Northern Nomads
Head to Head

Formed upon similar lines to the famous Corinthians club, the Northern Nomads' members primarily came from public schools and universities. The club’s aim was to represent all of Lancashire Amateur football and their first match saw them lose 1-0 to an Everton XI at Goodison Park in November 1902; both teams enjoying a post match reception at the Royal Court Hotel paid for by the ‘gentlemen’ of the Nomads. During those formative years, the club invariably used the home grounds of Everton and Manchester City to stage their friendly matches against the likes of Oxford University and the Corinthians, with Wrexham's Llewellyn Davies making several appearances.

Overseas Tours were another key part of the Nomads philosophy and in the summer of 1908 they ventured to Denmark and Sweden, remaining unbeaten in five games including a 1-1 draw with a Danish Select XI. The strength of the Nomads side was such that they had two players selected for the UK Olympic squad, namely T.C. Porter and H.P. Hardman, with the latter playing in the 2-0 final win against Denmark that same year. It was a pivotal year for 1908 also saw the formation of the Amateur Alliance League with Nomads winning the inaugural title on the final day of the season.

After a 'move' to Fallowfield, the Roaming Brigade reached the final of the prestigious FA Amateur Cup in 1914, losing 1-0 to Bishop Auckland at Elland Road, Leeds before the Great War saw the club mothballed. They returned to action in 1919 and entered the Welsh Cup losing at home to Connah's Quay. Undeterred, they won the Welsh Amateur Cup two years with extra-time goals from Blair and Robertson seeing off the challenge of Cardiff Corinthians.

Given its amateur status, the club was surprisingly quite often the centre of controversy. Just weeks after winning the Welsh Amateur Cup they found themselves suspended by the English FA for failure to be properly affiliated to a County Association; the club had thus competed illegally in the FA Cup and its senior officials were severely reprimanded. Nomads also crossed swords with the Welsh FA when they approached Wrexham's directors about playing ‘home’ matches at the Racecourse during the 1922-23 season. With that move duly rebuffed, the Nomads then found themselves banned from both the Welsh Cup and its amateur equivalent because they had failed to enter one of the cup competitions of the Cheshire FA to which they were now affiliated!

A change of management duly followed and in 1925 they beat Llanidloes after a replay to win the Welsh Amateur Cup for a second time. Twelve months on the Northern Nomads lifted the FA Amateur Cup, thrashing Stockton 7-1 before a crowd of 13,300 at Roker Park, thus earning the distinction of being the only side to win both the English and Welsh Amateur Cups. That won them a place in the first round of the FA Cup for the following season only for Crewe Alexandra to beat them 4-1 at Gresty Road.

After an abortive attempt to join the Football Combination in 1930, Nomads joined the Lancashire Combination four years later but struggled to adjust to the demands of regular league football. Now playing at Glossop, they finished bottom of the table in 1937-38 and for their final season reverted to playing friendly matches. Although the club folded in 1939 the name has been twice revived in the post-war period but with limited success.

Past Meetings

Jump to: First Team Competitive Matches | First Team Friendly Matches | Reserve & Youth Team Matches

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First Team Competitive Matches

1914-15

Sat, Jan 9th, 1915

09/01/1915

Welsh Cup (3rd Round)

Welsh Cup

(H)

(H)

4 - 1

4 - 1

-

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First Team Friendly Matches

1909-10

Sat, Nov 6th, 1909

06/11/1909

Friendly

Friendly

(H)

(H)

3 - 0

3 - 0

-

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Reserve & Youth Team Matches

1938-39

Tue, Dec 27th, 1938	27/12/1938	Reserve Friendly	Reserve Friendly	(H)	(H)	3 - 1		3 - 1	-
Sat, Dec 3rd, 1938	03/12/1938	Reserve Friendly	Reserve Friendly	(A)	(A)	5 - 3		5 - 3	-

1922-23

Sat, Dec 2nd, 1922	02/12/1922	Reserve Friendly	Reserve Friendly	(H)	(H)	2 - 1		2 - 1	-
Sat, Sep 9th, 1922	09/09/1922	Reserve Friendly	Reserve Friendly	(H)	(H)	2 - 4		2 - 4	-

1921-22

Sat, Oct 15th, 1921

15/10/1921

Reserve Friendly

Reserve Friendly

(H)

(H)

4 - 2

4 - 2

-

1920-21

Mon, Nov 8th, 1920	08/11/1920	Welsh Amateur Cup (2nd Preliminary Round, 2nd Replay)	Welsh Amateur Cup	(H)	(H)	0 - 4		0 - 4	-
Wed, Nov 3rd, 1920	03/11/1920	Welsh Amateur Cup (2nd Preliminary Round, Replay)	Welsh Amateur Cup	(A)	(A)	3 - 3 aet		3 - 3 aet	2,000
Wed, Oct 27th, 1920	27/10/1920	Welsh Amateur Cup (2nd Preliminary Round)	Welsh Amateur Cup	(H)	(H)	4 - 4		4 - 4	-

Player Connections

Head to Head Records (Competitive Matches Only)

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