Ramsbottom United F.C.

History

The club was founded in 1966 by present chairman Harry Williams and initially played in the Bury Amateur League. In 1969 they moved to the Bolton Combination, winning the Division One Championship in 1972–73 and the Premier Division in 1976–77. After twenty years in that league, they joined the Manchester League in 1989, playing in Division One. A third-place finish in 1989–90 was followed by the Division One title the next season, earning promotion to the Premier Division, where they remained for four seasons.

At the end of 1994–95, the club applied to the North West Counties Football League and were admitted into the Second Division in June 1995. In their first season they finished twelfth and won the Second Division Trophy, beating Cheadle Town 2–1 at Darwen's Anchor Ground. The next season they were Second Division champions, pipping Haslingden on goal difference on the final day. On 9 November 1996 they set a club record winning margin by beating Stantondale 9–0, and they won all of their first 17 home fixtures.

That season also saw their first FA Vase appearance, a 0–1 home loss to Tetley Walker in the first qualifying round. In 1997–98, their first season in the First Division, they finished seventeenth. The following season they finished eleventh and entered the FA Cup for the first time, beating Maine Road 2–1 in a replay, then Shildon 3–0, and Billingham Town 3–0 before losing 0–5 at home to Conference National club Southport in the third qualifying round.

The 1999–2000 season brought a third-place finish on 79 points, with Russell Brierley scoring a club-record 38 league goals. They finished third again the next season on 88 points. After a fifteenth-place finish in 2001–02, mid-table results continued, including a fifth-place in 2004–05 that featured a league double over eventual champions Fleetwood Town. The Rams won the Bolton Hospitals Cup in 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08.

The 2009–10 season saw two former players, Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley, return as joint managers; the team finished 4th with a club record of fourteen away victories. The following season they finished runners-up, and in 2011–12 they won the Premier Division title, breaking club records for league wins (31), away league wins (16), league goals scored (108), and points amassed (96). Promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One North followed.

In 2013–14, despite a three-point deduction, they took fifth place and the last play-off spot, defeating Darlington 1883 in the semi-finals and Bamber Bridge 3–2 after extra time in the final to reach the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the first time. Joint managers Johnson and Morley resigned in January 2015 to move to Salford City. The club was relegated at the end of 2015–16, their first relegation in 50 years. They were relegated to the ninth tier in the 2022–23 season.

Stadium

Ramsbottom play at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium, near the town centre alongside the East Lancashire Railway line and Ramsbottom Cricket Club. The ground was named after the long-serving chairman from the 2010–11 season. Behind one goal is a covered stand named after Jack Wolfenden; the other goal has terracing with covers added in 2013. One side of the pitch has two smaller covered stands. Floodlights, acquired from Oldham RLFC's Watersheddings stadium, were installed in 1996–97. A large sponsors' lounge was added in summer 2013, but the Boxing Day floods of 2015 caused significant damage to the whole stadium.