Nuneaton Town F.C.
 | |||
| Full name | Nuneaton Town Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Boro, The Boro | ||
| Founded | 1889 (as Nuneaton St Nicholas) (reformed 2008) | ||
| Ground |
Sperrin Brewery Stadium Nuneaton | ||
| Capacity | 4,500 (514 seated | ||
| Chairman | Ian Neale | ||
| Manager | Kevin Wilkin | ||
| League | Conference National | ||
| 2012–13 | Conference National, 15th | ||
| |||
Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football.
In 1889 Nuneaton St. Nicholas were the first team to play senior football within Nuneaton. Five years later they changed their name to Nuneaton Town, and played until 1937 when the club was disbanded. However, two days later Nuneaton Borough F.C. were founded but in 1991, the club ran into financial difficulties and were renamed Nuneaton Borough AFC. In 2008 the club was liquidated, and were reformed as Nuneaton Town – suffering a two division demotion. The club is still known as 'The Boro' by locals and by those who support the team. The club play their home fixtures at Liberty Way in their home kit of blue & white vertical stripes.
Local rival teams include Tamworth, Leamington, Bedworth United and Coventry City.
History
1889–1937
The club was formed in 1889 as Nuneaton St. Nicholas, nicknamed The Saints, changing their name to Nuneaton Town five years later. Also known as The Nuns and The Townies, Nuneaton Town were founder members of the North Warwickshire League, also playing in the Coventry and District League, Coventry and North Warwick, Leicestershire, Nuneaton and District, and Trent Valley Combination. In 1902–03 Nuneaton Town won the Nuneaton League, and were Coventry and North Warwick League champions in 1904–05. For the 1906–07 season the club joined the Birmingham Junior League, winning the league at the first attempt. A further title in the renamed Birmingham Combination followed in 1914–15. From 1919 until 1924 Nuneaton competed in the Birmingham & District League, in the Southern League from 1924 to 1926, before returning to the Birmingham Combination in 1926. The club went on to win two further Birmingham Combination titles, in 1928–29 and 1930–31. Nuneaton rejoined the Birmingham League in 1933, competing there until 1937 when the club were disbanded after the club's directors had sold the club's Manor Park ground to the Nuneaton Corporation the previous December. They did not play in claret and blue.
1937–1991
Two days after the original Nuneaton Town were disbanded, the newly named Nuneaton Borough F.C. took their place. Nuneaton spent the 1937–38 campaign in the Central Amateur League playing at the former Nuneaton Town ground Manor Park and were assisted by several of the 'Nuns' younger players. The following season the club turned semi-professional while also moving to the Birmingham Combination. During the club's tenure in the league finished as runners-up three times, never finishing below sixth place between 1945 and 1956. In 1952 Nuneaton Borough moved to the Birmingham League where they won the championship back-to-back in 1954–55 and 1955–56. Then in 1958 the club switched to the Southern League, and the following year they were founder members of the league's Premier Division. They spent the next 16 years in the Premier Division, finishing second in 1966–67 and runners-up to Wimbledon in 1974–75. In 1979 they were founder members of the Alliance Premier League, which later became the Conference National. Their stay was short lived, and after 2 seasons the club was relegated. However, they won the Midland section of the Southern League at the first attempt and were duly promoted back to the Alliance Premier League. In 1983–84 and 1984–85 they finished runners-up but failed to capitalise. Then in 1987 they were relegated back into the Southern League Premier Division due to irregularities off the field and went into freefall. The club lasted just one season in the Southern League Premier Division, suffering a second successive relegation. A new board of directors took over, and in 1991 Nuneaton Borough A.F.C was formed.
Nuneaton Borough A.F.C.
- In 1993 Nuneaton Borough A.F.C, nicknamed The Boro, won the Southern League Midland Division title and were promoted back into the Premier Division, but were relegated after only one season.
- In 1994–95 season, Nuneaton Borough took on Bedworth United away for the first time in 16 years on 2 December. A crowd of 5,204 turned up for a league game at The Oval. 4,000 of that figure were believed to be from Nuneaton.
- In the 1995–96 season the club won the Midland Division and the Southern League Cup.
- Three years later in 1999 when Brendan Phillips took over Nuneaton Borough finally won the Southern League Championship, earning themselves a place in the top flight of English non-league football. Whilst playing in the Conference the club improved and achieved a top ten finish. Nuneaton attained top position for a few weeks, technically one place from full football league status, and this remains their highest ever league position to date.
- Then on the final day of the 2002–03 season the club suffered another agonising relegation, which saw the club yet again in the Southern League.
- A year later the league structure was changed dramatically; and a fourth place finish saw the club achieve a position in Conference North.
