Irlam risk the rain and pain of the Stadio de Robin Park

Irlam - Is it Manchester or Warrington? Nobody seems to know

Irlam Football Club was formed as Mitchell Shackleton Football Club in October 1969 when Phil Mitchell met Ernest Shackleton in a boozer halfway up Rivington Pike. Okay so it was really the employees of Mitchell, Shackleton and Company Limited, an engineering company based in Patricroft, Eccles that started having a kickabout that got out of hand.

However come Margaret Thatcher come the recession and the end of funding. The company that was formed in 1887 was to continue trading in Eccles until 2003 when the last machine was lifted onto transport in October that year bringing an end to the long association of engineering in the Green Lane area of Eccles

The club was initially headquartered at the Oddfellows Arms, Patricroft, before moving to St Michaels Community Centre, Peel Green, The club changed its name at the start of 2001-02 season to Irlam Mitchell Shackleton in anticipation of its move to Irlam. In 2006 the team dropped the Mitchell Shackleton suffix to become Irlam Football Club playing its home games at Silver Street in Irlam.
It sounds a nice place but a check on multimap indocates it lies between the M62 and Ship Canal and just off Liverpool Road. Should be a nice little away trip through Salford anyway!!

Last season WRP played them in the Manchester League drawing 1-1 at their gaff (in the Robins traditional bad start to the season) and then beating them 3-1 at th’athletics stadium. This season Irlam are in the North West Counties Division 1 along with the Robins and they started their campaign with a 1-0 victory over AFC Blackpool at home. However this intial euphoria was doused out as they got tonked six bowt by Norton United down in the shadowlands of Burslem.
The Robins will be looking to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat in what promises to be an interesting game.

Maybe more updates during the week but for now:

Altogether now “I O Robins, Robins I O”