Cammell Laird 1907 F.C.
Cammell Laird 1907 Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The club are currently members of the North West Counties League Division One South and play at Kirklands.
The club was established in 1907 as Cammell Laird Institute Association Football Club, playing their first match against Tranmere Rovers on 2 September that year.[2] They joined Division One the West Cheshire League for the 1907–08 season, finishing tenth.[3] Despite finishing bottom of Division One in 1909–10 they were not relegated to Division Two.[3]
After World War I the Cammell Laird company faced cutbacks due to reduced government spending on ships, and the football team was taken back in-house, with a company league set up and a representative team put forward to play in Wirrall Football Association cup competitions.[4] In 1922 a team was entered to Division Two of the Birkenhead & Wirral League under the name Kirklands Football Club,[4] and in 1924–25 they were league champions.[5] The club was disbanded in 1939 due to the outbreak of World War II, but reformed in 1946 under the name Cammell Laird Association Football Club.[4]
The club rejoined the Birkenhead & Wirral League,[4] before moving up to the West Cheshire League in 1948.[6] After finishing fourth in 1950–51, the club were promoted to Division One.[6] However, they were relegated back to Division Two after finishing second-from-bottom of Division One the following season.[6] They won Division Two in 1957–58, but were not promoted. However, after winning it again the following season, they moved up to Division One.[6] In 1968–69 the club won Division One without losing a match.[7] They were league champions again in 1970–71 and went on to win five successive titles between 1974–75 and 1978–79.[7] After finishing as runners-up in 1979–80, they won four successive titles between 1980–81 and 1983–84.[8] They were champions again in 1986–87,[8] before winning another four consecutive titles between 1988–89 and 1991–92.[7] Further titles followed in 1993–94, 1998–99 and 2000–01.[7]
After finishing as runners-up in 2003–04, Cammell Laird moved up to Division Two of the North West Counties League.[7] They won the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[7] They won the Premier Division the following season and were promoted to Division One of the Northern Premier League; the season also saw them reach the semi-finals of the FA Vase, eventually losing 5–0 on aggregate to Nantwich Town in the semi-finals.[7] Their first season in the Northern Premier League saw them finish as Division One runners-up, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. However, after beating Colwyn Bay 3–2 in the semi-finals, they lost 2–1 to Eastwood Town in the final.[9]
