Boston United F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Boston United


fullname = Boston United Football Club
nickname = The Pilgrims
founded = 1934
ground = York Street, Boston
capacity = 6,645
chairman = flagicon|England David Newton
manager = flagicon|England Tommy Taylor
league = Unibond League
season = 2007–08
position = Conference North, 11th (demoted)
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Boston United Football Club are a football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. They are members of the Unibond League (formerly the Northern Premier League).

History

The club was founded in 1934 as a successor to a club called Boston F.C., and had a moderate amount of success in various leagues, including the Midland League and Southern League. They were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968, of which they were champions four times, and of the Alliance Premier League (now the Football Conference) in 1979.

Boston United finished third in the Conference in 1988/9, but were unable to build on this and were relegated to the NPL in 1993. They were transferred to the Southern League, winning the title in 2000, and went fully professional in 2001. In their first season as a professional club, Boston won the Conference and were promoted to the Football League.

However, in the wake of their promotion, Boston's manager, Steve Evans, and former chairman, Pat Malkinson, were charged with breaking the Football Association's rules over the registration of players. Both men received bans from the FA, and the club were fined and docked four points from their first season in the League. This angered some, especially the Conference runners up Dagenham & Redbridge, who believed that any points deduction should have applied to the previous season, which would have meant Dagenham being promoted instead. After their promotion to the Football League, Boston never really looked like challenging for promotion to the third tier of the league and most of their time from 2002 was spent in mid-table.

]

Because of the demotion Boston were originally scheduled to play the 2007/8 season in the Conference National but this position was immediately placed in doubt after the club's chairman Jim Rodwell entered Boston into a Company Voluntary Arrangement late in their last game so that 10 points would then be deducted in the 2006/7 season instead of the 2007/8 season. Although this meant that Boston started the 2007/8 season without a points penanly FA rules dictated that they be demoted 2 divisions as a result of HM Revenue & Customs placing a restriction into the CVA of Boston not being allowed to pay football creditors 100% of what they were owed. They therefore played the 2007/8 season in the Conference North division, two steps below the Football League.

Despite finishing the 2007/8 campain in 11th place, they were still in administarion by the 2nd Saturday of May in 2008. This meant they were relegated to the Northern Premier Division. Despite coming out of administation just before the season, Boston United failed to have this decision overturned. Another result of this meant that they would also have to enter the FA Cup at the 1st Qualifying round; something which they haven't done for many years.

Despite all of the problems of the last few years, the 2008/9 is one of celebration for Boston United as it is their 75th anniversary.

Their main rivals are Lincoln City. Boston are nicknamed the Pilgrims, although they were briefly nicknamed the Skyrockets during the 1985/6 season due to their long-ball style of play. fact|date=April 2008

Stadium

Boston United play at York Street, currently styled as The Staffsmart Stadium through a sponsorship deal. Former club chairman Jon Sotnick has claimed it is not up to Football League standard and has called for a new ground.fact|date=October 2007 Planning applications were made to Boston Borough Council in June 2006, but the council turned down the application. The ground has a total capacity of 6,645.

Financial situation

On the 4th of December 2006 Boston's plan to relocate to a new stadium on The Broadsides was unanimously rejected by Boston Borough Council. This has plunged the club's future into serious doubt. Chairman James Rodwell said the club's future was "Hanging in the balance". Rodwell confirmed that he would be meeting with shareholders over the next couple of days to determine the best course of action, but did admit that the club’s future was ultimately now in the hands of the Inland Revenue, who are owed a sizeable six-figure sum by the club.

In a statement he released to the club's official website on the 5th of December he said: "The club’s financial situation at the present moment is dire. I would urge all supporters and anybody interested in the future of the football club, be that investors or potential purchasers, to come forward immediately".

In November 2006 Boston manager Steve Evans and his former chairman Pat Malkinson pleaded guilty to "conspiring to cheat the public revenue between 1997 and 2002". Both were given suspended jail sentences. This admission of guilt means many football fans feel considerably less sympathy towards Boston than they have done towards other lower league clubs encountering major financial problems.

