Gresley F.C.

Gresley

Full name	Gresley Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Moatmen
Founded	1882 (as Gresley Rovers)
Ground	Moat Ground, Church Gresley (Capacity: 2,400)
Chairman	Mark Harrison
Manager	Gary Norton
League	Midland Alliance
2010–11	East Midlands Counties League, 1st (promoted)
Home colours Away colours

Gresley Football Club are an English football club from Church Gresley, near Swadlincote, Derbyshire. Gresley are currently in the Midland Football Alliance, playing their home games at The Moat Ground. They were known as Gresley Rovers until 2009, when they were reformed under their current name.

History

Early years

Gresley Rovers were formed in 1882 in the small mining village of Church Gresley, near to Swadlincote, Derbyshire. The club's first ground was at Mushroom Lane in Albert Village a mile or so from Church Gresley. Gresley played only friendlies and cup games before joining the Burton Junior League for the 1892–93 season, winning their first title in 1894–95. Rovers acquired a new home, the Church Street Ground, in time for the 1895–96 season. Despite the ground's lack of facilities (the teams changed at the nearby Boot Hotel) the club were accepted into the Midland League for the 1903–04 season where they struggled for three seasons, to the local league in 1905. At the end of the 1907–08 season the Church Street Ground was required for building, so the club moved across the road onto the newly acquired Moat Ground, where Gresley continue to play to the present.

Moving up

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 FA 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 1946–47 and 1947–48 and were runners-up in 1948–49. 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 1954–55. They then rejoined the Central Alliance in 1959–60 and stayed in that League until 1974–75 during which time the League changed its title to the East Midlands Regional League.

Glory years

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 1975–76, they moved to the West Midlands (Regional) 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 1985–86 and the following six seasons saw Gresley finish 4th, 4th, 2nd, 3rd, 1st 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

FA Vase finalists

In addition to the league title and the Derbyshire Senior Cup win they also reached the final of the FA 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 3–0 Gresley, 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 Southern League was not successful but they battled on to win the league again the following season. This time their application to the Southern League was successful and they were placed in the Midland Division for the 1992–93 season.

Disappointment and success

That 1993–94 season had some disappointment for Gresley as they lost in the semi-final of the FA 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 1993–94 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 Southern League Cup. An improved League position of 8th was achieved in 1994–95 and that season saw them reaching the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for only the second time ever before losing away to Crewe.

Paul Futcher was appointed manager with Garry Birtles, the former England International, his assistant on 2 November 1995. Rovers improved their League position yet again in 1995–96 as they ended the season in 5th place and had the bonus of winning the Derbyshire Senior Cup yet again.

The season 1996–97 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 26, 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. The game was also notable for serious crowd disorder between the two sets of fans after Gresley's opening goal which led to the game being delayed for 25 minutes as fighting spilled onto the pitch. Derby County were willing to lend Gresley their recently vacated Baseball Ground until the required standards could be met but this was rejected by the footballing authorities.

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 1997–98 season saw Gresley finish in the bottom half of the Southern League Premier Division.

Relegation

Elvis Gresley, the club's mascot

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 Bescot Stadium in the first round of the FA 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 and Hastings Town 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 United 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 Borough, Crawley Town and Rothwell Town. Vital game at Dorchester Town and Salisbury City 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 Southern League Premier Division Championship by 11 points. The last time Gresley were relegated was in the 1958–59 season when they went down from the Birmingham League Division one to Division two.

Reformation

After financial difficulties, Gresley Rovers liquidated at the end of the 2008–09 season, forming a new football club named Gresley FC. In the 2009–10 season, they were placed in the East Midlands Counties League.

Stadium

The club has played at the Moat Ground since 1909. It has a capacity of 2,400.

Previous grounds

Mushroom Lane, Albert Village 1882–85

Church Street, Church Gresley 1885–1909

Honours (as Gresley FC)

East Midlands Counties League Champions 2010–11

Honours (as Gresley Rovers)

• Bass Charity Vase 1911, 1929, 1931, 1949, 1950, 1967, 1989
• Millennium Cup Champions 1999–2000
• Southern League Premier Division Champions 1996–97
• Southern League Cup Runners Up 1993–94
• Southern 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, 2001–02
• 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

External links

• Official club website