Northwich Victoria F.C.

This article is about the original club from Northwich. For the breakaway club founded by its former supporters in 2012, see 1874 Northwich F.C.

Northwich Victoria
Full nameNorthwich Victoria Football Club
Nickname(s)The Vics
The Trickies
Founded1874; 150 years ago (1874) (amalgamated in 1890 with Hartford and Davenham United)
GroundBarton Stadium, (Groundshare with Winsford United)
ChairmanIan Egerton
ManagerMatt Barnes
LeagueMidland League Premier Division
2023–24Midland League Premier Division, 13th of 18
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Northwich Victoria Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Northwich, Cheshire, which compete in the Midland League Premier Division. They play home games at Barton Stadium, in a groundshare agreement with nearby rivals Winsford United. They had played at the same Drill Field ground between 1875 and 2002, which was at the time of its demolition was believed to be the oldest ground in the world on which football had been continuously played.[1] They played at the short-lived Victoria Stadium between 2005 and 2011, and have since been forced to share grounds with nearby clubs.

The original club was founded in 1874, and named in honour of the then-reigning monarch, Queen Victoria.[2] They won the first six Cheshire Senior Cup finals in the competition's history. The club became defunct and amalgamated with Hartford and Davenham United in February 1890, with the new club taking the old Northwich Victoria name.[3] This new club helped to found The Combination in 1890, before being invited to become founding members of the Football League Second Division two years later. After two seasons playing in the Football League, they returned to The Combination and spent 1898 to 1899 in the Cheshire League. Northwich spent 1900 to 1912 competing in the Manchester League, being crowned champions in the 1902–03 campaign. They spent a short time either side of World War I in the Lancashire Combination.

Northwich Victoria became founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919 and would win the competition for the first and only time in the 1956–57 season. They co-founded the Northern Premier League in 1968 and then the Alliance Premier League in 1979. Northwich won the FA Trophy in 1984, having been runners-up in 1982 and then again in 1996. Relegated in 2005, they won the Conference North title at the end of the 2005–06 campaign, However, the club suffered three relegations in four years by 2012, and were relegated down to the ninth tier of English football in 2017. In June 2017, the club was taken over by its supporters.[4]

  1. ^ Conn, David (30 December 1999). "Inside football: Drill Field's disputed place in record books". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Northwich Victoria Football Club".
  3. ^ "NORTHWICH VICTORIA FOOTBALL CLUB. THE AMALGAMATION QUESTION". Northwich Guardian. 19 February 1890.
  4. ^ "Club History". Northwichvictoriafc.com. Retrieved 9 June 2022.