Marine F.C.

Not to be confused with Marines F.C..

Marine AFC

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Full name	Marine Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Mariners, The Whites
Founded	1894
Ground	The Marine Travel Arena Crosby
Ground Capacity	3,185 (389 seated)
Chairman	Paul Leary
Manager	Sean Hessey
League	Northern Premier League Premier Division
2014–15	Northern Premier League Premier Division, 21st (Reprieved)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

File:LeekInAction.jpg

Marine (yellow shirts) playing away against Leek Town in 2006

Marine Football Club is an English football club in Crosby, Merseyside. The club, which was founded in 1894, is a member of both the Liverpool County and Lancashire County Football Associations, and currently plays in the Northern Premier League

Marine is notable for having the longest serving manager in post-war English football. Roly Howard occupied the post from 1972 to 2005 and a total of 1,975 games. His final match, in May 2005, was a 1–0 defeat against Everton in the Liverpool Senior Cup final.

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, the Arriva Stadium (formerly known as Rossett Park), in 1903.

Marine quickly made an impression on local football, winning numerous 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 F.A. Amateur Cup Final appearance in 1931–32, when they lost 7–1 to Dulwich Hamlet in front of a 22,000 crowd at Upton Park.

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 and completed 1,975 competitive games over a 33-year period before he retired 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 its most successful period, winning some 30 trophies.

The club relinquished its amateur status and became professional in 1974. Three Cheshire League Championships were won in five seasons, before Marine progressed to the Northern Premier League in 1979–80. They have twice been Champions (1993–94 and 1994–95) as well as twice being runners-up and have won the League Cup on three occasions (1984–85, 1991–92, and 2002–03).

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.

Under the new management team of Alvin McDonald and assistant Peter Carroll, Marine twice 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 finished seventh and won the Liverpool Senior Cup. McDonald left the club partway through the 2008-09 season following a poor run of form, 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.

Lynch departed the club at the end of the 2012-13 season to become first team coach at Chesterfield FC, and was replaced by Brazier. However, Brazier was sacked at the end of the following season with the club having narrowly avoided relegation.

Former Vauxhall Motors boss Carl Macauley took over at the beginning of the 2014-15 season, but a poor run of form saw the club in the relegation zone, 11 points from safety, and he was sacked. 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 continues to hold their record as the longest-serving members of the Northern Premier League.

Hessey was confirmed as the club's permanent manager prior to the end of the 2014-15 season.

The club's best performance in the FA Cup was reaching the 3rd Round in 1992–93 when they lost 3–1 to Crewe Alexandra. Marine have also achieved ten first and two second round appearances in the FA Cup and have beaten two Football League Clubs (Barnsley and Halifax Town) in the competition. Marine have twice reached the semi-finals of the F.A. Trophy in 1983–84 and 1991–92 and have been winners of 13 senior county cups.

The club has its own supporters association knows as the M.S.A (Marine Supporters Association).

Stadium

The club plays at Rossett Park, located on College Road in Crosby. Marine has played at the ground since 1903, when it relocated from its previous ground at Waterloo Park, Crosby. The ground's current capacity is 3,185, of which 389 are seated, but in 1949, Marine played host to Nigeria at Rossett Park, and the crowd on that day was over 4,000. Everton Ladies also play there. 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. Plans include replacing the current floodlighting system with a new, eco-friendly 4-corner/column system, as the current 8-column floodlighting system is now over 30 years old and is not sustainable, having had three electrical faults in the last 12 months resulting in fire and failure. Further to these plans, the club plans to build a 130-seat covered stand at the Crosender Road end of the ground. The total cost of all the improvements is estimated at £150,000.

On 25 January 2014, the club announced a two-year ground share agreement with North West Counties Premier Division side AFC Liverpool.

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, The Marine Travel Company. The deal is slated to last until 2024.

Squad

Current squad

As of 21st December 2015

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Josh O'Connell GK Jonathan Ritchie GK Matty Cooper GK Ollie Sharman GK Matty Cooper GK Jack Stanford DF James Short DF Liam Willis DF Stephen Wainwright DF Andy Nicholas DF Sean Hessey MF James Foley MF Alan Burton

No. Position Player MF Sean Myler MF Tom Owens MF Carl Peers MF Karl Clair MF Jonathan Goulding FW Danny Mitchley FW Lloyd Ellams FW Andy Owens FW Chad Whyte FW Zac Procter FW Lewis Codling FW Chris Sharp

Backroom staff

Manager	Sean Hessey
Assistant Manager	Phil Hackney
GK Coach	Phil Fisher
Physio	James
Youth Team Manager
Youth Team Coach
Kit Manager	Gary Trowler

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period	Kit Manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor
2009-2015	Adidas	Marine Travel Company
2015-	Macron

Committee, directors and club officials

• President – John Wildman

• Patron – Kenny Dalglish MBE

• Chairman – Paul Leary

• Vice Chairman – Dave McMillan

• Club Secretary – Richard Cross

• Hon. Treasurers – Maurice Broderick & Mark Prescott

• Management Committee – Barry Godfrey,Brian Lawlor,James Leary,Paul Eustace,Ryan McMahon, David Thompson

Honours

• FA Amateur Cup
  • Runners-up: 1931-32
• I Zingari League
  • First Division champions: 1902–03, 1903–04, 1909–10, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1922–23
  • Second Division champions: 1901–02
  • League Cup winners: 1919–20, 1920–21, 1922–23
  • Combination Cup winners: 1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22
• Liverpool Amateur Cup
  • Winners: 1909–10, 1919–20, 1922–23, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1952–53, 1970–71
• Liverpool County Combination
  • First Division champions: 1927–28, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1943–44
• The Derby Fiveys Tournament
  • Winners: 1978–79
• Liverpool County Medal Competition
  • Winners: 1920–21
• Liverpool Challenge Cup
  • Winners: 1942–43, 1944–45, 1971–72
• Lancashire Amateur Cup
  • Winners: 1921–22, 1925–26, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34
• George Mahon Cup
  • Winners: 1930–31, 1943–44, 1944–45

• Lancashire Combination
  • Cup winners: 1946–47
  • League Cup winners: 1963–64, 1968–69
• Liverpool Senior Non-league Cup
  • Winners: 1968–69, 1975–76, 1976–77
• Cheshire County League
  • Champions: 1973–74, 1975–76, 1977–78
  • League Shield winners: 1974–75, 1975–76
• Lancashire Junior Cup / Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy
  • Winners: 1978–79, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1999–2000
• Liverpool Senior Cup
  • Winners: 1978–79, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2007–08
• Northern Premier League
  • Premier Division champions: 1993–94, 1994–95
  • Challenge Cup winners: 1984–85, 1991–92, 2002–03

External links

• Club website