Warrington Town win 2015-16 league title, five years on

It was on that day that the journey they currently find themselves on really started – the beginning of a run they hope will take them higher up the footballing pyramid.

The sun was out and Cantilever Park was packed to see a record-breaking Yellows team seal the Northern Premier League First Division North title in typically authoritative style.

The celebrations after the trophy presentation. Picture by Mike Boden

However, the 6-1 hammering of Prescot Cables was just the crowning glory of something years in the making.

“The whole day was fantastic, especially for Toby (Macormac, club chairman), his wife Lisa and all the directors,” says Stuart Mellish, who ended the season as co-manager alongside Lee Smith having started it assisting manager Shaun Reid.

“It was a culmination of three seasons’ hard work building to that moment.

“From pre-season, the players had the eye of the tiger towards winning it.”

As Mellish alluded to, the foundations for this all-conquering campaign were already firmly in place before the squad assembled for pre-season training.

It had been less than a year since their memorable FA Cup win over League Two side Exeter City in front of the BBC cameras, which had generated momentum both financially and in terms of increased support.

With that in mind, it was critical they capitalised on the perfect storm they had created.

“I think that was “the chance” for us,” Macormac said.

“You never know who was going to come up or down. A team might have had issues and been relegated a couple of leagues, it’s happened in the past.

“We definitely thought we had to do it that season.

“We’d had a great run in the FA Cup the season before. Support had grown on and off the field and it was really important that we landed it.

“We managed to assemble a great squad that got us over the line in the end.”

Chairman Toby Macormac holds the trophy aloft. Picture by Mike Boden

Stalwarts from that famous cup night like goalkeeper Karl Wills, defenders Jay McCarten and Craig Robinson and winger Scott Metcalfe were bedrocks of the club, but more was needed.

Enter Ciaran Kilheeney – the prolific striker who had enjoyed two successful seasons at Cantilever Park earlier in his career before leaving to join Droylsden.

With a fee having been paid to bring him back, much was expected of the man who was given the captain’s armband.

With more than 40 goals in all competitions, he certainly delivered.

“Every time I shot, it seemed to go in,” he recalled.

“I was just one link in the chain though – nobody was selfish.

“I was lucky to play with the lads I did that season as there was some serious quality in that dressing room.

“We had a group of lads from Manchester, a group from around Liverpool and a few local lads, so there were a few different car schools and things like that.

“When we got together, though, there was one aim that we were all behind. We stuck together and pulled each other through.

“You’re always proud to wear the captain’s armband but especially that season for me, with all the records we seemed to break.

“Being able to lead the lads through it was definitely a privilege.”

Ciaran Kilheeney lifts the trophy. Picture by Mike Boden

Mellish continued: “The spine of the side was solid – we had Karl Wills in goal, Jay McCarten and Dan O’Donnell in defence, Danny Ventre in the middle of the park and Killer (Kilheeney) up top.

“They were all leaders and we had flair players around them with an outstanding work ethic.

“What we had most – and I drummed this into them all the time – was the desire to be the best we could be. It was phenomenal.”

Everything was in place, but things got off to an inauspicious start.

Having won only one of their opening four league games, they were dumped out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle by lower-ranked Abbey Hey.

However, it was that feeling of disappointment that kicked them into gear.

“We got beat by Abbey Hey in the FA Cup, which I think helped us,” Kilheeney said.

“It gave us the kick up the backside we clearly needed.

“From then on, we rolled our sleeves up and took every game as it came.”

In the 29 games in all competitions they played from then until the end of January, they won 24 and lost just three with only one of those defeats coming in the league.

The goals flew in – eight victories of the 24 saw them hit the net four times or more – and they built up an air of invincibility and overhauled the likes of Northwich Victoria and Spennymoor Town at the top.

Celebrations following a goal in the 5-0 win over Clitheroe in September 2015. Picture by John Hopkins

“We were always chasing Vics and it only takes a sending off in a game or an injury to change things,” Macormac said.

“We never really counted our chickens, especially given we were so far behind for most of it.”

Mellish, though, always had faith.

“I thought individually, Vics had some very good players but overall, I felt our squad was stronger,” he said.

“I always felt we would overcome the challenge.”

