Dunkirk F.C.

Dunkirk
Full name Dunkirk Football Club
Nickname(s) The Boatmen
Founded 1946
Ground Ron Steel Sports Ground, Dunkirk
Capacity 1,500 (150 seats)
Chairman Craig Smith
League Midland League Premier Division
2013–14 Midland Football Alliance, 19th

Dunkirk Football Club is a football club based in the Nottingham residential area of Dunkirk, England. The club plays in the Midland League Premier Division.

History

Dunkirk FC were founded in 1946 and their nickname is "The Boatmen". The first league they joined was the Notts Amateur League, of which they were members until 1975. They won the Premier Division in that season, the clubs first major honour. Accepted into the Notts Alliance League, they got off to a good start, eventually finishing runners up. Five years later they were champions.

In 1981–82, Dunkirk reached the semi-final of the Notts F.A. Intermediate Cup, a feat they repeated the following season. In the league they led Division One for much of the season. In 1986–87, the club finished 9th and reached the semi-final of the League Cup, losing 2–0 to John Player.

The following season saw the club improve on that semi-final by winning the League Cup, with that seasons leading scorer, Mark Frettingham, hitting all 3 goals in the final. At the end of the 1988–89 season, followers of the club might have been forgiven for thinking their team might never win the Notts Alliance Senior Division title. After hitting top spot on 25 October, they lead the table for 25 weeks, then dropped 6 points in as many games to finish second behind Hucknall Town by 4 points. The next season saw them runners up again, this time behind John Player by 2 points. In the Notts Senior Cup they reached the quarter-finals before going out to Eastwood Town in a penalty shootout.

Dunkirk again ended as bridesmaids in 1990–91, seven points adrift of Rainworth Miners Welfare who took the title in a late burst. In the League Cup they reached the final with Pelican. Dunkirk lost 2–0 after a replay, having drawn 2–2 in the first game.

In 1991–92 they slipped to 9th in the league, but improved up to 4th the following season. They also entered the FA Vase for the first time but made a quick exit by losing at home 5–1 to Lincoln United. 12 months later they beat Nettleham 5–3 to win their first match in the competition, but the best was yet to come. In 1993–94 they had a magnificent run in the FA Vase, reaching the last 16 before bowing out to Tiverton Town. 1995–96 saw the Boatmen make their debut in the Central Midlands Premier League, scoring 130 goals as they finished runners up to Killamarsh Juniors and so gained promotion to the Supreme Division. In the 1997–98 season they finished in 4th place and won the League Cup beating Clipstone Welfare 2–0 in the Final at Watnall Road.

In the 1998–99 season Dunkirk secured runners-up spot again, snatching it from Goole on the last day of the season with a 2–0 win over South Normanton Athletic.

The high expectations for the 1999–2000 season never materialised with the club finishing in 6th position in the league. The 2000–01 season saw the Boatmen's worst season in the Supreme Division, finishing 10th.

2002–03 saw the Boatmen beat Sutton Town on penalties to win the Floodlit Cup and also reach the League Cup final, losing 2–0 to Dinnington Town at North Street.

Dave Harbottle took over the reigns as player/manager and quickly drafted former Dunkirk player Wayne Manners as his assistant. They guided the club to 6th in the league.

The 2004–05 season may be the greatest season to that point in history for the Boatmen, winning the Central Midlands Supreme Division for the very first time and also reaching the Floodlit Cup and League Cup finals. They lifted the Floodlit Cup for the second time in three years with a 2–0 win against Clipstone Welfare. Unfortunately the Boatmen lost in the league Cup final, losing 1–0 in a tight game against Sandiacre Town at North Street, After Dunkirk's memorable season promotion was denied due to the ground not being up to the required standard for the league above. This disappointment led to many players moving on to higher placed clubs in the football pyramid which meant the Boatmen needed to regroup. This rebuilding period gave Dunkirk the opportunity to blood many of the clubs' under-19 players into the first team and, after a difficult season, they finished in 8th position.

