Altrincham were founded in 1891 when they were known as Rigby Memorial Club and they subsequently merged with a club called ‘The Grapplers’ to form Broadheath FC and joined the Manchester League in 1893. In 1903, the club changed their name to Altrincham FC.
Altrincham won the Manchester League in 1905 and 1907 and in 1910 the club moved to their current ground, Moss Lane. In 1911, Altrincham joined the Lancashire Combination Second Division and were runners up in their first season winning promotion to the First Division. In 1919, they were founding members of the Cheshire County League.
Altrincham were runners up in the Cheshire County League in 1935 and 1936 and in the Cheshire County League West section in 1940. They won the title for the first time in 1966 and won it again the following year and were runners up in 1968. That year they became founding members of the Northern Premier League.
In 1978, Altrincham won the FA Trophy defeating Leatherhead 3-1 at Wembley and were runners up in the Northern Premier League the following year before joining the new Alliance Premier League the same year.
Altrincham won the APL at the first attempt finishing two points ahead of Weymouth and in 1981 they retained their title, finishing three points ahead of Kettering Town. Sadly, at the time winning the leading non-league tournament did not mean automatic promotion. That did not happen until the 1986/87 season.
In 1982, Altrincham reached the FA Trophy final again but this time lost 1-0 to Enfield at Wembley. In 1986, they returned to Wembley, winning 1-0 over Runcorn to lift the FA Trophy for the second time.
In 1997, Altrincham finished bottom of the Conference and were relegated to the Northern Premier League and they finished 8th in their first season back in the NPL. The following season, they were champions and were promoted back to the Conference, but only lasted one season in the higher division after finishing 21st and being relegated back to the Northern Premier League. In 2000/01 they finished 7th in the NPL.
In 2004, Altrincham only finished 12th but this was enough to get them promoted to the newly formed Conference North and they finished 5th in their first season and qualified for the play-offs, winning promotion to Conference National after beating Nuneaton Borough in the semi-finals and Kettering Town 3-2 in the Final. That season, there was also a play-off between North and South section play-off winners and Altrincham beat Eastbourne Borough 2-1.
In 2005/06, Altrincham had 18 points deducted after fielding an ineligible player and this lead them to finish bottom. However, they were reprieved by the addition of two new clubs to the conference National and the voluntary demotion of Canvey Island. The following season, Altrincham finished 21st and should have been relegated but were again reprieved by Boston United receiving a double relegation from League Two due to financial irregularities.
Altrincham were reprieved from relegation for the third successive season in 2008, after again finishing 21st, when Halifax Town went into liquidation. In 2009, they finished 15th, the highest position they had attained since promotion in 2005 and in 2010 finished one place higher. In 2011, Altrincham finished 22nd and were finally relegated back to Conference North.
In 2013, they finished 4th and qualified for the play-offs but lost in the semi-final to Brackley Town. Last season, they finished 3rd and made the play-offs again and beat Guiseley 2-1 in the final after defeating Hednesford Town in the semi-final and so returned to Conference National after three years.
Barnet’s matches next season in the Conference will be the first since Barnet were promoted to the Football League after winning the Conference in 1991.
The two clubs first met back in 1979/80 in the initial Alliance Premier League season. The two clubs met four times that season. In the APL, Altrincham won 1-0 at Moss Lane, but the Bees won 2-0 at Underhill with goals from Steve Robinson and Elwyn Roberts. Altrincham won in the semi-final of the APL Cup, beating Barnet 8-0 on aggregate, winning 1-0 at Underhill and 7-0 at home.
The following season, the Bees won 3-2 at Underhill with two goals from Steve Brinkman and one from Gary French. Altrincham won 2-0 at Moss Lane. In 1981/82, the match at Underhill finished goalless and Alty won 2-0 at home.
Goals from Colin Barnes and Stewart Atkins gave Barnet a 2-0 win at Underhill in 1982/83, but Altrincham won again at Moss Lane, this time 3-0. Altrincham completed a league double over the Bees in 1983/84, winning 2-1 at Underhill, with Steve Ragan scoring for Barnet and 3-2 at Moss Lane. These were the first Barnet goals scored at Moss Lane and Stewart Atkins and Nicky Evans got them.
The following season, 1984/85, it was Barnet’s turn to complete the double over Alty, a Stewart Atkins goal, the only one of the match at Underhill and Evans and Steve Mahoney scoring in a 2-0 win for Barnet, their first ever points at Moss Lane in what was now known as the Gola League. Two Dave Sansom goals gained Barnet a point in a 2-2 draw at Underhill in 1985/86 and Altrincham got back to their usual ways by winning 2-0 at Moss Lane.
Altrincham won 2-0 again at Moss Lane in 1986/87, a Robert Codner goal for the Bees the only one of the match at Underhill in what was now the GM Vauxhall Conference. In 1987/88, Barnet won 3-1 at Underhill with goals from Glyn Creaser, Nicky Evans and Keith Alexander against an Altrincham side managed by former Chelsea and Manchester United boss, Tommy Docherty, who had coached Barnet at one time in the very early 1960s. Eddie Stein scored at Moss Lane in a 1-1 draw.
Frank Murphy grabbed a point for Barnet at Altrincham in 1988/89 and Barnet won 3-0 at Underhill with two goals from Eddie Stein and a Gary Bull penalty. In 1989/90, Altrincham gained their first win over the Bees since 1986 by winning 2-1 at Moss Road, Dave Regis scoring for Barnet, while a David Gipp goal won the points for Barnet at Underhill.
In 1990/91, the game at Underhill ended goalless and Altrincham, inspired by future Underhill favourite, Paul Showler, won 4-1 at Moss Lane, a result that took Alty to the top of the conference, but it was to be Barnet who took the title with a last day of the season win at Fisher.
Earlier this season, Barnet won 5-0 at the Hive with goals from Luisma Villa and Sam Hoskins and a hat trick for John akinde.
Paul Showler was a rare player who played for both Altrincham and Barnet, moving from Alty in 1991 after Barnet had won promotion to the Football League for the first time. Showler helped Barnet to the play-offs in 1992 and to win promotion to Division Two (now League One) the following year but left that summer to join Bradford City. He scored 16 goals in 90 matches for the Bees.
Steve Berryman was a goalkeeper who had a short loan spell from Cambridge United in 1991 and subsequently played for Altrincham. He made 2 appearances for Barnet.