| Full name | Eastwood Town Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Badgers | ||
| Founded | 1953 | ||
| Ground | Coronation Park, Eastwood (Capacity: 5,000) |
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| Chairman | Tony Minnis | ||
| Manager | John Ramshaw | ||
| League | Conference North | ||
| 2010–11 | Conference North, 4th | ||
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Eastwood Town F.C. is a football club from Eastwood, Nottinghamshire formed in 1953, currently playing in the Conference North.
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Although there was a football club named Eastwood Town operating in the Nottinghamshire Alliance in 1921, its was only in existence for two years. It was not until 1953 when the present club was founded. On 29 August that year, Eastwood Town beat Bilsthorpe Colliery 4–1 to start their voyage, again in the Nottinghamshire Alliance. The club won one title, finished six seasons as runners-up and one in third place. Similar success was enjoyed in the Central Alliance and East Midlands Regional Leagues and some impressive FA Amateur Cup runs established the club as one of the Midlands' leading non-professional club.
Their record home gate of 2,723 was set in February 1965 against Enfield in an Amateur Cup-tie.
The "Badgers" professional career began in the Midland Counties in 1971. They progressed via the Northern Counties East League to the Northern Premier League. The all time leading scorer of Eastwood Town F.C. is Martin Wright who scored 228 goals between the years 1974 and 1983.
After 16 years in the NPL, Eastwood suffered their first ever relegation but bounced straight back in 2003–04 with a treble of NCEL runners up spot, Presidents Cup winners and Nottinghamshire Senior Cup winners, and also reached the last 8 in their only ever FA Vase campaign.
Back in the NPL, Eastwood finished sixth in Season 2004–05 and after a run in the FA Trophy were deprived of entry into the last eight when Hereford United scored a late penalty equaliser.
Since his promotion from Assistant Manager to Manager in October 2006, Paul Cox has led the club to three County Senior Cup-finals being victorious on every occasion. The "Badgers" victory over Ollerton Town in May 2008 saw them win this the trophy a 13th time in just over 30 years, after waiting nearly 25 years for their first success. It was also the second time they have won the trophy three years in succession.
In October 2007 Robert Yong became the Chairman of the club. On 21 April 2008 the club lifted their first trophy under the new regime, beating Skelmersdale 3–0 to lift the NPL Challenge Cup for the first time in its history. A fourth-place finish in the Premier Division earned Eastwood a place in the promotion play-offs, away to Gateshead. However, Gateshead won 4–0. At the end of the season, Paul Cox was persuaded to leave his teaching post and become the first full time manager of Eastwood Town.
In the 2008–2009 FA Cup, with a 2–0 victory over Wrexham in the Fourth Qualifying Round Replay at Coronation Park, Eastwood qualified for the first round proper for the first time since 1999. They went on to beat Brackley Town 2–1 and then Wycombe Wanderers 2–0 in the second round, both at home, to reach the 3rd round in which they lost to Kettering Town 2–1 on the 3rd January 2009.
On the 25th April 2009, Eastwood achieved their main objective for the season, when victory over Ossett Town in front of a capacity crowd ensured the Badgers won the Northern Premier League Premier Division in only their second year at this level. Along with the Peter Swales Memorial Shield (beating Durham 2–1 in the final), the F.A. Cup run, and reaching the final of the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup ensured the 2008/09 season will live long in the memoirs of fans both old and new.
Eastwood started life in the Conference North with a creditable draw against relegated Northwich Victoria. The Badgers first victory came in on the 11th August 2009 in their first away fixture at Gloucester City. Goals from Peter Knox, Emeka Nwadike and Danny Holland saw the Badgers triumph 3–1 this was followed by another victory away at Harrogate Town. Victory over Alfreton Town and then Gainsborough Trinity at the end of August saw the Badgers lead the table for a period of 3 weeks. They remained in a play-off position until mid February and only saw their challenge falter in the final week of the season.
Off the pitch extensive remedial work ensured the ground gained the necessary ‘B’ grading to remain in the league and work began to remove the pronounced slope to the Coronation Park pitch.
The 2010/11 started poorly for the Badgers with their first 10 games yielding a record of Won 3 Drawn 0 Lost 7 scored 14 conceded 21 which saw them hover around the bottom three in the league. Their next 10 games still didn't give a clue as to what was to come next, although their record did improve to a comfortable mid-table Won 8 Drawn 2 Lost 10. However from that point on they flew up the league to get into the play off positions on the 12th April 2011. However, the league informed the club that they couldn't take part in the playoffs should they finish in the top five place at the end of the season.
The appeal against the decision was heard on the 19th April and the original decision upheld. Despite the set back the players continued to perform heroically and the club finished 4th, with the players setting a new Blue Square North record of 19 league games unbeaten.
On the 3rd May they also went on to win the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup for the 15th time, after beating Evo-Stik Division One South side Carlton Town 6–1 in the final at Field Mill, Mansfield. The victory puts them only two victories behind current joint record holders Nottingham Forest and Sutton Town.
The club's ground and facilities are to undergo major refurbishment in the coming years. Chairman Rob Yong revealed he has been in negotiations with Broxtowe Borough Council to purchase the ground or agree a 99 year lease and he expects a positive result over the next few months.
For survival in the Conference North, a number of issues need addressing. However these are not insurmountable and the club will have the required 'B' grade by March 10, 2010.
In addition there has been a lot of work done in the background and plans have been drawn up to bring the ground up to the 'A' grade required to enter the Conference National. Rob also presented drawings to the forum, the plans showed new terracing holding 1900 fans behind both goals and a new seated stand replacing the Mabe Allan Stand almost down the entire length of the pitch. This will give the club three fully enclosed stands and a capacity of well over 5,000.
With the plans for the academy and the other projects, the club are in negotiations with the local authorities to take over the existing all weather pitch situated within Coro Park along with the changing rooms. The plan is to redevelop the pitch into a full sized 3G pitch, with the adjoining area being developed into an outdoor juniors pitch for use of the community and Eastwood Town Juniors. This will give the club the infrastructure to attract the best local youngsters as well as players released from professional clubs academies.
The club have received a few complaints from residents on Chewton Street about the increased problems associated with matchday parking and this is another issue that has been raised and negotiations are in progress with the council to address the situation, with the objective of providing more car parking facilities at the club. The club are also in discussions with the council about additional signage off the A610, and the end of Chewton Street.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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