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

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.

A first season placing of 13th was Droylsden's best in six seasons at that level; although in 1994 the club headed the League with a 100% record - after 3 games! Relegation followed in 1995/96, after the Bloods lost their first eight matches of the season (including conceding the fastest ever FA Cup hat-trick at Nantwich), although the club rallied enough to only go down on goal difference.

Droylsden, with Chairman David Pace now assuming the managerial helm also, returned to the UniBond Premier in 1998/99, pipping Hucknall Town to the 1st Division title on the last day of the season to complete a Championship and League Cup 'double'. However they again found the step up difficult to cope with; Andy Green's equaliser at Leek in the penultimate game of 2000/01 was all that prevented a quick return to Division One.

That escape seemed to galvanise the Bloods, and since then club records have been broken each season. The 2003/04 campaign was by far the most successful in Droylsden's history, finishing 2nd in the league behind Hucknall, but beating the same team in both the UniBond League Cup and Peter Swales Challenge Shield finals. Defeating Ashton United by a 'golden goal' in the Manchester Premier Cup final completed a haul of four trophies in one season - an astounding achievement at any level of the game – and also earned them “The North West Team of the Year” award.

For the 2004/05 season Droylsden ventured into the uncharted waters of the Conference-affiliated Nationwide North league. After a shaky start the Bloods staged a marvellous recovery, including a ten match winning run, and on the last day of the season were in with a great chance of winning the inaugural title. Sadly a home defeat against Worksop was followed by an agonising loss to Kettering Town in the play-offs.

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