right|thumb|[[Exeter City F.C.|Exeter City vs Altrincham in a Conference National fixture played on 19 August 2006]]
Altrincham Football Club is a professional football club based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1891 and nicknamed "the Robins", they are currently members of and play at Moss Lane.
History
Altrincham was established by a Sunday school around 1891 as Rigby Memorial Club. They soon merged with another local team, Grapplers, to form Broadheath Football Club, Their first match in the league on 16 September 1893 saw them lose 7–0 to Hulme, and they went on to lose 14 of the remaining league matches as they finished bottom of the table.
After playing at various grounds in Broadheath, Timperley and Altrincham, the club moved to Pollitt's Field in 1903, at which point they changed their name to Altrincham. helping Altrincham to the first of back-to-back Cheshire County League titles, scoring over 120 goals in the league in both seasons. After finishing as runners-up in 1967–68, they were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968.]]
They reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy in 1976–77, losing 2–1 to Scarborough in a second replay; Instead, Altrincham became founder members of the Alliance Premier League, the top level of non-League football, the winner of which would be the sole non-League nomination for future Football League election ballots.
The league's inaugural season saw Altrincham crowned champions.
Altrincham retained the APL title the following season, but again failed in the Football League elections, this time only receiving 15 votes to the 41 received by Halifax, who were again the lowest ranked Football League club.
The club then returned to mid-table with occasional successful seasons, finishing third in 1990–91 (by which time the league had become the Football Conference) and fourth in 1994–95. The following season they again finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved after Boston United were demoted. A third successive relegation reprieve occurred in 2007–08 when Halifax were liquidated.
After mid-table finishes in 2008–09 and 2009–10 and Ricky Ponting becoming a shareholder of the club in 2009, Altrincham were relegated to the Conference North at the end of the 2010–11 season. In 2012–13 a fourth-place finish saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost 4–2 on aggregate to Brackley Town. However, after finishing fourth the following season, they beat Hednesford Town 4–3 on aggregate in the semi-finals and then defeated Guiseley 2–1 in the final to earn promotion back to the Conference National. In 2023–24 they finished fourth in the National League, before losing 3–1 to Bromley in the play-off semi-finals.
FA Cup giant-killers
Altrincham have a history of giant-killing in the FA Cup, holding the record of knocking out more Football League sides than any other club that has spent its entire history playing in non-League. They reached the third round of the FA Cup in four consecutive seasons between 1978–79 and 1981–82,
First team staff
{| class=wikitable
!Role
!Name
|-
|Manager
|Neil Gibson
|-
|Assistant Manager
|Lee Jones
|-
|Head Analyst
|Jack Farrell
|-
|Club Doctor
|Dr Robert Jackson
|-
|Head Physiotherapist
|Tom Jones
|-
|Sport Therapist
|Thomas Cadman
|-
|Strength & Conditioning Coach
|Matthew Fox
|-
|Performance Analyst
|Mark Bushall
|-
|Kit Manager
|Steven Foster
|-
|Kit Manager
|Dylan Barlow
|-
|Goalkeeper Coach
|Ben Williams
|}
Records
- Best FA Cup performance: Fourth round, 1985–86
- Record attendance: 10,275, Altrincham Boys vs Sunderland Boys, 28 February 1925
- Record transfer fee paid: £15,000 to Blackpool for Keith Russell, 1998
- Most goals: Jackie Swindells, 252 (1965–1971)