Whaley Bridge Athletic FC
Horwich Park
Park Road
Whaley Bridge
High Peak
SK23 7DJ
Ground Number: 1391
Saturday 1st March 2025
Whaley Bridge Athletic 1-2 St Michaels
Cheshire League Premier
WHALEY BRIDGE ATHLETIC FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
Whaley Bridge Athletic FC was established in 1890. They spent their early years in local amateur football playing in the Buxton, New Mills, Manchester, Stockport, High Peak and Hope Valley Leagues. Originally named Horwich End FC, the club played their home games at Hogs Yard Field, a site now occupied by Tesco. Around the 1940s Horwich End FC was renamed Whaley Bridge Football Club and won the New Mills and District league two seasons in a row from 1947-1949. They joined the Cheshire League in 2011 and won Division 2 at the first attempt. They were then promoted into Divison 1 which was later renamed the Premier Division where they had three 3rd place finishes before winning the title in 2017. Finishes have been more modest since but they remain in the top tier to this day.
MY VISIT
The Saturday of this weekend was the last day that I was to decide where to go. I was delighted when Stockport Georgians were scheduled to kick off at 11:00 as it meant that I could potentially head off to another game in the afternoon and even get to a later game, should I fancy it. Stockport Georgians was the only ground on Saturday that I needed but I was struggling to find a game to pair it up with. With the Manchester and Cheshire League games kicking off at 2 PM and the isolated nature of Georgians' ground I was left with barely any options. Bamber Bridge was considered but I couldn't find anything to double it up with. There was also a possibility that Ollie's Dad would be driving, but his mum would rival Kim Jong Un in terms of being a dictator had decided that she wanted a holiday, so I'd be providing her lad with assistance rather than getting a lift. I decided upon Poynton as it was on the way to New Mills and was commutable by bus, all things being well. It was only a reserve team game but the ground looked decent.
In the end, though, a last-minute change was made to go to Whaley Bridge as that was commutable on public transport, albeit with a very tight connection at both. We had 15 minutes walk to the bus stop where we had a scheduled five minute wait for the 199 to Whaley Bridge. It turned up 14 minutes late, our numbers not coming up on the public transport lottery. It's a shame that we didn't need the 192 as five of them passed through whilst we were waiting. It must have been a bad day for traffic as the Hoppers coach was delayed, resulting in the kickoff at Stockport Town being put back. It was a lovely scenic journey through the beautiful countryside on the way. It was a convoluted route up steep hills and past a beautiful stream and we arrived eight minutes in.
Whaley Bridge Athletic were 14th in the table and last time out they were beaten 4-1 at Denton. St Michael's were 11th before kickoff having drawn 1-1 with Broadheath Central in their last game. St Michael's took the lead through a scrappy goal on 22 minutes and it was deserved. Gradually though, Whaley Bridge got back in and they equalised with a low deflected shot on 59 minutes. The visitors retook the lead on 64 minutes, a ball from the right was heading home at the back post. That was it as far as goals were concerned but it had been a good competitive game.
THE GROUND
HORWICH PARK is a decent ground for the level with a fully railed pitch and a club room behind one goal. This sells soft and hot drinks as well as snacks. The scenery is fantastic and it's a really nice place to watch a game. Car parking is plentiful and as well as train station, the 199 Skyline bus runs through every half hour, or is at least supposed to.
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