In the 2007–08 season Dunkirk went into the campaign with an optimistic view that silverware may be returning to the club but after a poor start their league title dreams looked to have slipped away from them. Dunkirk now turned to the cup competitions and after a good run in the FA Vase where they lost narrowly to Oldbury United in the 2nd round after a replay a bit of confidence returned to the side. The 2nd half of the season saw this confidence flourish with the Boatmen storming up the table to grab what looked to be an impossible 4th place league finish as well as reaching the League Cup final at North Street where they defeated Blidworth Welfare 1–0 after extra-time. This was to be the final season in the Central Midlands League an after a 13 year successful time in which they claimed 1 League Title, 2 League Cups, and 2 Floodlit Cups as well as three 2nd positions and were losing finalists twice.

The 2008–09 season help fresh optimism for Dunkirk as they were accepted to become founder members of the East Midlands Counties Football League, which was a step up in league terms for the club. This step up also gave Dunkirk the opportunity to enter the FA Cup for the 1st time in their history.

The first game of the 2008–09 season was in the FA Cup, where they faced Alvechurch of the Midland Football Alliance (step 5). Alvechurch proved to be a little too strong as they raced into a 4 goal half-time lead. Despite a spirited 2nd half performance the game ended 4–1. In Dunkirk's 1st ever step 6 league campaign they were unbeaten until the end of October when they crashed to a 3–0 defeat against eventual league winners Kirby Muxloe. For most of the season though, Dunkirk found themselves just behind the front 2, but with only 12 games remaining did top the table. This though was to be the highlight of the season and after the spell at the top they dwindled away and had to settle for 5th.

The 2008–09 season gave Dunkirk a taste of what life was like in step 6 football and they went into the 2009–10 season with huge expectations that silverware would be returning to the Ron Steel Sports Ground.

The campaign though started with 3 defeats in their opening 6 matches but they went on a 30 game unbeaten run which pushed them into second place, 18 points behind Bardon Hill Sports with 8 games in hand. The expectations the club set themselves though were met when they saw the season out with 9 straight wins to take the East Midland Counties title by 6 points over Gresley. This gave the club the opportunity to be promoted and they were accepted into the Midland Football Alliance, putting Dunkirk into step 5 for the first time.

As well as league success the club also had good cup runs when they reached the 3rd round of the FA Vase but narrowly lost out on penalties to Pickering Town after a replay.

They also reached the semi-finals of the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup where they crashed out against Northern Premier League highflyers Retford United 4–0. In the East Midlands Counties League Cup the Boatmen reached the final again where they faced Gedling Town but unfortunately they returned home with runners-up medals as Gedling snatched a 2–1 victory in extra time.

The 2010–11 season saw Dunkirk ply their trade in step 5 football for the first time in their history and after a very enjoyable season they claimed a creditable 8th place finished although they were only 4 points behind 3rd position in the table. The club also enjoyed cup success as they claimed their first ever win in the FA Cup with an exciting 4–3 extra-time win over Northern Counties East League side Dinnington Town. They also showed their pedigree as they saw off step 4 side Grantham Town 3–2 in extra-time after a replay, before bowing out in the 1st Qualifying round against local rivals Carlton Town again after a replay as they went down to a 2–1 home defeat. This campaign also saw the Boatmen reach the 3rd round proper of the FA Vase as Northern League side Ashington made the long trip to Nottingham, but Dunkirk fell just short as Ashington came from behind to win 2–1. Again Dunkirk reached the semi-final of the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup and the draw couldn't have been tougher as they were paired against Conference North highflyers Eastwood Town but lost 1–0 in the last minute.

During the 2010–11 season the club were left in total shock as they were left to deal with the sudden death of long-standing Chairman Jack Riley. Jack had been an instrumental part of the club for many years, and the club had to pull together which they did as they again looked to push forward. They appointed a new Chairman as former Nottingham Forest favourite David Johnson took on the role.

