Boston United F.C.
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| Full name | Boston United Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Pilgrims | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1934 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | York Street, Boston (Capacity 6,645) |
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| Chairman |  David Newton |
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| Manager | Tommy Taylor |
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| League | Conference North | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–08 | Conference North, 10th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Boston United Football Club are a football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England.
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[edit] History
The club was founded in 1934 as a successor to a club called Boston F.C., and had a moderate amount of success in various leagues, including the Midland League and Southern League. They were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968, of which they were champions four times, and of the Alliance Premier League (now the Football Conference) in 1979. Their main rivals are Lincoln City. Boston are nicknamed the Pilgrims, although they were briefly nicknamed the Skyrockets during the 1985/86 season due to their long-ball style of play.[citation needed]
Boston finished third in the Conference in 1988-89, but were unable to build on this and were relegated to the NPL in 1993. They transferred again to the Southern League, winning the title in 2000, and went fully professional in 2001. In their first season as a professional club, Boston won the Conference and were promoted to the Football League.
However, in the wake of their promotion, Boston's manager, Steve Evans, and former chairman, Pat Malkinson, were charged with breaking the Football Association's rules over the registration of players. Both men received bans from the FA, and the club were fined and docked four points from their first season in the League. This angered some, especially the Conference runners up Dagenham & Redbridge, who believed that any points deduction should have applied to the previous season, which would have meant Dagenham being promoted instead. In their promotion to the Football League, Boston never really looked like challenging for promotion to the third tier of the league and most of their time from 2002 was spent in mid-table.
In May 2007 Boston were relegated from Football League Two on the last day of the season. Steve Evans and his assistant Paul Raynor on May 27th resigned from the club, and two days later joined Crawley Town F.C..[1]
Originally scheduled to play the 2007/8 season in the Conference National, this position was immediately placed in doubt after the club's chairman Jim Rodwell entered Boston into a Company Voluntary Arrangement late in their last game so as not to be penalised for the 2007/8 season - 10 points are docked from the past season, instead of the next, allowing them to have a clean start in the Conference. As a result of HM Revenue & Customs placing a restriction into the CVA of Boston not being allowed to pay football creditors 100% of what they were owed, as per FA rules, on June 9, Boston were relegated two divisions and played the 2007/8 season in the Conference North division, two steps below the Football League. The following season they were demoted further as they remained in administration.
[edit] Stadium
Boston United play at York Street, currently styled as The Staffsmart Stadium through a sponsorship deal. Former club chairman Jon Sotnick has claimed it is not up to Football League standard and has called for a new ground.[citation needed] Planning applications were made to Boston Borough Council in June 2006, but the council turned down the application. The ground has a total capacity of 6,645.
[edit] Financial situation
On the 4th of December 2006 Boston's plan to relocate to a new stadium on The Broadsides was unanimously rejected by Boston Borough Council. This has plunged the club's future into serious doubt. Chairman James Rodwell said the club's future was "Hanging in the balance". Rodwell confirmed that he would be meeting with shareholders over the next couple of days to determine the best course of action, but did admit that the club’s future was ultimately now in the hands of the Inland Revenue, who are owed a sizeable six-figure sum by the club.
In a statement he released to the club's official website on the 5th of December he said: "The club’s financial situation at the present moment is dire. I would urge all supporters and anybody interested in the future of the football club, be that investors or potential purchasers, to come forward immediately".
In November 2006 Boston manager Steve Evans and his former chairman Pat Malkinson pleaded guilty to "conspiring to cheat the public revenue between 1997 and 2002". Both were given suspended jail sentences. This admission of guilt means many football fans feel considerably less sympathy towards Boston than they have done towards other lower league clubs encountering major financial problems.