- In the first ever season in 2004–05 Nuneaton Borough finished second and earned themselves a place in the play-offs They eventually lost to Altrincham in the play-off semi-finals. The club were also awarded the Fair Play Award for having just one player sent off all season.
- In January 2006 Boro reached the FA Cup 3rd Round and were paired with Premier League club Middlesbrough at Manor Park after beating AFC Telford United, Chelmsford City, Tiverton Town, Ramsgate and Histon. Boro drew 1–1 against Middlesbrough in front of a capacity attendance of 6,000. Around 5,000 Boro fans travelled to the Riverside Stadium for the midweek replay to see their team lose 5–2. At the time this was a record visiting attendance at the Riverside Stadium.
- In May 2007, the curtain came down on Manor Park as they drew the last game 1–1 against Vauxhall Motors, Gez Murphy taking the honour of being the last Nuneaton Borough scorer at the ground with a penalty.
- In the 2007–08 season, owner Ted Stocker planned to sell his shares as he was suffering from ill health and in March 2008 local business man Ian Neale planned to take ownership of the club for a trial period but he then took 100% ownership of the club in April.
- In May 2008, Ian Neale found some irregularities in the finances of the club and fears raised that the club would have to be forced into administration.
- On 2 June 2008 Nuneaton Borough A.F.C went into liquidation.
Nuneaton Town F.C.
In June 2008, the club was reformed as Nuneaton Town F.C. Following Nuneaton Borough's liquidation The FA insisted that the new club have a different name, accompanied by a double relegation to the Southern League Division One Midlands.
On Saturday 2 May 2009, Town clinched promotion via the play-offs of the Southern League Division One Midlands, beating Chasetown 1–0 through top scorer, Rob Foster, this was in front of a Liberty Way record crowd of 3,111.
In August 2009 Nuneaton returned to the Southern League Premier Division. In November 2009 reached the first round of the FA Cup and took on Exeter City. On their way they beat Brigg Town, Carlton Town, Gainsborough Trinity and Kendal Town.
On Saturday 1 May 2010, Town clinched a second successive promotion, beating Chippenham Town in the Southern League Premier Division play-off final.
At the start of the season 2010–11 two new directors joined the board of the club. Former Halesowen Town chairman, Nuneaton Borough, Coventry City and Luton player Kirk Stephens and Neil Hodgson who is managing director of the International freight company Fortec Palletts, joined Ian Neale and Ian Brown as a four-man board. This moved kicked off phase two of the club's development plans to establish both a commercial and football pipeline into the club. Stephens and Hodgson concentrate on establishing business links and sponsorship opportunities for the club.
2011–2012 Season
The 2011–12 season saw Nuneaton finish fifth in the Conference North, therefore taking the last playoff position, following a 6-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player after a mix-up with the registration of on-loan Andy Brown. Without the deduction they would have finished third. They played Guiseley in the semi-finals and won 2–1 on aggregate. They later played Gainsborough in the final, in which they won 1–0. They sealed promotion to the Conference National for the 2012–13 season, with the aforementioned Brown scoring the decisive goals in both of these ties.
2012–2013 Season
For the 2012–13 season, Nuneaton were back in the Conference National for the first time in 9 years. They finished 15th
Cup competitions
FA Cup
Nuneaton Town first entered the FA Cup in 1899 but never progressed to the competition proper. This is something which Nuneaton Borough have achieved twenty-one times, including victories over Football League sides Watford, Swansea City, Oxford United and most recently Stoke City.
Nuneaton Borough have progressed to the FA Cup Third Round Proper three times, in 1949–50, 1966–67 and 2005–06. Their 1966–67 run carried them further than any other non-league club that season. A crowd of 22,114 were in attendance at their Manor Park ground on 28 January 1967 when Rotherham were held to a draw in a Third Round tie. Rotherham beat Boro 1–0 at Millmoor in the closely fought replay.
Middlesbrough visited Manor Park on 7 January 2006, and could only achieve a 1–1 daw with Nuneaton, Gez Murphy scoring an equalising penalty in the 90th minute to the delight of the home crowd, earning Nuneaton a replay against a Premier League side approximately 100 places above them. Middlesbrough won the replay at the Riverside Stadium 5–2. Gez Murphy scored twice in this fixture, therefore scoring 3 goals against Middlesbrough over the two games.
Other giant killings of note came against Stoke City in 2000, Marc McGregor with a 90th minute winner, and in 1993 a win over Swansea City, with Tony Simpson netting both goals.
The club made its first appearance in the FA Cup first round in its current guise of Nuneaton Town, on 7 November 2009 when they entertained Exeter City. This was also be the first time that Liberty Way had hosted a game in the FA Cup competition proper. The game ended with Exeter winning 4–0. In 2010 they also reached the first round of the Cup with an away tie against Lincoln City, but were once again beaten from an 89th minute strike leaving the score at 1–0.[1] They reached the first round proper once again on 3 November 2012 facing Luton Town and forcing a replay after a 1–1 draw. However, on 13 November they lost the replay 2–0.
