Salford City F.C.

The club was founded in 1940 as Salford Central. It competed in local leagues until 1963, when it was promoted to the Manchester Football League and changed its name to Salford Amateurs. Nicknamed "the Ammies", the club won the Lancashire Amateur Cup in 1973, 1975 and 1977 and the Manchester Premier Cup in 1978 and 1979. Salford moved into its present ground, Moor Lane, in 1978[2] and following restoration of the ground, the club entered the Cheshire County League in 1980, which two years later amalgamated with the Lancashire Combination to form the North West Counties League.

The club adopted its current name of Salford City in 1989. In 1990, it returned to the final of the Manchester Premier Cup, losing to Curzon Ashton; it also entered the FA Cup for the first time. They were relegated out of Division One into Division Two at the end of the 1990–91 season, though a league restructuring saw them promoted again the following season. The club made another appearance in the final of the Manchester Premier Cup in 2002, this time losing to Ashton United.

In the 2004–05 season, the club reached the third round of the FA Vase. In 2005–06, it reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup and also won the North West Counties League Cup, beating Cammell Laird in the final.

In the 2007–08 season Salford, under the management of Gary Fellows, finished second in Division One of the North West Counties League and were thus promoted to Division One North of the Northern Premier League, the eighth tier of the English football league system.

The club suffered a difficult start in the Northern Premier League, losing six of their first seven matches, which resulted in Fellows being relieved of his managerial duties in October 2008[3] and former Bridlington Town and Stockport Sports boss Ashley Berry taking over.[4] After only two months, with results still not improving, Berry left and was replaced by former Flixton boss Paul Wright.[5] Due to a pre-existing suspension from the Football Association, Wright was unable to start work until March, so his assistant manager, Neil Hall, deputised for the first two months of 2009.[6] By the time Wright took up his position, Salford were languishing at the bottom of the league, having achieved one win and a total of eight points from their first 26 games, leaving them 15 points adrift from safety. An unlikely 5–3 away win at Lancaster City prompted a remarkable change in fortune, with the club going on to achieve nine wins and a draw from their last fourteen games, and clinching survival on the final day of the season with a 5–2 win away at Garforth Town.[7]

The 2009–10 season saw strong performances in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup and the FA Trophy, but the club continued to struggle in the league. In February 2010, having lost four of their last five home matches, Salford parted company with Wright.[8] Rather than appoint a permanent successor, chairman Darren Quick took the unusual step of taking on the role of caretaker manager himself for the remainder of the season. Under Quick, the team again enjoyed a strong finish to the season, taking 36 points from the remaining games and finishing eleventh in the table.

Despite the 2009–10 season's heroics, the team again struggled at the start of the 2010–11 season, and Darren Quick decided to end his tenure as caretaker manager, replacing himself with Rhodri Giggs who would act as player-manager alongside experienced coach Danny Jones. Results improved under Giggs with team finishing the season in 12th position. The club began well in 2011–12 with hopes of a playoff push, however a poor run of form at the start of 2012, combined with the frequent departure of the club's top players, resulted in a mid-table finish. After the final home game of the season, Giggs announced he was resigning from the post with immediate effect.

In May 2012, the club appointed ex-professional Darren Sheridan as the new manager.[9] The 2012–13 season started well in the league, and the club also enjoyed a local derby in the preliminary round of the FA Cup against FC United of Manchester.[10] Over 1300 fans were in attendance at Moor Lane to watch the Ammies narrowly lose in a five-goal thriller. Sheridan's tenure at the club lasted only 8 months though, and he resigned from the club in January 2013 after a review of the club's budget.[11] The club appointed Andy Heald as caretaker manager,[12] before announcing his appointment on a full-time basis a month later.[13] Under Heald's leadership, Salford finished a disappointing sixteenth place in the Premier League Division North, but enjoyed a good cup run by reaching the final of the Manchester Premier Cup where they faced Mossley at Edgeley Park. Despite a rousing late comeback to level the score at 2–2, Mossley eventually triumphed 4–2 in the resulting penalty shoot-out.[14] At the end of the season, Heald and his assistant Chris Thompson left the club by mutual consent due to business and family commitments.[15]

Ahead of the 2013–14 campaign, the club appointed Barry Massay and Phil Power as joint managers[16] and Salford based businesswoman Karen Baird took over as chairman from the long-serving Quick.[17] The new management team got off to a strong start and were unbeaten after the first six games of the season, however, form began to dip and in October 2013 the decision was made to reshuffle the management team with Power assuming sole managerial responsibility and Massay dropping down to an assistant managerial role, before subsequently leaving the club completely a month later.[18]

In March 2014, news broke of the proposed takeover of the club by former Manchester United players Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, subject to Football Association and Northern Premier League approval, with the deal expected to be completed by the summer.[19] The remainder of the 2013–14 season saw Power lead Salford to a 12th position finish in the Premier League Division North.

With the proposed takeover of the club completed, the new ownership team were present at pre-season training in July 2014, at which Giggs suggested the consortium had ambitious aims for the non-league club, with a target of Championship level football within 15 years.[20] It was confirmed that Baird would remain the club's chairman and Power would continue as manager. Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, the club announced a showcase match against a "Class of '92 XI" featuring all five of the new owners[21] which Salford City went on to win 5–1.[22] The 2014–15 season started with Salford unbeaten in the first 13 games. In September 2014, the ownership team announced that they had agreed to sell a 50% stake in the club to Singapore–based billionaire Peter Lim, the owner of Valencia CF.[23][24]

Bernard Morley (left) and Anthony Johnson were appointed joint-managers in January 2015.

