PU PREVIEW 63: ALTRINCHAM

Altrincham was established by a Sunday school around 1891 as Rigby Memorial Club. They soon merged with another local team, Grapplers, to form Broadheath Football Club, and were founder members of the Manchester League in 1893. Their first match in the league on 16 September 1893 saw them lose 7–0 to Hulme, and they went on to lose 14 of the remaining league matches as they finished bottom of the table.

After playing at various grounds in Broadheath, Timperley and Altrincham, the club moved to Pollitt's Field in 1903, at which point they changed their name to Altrincham. They won the Cheshire Amateur Cup in their first season under the new name, and went on to win both the Manchester League and the Cheshire Senior Cup the following season. They won the Manchester League again in 1906–07, and moved to their current Moss Lane ground in 1910.

In 1911 the club joined Division Two of the Lancashire Combination. They finished as runners-up in their first season in the division, only missing out on the title on goal average and earning promotion to Division One. They remained in Division One until World War I. When football resumed in 1919, the club were founder members of the Cheshire County League, where they remained until World War II, the highlights being finishing as runners-up in 1934–35 and 1935–36 and a League Cup win in 1932–33. In 1934–35 they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 1–0 at Gainsborough Trinity.

A key turning point in the history of the club is often cited as the signing of Jackie Swindells in 1965, who in his first full season scored 82 goals, helping Altrincham to the first of back-to-back Cheshire County League titles, scoring over 120 goals in the league in both seasons. After finishing as runners-up in 1967–68, they were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968.

They reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy in 1976–77, losing 2–1 to Scarborough in a second replay; however, the following season they went one better, reaching the Wembley final where they beat Leatherhead 3–1. In 1979, Altrincham became founder members of the Alliance Premier League, the top level of non-League football. The league's inaugural season saw Altrincham crowned champions.

The club recorded a second FA Trophy win in 1985, beating Runcorn 1–0 in the final. The 1985–86 season saw them record one of the biggest FA Cup giant-killings of all time when they defeated top division Birmingham City 2–1 at St Andrew's.

Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting became a shareholder of the club in 2009. In 2018, Altrincham won the Northern Premier League title, earning promotion back to the National League North.

Altrincham have a history of giant-killing in the FA Cup, holding the record of knocking out more Football League sides than any other club that has spent its entire history playing in non-League. To date the club has recorded seventeen victories against Football League clubs.

Altrincham are managed by Phil Parkinson and finished 5th in the National League North at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Pompey and Altrincham were drawn to face each other in the FA Cup 2nd round at Fratton Park in November 2019. Pompey won 2-1 with a last-minute winner from Brett Pitman.

(Information via Wikipedia and www.11v11.com)