F.A. Trophy
Nuneaton Borough's best run has seen them reach the quarter-final three times: In 1977 (a replay), in 1980 and 1987. They endured an awful run in the competition between 1995 and 2006 however. In this time they did not win a single FA Trophy game. In 2006 the run ended with a win at Bradford Park Avenue. The previous win was in 1995 at Spennymoor United.
Birmingham Senior Cup
The Boro won the Birmingham Senior Cup for the first time in 1931 and have won it a total of nine times since, most recently in 2010.
Stadia
Manor Park
From the club's early years until 2007 Boro played at Manor Park; a 6,000 capacity stadium at the time of its closure. The record attendance was 22,114 spectators who had packed into the ground for an FA Cup tie against Rotherham United in 1967.
The club played their final game at Manor Park, on 28 April 2007, in a 1–1 draw with Vauxhall Motors. Gez Murphy scored Boro's last goal at the ground from the penalty spot.
The Stadium has now been knocked down and is being redeveloped for housing by former shirt sponsors Bloor Homes.
Liberty Way
Nuneaton Borough moved into their new purpose built ground, Liberty Way, during the 2007–08 season. The ground is shared with Nuneaton Rugby Club. The ground was built in three phases by local building firm Ian Neale Construction and was completed at the end of 2007.
The move to Liberty Way was not straightforward. Originally the club planned to move from Manor Park to the new ground for the 2005–06 season but ended up having to wait 2 seasons before work was completed. Also the club hit a snag over the covenant protecting Manor Park which was eventually cleared so the club could move to Liberty Way. The ground-share plan with Nuneaton RFC was planned by former Owner Ted Stocker after many new ground plans across Nuneaton were rejected by the local council.[2]
The groundshare with the Nuns effectively died with the liquidation of stadiasafe, leaving no agreement in place between the two clubs. Nuneaton Town Football Club put a deal on the table that would allow the rugby club to play inside the stadium in return for a realistic rate. Under the old agreement with Nuneaton Borough AFC, the rugby club paid £35 to hire the pitch, a fee that also covered the use of the flood lights and markings this sparked disagreements over the fee which is paid to the football club by the rugby club to play its games in the stadium.[3][4][5]
At the start of the 2010–11 season a deal was struck with the nuns where the rugby club are able to play several games per season inside the stadium.
The club have recently completed a permanent seated stand for 514 supporters on the north side of the stadium, which has improved the stadium in line with the standards required for participation in the Conference National. They have also outlined plans to extend this stand by adding a further 500 or so seats by the summer of 2012. Facilities ancillary to football and the club's community initiatives will be housed in a two storey building behind the new stand, adjacent to the remembrance garden for families of the people who had their Ashes scattered at Manor Park. The new stand replaces the various smaller temporary stands that have been erected on the north side of the stadium since Nuneaton Borough first moved to Liberty Way in 2007.
The ground has been flooded on numerous occasions, most recently in late November 2012.
In March 2013 it was confirmed that Liberty Way had to undergo several ground improvements to avoid automatic relegation. Turnstiles, Changing rooms and player tunnels all had to be upgraded to pass the regulations.
In July 2013 it was announced that the stadium would be known as the "Sperrin Brewery Stadium" for the 2013–14 season after a local family run business won the naming rights in a golden ticket draw[6]
Mascot
Nuneaton Town FC new official mascot is 'Bloo the bear' this is as from the 2012–13 season due to the old Tribune tiger reaching the end of its life span. The official mascot was the Tribune Tiger, due to sponsorship with the local newspaper, The Nuneaton Tribune. Brewno the Bear was formerly the official mascot of Nuneaton Borough A.F.C. Bloo the bear is a permanent feature for the club now as both Tribune tiger and Brewno The Bear has been officially retired forever in a move that is a further break from the old club. It can be argued that this move is a further attempt by the board to disassociate itself from the mismanagement of the past.
Current squad
- As of 24 November 2013.[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Backroom staff
Club officials
Coaching and medical staff
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Ian Neale |
| Manager | Kevin Wilkin |
| Assistant Manager | Micky Moore |
| General Manager of Community Foundation | Steve Farmer |
| Physios | Paul Egan Richie Norman |
| Fitness and Conditioning Coach | John Warren |
| Kit Manager | Darryl Strong |
Top scorers
6 players have scored over 100 league goals for the club.
- John "Goal Buster" Jones
- Paul Culpin
- Martyn Twigger
- Tony Cutler
- Tony Jacques
Rob Straw scored 100 goals for Nuneaton, though not all in the league.
Top Players.
