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A.F.C. Fylde

AFC Fylde is a football club based in Kirkham in Lancashire, England. The club were known as Kirkham & Wesham F.C. until the end of the 2007-08 season. The club has spent most of its existence in the West Lancashire League, but, after winning the league title for seven out of eight seasons, were accepted into North West Counties League Division Two in 2007. In their first season in that league they secured an automatic promotion spot to the Premier Division. They are the current holders of the FA Vase. Their home ground is Kellamergh Park in Warton. For the 2008-09 season the club changed their name to AFC Fylde.

History

Formation

The club was formed by the amalgamation of Kirkham Town FC and Wesham FC in 1988. By taking this name, the club was adopting the name of a previous club which had played in the West Lancashire League in the years immediately before the First World War.

West Lancashire League

Kirkham & Wesham played their first season in the West Lancashire League in 1988-89, taking the place previously held by Kirkham Town in Division One. The following season they finished bottom of this division and were relegated to Division Two. After three seasons in Division Two they were promoted in the 1992-93 season, only to again suffer relegation in 1994-95. They were immediately promoted again, finishing as runners-up and only losing two games all season in 1995-96.

The West Lancashire League was re-structured with the First Division being re-named as the Premier Division in the 1998-99 season. After finishing fourth in successive season in the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons, he club then dominated the Premier Division for a number of years. They were Champions in seven out of eight seasons between the 1999-00 and 2006-07 seasons, finishing as runners-up in the one season they failed to win the league, 2002-03. Between January 2003 and October 2004, the club did not lose one match in any competition, a record that spanned 21 months. The run finally ended when they lost a league match, 1-0 to Dalton United

In April 2006 the club completed a hat-trick of consecutive victories in the Lancashire Amateur Shield cup final when they beat fellow West Lancashire League side Charnock Richard 2-0 at the Lancashire FA ground in Leyland. It was the clubs fourth time winning the Shield in six years. As the nominated representatives of the Lancashire County Football Association (Lancashire FA), the club have been winners of the Northern Counties Cup in 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07.

North West Counties League

Following their West Lancashire League championship success in 2006-07, the club were accepted into the North West Counties League for the 2007-08 season.

The club's first match in the North West Counties League was a home match on 11 August 2007, against Darwen in front of 101 fans, which they won 5-0. The following Tuesday they played their first ever home match under floodlights winning 2-0 at home to Holker Old Boys F.C.

In September 2007 the club announced a new shirt sponsorship deal with Lytham St Annes based company, VetPlus who are due to sponsor the teams kit for three years, as part of a five figure deal. On 8 September the club played their first ever match in the FA Vase beating Northern Counties East LeagueDivision One club Worsbrough Bridge Athletic 3-0. The club had also arranged for the FA Vase trophy to be on display before the game.

Manager Mick Fuller won the leagues manager of the month award for December 2007 following four successive wins during the month. On 26 January 2008 the club reached the last sixteen of the FA Vase, in their first season in the competition, when they beat Studley 3-0. On 9 February they reached the Quarter-finals of the FA Vase after they beat Sussex County League leaders, Crowborough Athletic 2-0 in front of a record crowd of 772 at Crowborough's Alderbrook Recreation Ground. On 11 February they were drawn at home in the Quarter Final to Midland Football Alliance club, Coventry Sphinx on 1 March. The match ended in a 3-3 draw after extra time. Kirkham & Wesham won the replay 1-0 on 9 March in Coventry with a goal from Sean Paterson. In the two-legged semi-final against Eastern Countes League Premier Division club, Needham Market the team won 4-2 on aggregate.

On 24 April, the club won the Division Two knockout trophy with a 1-0 win over Bootle, and two days later secured one of the two automatic promotion places in North West Counties Division One when they beat Castleton Gabriels 3-1.

On 11 May, they won the FA Vase beating Lowestoft Town 2-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in front of a total crowd of 19,537, with about 14,000 from Lowestoft and about 3,500 Kirkham & Wesham supporters. A goal down for most of the game, Kirkham & Wesham scored twice in the last six minutes, both goals coming from seventeen year old substitute Matt Walwyn, son of former Blackpool player, the late Keith Walwyn, who only played the last 11 minutes of the game. Kirkham & Wesham secured prize money of £20,000 for their win. Although the total amount the club earned was expected to be around £75,000.

Future development

At the club's Annual general meeting (AGM) in July 2007, a 15 year plan was put forward with highly ambitious aims. The club aim to reach the Conference National by 2017, and The Football League by 2022. On 19 January 2008 the club announced plans for a further move to yet another new stadium at an un-named 26 acre site.

For the start of the 2008-09 season, the club changed their name from Kirkham & Wesham to AFC Fylde.

Stadium

They play their home games at Kellamergh Park (previously known as the Birley Arms ground) in Warton close to Kirkham. They previously played in Kirkham at Coronation Road. In 2005 the club purchased land in Kellemargh, Warton and began to develop the facilities. They relocated to their new ground which was purpose built to meet the requirement for playing in the North West Counties League at a cost of £150,000.

The new ground was officially opened on 5 August 2006. It has a 200 seat main stand which cost £30,000 to build with four rows of seating and a designated Press Box area. A PA system is installed, and new floodlights are in place with other areas of the ground being developed. The ground is from their old council owned ground at Coronation Road in Kirkham. The record attendance at the ground is 1,093 for a FA Vase Quarter final match against Midland Football Alliance club, Coventry Sphinx on 1 March 2008.