Marine is notable for having the longest-serving manager in postwar English football. Roly Howard occupied the post from 1972 to 2005 and oversaw a total of 1,975 games.[1]
History
The club was formed in 1894 by a group of local businessmen and former college students. Marine takes its name from a hotel on the River Mersey sea front at Waterloo, seven miles to the north of Liverpool city centre, where the founders of the club met. Marine moved to its present ground, Rossett Park, in 1903.[2]
Marine quickly won multiple titles in the I Zingari League and the Liverpool Combination. The club's greatest success as an amateur team in this period culminated in an FA Amateur Cup Final appearance in 1931–32, where they lost 7–1 to Dulwich Hamlet in front of a crowd of 22,000 fans at the Boleyn Ground.
In 1935–36 the club moved to the all-professional Lancashire Combination and enjoyed limited success before moving to the Cheshire County League in 1969–70.
In 1972, Roly Howard was appointed first team manager. Over a 33-year period he completed 1,975 competitive games, before retiring at the end of the 2004–05 season. He was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest serving manager in world football as Marine enjoyed their most successful period, winning 30 trophies.
The club relinquished its amateur status and became professional in 1974. Following this, three Cheshire League Championships were won in five seasons before Marine progressed to the Northern Premier League in 1979–80, where they remained continuously until the end of the 2023–24 season.[3] They were Champions twice in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons as well as finishing as runners-up on two occasions. Marine have also won the League Challenge Cup on four occasions in 1984–85, 1991–92, 2002–03 and 2015–16.
In 1999, the magazine FourFourTwo included a monthly feature on the club, sending Michael Hann to follow them for an entire season. In 2001, Marine were the subject of a six-part television series for Granada TV, titled Marine Lives. The series included footage of former player Jason McAteer returning to visit the club.
Marine (yellow shirts) playing away against Leek Town in 2006
Under the new management team of Alvin McDonald and assistant Peter Carroll, Marine qualified for the Northern Premier Division play-offs twice in succession (2005–06 and 2006–07), losing to the eventual winners each time. In the 2007–08 season, the club won the Liverpool Senior Cup. McDonald left the club partway through the 2008–09 season [4] with players Kevin Lynch and Phil Brazier being appointed caretakers. At the end of the season, Lynch was appointed permanent manager with Brazier as his assistant.[5]
Lynch departed the club at the end of the 2012–13 season to become first team coach at Chesterfield,[6] and was replaced by Brazier. However, Brazier was sacked at the end of the following season with the club having narrowly avoided relegation.[7]
Carl Macauley took over at the beginning of the 2014–15 season,[8] but a poor run of form saw the club in the relegation zone, 11 points from safety, and he was sacked.[9] Defender Sean Hessey was placed in temporary charge until the end of the season, and guided the club to a remarkable escape from relegation, with only one defeat in their final twelve games. The club were reprieved from relegation despite finishing in 21st place, due to having the highest average points per game of clubs in the highest relegation spots across the three equivalent divisions. This meant that the club continued to hold their record as the longest-serving members of the Northern Premier League.[10] Hessey was confirmed as the club's permanent manager prior to the end of the 2014–15 season.[11]
In the 2015–16 season, Marine secured a 15th-place finish. There was a strong performance in the league cup, beating Glossop North End, Ramsbottom United and Workington to progress to the quarter-finals. A home draw saw Ossett Town narrowly beaten 1–0 before Colwyn Bay were drawn to visit Rossett Park in the semi-finals. Colwyn Bay were defeated 4–1 with Alan Burton, Andy Owens, James Foley and player-manager Sean Hessey getting on the score-sheet. This set up a final against Scarborough Athletic to be held at Throstle Nest, home of Farsley Celtic. Going 0–1 down in the 58th minute, it wasn't until Hessey subbed himself on for Willis in the 80th minute that Marine looked dangerous, and Warren Bellew scored in the 87th minute. At 1–1, in the fourth minute of added time, that season's highest club goalscorer Danny Mitchley curled in an effort from the edge of the box to win the game for Marine. This was the fourth time that Marine FC won the league cup, a record for this competition.[12]
Towards the end of a dismal 2016–17 season. Hessey left the club and was replaced by Tommy Lawson. A mass walk-out of players didn't help Lawson but he managed to assemble a squad at short notice. He then guided the club away from the relegation zone after 5 wins in 11 games. Marine finished in 18th place in the table.