- Paul London
- Terry Angus
Seasons
This is 10 recent Nuneaton Town seasons, for a full history look List of Nuneaton Town F.C. seasons
| Year | League | Level | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Position | Leading league scorer | Goals | FA Cup | FA Trophy | Average attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | SFL Premier Division | 6 | 42 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 65 | 49 | +16 | 66 | 4th of 22 Transferred |
No Data | No Data | QR3 | R2 | No Data |
| 2004–05 | Conference North | 6 | 42 | 25 | 6 | 11 | 68 | 45 | +23 | 81 | 2nd of 22 Lost in PO semifinal |
No Data | No Data | QR2 | R1 | No Data |
| 2005–06 | Conference North | 6 | 42 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 68 | 43 | +25 | 77 | 3rd of 22 Lost in PO semifinal |
No Data | No Data | R3 | QR3 | No Data |
| 2006–07 | Conference North | 6 | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 60 | 10th of 22 | No Data | No Data | QR3 | R1 | No Data |
| 2007–08 | Conference North | 6 | 42 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 58 | 40 | +18 | 71 | 7th of 22 Liquidated and reformed[8] |
No Data | No Data | QR4 | QR3 | No Data |
| 2008–09 | SFL Division One Midlands | 8 | 42 | 28 | 8 | 6 | 85 | 31 | +54 | 92 | 2nd of 22 Promoted through PO |
No Data | No Data | QR2 | PR | No Data |
| 2009–10 | SFL Premier Division | 7 | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 91 | 37 | +54 | 88 | 2nd of 22 Promoted through PO |
No Data | No Data | R1 | R1 | No Data |
| 2010–11 | Conference North | 6 | 40 | 21 | 9 | 10 | 66 | 44 | +22 | 72 | 6th of 22 Lost in PO semifinal |
No Data | No Data | R1 | QR3 | No Data |
| 2011–12 | Conference North | 6 | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 74 | 41 | +33 | 72‡ | 5th of 22 Promoted through PO |
No Data | No Data | QR4 | R1 | No Data |
| 2012–13 | Conference National | 5 | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 55 | 63 | −8 | 57 | 15th of 24 | Andy Brown | 19 | R1 | R1 | No Data |
‡ – deducted 6 points for fielding an ineligible player.[9]
Honours
- Conference National
- Conference North
- Runners-up: 2004–05
- Play-off Winners (Promoted) 2011–12
- Southern League Premier Division
- Southern League Midland Division
- Southern League Cup
- Winners: 1995–96
- Finalists: 1962–63
- Birmingham Senior Cup
- Winners: 1931, 1949, 1956, 1960, 1978, 1980, 1993, 2002, 2010
Records
- Best League Position
- 2nd Southern League Premier Division (Level 5) – 1966–67, 1974–75
- 2nd Conference National (Level 5) – 1983–84, 1984–85
- Best FA Cup performance: 3rd Round
- 1949–50 (vs. Exeter City)
- 1966–67 (vs. Rotherham United)
- 2005–06 (vs. Middlesbrough)
- Best FA Trophy performance: Quarter Final
- 1976–77 (vs. Scarborough)
- 1979–80 (vs. Dagenham)
- 1986–87 (vs. Dartford)
- Record Attendance
- Manor Park – 22,114 (28 January 1967 v Rotherham United, F.A. Cup Third Round)
- Liberty Way – 3,111 (2 May 2009 v Chasetown, Southern League Division One (Midlands) Play-off Final)
- Record Signing
- Marc McGregor – £35,000 from Forest Green Rovers, June 2000
- Record Sale
- Andy Ducros – £100,000 to Kidderminster Harriers, July 2000
References
- ↑ "Nuneaton Town beat Workington in FA Cup replay". BBC Sport (BBC). 27 October 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ↑ http://www.cwn.org.uk/sport/football/nuneaton-borough/2001/02/010213–stadium-refusal.htm
- ↑ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/north-warwickshire-news/2008/09/15/liberty-way-pitch-row-nuns-v-nuneaton-town-92746-21819699/
- ↑ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/north-warwickshire-news/2008/09/10/nuneaton-town-and-nuns-at-war-over-state-of-liberty-way-92746-21717740/
- ↑ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/north-warwickshire-news/2008/09/05/liberty-way-pitch-battle-in-nuneaton-92746-21681188/
- ↑ http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Sport/Nuneaton-Town-FC/Nuneaton-Town-stadium-named-revealed-12072013.htm
- ↑ "First Team – The Team". pitchero.com/clubs/nuneatontownfc.
- ↑ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/nuneaton-borough-liquidation-announced-3095694
- ↑ "Nuneaton Town deducted six points for fielding unregistered player". Coventry Telegraph. 30 March 2012.
External links
Media related to Nuneaton Town F.C. at Wikimedia Commons