Hopes of a return to the Football League were probably at their highest ever as we kicked off the 2000/01 season. One win in the first four games put us on the back foot but improved form saw us in second place at the end of November and hopes remained

Futcher was replaced as boss in December 1999 with the club struggling in 21st place, his replacement was Mark Wright who was to bring about a remarkable transformation. Full of ambition and with a thirst for success Wright’s impact was immediate and from looking like certainties for relegation Wright brought

Could anyone ever imagine Southport playing at Wembley? Supporters who remembered the dark days in the Football League and the early Non League years saw it as a dream but occasionally dreams do come true and the town went to Wembley. We have a whole chapter devoted to “The

The 1996/97 season saw Steve Joel, Peter Davenport (caretaking) and Ronnie Moore in charge and a disappointing 11th place finish, the bright spot once again being the goal scoring of Andy Whittaker who grabbed another 19 league goals. A disappointing FA Trophy defeat at Colwyn Bay (0-2) in front of

It started with a 5-2 win at Slough with Steve Haw netting a hat-trick and Gambo bagging the others and we topped the table for the only time that season! A particularly bad run saw us plummet to 18th place by the end of October but a 7-1 win at

The season which followed confirmed Southport's status in the Conference. Though never leading the field, the club was seldom out of the top six and eventually finished a very creditable third; the tone was set with an early 4-1 victory over the 1993-94 champions Kidderminster Harriers, in which the versatile

Southport got off to a dreadful start in 1991-92 and were actually bottom of the table in late September. It was October 5th before the first League win came and though the sequence of seven games without defeat that this inspired ended at Leek on November 9th, there then began

The club took their time in choosing a successor; by the end of May his identity was revealed. It was the former Liverpool reserve team captain and latterly South Liverpool manager Brian Kettle. He could hardly have faced a more demanding challenge. The previous season's squad virtually disintegrated, several following Taylor

Micky Taylor stayed for one more season — 1988-89 — which saw Southport again finish 14th in what, with new sponsors taking over the N.P.L. partway through, had become the unattractively titled H.F.S. Loans League. The season fell into three distinct phases; a dismal opening two months, a dramatic improvement

The summer of 1987 saw some big changes in the appearance of Haig Avenue. Following ground safety recommendations all the covered terracing on two sides of the ground had to be demolished and for the next six years only the main stand afforded protection from the elements. Four upright stanchions