The present St. Helens Town club is in its 69th league season. The first two 1947-49 were spent in the Liverpool County Combination, the period 1949-75 in membership of the Lancashire Combination, followed by 7 years in the Cheshire League and the last 30+ in the North West Counties League, where they are the only club in permanent membership of the top division.

During the early years, the newly reformed club had lofty ambitions, just as the original club had harboured in the early years of the last century. Success in the Liverpool County Combination culminated in the club’s first trophy, the George Mahon Cup, which was won in a thrilling final against Runcorn at Prescot on 7th May 1949. The following season, 1949/50, Town joined the Second Division of the Lancashire Combination, gaining promotion at the second attempt.

Big crowds at Hoghton Road during the late 1940's and early 1950's

Back in 1951, long before the establishment of the football pyramid, the Lancashire Combination and the Cheshire League were widely regarded as the Football League’s Fifth Division. Leading clubs from both competitions vied for membership of the Football League. New Brighton had just failed to be re-elected to the Third Division (North) and dropped into the Lancashire Combination, where they came up against Town on 20th October at the Tower Grounds, Garner and Sumner each scoring in a creditable 2-2 draw. Wigan Athletic were prominent members of the Combination (and, later on, the Cheshire League) and many St. Helens Town supporters were of the opinion that, whatever Wigan could do, Town could also do. There was a great deal of ambition around the Town club, built on the back of early successes, that a Football League place could be an achievable aim. After all, despite the competition from the Saints at Knowsley Road, several thousand men travelled from St. Helens every week to watch Everton and Liverpool. Success on the football field might well persuade a good number of those people to watch their football on their St. Helens doorsteps.

Town’s first season in the First Division of the Lancashire Combination was an uphill struggle. Nevertheless, three wins from the last five games almost secured their status and they finished just two points adrift of Rossendale United in 20th place. 1952/53 began well enough and there were 6 wins and a draw from the first 7 games. However, there was unrest at Hoghton Road, where crowds were not as good as many thought they should be. It was generally thought that a move to a ground nearer the town centre would result in bigger support and with the bigger gates, the club would be able to attract better players and further its ambitions for Football League status.

St. Helens Recs. Rugby League club had played professional rugby at City Road between the wars, but the Pilkingtons company had withdrawn their financial support in April 1939 and the ground had stood empty until 1949, when Pilkington Recs. were re-born as an amateur rugby league club. Pilkingtons were approached and the company’s board agreed to make City Road available to St. Helens Town. The Town Chairman, W. P. Smith, told the local press that the club had come to the cross-roads and a drastic solution to the club’s financial problems had to be found. It was a question of raising income or disband. Not enough people were willing to pay their shilling at the gate. It was announced that a meeting would be held in the refreshment hut following the Droylsden game on 22nd November to discuss the proposed move.

The momentous decision was taken to re-locate to City Road and the first game, a Liverpool Non-League Cup game against Stoneycroft, resulted in an 8-1 victory. The following week, 6th December, Morecambe Reserves were dispatched 8-0. Ronnie Rigby scored 4 goals in each match. Crowds were encouraging at first, although they were a little disappointing if Saints were at home the same day. The season was quite successful, but Town ran out of steam towards the end, finishing in fourth place and just missing out on promotion.

1953/54 season began at City Road but, by the end of October, Town were back at Hoghton Road and the ground was taken off the market. A renewed appeal was made for more volunteers to assist the club and for supporters to be militant, rather than passive and to back the club’s ten shilling shares scheme to secure the club’s financial future. Part-way through the season, First Division Bootle folded and Town made application to take over their fixtures. However, their application was rejected and the season ended with some poor results. The following campaign, 1954/55, was worse and the club finished in eighteenth position yet, curiously, were promoted back to the First Division. Predictably, 1955/56, in the First Division, was a bridge too far. Three wins and three draws from 38 games (conceding 110 goals) resulted in a last place finish and, more importantly, the bitter realisation that ambitions for higher status were further away than ever before.