Wythenshawe Football Club is a football club based in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England. They are currently members of the and play at Hollyhedge Park.
The club was established in 1946 by Reg Gauntlet under the name Wythenshawe Lads Club, and joined the Manchester Federation of Lads' Clubs League. In 1949 the players had become too old for the league, resulting in the club forming an adult side that entered the South Manchester and Wythenshawe League, with the club's name changed to Wythenshawe Amateurs. After several promotions, they were Division One champions in 1952âÂÂ53. The club then joined the Altrincham & District League, in which they played for a single season before switching to Division 3A of the Lancashire & Cheshire League.
Wythenshawe's first season in the Lancashire & Cheshire League saw them win the Hellawell Shield and the Division 3A title, resulting in promotion to Division Three. The following season saw the club finish second in Division Three and earn promotion to Division Two, as well as reaching the final of the Altrincham FA's Whitaker Cup, holding Manchester United to a 1âÂÂ1 draw after extra time, resulting in the cup being shared. In 1956âÂÂ57 the club secured a third successive promotion after winning the Division Two title. After becoming members of Division One, the club won the league's Rhodes Cup in 1957âÂÂ58 and 1960âÂÂ61, before becoming Division One champions in 1961âÂÂ62.
Wythenshawe won the Rhodes Cup again in 1971âÂÂ72, after which they moved up to Division One of the Manchester League. The club were Division One champions at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 1975âÂÂ76 they won the Lancashire Amateur Cup. The club were Premier Division runners-up in 1979âÂÂ80 and 1984âÂÂ85, and won the Gilgryst Cup in 1985âÂÂ86 and 1986âÂÂ87. The 1989âÂÂ90 season saw the club win a treble, finishing as Premier Division champions and winning both the Lancashire Amateur Cup and the Gilgryst Cup.
Wythenshawe were Premier Division runners-up in 1991âÂÂ92, before winning the league again in 1992âÂÂ93 and finishing as runners-up the following season. They won the Lancashire Amateur Cup again in 1995âÂÂ96, and the Gilgryst cup in 1998âÂÂ99, 2000âÂÂ01 and 2008âÂÂ09. In the league, they finished as runners-up six times between 2000 and 2017. After finishing as runners-up and winning the Gilgryst Cup again in 2017âÂÂ18, the club were accepted into Division One South of the North West Counties League. In 2022âÂÂ23 they were Division One South champions, earning promotion to the Premier Division. They also won the Division One Champions Cup, beating Division One North champions Pilkington 2âÂÂ1.
In July 2023 the club dropped "Amateurs" from their name, becoming Wythenshawe Football Club. They went on to win the Premier Division title in 2023âÂÂ24, beating rivals Wythenshawe Town to the title on the final day of the season, securing a second successive promotion, this time to Division One West of the Northern Premier League. However, the following season saw the club finish third-from-bottom of Division One West, resulting in relegation back to the Premier Division of the North West Counties League.
The club initially played at the Cleveland Playing Fields, before moving to Wythenshawe Park in 1949. In 1958 they relocated to the Christie Playing Fields, where they played until moving to the Federation of Lads' Clubs Ground in nearby Chorlton in 1961. This was later renamed the Harry Dalton playing fields (Dalton having been in charge of the club when they became an adult side). In 1983 they relocated to Wythenshawe Cricket Club's Longley Lane ground. After several years of fundraising, the club built a new ground, Hollyhedge Park, which opened on 30 September 2017 with a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Hindsford.