Gresley Rovers F.C.
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| Gresley Rovers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Gresley Rovers Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Moatmen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1882 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | The Moat Ground, Moat Street, Church Gresley |
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| Capacity | 2,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Mark Evans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Gary Norton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Northern Premier League First Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004-05 | Final league position: 9th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gresley Rovers Football Club are an English football club based at The Moat Ground, located in the village of Church Gresley, near Swadlincote, South Derbyshire.
Gresley Rovers currently play in the Northern Premier League First Division - known in recent years as the UniBond League First Division.
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[edit] Club History
Gresley Rovers were formed in 1882 in the small mining village of Church Gresley, which is near to Swadlincote - the biggest town in South Derbyshire.
Their first ground was at Mushroom Lane in Albert Village a mile or so from Church Gresley and they played mainly friendlies and cup games for ten years before joining the Burton Junior League for the 1892/93 season. They won their first league title in the 1894/95 season eleven points clear of their nearest rivals in the Burton Junior League.
Rovers moved from the quaintly named Mushroom Lane ground (which they shared with the local cricket club Mushroom Lane CC) to the newly acquired Church Street Ground in time for the 1895/96 season.
Despite the lack of facilities (the teams changed at the nearby Boot Hotel) they were accepted into the Midland League for the 1903/04 season where they stayed for three seasons. Some of the clubs played are now in the Football League. They struggled in this much higher standard and therefore returned to the local league in 1905 to 'gather their strength' again.
Rovers stayed at Church Street till near the end of the 1907/08 season when they had to move as the land was required for building and moved across the road onto the newly acquired Moat Ground - the ground they still play on today.
Rovers stepped up a couple of grades to join the Central Alliance and then moved up again as they joined the powerful Birmingham Combination in 1925. However, despite reaching the First Round Proper of the F.A. Cup in 1930/31, they experienced financial difficulties and these forced them to leave the Birmingham Combination and join the more local Central Alliance in 1933.
A couple of seasons later they moved to the Leicestershire Senior League and enjoyed success in the immediate post-war years as they won the title in 1946/7 and 1947/8 and were runners-up in 1948/9. At the start of the fifties the Club made the decision to join the Central Alliance. However, on this occasion, their stay in that League was only brief and they joined the Birmingham & District League in 1954/5. They then rejoined the Central Alliance in 1959/60 and stayed in that League until 1974/5 during which time the League changed its title to the East Midlands Regional League.
Gresley dominated that League and in the fourteen seasons from 1961 to 1975 the lowest they finished was in fifth place as they won the title on four occasions, finished runners-up on four occasions, ended in third place on three occasions, fourth on two occasions and fifth only once. At the start of the 1975/6, they moved to the West Midlands League, which was a much stronger League, and in the early years they always ended in the lower regions of the table. However, after much hard work off the field, runners-up spot was achieved in 1985/6 and the following six seasons saw Gresley finish 4th, 4th, 2nd, 3rd, lst and 1st. During that period they also won the Derbyshire Senior Cup on four successive occasions. Season 1990/91 was a particularly good one for Gresley. In addition to the League Title and the Derbyshire Senior Cup win they also reached the final of the F.A. Vase and so had the honour of playing at Wembley. Their opponents were Guiseley and some National Newspapers reported it as 'the most exciting Wembley Cup Final ever'. When one looks at the goals sequence one can see how the game earned that accolade: After 31 minutes the score was Guiseley - 3 Gresley - 0, but Gresley came back and grabbed a very dramatic equaliser in injury time at the end of the ninety minutes. Then in extra time Gresley went 4 - 3 in front but this time Guiseley scored a very dramatic equaliser as they levelled things in injury time at the end of the second half of extra time.
The replay at Bramall Lane saw Gresley lose by 3 - 1. However, despite that tremendous season their application to join the Beazer Homes League was not successful but they battled on to win the league again the following season. This time their application to the Beazer Homes League was successful and they were placed in the Midland Division for the 1992/3 season. That 1992/3 season had some disappointment for Gresley as they lost in the semi-final of the F.A. Vase and so narrowly missed another trip to Wembley, but in the League they confounded everyone by finishing as runners- up and so gained promotion to the Premier Division at the first attempt. The 1993/4 season saw them consolidate in 14th position but medals did come to the Club as they again won the Derbyshire Senior Cup and reached the Final of the Dr. Martens League Cup. An improved League position of 8th was achieved in 1994/5 and that season saw them reaching the First Round Proper of the F.A. Cup for only the second time ever before losing away to Crewe.
Paul Futcher was appointed manager with Garry Birtles, former England International, his assistant on 2nd November 1995. Rovers improved their League position yet again in 1995/6 as they ended the season in 5th place and had the bonus of winning the Derbyshire Senior Cup yet again.
The season 1996/7 was the best in the Club's long history because in addition to retaining the Derbyshire Senior Cup they also won the Dr. Martens Premier Division championship. Rovers were unbeaten in their first seventeen league games (won 10 drawn 7) and were league leaders for 31 weeks.
