Skerton F.C.
Skerton Football Club was an association football club from Lancaster, Lancashire, active in the 19th century.
History
The earliest references to the club are from the 1888–89 season. It took a more serious turn in 1891, when it decided to appoint a trainer for the first time, Councillor Smith agreeing to defray the expense. In 1892 the club joined the Lancashire Alliance for its first experience of league football.After a successful 1896–97 season, in which the club won more matches than ever before, and won the Alliance title for the first time, the club joined the Lancashire Combination for the 1897–98 season, and, to raise money for the extra expenses, was floated as a limited company. The club then enjoyed two mid-table finishes, and won the Lancashire Junior Cup in both of those seasons. The Skertonians had twice been runner-up before reaching the 1897–98 final, and the Skertonians had trained especially at Lytham St Annes for the match, against St Helens Recs at Deepdale; goals from Blatchford and Fryers in the first half, and Blatchford scoring his second with a shot in-off the crossbar in the second, saw the club lift the trophy for the first time. The same two clubs contested the final at the same venue in 1898–99, Skerton winning 2–0, and it proved more attractive than the Lancashire [Senior Cup] final the following week - fewer than 4,000 turned up to Burnden Park for the latter, but there was a 50% higher gate for the Junior.
However, the club's fortunes took a turn for the worse in 1899; the cost of erection of a new grandstand proved crippling. In March 1900, having only registered 1 win in 22 Combination games, and with debts of £150, it resigned from the Combination, its record was expunged, and the club dissolved.