Warrington Rylands 1906 FC hit 100 semi-professional matches

FOOTBALL below the elite levels came to a shuddering halt for the second season in a row earlier this month when the Football Association suspended all play below the National League levels, leaving thousands of players kicking nothing but their heels.

With their festive fixture falling foul of the weather, Warrington Rylands 1906 last took to the field on Saturday, December 19, 2020 when they beat Longridge Town 2-1 in the third round of the Buildbase FA Vase.

Their pre-Christmas outing marked a significant milestone in the history of the long-established club, it being their 100th game as a semi-professional team having been an amateur side for much of its history.

The catalyst for the change came in 2012 when the struggling Cheshire League club was taken over by former player Paul Stretford, who unveiled ambitious plans for the club to join the professional ranks and eventually bring league football to the town.

Guarding the Rylands goal in their “centenary” game against Longridge was Graeme McCall – one of the first signings made by the club when their status changed.

Graeme McCall has been a mainstay between the sticks for Blues. Picture by Mark Percy

McCall was also between the sticks on August 4, 2018 when the Gorsey Lane outfit made its North West Counties League debut at Ellesmere Rangers.

Of the 11 players who kicked off Rylands adventure in the NWCFL with a 5-1 win – McCall, Tree, Williams, Kenny, Lownsborough, Sayer, Riley, Wolhuter, Bowers, Wellstead and McMillan – McCall was the only one on the field at kick off of the Longridge game.

Stuart Wellstead, wearing the red number 10, heads home during Rylands' first ever semi-professional match against Ellesmere Rangers in August 2018. Picture by Lee Wolstencroft

Although barring suspension, he would have been joined against Longridge by regular captain Gary Kenny, who has led the side in the majority of the 100 games.

Despite being the only player to have played in games one and 100, McCall is not the most capped players of the 73 to have pulled on the Rylands shirt in that time.

That honour falls jointly to Warren Gerrard and Steve Wolhuter (now playing for Ashton Town) who have both played 84 times. McCall stands fourthth on the list having played 77 games, Kenny is third with 82.

Having won 71 of the 100 games, Rylands have been prolific in front of goal, netting 259 times. Topping the charts is Jay White who struck 30 times in 59 appearances before joining Ashton Town in November.

Jay White, now with Ashton Town, is Rylands' leading scorer at semi-professional level. Picture by Mark Percy

Following closely behind with 28 goals in 44 appearances is current first team coach Stuart Wellstead while third on the goal scorers list is Kane Drummond, who last year became the club’s first ever contracted player, with 23 from 44 games.

At the other end of the pitch, McCall and his deputies have played behind one of the league’s meanest defences only conceding 96 goals in the same period.

As they raise their bat to acknowledge their first century of games in semi-professional football, it seems an appropriate time to take look back and reflect on the progress the club has made.

Three years ago, the cash-strapped club – founded in 1906 by workers from the Rylands Brothers Wire Works – were struggling in the lower reaches of the Cheshire League Premier Division but having been taken over six years earlier by Stretford they had ambitions to play at a much higher level.

Having launched a still-ongoing ground development programme, the first step they had to take was to move up from the amateur ranks to join the National League System.

Sitting at steps five and six of that system, the North West Counties League was in the process of expanding and welcomed Rylands into their fold for the 2018/19 season.

Placed in the First Division South, Rylands’ inaugural season in the NWCFL was a resounding success.

Scoring 111 goals on the way to winning the First Division South title at the first time of asking, they also won the First Division Champions of Champions trophy defeating North Section champions Longridge Town 3-0 in the final at Darwen.

Rylands celebrate winning the First Division South title in their first season as a North West Counties League club. Picture by Lee Wolstencroft

Continuing their good form into the 2019/20 season, Rylands stood second on the Premier Division ladder and on the cusp of promotion to the Northern Premier League when the Covid-19 pandemic brought the season to a shuddering halt, the Football Association declaring the season null and void.

Undeterred, they returned for 2020/21 rebranded as Warrington Rylands 1906 Football Club.

Under their new identity, they entered January’s national lockdown second in the NWCFL Premier Division table as the only undefeated team in the division and in the last 32 of the FA Vase having also reached the second qualifying round of the FA Cup, hosting York City in front of the BBC cameras.

Warrington Rylands hosted York City in the FA Cup earlier this season in a tie streamed live by BBC Sport. Picture by Mark Percy

From playing in front of the proverbial one man and his dog to selling out an albeit Covid-restricted capacity Gorsey Lane for cup ties against teams from higher leagues, the progress the club has made in the past three years is astounding and is probably best summed up by Stretford in some of his programme notes.

He wrote: “It is only three years ago that the height of our ambitions was a good Guardian Cup campaign and whilst we are proud of our history in that local competition, we are now competing in the FA Cup and beating clubs two divisions higher.”