Droylsden F.C.-The bloods on the net!

Following World War 2, Droylsden entered the prestigious Cheshire League, reaching their highest ever league position as runners-up in their first season. But the club couldn't build on that start and, four seasons later, failed in their second successive bid for re-election. Worse was to come; the sale of the Butchers Arms lease to Belle Vue FC - who renamed themselves Droylsden United - saw the Bloods forced out to the nearby Moorside Trotting Stadium. The town wasn't big enough for two clubs, especially with bad feeling between them, and after the local council bought the ground, a merger was negotiated. Droylsden came home in 1952 to a renovated ground whose pitch had been rotated to its present position, finally eradicating a long-standing drainage problem.

Two decades in the Combination ended in 1968 with a return to the Cheshire League, after the formation of the Northern Premier League. The club won the Manchester Senior Cup in 1973, 1976 and 1979 and enjoyed considerable FA Cup success, reaching the Fourth Qualifying Round four times in five seasons and the Cup proper twice. In 1976 Droylsden lost 5-3 in a First Round Replay at Grimsby Town, after a late home 'goal' was disallowed, but in 1978 Dave Taylor's goal at Rochdale sent the Bloods through to a Second Round tie at home to Altrincham, who ended the run with a 2-0 win.

But when the late seventies side broke up, Droylsden's fortunes slumped. The club finished a distant bottom of the First Division in 1982 and were placed in Division 2 of the new North Western Counties League. The unstable period ended with the appointment of Mark Fallon as player-manager. In his second season Fallon guided his team to the Second Division Championship - Droylsden's first senior honour.

Uniquely, the club have never played in NWCL Division 1, going straight into the new Northern Premier League First Division. The Bloods doubled up by being the inaugural winners of the First Division Cup and, under Phil Staley, achieved promotion to the Premier Division in 1990.

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