Bs in LANCASHIRE

Hearing that Bolton Wanderers FC are having problems fulfilling friendly fixtures through a lack of money for wages and that Bury FC also are having a struggle, I am reminded of the fight that Blackpool FC had with the debt men recently.


At the moment, the "Seasiders" seem to be running smoothly, the other two Bs are not. The Blackpool club was founded on July 26th 1887 as St John's (Church) FC....busying the men when they weren't working-see below??!!
They joined the Lancashire League, which seemed to be fashion at the time and then joined the Football League in 1896. The Tangerines had their finest moments post WW2 when they lost the FA Cup twice and won it once between 1948 and 1953. Stanley Matthews, of course, was integral in their success. By the 1980/90s the club lounged in the Fourth Division.



Bury FC was founded in 1885 with the anvil, shuttle, fleece and papyrus plant (for paper) motto "Vincit Omnia Industria" work conquers all, on their badge. The once Lancashire town (now Greater Manchester) had a history in cotton manufacture and the name, Bury, means a castle, fort or similar, forming the basis of  the settlement description "borough". It was the seat of Sir Robert Peel's family.

Playing at Gigg Lane, not a large ground, they have a ground record of 35,000 for their local derby against Bolton on January 9th 1960.

The Shakers played in the Lancashire League before joining the Football League in 1894. Enjoying the Second Division, they won promotion immediately joining locals Bolton, Blackburn, Preston and Burnley.

In 1900 they beat Southampton 4-0 in the FA Cup and then set a record in 1903 by beating Derby 6-0 in the final. That score held until last season (2019) when Manchester City beat Watford by the same score.

In 2005, the club scored their 1000th Football League goal, the first in the top four tiers, and also Bury was the first European club to sign a player from Indian Sub-Continent, Baichung Bhutia. Colin Bell started his career with the Shakers and Bruce Grobbelaar ended his at 40 years and 337 days.


Bolton Wanderers, another Lancashire (Greater Manchester) "B" was founded in 1874 by the Reverend Wright, originally as Christ Church FC. This was another plan to keep the chaps out of the pubs. In 1877 the club had to move from their original venue and hence the addition Wanderers to their name. They played in the Lancashire League before joining the Football League as a founder member in 1888.