Most athletic clubs are founded by dissatisfied members of an existing club and Wirral AC is no exception. The existing club in this case was West Cheshire Harriers, which, it should be said, has no connection with today’s West Cheshire A C.The source of the dissatisfaction was a dispute which had rumbled on for years at national level between the AAA and the National Cyclists Union about the the promotion of running events involving professional athletes by the NCU. This came to a head in 1910 resulting in the formation of a new athletic organisation, the National Athletic Union mainly involving Northern clubs and promoters, whose aim was to control both amateurs and professionals. The breakaway group who formed Wirral AC were supporters of this movement as the flyleaf of the first minute book proclaims.At first committee meeting on Oct 11th 1911, the Honorary Secretary, Frank Lathom, was elected to be the club’s representative on the NAU. However within a few months, following secret negotiations, the AAA and the NCU settled their differences and with this agreement the support for the NAU evaporated.