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Rocester Football Club is a football club based in
Rocester Rocester is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Its name is spelt ''Rowcestre'' in the Domesday Book. It is located on the Derbyshire border. Geography The village is about north of Ut ...
, near
Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from ...
, Staffordshire,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, currently playing in the .


History

Rocester Football Club was formed in 1876 and for over a century played in various local leagues including the Stafford Amateur League and Uttoxeter and District League until they became founder members of the
Staffordshire Senior League The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in the English football league system. History The league was established as the Staffordshire Senior League in 1984, taking its clubs from Staffordshire and the areas immediat ...
in the 1984. Under manager Alan Beaman, the club's first senior honours saw them win the double of the Staffordshire Senior League title and the Staffordshire F.A. Vase in 1986. The following year, the club reached the last sixteen of the
FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...
(despite having to play all their "home" games at the grounds of teams with better facilities), knocking out the holders Halesowen Town before succumbing to
Garforth Town Garforth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Garforth, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the and play at Wheatley Park. History The club was established in 1964 as Miners Arms, a Sunday league team based at ...
. In 1987 the team moved from their original and by now rather run-down ground to a new home at Hillsfield and at the same time switched to the
West Midlands (Regional) League The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has ...
Division One, which they won at the first attempt. The new ground was further developed with the addition of floodlights and a stand to enable the club to take its place in the Premier Division. In 1994, following several successful seasons, Rocester became founder members of the new Midland Football Alliance. After a second-place finish in their first season in the new league, they went one better in 1998–99, winning the league title and claiming promotion to the Southern League Midland Division. They were to find life harder at this level, however, and after two consecutive last-place finishes the Romans were relegated back to the Alliance in 2002. Rocester soon recovered, however, and were champions at the first attempt in 2003–04. However, due to the re-organisation of the non-league pyramid, The Romans were placed in the
Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division ...
Division One, where they endured a disastrous season, picking up only 6 points from 42 games to finish rock-bottom. The following season back in the Alliance saw the team continue their terrible run, their first win not coming until January, finally ending a run of 67 league matches without a win. After finishing bottom of the Midland Alliance the club only avoided a second successive relegation due to league restructuring. However, within two years Rocester were back among the leading clubs in the Midland Alliance, finishing 12th in 2007 and 5th in 2008. The Romans recorded a 3–0 win over
Kidsgrove Athletic Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. is an English football club based in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team, nicknamed "The Grove", play their home games at Hollinwood Road, Clough ...
at Vale Park in April 2008 to win the
Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed for by a mix of clubs from ...
for the first time.


Ground

The club moved to the Hillsfield ground in 1987, and its location on the site of a former Roman fort gave rise to the club's nickname of The Romans. The ground is situated adjacent to an imposing mill built in the 1780s by
Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...
, inventor of the
spinning frame The spinning frame is an Industrial Revolution invention for spinning thread or yarn from fibres such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way. It was developed in 18th-century Britain by Richard Arkwright and John Kay. Historical context In 17 ...
. It was originally named Riversfield but renamed after Don Hill, a former club chairman.Ground
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Honours


League

Midland Alliance The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and ...
: 2 *Champions: 1998–99, 2003–04


Cup

Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed for by a mix of clubs from ...
: 1 *Winner: 2007–08,


Club records

*Record home attendance: 1,026 v Halesowen Town (FA Vase 4th Round, 1986–87) – played at
Leek Town Leek Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the . The team, nicknamed "The Blues", play their home games at Harrison Park. The club was found ...
's ground *Biggest home win: 14–0 v Bamfords S.C. 'A' (Stafford Amateur League Div. 3, 1953–54) and 14–0 v Eccleshall (Stafford Amateur League Div. 1, 1955–56) *Biggest away win: 14–2 v R.A.F. Cheadle (Uttoxeter & District League, 1952–53) *Biggest home defeat: 0–8 v
Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...
'A' – ( Staffordshire County League, 1957–58) and 0–9 v
AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United, founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. Currently members of the National League North, the ...
– ( Friendly, 2011–12) *Biggest away defeat: 0–9 v Hanford B.C. (Staffordshire County League, 1971–72) *Top goalscorer (season): Jack Harvey, 62 goals, 1955–56 *Top goalscorer (match): Reg Groombridge – 8 v Bamfords S.C. 'A' (1953–54) and Jack Harvey – 8 v Eccleshall (1955–56)


References

;General * ;Specific


External links


Official Web Site
{{coord, 52, 57, 01.28, N, 1, 49, 53.97, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Midland Football Alliance Football clubs in Staffordshire Staffordshire Moorlands Association football clubs established in 1876 Southern Football League clubs 1876 establishments in England Northern Premier League clubs West Midlands (Regional) League Midland Football League Football clubs in England Staffordshire County League North West Counties Football League clubs