club moved to Roseberry Park - after the purchase of the later President J. B. Christie, the site was to take on the name " Christie Park " a few years later . After the sporty somewhat bumpy start in the first few years, the club won the championship in the Lancashire Combination for the first time in the 1924/25 season and just a year later the Lancashire Junior Cup, which was later renamed the Lancashire Trophy. With over 30,000 spectators in the second repeat final against arch-rivals FC Chorley, football had finally established itself in the middle of the traditional rugby stronghold.

Christie bequeathed his park of the same name to the association in 1927 and also helped him on his way to becoming a public company . Despite these positive omens, Morecambe FC struggled to keep football alive in this north-western coastal town for the remainder of the 1920s and the decade that followed. The consistently poor performance on the field and the lack of income developed a negative interaction.

The second half of the 20th century (1945–1995)

Historical logo until 2010

Only after the end of the Second World War did the club experience continuous improvement in the late 1940s. An important milestone was the commitment of Ken Horton as player-coach in 1956 . In addition to Horton, who laid the foundations for the sport, it was above all their own fan base who did important work on renovating the stadium. The following 14 years after 1960 should finally go down in the club's history as the "golden era", which was initiated by the first entry into the third round of the FA Cup in the 1961/62 season - there the FC Morecambe lost 1-0 to the Weymouth FC . At the end of this period, the shrimp won the FA Trophy in 1974 and were victorious in the final against FC Dartford 2-1 at Wembley .

Twelve years of persistent struggles for existence followed, and the decline in athletic performance reduced the previous popularity from 2,000 spectators to 200. Only the 1985/86 season brought a glimmer of hope when the team made a big leap with a third place in the Northern Premier League ("NPL") and also achieved respectable successes in cup games in the years that followed. Overall, the sporting and economic consolidation should take around ten years and after the runner-up in the Premier Division of the NPL, the team played in the Football Conference from the 1995/96 season .

Stabilization in the Football Conference (1995-2006)

In this fifth highest English division, the Shrimps quickly developed into one of the leading teams in the league and only FC Woking had a longer period of membership in this division without interruption. In the 2002/03 season, the club won the runner-up in the Football Conference and the play-off games for promotion to the Football League missed the team in the following two years. For the second and third time in the club's history, FC Morecambe also reached the third FA Cup round in the 2000/01 and 2002/03 seasons, losing to Ipswich Town 0: 3 and 0: 4. Previously, the team with Cambridge United and Chesterfield FC had eliminated two higher-class teams from the cup competition.

Morecambe FC started the 2005/06 season as one of the promotions but suddenly had to change coach in November 2005 after Jim Harvey suffered a heart attack during a league game against Cambridge United . Sammy McIlroy , a long-time friend of Harvey, was quickly appointed as his successor on an interim basis and promoted to the role of head coach after three months until the end of the season. After the end of the season, Harvey should return to the coaching bench, but after a day the club management dismissed him to install McIlroy as a permanent solution. The team had previously reinforced their ambitions by reaching the qualifying games. There, however, was already in the semifinals after a 1-1 in the first leg and a 2-3 away defeat against Hereford United terminus.

Promotion to the Football League (since 2006)

The promotion finally succeeded in the 2006/07 season, when Morecambe FC qualified for the first time for professional football of the Football League with a 2-1 play-off final victory at Wembley against Exeter City . The team had previously defeated York City in the semifinals . Only a short time later, the club's management announced on July 17, 2007 at the beginning of the 2009/10 season they wanted to move into a new stadium. Due to delays, the Globe Arena was only ready for occupancy in the 2010/11 season.

FC Morecambe played their first game in the Football League in August 2007 at their home in Christie Park against FC Barnet , where they won 0-0 to their first point. Morecambe FC also played its first game in the club's history in the league cup and even surprisingly beat the second division and neighboring club Preston North End 2-1 in Deepdale on August 14, 2007 . The Shrimps followed two weeks later in the same competition with another 3-1 win against second division Wolverhampton Wanderers , before the third championship club, Sheffield United, proved to be too powerful in the clear 5-0 defeat. Morecambe FC finished their first season in the Football League with 60 points and eleventh place in the secured midfield.

successes

Lancashire Combination: 5

  • 1925, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1968

Lancashire Combination Cup: 5th

  • 1926/27, 1945/46, 1964/65, 1966/67, 1967/68

Lancashire Senior Cup: 1st

  • 1967/68

Lancashire Trophy: 10

  • 1926, 1927, 1962, 1963, 1969, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1996, 1999

FA Trophy : 1

  • 1974

Northern Premier League Presidents Cup: 1

  • 1991/92

League affiliation

Trainer

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Exeter 1-2 Morecambe" (BBC Sport)
  2. ^ "New Stadium Planned" ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (website of FC Morecambe)
  3. ^ "Morecambe 0-0 Barnet" (BBC Sport)
  4. ^ "Preston 1-2 Morecambe" (BBC Sport)
  5. ↑ "Sheff Utd 5-0 Morecambe" (BBC Sport)

Web links