Skerton F.C.
Association football club active in the late 19th century
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Skerton Football Club was an association football club from Lancaster, Lancashire, active in the 19th century.
History
The earliest references to the club are from the 1888–89 season.[8] It took a more serious turn in 1891, when it decided to appoint a trainer for the first time, Councillor Smith agreeing to defray the expense.[9] In 1892 the club joined the Lancashire Alliance for its first experience of league football.
After a successful 1896–97 season, in which the club won more matches than ever before (27 out of 35), and won the Alliance title for the first (and only) time,[10] the club joined the Lancashire Combination for the 1897–98 season (having failed to gain admission to the higher profile Lancashire League),[11] and, to raise money for the extra expenses, was floated as a limited company.[12] The club then enjoyed two mid-table finishes,[13] and won the Lancashire Junior Cup in both of those seasons. The Skertonians had twice been runner-up before reaching the 1897–98 final, and the Skertonians had trained especially at Lytham St Annes for the match, against St Helens Recs at Deepdale; goals from Blatchford and Fryers in the first half, and Blatchford scoring his second with a shot in-off the crossbar in the second, saw the club lift the trophy for the first time.[14] The same two clubs contested the final at the same venue in 1898–99, Skerton winning 2–0,[15] and it proved more attractive than the Lancashire Senior Cup final the following week - fewer than 4,000 turned up to Burnden Park for the latter,[16] but there was a 50% higher gate for the Junior.[17]
However, the club's fortunes took a turn for the worse in 1899; the cost of erection of a new grandstand proved crippling.[18] In March 1900, having only registered 1 win in 22 Combination games,[19] and with debts of £150 (a third of which was due to the grandstand),[20] it resigned from the Combination, its record was expunged,[21] and the club dissolved.