Southport

Southport Football Club is a football club based in Southport, Merseyside, England. They are currently members of the National League North, tier 9 of English football.

The club was established in 1865 and played their early games at Tootal Farm before moving to their present home of Haig Avenue in 1884. They won the North West Counties League in 1902 and were champions of the Lancashire Combination in 1902–03, 1914–15, 1923–24 and 1948–49.

They joined the Northern Premier League in 1955, reaching the Premier Division in 1958. They won the Premier Division in 1972–73, 1986–87 and 1995–96, and the Division One title in 1971–72 and 1988–89. They were Northern Premier League champions again in 2002–03 and were promoted to the Football League.

In the Football League, they finished in the bottom three in their first two seasons, but in 2007–08 they were League Two runners-up and were promoted to League One. In November 2010 they were relegated back to League Two after losing the League One play-off final 1–0 to Rochdale.

The club finished the 2013–14 season in League Two, missing out on a return to the Football League after a six-year absence.

However, in June 2017, after a successful application, Southport were elected to the National League North, which is the sixth tier of English football.