The club was formed in early 1985 by Alan Rainford and Geoff Ryan from Cub Scout boys who had become too old to continue playing in the Marple & District Cubs League. The Club started with just one team – at the Under-11 age group – and they played competitively for the first time in the Stockport Junior Blues 6-a-side Tournament on 28th April 1985 where they reached the Final, only to lose narrow
ly on a corner count. The club joined the Stockport Metro League and played its first League game at All Saints School on 7th September 1985, losing 4-8 to the eventual Champions, West End Boys from Denton. At that time there were only around 25 junior clubs in total in the Stockport area with none at all in Marple and so interest quickly spread. Two further teams were added in each of the following seasons and by 1990 the Club had full representation at all the 8 age-groups from Under-9’s right through to Under-16’s. The early-1990s were halcyon years for the Club with no less than 9 League titles, 10 KO Cup wins and 3 League Cup wins in the 6 seasons between 1989 and 1994. Marple Athletic had quickly become one of the elite Clubs in the area, but success in the premier County competition, the Cheshire Cup, unfortunately eluded them with 3 semi-final and 4 quarter-final exits between 1991 and 1997. In addition to the regular League games and training, the club has held many successful social events down the years, with a particularly significant event when World Cup winner, Jack Charlton was guest of honour at a Gala Sports Dinner commemorate the club’s 10th Anniversary on 22nd September 1995. Another important event for the club and one which made its name well-known in the region was its very successful annual 11-a-side Summer Tournament which it held for 17 consecutive years, first at Brabyns Park and then at Marple Hall School and at which clubs from all over the north-west competed at several age-groups. The Summer tournament in 2008 saw the revival of the idea and was a great success. The club has also been keen to give the boys experience of playing against teams from other areas of the country and overseas and as well as playing numerous friendlies both home and away has taken teams to play in Sweden, Scotland, Holland and as far away as British Columbia, Canada. For the last two years Marple has made a strong showing the Fleetwood Cup, backed by over 300 players, parents and supporters from Marple. The strength of the club and the hard work shown by all the managers make it a strong name in the local community. Thanks to the partnership which we now have with the local coaching school, Footy4Kidz, there are encouraging signs that the younger end of the club are feeding the pipeline of good young players. As we embark on the Club’s 25th year the future of the club looks extremely bright.
