As many will have worked out, last week’s club was Irlam.
The question referred to a link between this town and Edinburgh – the capital of Scotland. At this time of the year Edinburgh hosts a huge arts Festival and the associated Fringe. What is perhaps less well known, at least internationally, is that there is an arts Festival and Fringe which takes place in and around Irlam.
The photo showed the clubhouse at Irlam which is an excellent facility and just one example of how this club has grown over recent years.
A variation in format this week with many fewer clues as to where we are but many more clues to help to identify the particular club. Well, as the old proverb has it “A change is as good as a rest”. However, the objective remains the same and, perhaps unusually, the quick link might be useful this week although not entirely straightforward.
This week we venture out into an area which can truly be described as a hotbed of football and has been so since the Victorian era. With no less than 6 of our clubs within a 15 mile radius there is no shortage of potential local derbies. Add to that several clubs higher in the National League System and a couple of full time professional clubs within the same general area then competition for players could be described as intense.
Many of our football clubs have had something of a disjointed history. Those formed over 100 years ago have had to endure the not inconsiderable disruption of two World Wars in addition to the many changes in league structures over this time. Some have disappeared for good. Some have changed name several times. Some, like this club, can trace the history of their name back over many decades but deeper research reveals that it is not the same club.
Going back to the Victorian and early Edwardian era and we see a number of players who either started or finished their playing careers at the original club of this name having played the game professionally at clubs such as Preston North End, Liverpool and Manchester United.
Skip forward to more modern times and we find the name of this club “resurrected” in the early 1960s. Another club who were founder members of our League back in 1982, this club started in our Third Division and remained in that division, except for one season in the Manchester League, until Division Three was merged with Division Two in 1987. In 2008 the League changed designations of the two divisions to Premier Division and First Division. This club has remained in the First Division since that change.
This club are heavily involved in local charity work and are seen as a true community club. Recent events have supported charities such as Joseph’s Goal and the club host “Dementia friendly” coffee mornings with the objective of providing a safe environment to socialise for individuals whose lives have become somewhat isolated.
Quick link - What links this town with the man elected as MP for Wigan in 1621 and the Northern Ireland born entrepreneur Tim Martin?