After an excellent first season in step 5 football, Dunkirk had fresh optimism that they could challenge at the top of the table. The 2011–12 season though saw them find themselves in an unfamiliar position as they struggled near the lower reached of the division, only just avoiding relegation during the last few weeks, finally finishing 18th. The reserves claimed the Central Midlands League Reserve League Cup with a 2–1 win against Radford Reserves that was played at Grange Park.

The club rebuilt again during the 2012–13 season but inconsistency was their main problem. They did however finish in a creditable 10th position winning 18 of their 42 matched, losing 16 and drawing 8. The reserves, under the guidance of Mark Harbottle, claimed silverware for the second successive season as they won the Central Midlands League Reserve Supreme Division with a very young side. Dunkirk though were once again on the lookout for a new chairman as David Johnson had to resign from his position due to work commitments. Craig Smith took on the role in the interim.[1]

Players

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
England Kadeem Brown
England Troy Carty
England Macauley Diuk
England Daniel Dobbie
England Tom Dodsworth
England Phil Granville
England Daniel Green
England Zico Grinion
England Stuart Robinson
England Kye Hall
England Sam Hawkins
England Nathan Hunt
No. Position Player
Albania Ndreqim Krasniqi
England Kevin Lusamba
England Alex Marshall
England Anthony Peach
England Mitchell Robinson
England Kory Simms
England Jack Upton
England Jake Want
England Lewis Wilcox
England Laurence Zizaruk-Gibson

Former managers

Honours

League history

Season League FA Cup FA Vase
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos
1983–84 Notts Alliance Division 1 30 17 9 4 73 32 43 3rd
1984–85 28 22 3 3 112 24 47 1st
1985–86 Notts Alliance Senior Division 30 10 8 12 44 41 28 10th
1986–87 30 11 6 13 55 55 28 9th
1987–88 30 16 5 9 50 36 37 3rd
1988–89 30 18 7 5 57 32 43 2nd
1989–90 28 17 7 4 50 27 41 2nd
1990–91 30 18 8 4 84 36 44 2nd
1991–92 30 11 6 13 59 52 28 9th EPR
1992–93 30 17 2 11 82 62 53 4th PR
1993–94 30 14 8 8 68 46 50 4th R5
1994–95 30 16 7 7 74 32 55 5th R2
1995–96 Central Midlands Premier 34 23 7 4 130 34 76 2nd R1
1996–97 Central Midlands Supreme 30 17 6 7 35 31 57 2nd R2
1997–98 30 17 4 9 64 38 55 4th 2RQ
1998–99 36 26 4 6 109 38 82 2nd 2RQ
1999–2000 36 21 2 13 81 48 65 6th 2RQ
2000–01 38 17 8 13 69 69 59 10th 2RQ
2001–02 38 17 6 15 62 70 57 9th 1RQ
2002–03 38 17 6 15 75 64 57 12th 1RQ
2003–04 36 19 4 13 63 42 61 6th R1
2004–05 42 29 8 5 109 43 95 1st 2RQ
2005–06 40 19 7 14 66 44 64 8th 1RQ
2006–07 38 22 5 11 80 58 71 6th 2RQ
2007–08 38 23 3 12 88 51 72 4th R2
2008–09 East Midlands Counties 34 18 7 9 59 38 61 5th EPR R2
2009–10 38 28 6 4 126 38 90 1st EPR R3
2010–11 Midland Football Alliance 44 25 9 10 104 67 84 8th 1RQ R3
2011–12 42 14 6 22 59 87 48 18th EPR 2RQ
2012–13 42 18 8 16 69 69 62 10th PR R1
2013–14 42 9 9 24 56 99 36 19th 1RQ 2RQ
2014–15 Midland League Premier 39 9 6 24 48 90 33 20th EPR 2RQ

Records

References

  1. ↑ http://dunkirk-fc-history.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/dunkirk-fc-history.html
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dunkirk at the Football Club History Database

External links