A SADDLEWORTH football club has launched a bid to join the English pyramid system.
Uppermill FC currently play in the Manchester League Premier Division.
But after learning how semi-professional clubs are run through a link with Mossley AFC, it has now applied to join the North West Counties League (NWCFL).
Uppermill hope to know from the Football Association if they have been successful shortly after the end of the current campaign.
If the club is promoted, first team matches will continue to be played at Seel Park, where they currently attract crowds of up to 300 people.
That would place them comfortably above others in the NWCFL’s First Division North, which features clubs including Tameside’s Droylsden and Manchester’s Maine Road.
A spokesperson said moving up would ‘mark a remarkable step forward for Uppermill who, for many years, were very much the lesser club in local senior football circles.’
And Uppermill FC’s chief executive, Steve Southern, hopes to put what the club has learned since linking with Mossley in 2024 into practice.
He said: “If our first team is able to join the North West Counties League, it expands the club’s horizons and creates an even more exciting pathway for our players.
“To join the ranks of semi-professional football will raise the reputation of the club and give local youngsters even more reason to learn the game, grow and play for us.
“Among the many things we’ve learned is just how kind and generous everyone at Mossley AFC is with their time, their guidance and their experience.
“Our progress would not have been possible without the time and goodwill of everyone at Mossley.
“It’s taught us that if any club comes seeking our help, we need to be as helpful as the people at Mossley have been towards little Uppermill.”
Uppermill FC has attracted headlines with its kit collaboration with indie music legends Inspiral Carpets.
And it now boasts more than 35 teams, of all ages, adding girls’ sides in the last 12 months.
Its first team won the Manchester League Premier Division title in season 2023/24 and is currently fighting at the top.
But sights are now set on reaching even higher, including taking a place in the FA Cup.
Mr Southern added: “Through the combined efforts of a large, and growing, number of people, Uppermill FC has transformed itself into a progressive and expanding football club.
“Our structure is geared towards growing and retaining our 16-18-year-old players, to give them a pathway towards our first team.
“It might sound odd, but if we can continue to make progress we can even dream of being an entrant in the actual FA Cup!
“No-one would have thought that remotely possible a few short years ago.”
Uppermill FC’s first team is managed by Mark Howard, who has transformed the fortunes of the club in four complete seasons.
However, chairman Simon Tait, who has decades of experience, believes promotion would be about much more than the senior XI.
He said: “Whilst the first team is the pinnacle of the club, there is a lot more to it as a whole.
“We have a lot of exciting initiatives off the pitch that are designed to create a sustainable and valuable part of the Saddleworth community.”
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