Salford

The Ammies in amateur football (1940–1982)

The club was founded in 1940 as Salford Central, named after a Salford church where the club was founded. The club competed in local leagues until 1963, when they were promoted to the Manchester Football League and changed the club name to Salford Amateurs. Now nicknamed "The Ammies", Salford won the Lancashire County Football Association (LFA) Amateur Cup for the first time in 1971, beating Aintree Villa 4–0 at Old Trafford, with all four goals arriving in extra time. They won a second LFA Amateur Cup in 1973, defeating Langton 3–1 at Old Trafford. and won a third in 1975 by beating Waterloo Dock 2–1 at Maine Road. Salford came close to a fourth cup success in 1977, reaching the semi-finals before losing to Blackpool Rangers.

Further success arrived for Salford later in the decade in the form of the Manchester Premier Cup, which the club lifted in 1978 and 1979. The club changed their name once more, dropping the Amateurs moniker to become known simply as Salford, and moved into their current home Moor Lane in 1978. In the 1980–81 season, Salford reached the fourth round of the FA Vase, losing 2–0 to eventual winners Whickham. Following restoration of the ground and a merger with Anson Villa, Salford entered the Cheshire County League in the same season, finishing 15th and 16th in Division 2, before the league amalgamated with the Lancashire Combination to form the North West Counties Football League (NWCFL).

North West Counties League (1982–2008)

Salford started off in the second division of the NWCFL, and were promoted to the first division in 1986 despite finishing 18th, due to a reshuffling of the pyramid.

The club would adopt its current name of Salford City in 1989 and, the following season, they returned to the final of the Manchester Premier Cup, losing to Curzon Ashton. Later in 1990, they entered the FA Cup for the first time to mark the club's 50th anniversary, losing 3–0 to Warrington Town. Brief highlights of the game were included in the BBC's coverage of the buildup to the 1991 FA Cup final. Salford would later be relegated out of Division One into Division Two at the end of the 1990–91 season, though a league restructuring saw them immediately promoted the following season. The 2001–02 saw Salford narrowly miss out on major success; despite amassing 97 points, they missed out on promotion to Prescot Cables on goal difference, and also made another appearance in the final of the Manchester Premier Cup in 2002, but lost 3–1 to Ashton United at Boundary Park. Manager Andy Brown resigned in March of the next season, with their title challenge collapsing following a post-Christmas run of one win in 10, culminating in a 4–0 defeat to Skelmersdale United.

In the 2003–04 season, with the team 16 points behind Mossley despite being again considered amongst the favourites for the league, the club sacked Chris Wilcock and replaced him with former player Mark Molyneaux. He lasted less than a year before resigning, citing financial restrictions placed on him by the club. He was replaced by Darren Lyons. In the 2004–05 season, Salford reached the third round of the FA Vase before losing 2–1 to West Allotment Celtic In March, they appointed John Foster as manager to replace Darren Lyons, with his first game being a 5–1 victory over Atherton Collieries. At the end of the season, Foster left his role as manager, and was replaced by Irlam manager Gary Fellows. Fellows began his reign with a 4–2 win against Glossop North End, followed by a 4–2 loss to title favourites Cammell Laird.

In January 2006, Salford pulled off a coup by signing former Manchester United starlet Ben Thornley, with the hopes of boosting matchday attendance. Having defeated Ramsbottom United 2–1, Salford reached the NWCFL League Challenge Cup semi-finals for the first time, where they overcome a first leg loss to beat Oldham Town 2–1 over two legs. In May, Salford won the final, overcoming holders Cammell Laird 3–2 in the final; goals from Jamie Baguley, Jon Robinson and Callum Higginbottom gave Salford a 3–0 lead which eventually won Salford the trophy, the first time they had achieved silverware in their 24 years as a semi-professional team. However, the club would miss out on promotion on the last day of the season, with a 1–0 loss to Cammell Laird dropping them to fifth, with restructuring of the league meaning only three teams would be promoted.