Nickname(s) The Red Rebels Chairman James Whittaker Arena/Stadium The Abbey Stadium | Ground Capacity 1,000 Founded 1902 Manager Barrie Walker | |
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League North West Counties Football League | ||
Abbey Hey Football Club are a football club based in the Abbey Hey area of Gorton, Manchester, England. The club are currently members of the North West Counties League Premier Division and play at the Abbey Stadium. They are full members of the Manchester Football Association.
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History
The club was established in 1902 as Abbey Hey W.M.C. They joined Division One South of the Manchester League in 1970, and after winning Division One in 1970–71, they were promoted to the Premier Division at the end of the 1971–72 season. They went on to win the Premier Division in 1981–82, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94 and 1994–95. After finishing as runners-up in 1997–98 the club were promoted to Division Two of the North West Counties League. They were runners-up in their first season in the division, resulting in promotion to Division One.
In 2009–10 the club finished bottom of the Premier Division (as Division One had been renamed in 2008) and were relegated to Division One. They were promoted back to the Premier Division after finishing as runners-up in 2012–13.
Ground
After joining the Manchester League, the club were required to have an enclosed ground, and moved to St Werburghs Road in Chorlton-cum-Hardy. However, two years later they were required to leave, this time moving back to Abbey Hey to a ground named for councillor Godfrey Erman.
After eighteen years at Godfrey's, the club were told to move out. They spent two seasons playing at the English Steel ground, during which they negotiated the purchased of land in Goredale Avenue in Gorton and built a new ground, the Abbey Stadium. The stadium is fully enclosed with a large clubhouse on one side of the pitch which has two bar areas. Opposite the clubhouse is a small covered enclosure which has basic bench-style seating at each end with a standing area in the middle.