Nickname(s) The Borough Chairman Frank Manning Founded 1879 | Ground Capacity 3,000 (500 seated) Manager Brent Peters Grounds West View, Bacup | |
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Full name Bacup Borough Football Club 2015–16 North West Counties League Division One, 5th League North West Counties Football League | ||
Bacup Borough Football Club is a football club based in Bacup, Lancashire, England. The club are currently members of the North West Counties League Division One and play at West View. They are full members of the Lancashire County Football Association.
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History
The club was founded in 1879. As Bacup, they joined the Lancashire League during the 1893–94 season, taking over the fixtures of Barrow, who had resigned on 20 November 1893. After finishing bottom of the league in their first season, the following season saw the club achieve a top-half place in the table. However, the club withdrew from the league during the 1897–98 season without completing their fixtures.
In 1901 Bacup rejoined the Lancashire League, where they remained for two seasons before becoming founder members of the new Division Two of the Lancashire Combination in 1903. They remained in the division until the end of the 1910–11 season, when despite only finishing sixth, they were promoted to Division One; that season also saw them win the Lancashire Junior Cup. However, they were relegated back to Division Two the following season after finishing bottom. After three more years struggling at the bottom of Division Two they left the league in 1915.
Following World War I, the club rejoined the league in 1920, by which time they had been renamed Bacup Borough. They remained members of the now single-division Lancashire Combination until World War II, finishing in the bottom half of the table in most seasons, one of the exceptions being a third-place finish in 1929–30.
They returned to the Lancashire Combination after World War II, and won the league in 1946–47. When it was expanded to a second division in 1947, they were placed in Division One, but were relegated to Division Two at the end of the 1948–49 season, which saw them finish bottom of the table. Despite only finishing sixth in 1954–55, the club was promoted back to Division One, where they remained until the league reverted back to a single division in 1968. They were runners-up in 1972–73.
In 1982 the Lancashire Combination merged with the Cheshire County League to form the North West Counties League, with Bacup Borough placed in Division Three. When the division was abolished in 1987, they were moved into Division Two. The 1989–90 saw the club claim the runners-up position, earning promotion to Division One, where they remained until being relegated at the end of the 1994–95 season.
After winning Division Two in 2002–03 the club were promoted back to Division One, which was renamed the Premier Division in 2008. The 2003–04 season saw the club win the League Challenge Cup, beating Newcastle Town 3–0 in the final held at Haig Avenue in Southport. In 2011–12 they won the League Challenge Cup again with a 5–0 victory over Maine Road.
In 2013 the club was renamed Bacup & Rossendale Borough after nearby Rossendale United folded, They went on to finish second-from-bottom of the table in North West Counties League, but were repreived from relegation after Kidsgrove Athletic were reprieved from relegation in the division above. However, the following season they finished in the same position, and were relegated. At the end of the season the club were renamed Bacup Borough again.
Ground
The club moved to West View in the Stacksteads area of Bacup in 1889, with the first match played against Accrington attracting over 1,000 spectators. It currently has a capacity of 3,000, of which 1,000 is covered and 500 seated.