1998/1999
Freshfield's first season saw them take Division 3 of the Southport and District Sunday League by storm. They won 10 and drew 2 of their first twelve games and lead the table by a large margin. However, after Christmas, when Chris Woods had left to join the army and most of the games were away from home, the results went from bad to worse and Freshfield had to settle for 3rd place in the League Table. League restructuring meant that that was enough to see Freshfield promoted to the Second Division. Sadly a full set of results for the season no longer exists and there are no match reports. However, there follow some memories of the inaugural season.
Phill Orme scored the club's first ever competitive goal as a 4-0 win away at the Dales Reserves started the season. Later in the season, when points were vital, a 2-2 draw at home to the same team made a promotion place seem almost impossible. The then Southampton Manager Dave Jones's son, guesting for the Dales, scored twice and ran the game from start to finish. Foolishly, Freshfield waited for 40 minutes for a referee recruited by Steve Dwyer, to arrive to play that game. It was the first time that Freshfield found out what it was to play a reserve team when the first team were without a game.
The first time that Freshfield looked other than invincible was away at Metro Reserves, not long before Christmas. The pitches at Portland Street, rarely a venue that Freshfield liked, were more boggy than usual and with only 5 minutes left a 2-0 deficit was recovered, Graeme Rooney slicing the ball into the top corner with a mis-kick and then Tommy Smith scoring with only seconds remaining to equalize.
Perhaps still Freshfield's greatest ever performance was the 3-2 victory over Leisure Sports at Brows Lane, a fantastic end-to-end game which culminated in a miraculous goal-line clearance by Graeme Davies from Mash, then waiter at the Jewel in the Crown, in injury time. Just after Christmas Freshfield won easily 3-1 at Meols Park. The opposition had rather foolishly billed the match as the title decider, and even their goal came courtesy of a Simon Hobson headed own goal (more of his heading ability later). This game will always be remembered as the one when John Eccles brought a clean but soaking wet kit for the team to play in. Another difficult victory was won away at Greaves Hall Reserves. No referee and a bouncy pitch (the ground bounced as well as the ball) made for an interesting match. Colin Knight refereed the first half and failed to spot Freshfield's first goal being 10 yards off-side. Luckily the opposition were so poor that when their manager took the whistle for the second half, even a dubious penalty and 55 minutes' play couldn't prevent Freshfield hanging on to a 5-3 victory
The first league defeat came at home to local rivals Formby JSCOB 3-2 at Brows Lane in a bed tempered match just after Christmas. Whilst Freshfield lost Liverpool lost a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Manchester United in the last 2 minutes in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Other disappointing results included a 4-1 loss away at Heatons Vale on the 31st January 1999 (this can mostly be explained by Nigel Power's 31st birthday being on the 30th January 1999).
As the title race hotted up, Freshfield ran out of steam. Notwithstanding an heroic 0-0 draw away at Formby JSCOB (only 11 men and a first ever start for Kelvin Roberts)in a force 9 gale, results after Christmas were poor then very poor. In what really should have been the title decider, Portland Street saw Freshfield thrashed 4-1 by Leisure Sports. In the last game of the season, a win away at Cream Reserves would have given a mathematical chance of promotion, but all that Freshfield could manage was a 2-2 draw, Simon Hobson heading over the bar at the end from a position which made such a task geometrically impossible.
In the cup competitions, Freshfield managed to draw at home then lose away at Leisure Sports in the first competition and lose in the semi-final of the cup played after Christmas (a 2-1 loss at home to Metro Reserves following a bye to the semi).
Graeme Davies was player of the season, and not for the last time Tommy Smith scored more goals than the rest of the team put together. Other notable performances came from the ever-combative Phill Orme, who started the season as a struggling centre-forward and finished it as an excellent but ultimately crippled centre-half, and Chris Woods, a 16-year-old school leaver who left the butcher's counter at Kwik Save for the Marines when Freshfield most needed him.