In May 2007, Boston entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement towards the end of their last game of the season when they knew they would be relegated to the Conference.[2] This allowed them to avoid a points deduction in the next season,[3] but has proved a controversial move.[2]
On the 10th June 2007 the Football Conference's annual general meeting voted in favour of demoting Boston United to the Conference North, stating that the terms of the Company Voluntary Agreement which Boston entered was behind the decision. Altrincham F.C. were subsequently spared relegation for the second season running. Chief Executive John Moules released this statement:
"Because Boston United are in breach of certain rules, it was felt Blue Square North was the best place for them. The Inland Revenue put a caveat on that CVA that Boston could not pay football creditors. That breaks Football Association, Football League and Football Conference rules and regulations. We're giving Boston the opportunity to re-establish themselves as a leading club outside the Football League. They believe the decision we have made is fair and just, and they are not going to appeal. We had meetings all day on Friday with Boston United and then informed Altrincham that they were staying up."
On 4th July 2007, Chestnut Homes, a local housing development company, announced that they had acquired Boston United FC.[4]
During this summer Boston pretty much lost their whole squad and new manager Tommy Taylor had to start again. They finished mid table but taking all this into consideration it was not a bad season. but at the end of the season it was announced Boston would be expelled from the conference league structure after they failed to exit administration by the 10th May deadline.
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Notable Former Players
- Ray Middleton (Footballer)
- Jim Smith
- Howard Wilkinson
- Paul Gascoigne (Boston was Gascoigne's last club)
- David Norris
- Tim Edge
[edit] Managerial history
Below is a list of Boston United managers in chronological order:[6]
| Dates | Manager |
|---|---|
| 1934–1935 | Jimmy Cringan |
| 1935–1936 | Willie Vaughton |
| 1936–1937 | Arthur Greaves |
| 1937–1939 | Fred Tunstall |
| 1945–1947 | Fred Tunstall |
| 1948–1949 | Jimmy McGraham |
| 1950–1952 | Jimmy Ithell |
| 1952–1954 | Fred Tunstall |
| 1954–1957 | Ray Middleton |
| 1957–1960 | Ray King |
| 1960–1961 | Ray Middleton |
| 1961–1964 | Paul Todd |
| 1964–1965 | Fred Tunstall |
| 1965–1969 | Don Donovan |
| 1969–1972 | Jim Smith |
| 1972–1975 | Keith Jobling |
| 1975–1976 | Howard Wilkinson |
| 1976–1977 | Freddie Taylor & Gordon Bolland (joint) |
| 1977–1979 | Mick Walker |
| 1979–1981 | Albert Phelan |
| 1981–1984 | John Froggatt |
| 1984–1986 | Arthur Mann |
| 1986–1987 | Ray O'Brien |
| 1987–1990 | George Kerr |
| 1990–1992 | Dave Cusack |
| 1992–1994 | Peter Morris |
| 1994–1996 | Mel Sterland |
| 1996–1998 | Greg Fee |
| 1998–2002 | Steve Evans |
| 2002–2004 | Neil Thompson |
| 2004 | James Rodwell (caretaker) |
| 2004–2007 | Steve Evans |
| 2007– | Tommy Taylor |
[edit] Honours
- FA Trophy runners-up 1984-85
- Football Conference champions 2001-02
- Southern League champions 1999-2000, runners-up 1998-99
- Northern Premier League champions 1972-73, 1973-74, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1997-98, runners-up 1971-72
- Midland League runners-up 1955-56
- Central Alliance League champions 1961-62
- United Counties League champions 1965-66
- West Midlands (Regional) League champions 1966-67, 1967-68
- Lincolnshire Senior Cup Winners 2005-2006
[edit] Records
Highest attendance 11,000 vs Derby County
Football League Records
- Heaviest defeat - 0-6 vs Grimsby Town (February 3, 2007)
- First club to start on less than 0 points.
[edit] References
- ^ "Evans & Raynor leave Boston roles", BBC Sport, May 27, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-27.
- ^ a b c
- ^ "League confirm Boston deduction", BBC Sport, May 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-27.
- ^ "Boston United and Chestnut Homes - The Details So Far", Boston-United.com, Jul 04, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
- ^ Squad Info. Boston United FC. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ Evans signs off in second place. Boston United official website (May 27, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-28.