The title was finally won with a 3 - 1 home victory against Gloucester City at the Moat Ground on April 26th 1997. Gresley Rovers became the first Derbyshire side and first village side to win this prestigious trophy but ground grading meant that they were unable to gain promotion to the Football Conference.
Paul Futcher the Manager during that campaign left during the close season and his Assistant Manager Garry Birtles stepped up into the Manager's position. The disappointment of not being promoted to the Football Conference saw many of Gresley's players leave the club. The 1997/8 season saw Gresley finish in the bottom half of the Dr. Martens Premier League.
The 1998/99 season will go down in the history of Gresley Rovers as one of the worst. At the end of 1998 they were in the top six. By the end of April they were relegated. The season started well and 13 points from their September games saw them in third place just four points adrift of the leaders Nuneaton Borough. In November Gresley Rovers were drawn to meet Walsall at the Bescote Stadium in the first round of the F.A. Cup. Gresley went close to causing an upset but were denied at least a replay by a goal 11 minutes from the end. Victories over King's Lynn F.C. and Hastings got December off to a fine start; however, three defeats saw them drop to 6th place. After a disastrous run of 6 successive defeats in January saw them slump to 17th place just 5 points above the relegation places. In February two successive draws and three defeats proved to be Garry Birtles downfall and he and his assistant, Paul Fitzpatrick were dismissed. Stuart Ford took charge temporarily and saw the team beat Atherstone 2-1 that ended a run of 14 games without a win. In March 1999 Brian Kenning was appointed manager. The opening game of April produced a comfortable 3-0 victory over Cambridge City. But three defeats followed against Nuneaton, Crawley and Rothwell. Vital game at Dorchester and Salisbury yielded only one point. The defeat on the final day against Bath City pushed Gresley into the Midlands Division just two years after winning the Dr. Martens Premier Division Championship by 11 points. The last time Gresley were relegated was in the 1958/9 season when they went down from the Birmingham League Division one to Division two.
[edit] Club Honours
- Millennium Cup Champions 1999/2000
- Southern (Dr Martens) League Premier Division Champions 1996/97
- Southern (Dr Martens) League Cup Runners Up 1993/94
- Southern (Beazer Homes) League Midland Division Runners Up 1992/93
- FA Vase Runners Up 1990/91
- West Midlands League Champions 1990/91, 1991/92
- West Midlands League Runners Up 1985/86, 1988/89
- West Midlands League Cup Winners 1988/89
- West Midlands League Cup Runners Up 1986/87, 1991/92
- Derbyshire Senior Cup Winners 1987/88, 1988/89, 1989/90, 1990/91, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 2004/05
- Derbyshire Senior Cup Runners Up 1956/57, 1969/70, 1999/2000, 2001/2002
- East Midlands League Champions 1967/68, 1969/70
- Central Alliance Champions 1964/65, 1966/67
- Central Alliance Cup Winners 1952/53
- Leicestershire Senior League Champions 1900/01, 1946/47, 1947/48
- Leicestershire Senior Cup Winners 1988/99, 1946/47
- Coalville Charity Cup Winners 1946/47
[edit] Ground Directions
From the South
Follow the M42 northbound to Junction 11, turn off onto the A444 toward Burton Upon Trent. Turn right onto the A514 (Castle Road) toward Gresley and follow the road up the hill to the traffic island at the top. Continue on the A514 over the island and take the second road on the left (School Street), the next left into Moat Street where the Moat Ground is located.
From the North-East
Follow the M1 south to junction 23a, turn off on to the A42 southbound. Continue on the A42 to Ashby-de-la-Zouch then turn off onto the A511 toward Swadlincote. At Woodville turn off the A511 onto the A514 toward Church Gresley, follow the road signs to Gresley, the School Street turn off is second on the right after the Gresley island. Take the first turn on the left in School Street to take you to the ground.
From the North-West
From Stoke-on-Trent follow the A50 toward Burton-Upon-Trent, turn on to the A511 and continue through Burton. Turn off the A511 onto the A444 toward Nuneaton. Follow the A444 until you reach the turn off for the A514. Turn left onto the A514 (Castle Road) toward Gresley and follow the road up the hill to the traffic island at the top. Continue on the A514 over the island and take the second road on the left (School Street), the next left into Moat Street where the Moat Ground is located.
Ground Address
The Moat Ground, Moat Street, Church Gresley, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9RE
[edit] Club Mascot
Gresley Rovers' official club mascot is Elvis Gresley - a hound dog. Born in August 2001, he joined the football club in August 2004.
Unveiled at the Moat Ground on the 18th August 2004, Elvis has since become the spiritual figurehead to the team and entertained the supporters at the Moat Ground.
In October 2004, Elvis achieved official recognition - from the Kennel Club of Great Britain, registering him on their database - making him a member of their 'Companion Dog Club' and asking him to help promote good dog ownership and appear at Crufts.
Elvis Gresley helped with the switching on of the festive illuminations at Swadlincote in November 2004, when he joined Chairman of the Council Jean Mead and comedian Freddie Starr to flick the switch and spark the festive illuminations into life.
[edit] External link
| Northern Premier League First Division 2006/07 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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