For he has a fantastic collection of memorabilia dating back to when the club was first formed on April 29, 1858.

The first senior game was played in August of the same year, a fixture against local rivals Ellesmere.

In those early days, Mike explained, most of the fixtures were against teams from the estates of Ruabon, Chirk and Halston with Whittington calling upon the services of William Walsham How, Vicar of Whittington, who later went on to become Bishop of Bedford and Bishop of Wakefield.

Also active in the team about that time was F. Fitzwarine, a member of the family who owned Whittington Castle and much later another notable player was the future England player Andy Lloyd.

In 1987 disaster struck the club when an arson attack destroyed their quaint pavilion and after a few years of temporary facilities, a brand new pavilion opened in 1992 when a bowls section was also started.

Recently the club's playing fortunes have not kept pace with the improvements to the ground and the club now will be setting its sights on gaining promotion from Division Two of the Shropshire League.

This year the club's second team has been re-formed and will be hoping to gain promotion from Division Seven and to bring on youngsters for future first team opportunities.

This year the club is creating a brochure to mark the anniversary, and anyone who has items of interest for inclusion can contact Mike Brunt on 661874.