The 2017–18 season was once again a disappointment with Marine finishing in 19th place in the table. However, the team reached the final of the Liverpool Senior Cup where 750 fans saw them beaten 4–0 at home to Prescot Cables. They also went on a good run in the FA Trophy beating Whitby Town and Atherton Collieries. They then saw off teams from the division above in FC United and Chorley before a first ever visit to Dover Athletic saw them lose 3–4 against the Conference National team.
In the 2018–19 season, after only five games Marine found themselves second from bottom of the league. A 2–0 defeat at home to Grantham Town on 1 September saw manager Tommy Lawson resign the following day. His assistant Ian Johnson was given temporary charge whilst the club looked for a replacement.[13] On 13 September 2018, Marine announced the appointment of former Chester manager Neil Young.[14] He was joined by Alan Morgan as assistant manager on 21 September 2018.[15] Young started his tenure with a 1–0 defeat at Warrington Town on 15 September 2018.[16] In 2019, Marine were relegated to the Northern Premier League Division One North West. It was the first relegation in their history, and followed 40 consecutive seasons at the highest level of the Northern Premier League.[3]
In 2021, Marine reached the third round of the FA Cup, which they lost 5–0 to Tottenham Hotspur. With Marine 161 places below Tottenham, the gap between the two teams was the biggest in FA Cup history.[17][18] The match raised over £300,000 for the club from the selling of 32,202 "virtual tickets" to fans of Tottenham and other clubs who wished to support Marine but were unable to attend the match due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19][20] After the FA Cup run in the 2020/21 season, Marine opened the 1894 Bar and Bistro at their ground.
Marine have twice reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy, in 1983–84 and 1991–92. Both times, they played a team from the Northwich area. On both occasions they drew away, 1–1 and 2–2 respectively, before losing at home.
Marine have also been winners of 13 senior county cups.[citation needed]
Stadium
The club play at Rossett Park, located on College Road in Crosby. It is believed that the ground has been in use since at least 1884 when rugby union was played there. Marine have played at the ground since 1903, when they moved from their previous ground at Waterloo Park, Crosby. In 1949, Marine played host to Nigeria at Rossett Park - all but one of whom played without boots - with the visitors winning 5–2.[24] The crowd was officially given as 4,000 with some considering it to be 6,000.
Between 2006 and 2015, the ground was known as the Arriva Stadium due to a sponsorship deal.
On 24 January 2011, the club announced plans to develop the Arriva Stadium. The outdated floodlights were replaced in the summer of 2012 with a new eco friendly four corner system. The 20m high masts have a total of 28 lamps and these generate in excess of 350 lux, which was the Football League lighting requirement at the time of installation. Further to these plans, the club planned to build a 130-seat covered stand at the Crosender Road end of the ground. The total cost of all the improvements was estimated at £150,000.[25]
On 25 January 2014, the club announced a two-year ground share agreement with North West Counties Premier Division side A.F.C. Liverpool. This has now extended to the 2021–22 season.
In August 2015, Rossett Park was renamed the Marine Travel Arena as a result of a sponsorship deal with the club's existing shirt sponsors, Marine Travel. The deal will continue until 2024.[26]
On 3 May 2022, the club began to dig up the pitch to install a new 4G pitch, after delaying it from the previous summer. This again was funded with the income from the FA Cup run in the 20–21 season. This project was finalised on 12 July.
Colours and badge
Marine's traditional home colours are white shirts with black trim, worn with black shorts and socks.
The club badge is a black and white coat of arms similar to that of the town they are based in, Crosby
Supporters
The club had a supporters association known as the MSA (Marine Supporters Association) that was formed in the late 1980s. The supporters association raises funds for the club, arranges away coach travel to many games, and operates the club's merchandise shop. The MSA was disbanded in November 2021.
The Crosender Way[27] is an independent supporters group for Marine, named after the Crosender Road area of the stadium. Formed in January 2017, the group actively promotes the football club via social media. The group's main objective is to attract and support fans at the club and to organise away travel for all supporters.
^Cross, Richard (2 September 2018). "TOMMY LAWSON – CLUB STATEMENT". Marine Football Club. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
