Early days The first Burscough Association Football Club was formed in 1880, playing in the Liverpool and District League before folding in 1900. In 1905, Burscough Rangers were founded and moved to the Victoria Park ground in 1908. They established many of the traditions carried on by the current club, playing in green and being known as the Linnets. In the 1920s, the club won the
Liverpool County Combination championship three times. In 1926, Rangers purchased a grandstand from
Everton and erected it on Victoria Park. The following year they joined the
Lancashire Combination but never experienced the same level of success and began to run into financial difficulties, finally folding in 1935. Following
World War II the present club was founded in 1946, starting life in the Liverpool County Combination. In their second season, 1947–48, they achieved a cup
treble, winning the
Lancashire Junior Cup, George Mahon Cup and the Liverpool Challenge Cup. Two years later they again claimed the Junior Cup and also won the County Combination title for the first time. In 1952, they won the Liverpool Challenge Cup for a second time. In 1953–54 they joined the Lancashire Combination, winning the Second Division in their first season and scoring 155 goals in the process, and won the First Division title in 1955–56. Another milestone was reached in 1959 when they reached the first round of the
FA Cup for the first time, before going down 3–1 to
Crewe Alexandra in front of 4,200 at Victoria Park. Another trophy-winning spell commenced in the 1966–67 season under the former
England winger Bobby Langton. The club completed a hat-trick of Junior Cup successes against
South Liverpool at
Wigan, and regained the Lancashire Combination First Division title in 1969–70.
1970s and 1980s In 1970–71 Burscough joined the
Cheshire County League, finishing runners-up to
Rossendale United. The following season they won the Liverpool Non-League Senior Cup and in 1974–75 the Cheshire League Cup was lifted. In national competition, the club reached the
FA Cup first round proper three times in four seasons, beginning with a 1–0 defeat at
Blyth Spartans in
1977. A 3–0 defeat at then-
third division Sheffield United in
1979 in front of 14,000 spectators was followed a year later by a 2–1 home defeat to
Altrincham in
1980. In 1981 the club were founder members of the North West Counties League, and had the distinction of becoming the league's first ever champions under
Bryan Griffiths. A new grandstand seating 250 was built in 1986 to replace the sixty-year-old wooden stand which no longer met ground safety regulations. In the 1989–90 season the club were relegated to Division Two of the league.
1990s The appointment of Russ Perkins as manager in 1991 brought about a change in the club's fortunes as Burscough reached the League Cup final and gained promotion back to Division One. In 1992–93 Burscough lost 2–1 to
Southport in the Liverpool Senior Cup Final at
Goodison Park before 2,000 spectators, but won the League Challenge Cup with a 2–1 victory over
Nantwich Town. 1993–94 was one of the most eventful seasons in Burscough's history as three players,
Gary Martindale,
Kevin Formby and
Alex Russell, joined
Football League clubs for substantial fees. Further covered standing accommodation for 500 spectators was erected during the close season. In May 1995, Burscough appointed John Davison manager. In his first season the club won the League Challenge Cup for a second time, beating League champions
Flixton 1–0 at
Bury. Flixton were again beaten as Burscough won the annual Champions versus Cup Winners Challenge Trophy. In 1997–98, the club were promoted as runners-up in the North West Counties Premier Division to the
Northern Premier League First Division. They also won the League Floodlit Trophy and were beaten finalists of the Liverpool Senior Cup, against
Liverpool. The Linnets achieved seventh position in their first Northern Premier League season, also reaching the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup and were Liverpool Senior Cup finalists for the third time in six seasons. In July 1999 nineteen-year-old striker Michael Yates signed for
Scottish Premier League side
Dundee for a five-figure transfer fee which was a club record at the time.
2000s 1999–2000 saw the Linnets gain promotion to the
Premier Division after losing only two games all season and remaining unbeaten away from home, finally finishing in runners-up spot. In their first season in the Premier Division Burscough finished 15th, had good runs in the FA Cup and
FA Trophy, and won the Liverpool Senior Cup for the first time, a 1–0 victory over
Conference neighbours
Southport. During this period the club had a youth development programme and one graduate, 19-year-old
Lee McEvilly, signed for
Rochdale in December 2001 for a club record £20,000 fee. Within 116 days of signing McEvilly had won full international honours for
Northern Ireland against
Spain. Following the resignation of John Davison in May 2002, the club appointed
Shaun Teale as
player/manager. The ex-
Aston Villa defender led the club to its greatest achievement, becoming the lowest-ranked club to win the FA Trophy following a 2–1 victory over
Tamworth at
Villa Park on 18 May 2003. Played in front of a crowd of 14,296, it was the Linnets' twelfth game in the competition, which included a 2-0 quarter-final win over holders, and eventual Conference champions,
Yeovil Town. Despite the win, Teale was sacked six weeks later. Former
Liverpool,
Galatasaray and
West Ham United midfielder
Mike Marsh was appointed manager but after a poor start to the season Marsh resigned and ex-Southport defender Derek Goulding took over in October 2003. The
2003–04 season saw Burscough finish with a run of victories that allowed them to move from the relegation zone into the promotion play-off positions. Despite playing all their games away from home, the Linnets went on to reach the play-off final where they only went down at
Bradford Park Avenue following extra-time. The
2004–05 season ended in controversy as the Linnets were denied a play-off place, following a decision to award three points to other teams for unplayed games against
Spennymoor United who could not complete their fixtures. In
2005–06 the club reached the second round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history. In reaching that milestone they defeated League One side
Gillingham 3–2 at Victoria Park, before losing to
Burton Albion. Burscough enjoyed one of its most successful seasons in 2006–07, winning the Northern Premier League Premier Division and two cups. The championship was only confirmed on the last day of the season with a win at
AFC Telford United. The victory meant they overtook Telford and won the title on goal difference by a single goal from
Witton Albion. Further success came in the Lancashire Junior Cup, won for the first time in forty years with a win over
Marine, and in the
Peter Swales Shield where First Division champions
Buxton were defeated 3–1.
2010s In the
2010–11 season, Burscough finished 19th but were reprieved from relegation due to
Ilkeston Town folding. In September 2011 former manager Derek Goulding returned to the club, replacing Chris Stammers. In the
2015–16 season Burscough were relegation favourites, however they went on to reach the play-off semi-final in which they were beaten by a strong Spennymoor side. ==Stadium==