CHORLEY fans would like nothing better this season than to see the team climb back to the Unibond League premier division as champions of the First Division.

This would add to a handsome collection of title successes over the last 117 years.

In fact, the Magpies have been champions of every league they have played in -- except the GM Conference and the Cheshire County League.

After joining the Lancashire Alliance in the late 1880s Chorley clinched the title in 1893 with a 7-1 hammering of Adlington.

The Magpies came close to winning their first cup and league double the following year in what was to be their last season in the Alliance, when they finished runners-up.

Chorley moved into the growing Lancashire League and were crowned champions in only their third season, 1896-97. And they beat the Rest of the League 2-0 in a challenge match.

One of the events that passed into local footballing folklore was at the league's annual meeting when the club were accused of bribery. Someone evidently felt that the team's success had not been an honest one, but when the club offered to defend the accusation in the courts no one took them up on it.

Another Lancashire League championship came Chorley's way two seasons later, 1898-99. And in May 1899 the club made their only application to join the Football League, then comprising two divisions.

They decided on the actual day of the meeting to apply for League status and were sixth in the voting for two places. The Lancashire Combination, which had been in existence since 1891, embraced the Lancashire League in 1903 and so in a period of less than 20 years Chorley found themselves in their third league, the Combination's B Division.

Success took longer to achieve than in their previous competitions. The Magpies were promoted to the higher division in 1906-07, finishing third after a Christmas spell at the top.

Sadly, they were relegated the following season, after finishing third from bottom -- but within a year were back in the Combination's top flight, runners-up to Manchester City Reserves.

It was not until after the First World War that Chorley clinched their first Lancashire Combination title, winning 25 of their 34 league matches in season 1919-20.

It was the first of 11 Combination title successes over five decades. Championship success came Chorley's way in 1923, 1928, 1929, 1933, 1934, 1940, 1946, 1960, 1961 and 1964.

Among the glittering array of personalities still remembered by older Victory Park fans was scoring legend Peter Watson, whose haul of over 350 goals in the 50s and the 60s will probably never be beaten.

Watson and his colleagues, who included stalwarts like midfielder Ian Smith, former England B goalkeeper Charlie Ashcroft and defender Tom Haworth, later Chorley manager, delighted the crowds with consistent success, including two cup and league doubles in a three-year spell.

Chorley left the Combination for the Northern Premier League in 1967, but were relegated the following season. After being promoted in 1970 they departed for the Cheshire County League in 1972 and didn't get back into the NPL until 1982.

They were champions of the NPL (then known as the HFS Loans League) in 1987-88, clinching the title at Matlock on the last day of the season.

The Magpies were in the GM Vauxhall Conference for two seasons before coming back down. They were relegated to the First Division last year.

On the cup front, the Magpies set a club record by reaching the semi-finals of the FA Trophy in 1996, going out to Macclesfield Town in a two-legged tie, the season that Macc won the Conference championship and moved up to the Football League.