After spending much of their existence in the lower reaches of Non-League football, heavy financial investment by former player turned millionaire chairman-manager, Graham White, saw the club rise rapidly through the leagues in the late 1980s.

However, upon winning the Northern Premier League championship in 1989–90, the club were refused promotion to the Football Conference having failed to meet ground grading conditions and were dissolved by White in the summer of 1990.

White's career as a player ended with injury and he became manager in 1975[2] with the team joining the Lancashire Combination, which saw a sustained period of success, with seven consecutive top-seven finishes, including being runners-up three years in a row between 1980 and 1982.

[4] They won the Premier Division by a margin of 26 points with crowds averaging over 1,300,[4][5] and reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy where they lost to Conference side Barrow.

Despite winning the NPL, the club was refused promotion to the Conference as their Holt House ground did not meet the required grading.