Kilheeney continued: “Within that group, we had everything.

“There were people that would score goals, create goals, run through brick walls – you name it.

“We could go wide, we could go long, we could keep it on the floor – we could win in all kinds of different ways.

“We seemed to be three or 4-0 within the first 20-25 minutes of games so we would just retain the ball and keep it simple from there.

“We built up a mentality that nobody was going to get close to us.

“Teams started to fear us then. Home or away, it felt like we were already a couple of goals up when we stepped on the pitch.”

More than 1,000 people watched Yellows beat Northwich Victoria 4-2 in January 2016. Picture by John Hopkins

Then, the potential for all the work to come crashing down.

With the team having built up a healthy lead at the top of the table going into February, the club and Reid parted company after he was informed his contract would not be renewed.

Mellish and Smith were asked to see the job through and ensure the team stayed on course and they did, with three straight wins including a 7-0 shellacking of Harrogate Railway.

Stuart Mellish, right, and Lee Smith were appointed as co-managers after Shaun Reid's departure in February. Picture by Mike Boden

Things may have got even more twitchy after a 3-2 defeat to Vics at the start of March saw them close to within 10 points of Town with three games in hand.

A nine-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player saw their neighbours’ challenge end, though, and Yellows could taste success.

Droylsden were the side unlucky enough to run into Town after their Northwich loss and were duly thumped 9-0 – the machine was still ticking over nicely.

“When the rumblings came around that Vics were going to have a possible points deduction, that’s when we properly got tuned into it,” Macormac said.

“If we were to be involved in the play-offs, the squad we had was that good we were always confident in winning it.

“Once Vics started to implode, and Spennymoor picked up a couple of draws while we were winning, we knew we had a chance.”

Now, it was just a question of finishing the job.

The heavy wins kept coming but it was a tight affair that Mellish picked out as the one he felt really set things up.

“The highlight result for me was going to Glossop and winning 1-0. That was the one for me,” he said.

“I think they were third or fourth but unbeaten at home and Spennymoor still had a little bit of a chance behind us.

“I knew if we won that one, nobody would stop us.”

And so the stage was set – more than 1,400 expectant supporters packed into Cantilever Park to see the crowning glory.

Only a point was needed against Prescot to seal the title but once Kilheeney had put them ahead inside the opening 15 minutes, nothing less than an emphatic win was on the cards.

Ciaran Kilheeney blasts home the opener against Prescot Cables. Picture by Mike Boden

And so it proved as another from Kilheeney and further strikes from Metcalfe, O’Donnell, Chris Gahgan and Gerard Kinsella supplemented the carnival atmosphere.

“Chris Gahgan had hit a bit of poor form and was feeling a bit downhearted,” Mellish said.

“I had left him out a few games before but I knew as a Warrington lad how much it meant to him.

“I pulled him before the game and I said “when we play Prescot, you are starting” and I could see the pressure come off his shoulders.

“My biggest highlight of that day was him scoring.

“As a local lad playing for his local team, I was made up for him.”

Chris Gahgan celebrates his goal in the promotion-clinching win. Picture by Mike Boden

Kilheeney continued: “We were three goals up quite early on, which settled the nerves.

“We could enjoy the afternoon a bit more, especially in the last 15 or 20 minutes.

“Then when the final whistle went, it was just utopia.”

Both on the pitch and in the dressing room, celebrations were wild as now the party could really start.

Rather typical of this team, though, they shook off any sore heads to dispatch closest challengers Spennymoor 3-2 in the final game of the season.

It meant their 2015-16 season ended with 34 wins, four draws and four defeats from 42 games to total 106 points – a league record that still stands

The 121 goals they scored is another league high yet to be beaten.

Yellows supporters celebrate the title win. Picture by Mike Boden

For Mellish and Smith, the journey ended not long into their first ever Premier Division season as they parted company with the club in October 2016.

Current incumbent Paul Carden replaced them but the holy grail of another promotion remains elusive after two agonising near-misses in the play-offs and two Covid-shortened campaigns.

For now, memories of the euphoric afternoon five years ago will have to do.

“It generated extra support off the back of the cup run the year before. People started to follow us more on and off the field,” Macormac said.

“To deliver it that year was a great outcome that took us to where we wanted to be.”