Maine Road

Maine Road Football Club is a football club, based in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England. Founded in 1955 by Manchester City supporters, they are currently members of the North West Counties League Division One South and play at Brantingham Road. The club was formed in 1955 by supporters of Manchester City under the name City Supporters Rusholme. They played friendly matches before joining the Rusholme Sunday League, remaining members until transferring to the Manchester Amateur Sunday League in 1966. The club also moved its headquarters to the Maine Road Social Club and were renamed Maine Road Football Club. After winning the Manchester County Sunday Cup and the league title in 1971–72, the club switched to Saturday football and joined Division Two of the Manchester League. Maine Road won the Division Two title at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One, as well as winning the Manchester County Amateur Cup. They went on to win Division One the following season and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 1975–76 the club won the Manchester Premier Cup, beating Abbey Hey WMC in the final; they retained the trophy the following season with a win over Little Lever. In 1982–83 the club were Premier Division champions. They retained the title for the next three seasons, before finishing as runners-up in 1986–87, after which the club moved up to Division Two of the North West Counties League. Maine Road's first season in the North West Counties League saw them win the Manchester Premier Cup for a third time, beating Irlam Town 1–0 in the final. Despite finishing as Division Two runners-up in 1988–89, the club were not promoted after failing to meet ground grading regulations. However, the following season saw them win the Division Two title, earning promotion to Division One. Although the club were relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season, they were Division Two runners-up in 2003–04 and were promoted back to Division One. The club won the league's Challenge Cup in 2007–08, after which Division One was renamed the Premier Division. The club were Premier Division runners-up in 2013–14.