Towerites and Rakers - Football In New Brighton

 

New Brighton AFC in action v Tottenham Hotspur (Image: Wirral Globe)

One Monday last month, I happened to be in New Brighton for a meeting over lunch. It was a very pleasant early autumn day, and the temperature reached 70 degrees, and so while I was there, my business partner - who hails from nearby Wallasey - took me for a drive around perhaps lesser known parts of the seaside town. At one point, we pulled into a bland, nondescript suburban housing estate and pulled over on Molyneux Drive, a quiet street where he pointed out a solitary sandstone gate pier. "That", he said, "is a piece of footballing history." It didn't register immediately but I did have an inkling. It was of course all that is left of the Tower Athletic Ground, which was the home of New Brighton Tower FC and New Brighton AFC, both of whom were Football League clubs.

Back in the early 1800s, the northeastern tip of the Wirral peninsular was a coastal wilderness on the fringes of the Mersey Estuary, renowned for shipwrecks, smuggling, and other nefarious activities. Things changed slightly in 1829 when Fort Perch Rock was built, a battery which included the installation of 18 mounted guns, and the following year James Atherton - a merchant from over the water in Liverpool - acquired 170 acres of land at Rock Point which benefitted from glorious views across the Mersey and the Irish Sea, and access to an attractive sandy beach.

Atherton's plan was to develop a genteel resort and desirable residential suburb, taking advantage of natural beauty and waterside setting. Atherton christened his resort 'New Brighton', and it quickly expanded inland and up the hill that overlooks the estuary. By the 1850s, New Brighton was starting to become a popular seaside resort with residents of Liverpool and other industrial towns across Lancashire, and some of the resort's larger houses were converted to affordable hotel accommodation.

As a result of this new found popularity, and recognising coastal trends from elsewhere, New Brighton saw several major developments over a period of 25 years that further reinforced the resort's reputation.

The first of these saw the building of New Brighton Pier by noted seaside architect Eugenius Birch. The pier opened in 1867, 12 months after Birch's masterpiece, Brighton's West Pier. Further developments saw the building of a promenade from Seacombe - another Wallasey suburb - to New Brighton which was completed in 1901, and eventually extended westwards to the village of Leasowe, making it the longest in the UK.

But the second of the developments was the most significant, and led to football coming to the town.

In 1896, the newly formed New Brighton Tower and Recreation Company bought the 20-acre estate of Rock Point House which had been demolished. The company quickly developed ambitious proposals for the site, which included a tower - designed to rival Blackpool Tower - and associated buildings at the base - which included the famous Tower Ballroom - while the rest of the site was laid out with a view to creating an elegant ambience, and included a boating lake, gardens, and a funfair.

On completion, New Brighton Tower was the tallest structure in Great Britain and in its first year attracted around 500,000 visitors. However, within 20 years it was dismantled though the base buildings remained. Indeed, The Beatles went on to play the Tower Ballroom 67 times, more than any other British venue other than The Cavern.

The company also came to the conclusion that they needed to provide a winter attraction, and so they went on to develop a sports stadium on part of the site which included an athletics track, a speedway track, and football facilities. And thus New Brighton Tower FC - The Towerites - was born, formed to play at a purpose built stadium much like Chelsea, Liverpool, Sheffield United, and Thames AFC. The Tower Athletic Ground as it was known, had a capacity of 100,000.

The club was formed in 1896, and joined the Lancashire League for the 1897/98 season, winning the title at the first attempt. They subsequently applied to join the Football League, and though they were initially rejected, they secured a place when the league took the decision to expand Division Two and admit four new clubs.

In readiness for their first Football League campaign, the club signed a host of new players - including a number of established internationals - and this was to lead to relative success. New Brighton Tower's first Football League fixture at the Tower Athletic Ground saw them beat Gainsborough Trinity 3-2 in front of a crowd of 2,000, while the club's record league attendance was recorded later in the season when Manchester City won 1-0 before a crowd of 10,000. New Brighton Tower went on to finish 5th in their first season, and 4th in their third. However, despite the positive performances, attendances remained stubbornly low - average gates were around 1,000 - and the company concluded that it was too costly to maintain a professional football club. New Brighton Tower FC was dissolved in the summer 1901, their place in the Football League taken by Doncaster Rovers. Their final league game saw them beat Woolwich Arsenal 1-0, with just 2,000 supporters in attendance.

Following the demise of The Towerites, the Tower Athletic Ground was mainly used for other sports - though Harrowby AFC were to play there - and it fell into decline.

New Brighton was without a senior football club until 1921, when New Brighton AFC was formed from the ashes of South Liverpool, who had gone bankrupt. The new club took South Liverpool's place in the Lancashire Combination for the 1921/22 season, initially playing their football at Sandheys Park, built on a former school playing field off Rake Lane, hence the new club's nickname, The Rakers.

The club swiftly built a 1,000-seater covered stand and terraced paddock, and the ground soon had a capacity of 20,000. In 1923, New Brighton were elected to Division Three (North) of the Football League when it was expanded to 22 clubs, with Sandheys Park hosting its first league match on 29 August when Chesterfield were the visitors, the game finishing in a goalless draw. The following season saw the ground record its record attendance of 15,173 for a local derby with Tranmere Rovers.

