Runcorn Town

Runcorn Town were formed in 1967 under the name of CKD and played in the Runcorn Sunday League. They changed their name to Mond FC in 1970, but little is known about the club's early years. At the start of the 1974–75 season, they made the decision to try Saturday football in the Warrington & District Football League.

At the end of their first season, Mond amalgamated with Premier Division team ICI Weston, becoming Mond Rangers. They remained in the Warrington & District Football League until 1984–85 when they were elected to join the West Cheshire League Division Two, but the link was maintained with the WDL with a reserve team setup. Les Walsh was leading goal scorer with 32 goals including 3 hat tricks

Mond Rangers established themselves as a solid mid-table team and it was not until the 1991–92 season that they won their first silverware as they won the West Cheshire Bowl as well as finishing a respectable sixth-place finish in Division 2. The following season they finished third in the league and reached the Bowl final, and improved again the following season by finishing third in the league, and regaining the Bowl.

Promotion was achieved in 1994–95 when they finished second in the league. They also reached the Final of the Cheshire Amateur Cup but lost 2–1 to Poulton Victoria in a match played at Prenton Park, Tranmere. Apart from a 5th-placed finish in 1996–97, the club were perennial strugglers in Division One, and were relegated for the first time in their history in 2001–02.

The 2004–05 season saw success return to the club with the first team finishing as runners up in Division Two, winning the Runcorn Senior Cup and reaching the final of the Cheshire Bowl again.

Before the start of the 2005–06 season, the club changed their name to Runcorn Town. A decision was also taken to improve facilities at the club with a view to joining the North West Counties League, but the club suffered a heartbreaking relegation at the end of this season, slipping into the relegation zone for the first time on the last day of the season.

The following season the club won Division Two for the first time in the club's history and were promoted. The 2007–08 season was probably the most successful in the club's history. The club won the Runcorn Cup, were runners up in the Pyke Cup, and finished third in Division 1, which remains the club's joint highest ever finish. They followed this with a 4th-place finish in 2008–09 and another third-place finish in 2009–10.

In June 2010 the club, having added floodlights to their home ground, applied to join the North West Counties Football League and after approval from the league and The Football Association officially joined after the League's AGM in mid June.

In their opening match in Division One in August 2010 they beat Abbey Hey 5–1 with Marvin Molyneux scoring Town's first ever goal in the league after just three minutes.

The first season was a real success, with the club losing just two of their 34 league matches. Promotion to the Premier Division was achieved at the first attempt following a 2–0 victory at Pavilions against Chadderton, and they finished the season as runners up in the league. They finished the season on a club record run of 25 league games without defeat.

In their first season in the Premier Division, Runcorn Town continued their success by finishing as runners up behind Ramsbottom United.

The subsequent seasons saw Town struggle to recapture past form in the NWCFL Premier Division, finishing 4th, 5th and 13th twice in successive seasons, although they established themselves somewhat as a Cup team. Continued success in the FA Vase seen them reach at least the second round in every season entered, whilst in 2014–15 they reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time, famously winning at Conference North side Barrow.

2016 brought the appointment of Chris Herbert as manager after Simon Burton left the club after a seven-year period. It was an uphill battle to get a squad together, with only one player retained from the previous season. There were no real cup runs this year, but Town bounced back in the league to finish third, level on points with runners-up Bootle.

The 2017–18 season saw the club get off to a record breaking start as they won their first 11 games of the season, with the first defeat coming in November. But the bad weather over winter saw momentum halted, playing just once in 35 days, and in ten league games until February, Town picked up just seven points. The end to the season was almost as good as the start, but they left themselves too much to do and finished third once more, albeit with a club record 93 points.

The 2018–19 season saw Runcorn Town in and among the leading sides until Christmas, but midway through the season, Herbert left the club to take a full time role at National League side Salford City. Midfielder Paul McManus accepted the role on a caretaker basis, and was appointed as permanent player-manager prior to the final game of the season.

The 2019–20 season was declared null and void after the season was cancelled due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The final game of the season was a 5–0 win at home to Burscough on 14 March 2020. There were good runs in the FA Cup – losing eventually to Farsley Celtic in the 2nd qualifying round – and also the League Cup – Town progressed to the semi-final before the competition was cancelled.

The 2020–21 season barely got started before again being curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In one of the few games played, Town beat AFC Liverpool on penalties following a thrilling 3–3 draw to reach the final of the League Cup.

The League Cup final was played at the beginning of the 2021–22 season, with Town losing 6–3 to 1874 Northwich. In October 2021 a new management team was brought in – Niall McGuinness and Aden Shannon taking over as joint managers, lasting just six months in charge with the club being relegated to Division 1 North.

A new management team led by Matt Barnes were brought in for the start of the 2022–23 season, tasked with building a new squad to challenge for promotion back to the Premier Division. Barnes resigned in November and Karl Brown and Lee Bignell were brought in to put together another new squad. At the end of the 2022–23 season, Runcorn Town faced the possibility of relegation to step 7 of the non-league system. However, despite finishing second from last in the division, and conceding the second most goals in the division, in May 2023 it was announced Runcorn Town have been handed a reprieve from relegation due to the team having one of the better points per game ratios of all second to last placing clubs across the country.

The 2023-24 season was a bit of a mixed bag with some entertaining high scoring wins as well as long periods without a win. Some promising early results included some memorable wins against Bacup Borough (4-3), Darwen FC (5-4) and Route One Rovers (5-3). A tough winter period saw the club drop down the table and despite just two wins after Christmas the team had done enough to improve on the previous season, finishing 12th and 6 points above the relegation zone.

2024-25 saw a move to The North West Counties League Division One South. Karl Brown began the season in charge alongside Nathan Steele who had replaced Lee Bignell. Just three games into the season though Brown was relieved of his duties with Steele taking over a Manager for the next three games. On 16th August a new management team was brought in led by Chris Jones who joined from CPD Porthmadog. After overseeing two games Chris resigned and the club moved quickly to appoint Darren Moore and Liam Page as Managers on 22nd August. Darren and Liam's first win game in their fourth game against Stockport Georgians was the club's first points of the season in the 11th game! The duo gradually turned around the club's fortunes and rebuilt the squad and the team climbed the table finishing in 12th place, 9 points above the relegation zone.