In May 2007, Boston entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement towards the end of their last game of the season when they knew they would be relegated to the Conference.c] This allowed them to avoid a points deduction in the next season,cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/boston_united/6670393.stm |title=League confirm Boston deduction |accessdate=2007-05-27 |date=May 18 2007 |publisher=BBC Sport] but has proved a controversial move.c]

On the 10 June 2007 the Football Conference's annual general meeting voted in favour of demoting Boston United to the Conference North, stating that the terms of the Company Voluntary Agreement which Boston entered was behind the decision. Altrincham F.C. were subsequently spared relegation for the second season running. Chief Executive John Moules released this statement:

"Because Boston United are in breach of certain rules, it was felt Blue Square North was the best place for them. The Inland Revenue put a caveat on that CVA that Boston could not pay football creditors. That breaks Football Association, Football League and Football Conference rules and regulations. We're giving Boston the opportunity to re-establish themselves as a leading club outside the Football League. They believe the decision we have made is fair and just, and they are not going to appeal. We had meetings all day on Friday with Boston United and then informed Altrincham that they were staying up."

On 4 July 2007, Chestnut Homes, a local housing development company, announced that they had acquired Boston United FC.cite news |url=http://boston-united.com/item/350/catid/7 |title=Boston United and Chestnut Homes - The Details So Far |accessdate=2007-07-04 |date=July 4 2007 |publisher=Boston-United.com]

During this summer Boston pretty much lost their whole squad and new manager Tommy Taylor had to start again. They finished mid-table but taking all this into consideration it was not a bad season. However at the end of the season it was announced Boston would be expelled from the Conference league structure after they failed to exit administration by the 10 May deadline.

Players

:"As of 12 September 2008."cite web
title = Squad Info
url = http://www.bufc.co.uk/Squad
publisher = Boston United FC
accessdate = 2007-07-24]

Current squad

Notable Former Players

*Zema Abbey :Played Championship football for Norwich City
*Paul Bastock :Played for the club at four different levels
*Ernie Cooksey :Former Oldham Athletic midfielder. Died in July 2008
*Tony Crane :Centre back who featured for Sheffield Wednesday and Grimsby Town
*Tim Edge
*Anthony Elding :Lower league journeyman who went on to move to Leeds United
*Paul Ellender :Captained the side for a long period of time at three different levels of football
*Ben Futcher :Famed mainly with local rivals Lincoln City
*Paul Gascoigne :England International who played for Tottenham Hotspur amongst others
*Mark Greaves :Former Hull City right back
*Francis Green :Played for Peterborough United and Lincoln City
*Julian Joachim :Former Premiership forward with outings for Aston Villa and Coventry City amongst others
*Steve Melton :Featured for Nottingham Forest amongst others
*Ray Middleton
*David Noble :Former Arsenal Trainee Played for Bristol City in 2007/08 Championship Play-Off final against Hull City.
*David Norris :Famed at playing for Plymouth Argyle
*Jim Smith :Former manager of Derby County
*Noel Whelan :Former Premiership striker who played for Middlesbrough and Leeds United amongst others.
*Howard Wilkinson :Former Leeds United Manager who had a brief spell in the England job

Managerial history

Below is a list of Boston United managers in chronological order:cite web |url=http://www.bufc.co.uk/article/1063751/Evans-signs-off-in-second-place |title=Evans signs off in second place |accessdate=2007-05-28 |date=May 27 2007 |publisher=Boston United official website] :

Honours

* FA Trophy runners-up 1984–85
* Football Conference champions 2001–02
* Southern League champions 1999–2000, runners-up 1998–99
* Northern Premier League champions 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1997–98, runners-up 1971–72
* Midland League runners-up 1955–56
* Central Alliance League champions 1961–62
* United Counties League champions 1965–66
* West Midlands (Regional) League champions 1966–67, 1967–68
* Lincolnshire Senior Cup Winners 2005–2006

Records

Highest attendance11,000 vs Derby County

Football League Records
*Heaviest defeat - 0–6 vs Grimsby Town (February 3, 2007)
* First club to start on less than 0 points.

References

External links

* [http://www.bufc.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://boston-united.com/site/ Boston-United.com - Unofficial Boston United Website]