Despite the promising start, a dip in form during December resulted in only 4 wins from the following 11 matches which saw the team fall behind Darlington 1883 at the top of the league. As a result, Power was sacked in January 2015 after 18 months in the role.[25] Owners Paul Scholes and Phil Neville acted as caretaker managers for the subsequent match against Kendal Town,[26] before announcing the arrival of the new managerial team of Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley.[27] Johnson and Morley had led Ramsbottom United to promotion from the Northern Premier League Division One North during the previous season. The new managerial team went on to win 15 of the remaining 17 matches of the season, a feat which saw them regain their place at the top of the table. With Darlington failing to win their penultimate match of the season, Salford were crowned champions, guaranteeing promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division.[28] The championship was celebrated with Salford recording their ninth consecutive win in a 5–0 victory over Ossett Town in front of a crowd of over 1,100.[29]

In October 2015, the club was featured in the BBC One series Class of 92: Out of Their League which was commissioned for a second series in February 2016.[30]

The club reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup for the first time in their 25-year association with the competition having defeated fellow league side Whitby Town, Curzon Ashton and Bradford (Park Avenue) from the National North League and Southport from the National League in the Qualifying Rounds. In front of a sell out crowd of 1,400 with many millions more watching live on BBC Television, Salford scored a famous win over League Two side Notts County by 2–0 at Moor Lane. The 2nd Round saw them drawn at home to Hartlepool United, also from League Two, and again the tie was televised live by BBC Television in front of another capacity crowd. A creditable 1–1 draw meant a replay in Hartlepool – a game that was televised live by BT Sport – but despite outplaying their hosts in normal time, Salford with the backing of 500 travelling supporters eventually succumbed to two unopposed goals in extra time. Having been in the top five places for the majority of the season Salford eventually finished third behind champions Darlington 1883 and runners-up Blyth Spartans to claim a playoff place. Ashton United were defeated 3–1 in the semi-final at Moor Lane which was followed up four days later with a 3–2 win over Workington at the same venue in front of nearly 2,000 spectators with 'the Ammies' scoring twice in the final eleven minutes to claim their place in the National League North for the 2016–17 season, the highest level the club had ever reached in its 76-year history.

In December 2016, despite objections from hundreds of residents and the newly-formed Kersal Moor Residents' Association about the club's proposals, with worries over traffic and parking, Salford City Council granted permission for the ground's development. This involved completely demolishing the Moor Lane ground, the club's home since 1978, and putting in four new stands.[31] Residents have continued to complain about littering, traffic, public urination and noise ever since as the crowds have increased.

In March 2017 joint managers Morley & Johnson signed two-year full-time contracts starting from 1 April. The club also announced that from 1 July, players with the club would become full-time professional players.[32]

On 19 October 2017, the newly named Peninsula Stadium was unveiled by the Class of '92's former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.[33]

On 21 April 2018, the club became champions of the National League North for the 2017–18 season with one game to play, thereby securing promotion to National League, once again re-setting the bar for the highest level the club has ever attained. Following this, on 8 May 2018 it was announced the joint managers had left the club by mutual consent, due to irreconcilable differences regarding performance and contract length.[34] Shortly afterwards on the 14 May Graham Alexander was appointed as the club's new manager.[35]

In January 2019 it was announced that David Beckham was set to join his Class of 92 teammates as part owner of the club, taking 10% of the club previously held by Peter Lim,[36] with the deal being subject to Football Association approval.

On 11 May 2019, Salford were promoted to League Two for the first time in their history after beating Fylde 3–0 in the National League play-off Final.[37] They began their first season in the league with a 2–0 win against Stevenage.[38]

As of 23 May 2020[42]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Chris Neal 2 DF Scott Wiseman 3 DF Ibou Touray 4 MF Oscar Threlkeld 5 DF Ashley Eastham 6 DF Carl Piergianni 7 FW Luke Armstrong 10 FW Danny Lloyd 11 FW Tom Elliott 12 GK Kyle Letheren 14 DF Josh Askew 17 MF Richie Towell 19 MF Mark Shelton

No. Position Player 20 FW Emmanuel Dieseruvwe 21 FW Devante Rodney 23 DF Nathan Pond 24 MF Martin Smith 25 MF Joey Jones 26 FW Bruno Andrade 27 MF Kieran Glynn 28 FW Brandon Thomas-Asante 29 MF Michael O'Connor 43 MF Darron Gibson 49 FW James Wilson — DF James Jones

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 33 GK William Evans 34 MF Alex Doyle 35 DF Sam Adetiloye 39 FW Kamar Moncrieffe 46 MF Luke Burgess (on loan from Wigan Athletic)

No. Position Player — DF Max Broughton — FW Daniel Hawkins [43] — Elliott Johnston[44] — FW Florian Yonsian

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 36 FW Anointed Chukwu (at Radcliffe)[45] 38 MF Brandon Lockett (at Kendal Town until 24 February 2020)[46] — MF Mark Howarth (at Marine)[47]

No. Position Player — DF Yianni Nicolaou[48] (at Runcorn Linnets)[49] — DF Tyrell Warren (at Boston United)[50]

• Best FA Cup performance: Second Round v. Hartlepool United (2015–16)
• Best EFL Cup performance: First Round v. Leeds United (2019–20)
• Best FA Trophy performance: Third Round v. Maidstone United (2018–19)
• Best FA Vase performance:
• Record cup attendance: 4,518 v. Leeds United, League Cup First Round, 13 August 2019
• Record league attendance: 4,044 v. Wrexham, National League Premier Division, 1 January 2019