New Brighton never really pulled up any trees, and apart from the occasional top ten finish, more often than not were a bottom half of the table club that enjoyed the odd cup run. They reached the FA Cup fourth round on three occasions, their best effort coming in the 1937/38 season when they held Tottenham Hotspur to a draw before losing the replay.

The outbreak of World War II proved to be a disaster for New Brighton in more ways than one. In 1942, Sandheys Park was heavily damaged during a bombing raid, leaving it in ruins, and at the end of the war, the site was requisitioned by the Wallasey Corporation for the building of temporary housing. As a result, New Brighton moved to the Tower Athletic Ground, the former home of New Brighton Tower. The last Football League game played at Sandheys Park saw New Brighton beat Doncaster Rovers 4-2 - the club that had replaced New Brighton Tower in the Football League - on 2 September 1939.

On taking on the Tower Athletic Ground, New Brighton built a new stand and gave the pitch an overhaul, and their first league fixture at their new home on 4 September 1946 saw The Rakers play out a 0-0 draw with Bradford City in front of 7,500 spectators. Later that month, a local derby with Tranmere Rovers saw a gate of 14,291, the ground's record league attendance.

New Brighton AFC in action at the Tower Athletic Ground (Image: beyondthelastman.com)

However, the move away from Sandheys Park didn't turn out to be much of a blessing, and at the end of the 1950/51 season, New Brighton had finished bottom of the Third Division (North). They were subsequently voted out of the Football League to be replaced by Workington; their final league fixture at the Tower Athletic Ground saw them beat Chester City 1-0. However, prior to leaving the Football League, The Rakers created a small piece of footballing history when on 15 March 1947, manager Neil McBain was forced to play in goal away to Hartlepools. McBain was 51 years and 120 days old at the time, and thus became the oldest player to appear in a Football League match, a record that still stands to this day. Perhaps unsurprisingly, New Brighton lost 3-0.

Following their departure from the Football League, New Brighton dropped back into the Lancashire Combination, and ironically, it was during their time as a non-league club that they enjoyed their most memorable FA Cup run. During the 1956/57 season they reached the first round before knocking out three league clubs to reach the fourth round, where they drew First Division leaders Burnley at Turf Moor. However, that's where their journey ended: The Rakers lost the tie 9-0. It was during this cup run that the Tower Athletic Ground's overall record attendance was set when a crowd of 16,000 saw New Brighton beat Torquay United. The following year, with the club's finances boosted by their FA Cup run, New Brighton completed the purchase of the Tower Athletic Ground.

In 1965, The Rakers left the Lancashire Combination and joined the Cheshire County League. By this point, both the town and the football club were in decline, and in 1977 New Brighton sold the Tower Athletic Ground to the Wallasey Housing Corporation who went on to develop the suburban estate that I found myself on during that sunny day last month.

Following the sale of the Tower Athletic Ground, New Brighton left the town to play their football at Carr Lane in Hoylake on the other side of the Wirral. By 1981, the club was in financial dire straits, owing money to the Inland Revenue, while their ground at Carr Lane was in a state of disrepair having suffered from vandalism on a regular basis. At the end of the 1980/81 season, The Rakers finished bottom of the Cheshire County League, and were forced to leave Carr Lane.

After leaving Hoylake, New Brighton agreed a ground share with Newton FC in Greasby and entered the South Wirral Premier Division. By now the club was in terminal decline, and the 1981/82 season was a disaster both on and off the pitch. Loss of key players saw them relegated to the South Wirral First Division, while an application to build a new ground at Leasowe Road on the outskirts of Wallasey was refused.

The 1982/83 season was to be New Brighton's last as it lurched from crisis to crisis, with the low point - from a footballing perspective - being an 11-3 defeat to Rake Social. As the season drew to a close, calls for new directors and voluntary support fell on deaf ears, and in the summer of 1983, New Brighton AFC was dissolved.

By the early 1990s, New Brighton - despite its attractive and handy location - was in a bit of a state. But in 1993, a push to revive New Brighton AFC came to fruition, and the reformed club - playing their football at Harrison Drive - entered the Birkenhead and Wirral League, which they won at the first attempt, moving into the West Cheshire League. They remained in the West Cheshire League until they folded again at the end of the 2011/12 when the club's management committee stepped down and couldn't be replaced.

In recent times, the town of New Brighton has seen a bit of a resurgence thanks to the efforts of the likes of Dan Davies, founder and chief executive of Rockpoint Leisure, whose Victoria Quarter project has made a big difference and is providing an authentic alternative to the shiny tower strategy being pushed by Peel Holdings at the nearby docks of Birkenhead.

And just as the town has been undergoing a revival, football may yet become a part of it all. A new club - New Brighton Town AFC - has been formed and has entered the Wallasey and District Sunday League for the 2023/24 season, and has aspirations to reach the football pyramid. Given the vibe around New Brighton these days and the growing interest in football away from the bright lights of the professional game, you wouldn't bet against it happening.