Stotfold Football Club is a football

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based at

Stotfold Stotfold is a small town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. Stotfold is thought to have gained its name from the northern drovers breaking their journey south at this point on the A1 Great North Road and penning their horses (stots ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

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 ...

. They play in the . The club is affiliated to the

Bedfordshire County Football Association The Bedfordshire Football Association, also simply known as ''Bedfordshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Bedfordshire, England. Founded in 1894, the Bedfordshire FA run a number of cups at different levels for teams a ...

History

The first recorded football in Stotfold occurred in 1904 although it is certain the game was played in the town for a number of years before that. In the early 1900s, Stotfold sides played in the Biggleswade and District League. This was followed by a spell of nearly 30 years in North Herts football. The first record of a trophy being won was 1911 when Potton were beaten 1–0 in the Biggleswade and District Championship. Stotfold FC was officially founded, with proper financing, stewardship and record-keeping, in 1946. The club played for many years at the Hitchin Road Recreation Ground before moving into the newly-developed Roker Park ground in 1965. This ground was just a meadow named "Roker" when it was first used by Stotfold Athletic in 1911. In 1951 the club joined the

South Midlands League The South Midlands League was a football league covering Bedfordshire and some adjoining counties in England. It was founded in 1922 as the Bedfordshire County League and merged with the Spartan League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midla ...

Division Two, finishing 2nd to gain immediate promotion to Division One. They were Division One champions in 1953–54 and were promoted to the Premier Division, where they remained for thirty years. Stotfold won the South Midlands League Premier Division for the first time in the 1980–81 season under the management team of Brian Parker, Peter Godden, and Geoff Heard. They were also runners-up seven times. In 1984, the Eagles were transferred to the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckingham ...

. They were admitted straight into the Premier Division, where they stayed until 2010. Through the 1990s, the club generally finished high in the top ten. After several changes of manager, the club re-appointed former

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

man

Ian Allinson Ian James Robert Allinson (born 1 October 1957) is an English football manager and former player and former manager of St Albans City. In his playing career, Allinson amassed over 300 league appearances for Colchester United in two spells, an ...

as manager for 2007–08, and he rewarded them by leading the club to their most successful season, including the UCL championship for the first time. He subsequently left to join

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...

. The championship was clinched in dramatic fashion; starting the second half 0–4 down to closest challengers

Long Buckby Long Buckby is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. In 2020 the parish of Long Buckby, which includes the hamlet of Long Buckby Wharf, was estimated to have a population of 4,303. Long Buckby is hill top village, ...

, Stotfold managed to equalise in the 90th minute for the point needed to clinch the title. Stotfold transferred to the

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

for the 2010–11 season. They remained in the Premier Division before being relegated to Division One on the last day of the 2018–19 campaign. Stotfold achieved a landmark for the club in February 2020 when they moved to their brand new £2m step 4 ready stadium at New Roker Park on Arlesey Road.

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club. *

Mitchell Cole Mitchell James Cole (6 October 1985 – 30 November 2012) was an English footballer who played as a winger. Cole was forced to retire from professional football in 2011 as a result of a deteriorating heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ...

– (2011) *

Josh Coley Joshua Maxwell Coley (born 24 July 1998) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for club Sutton United. Career Coley was born in Stevenage but grew up in York. He was in the youth team at York City before returning south. Coley b ...

– (2020) *

Darren Dykes Daren Dykes (born 28 April 1981) is an English footballer. He played professionally as an attacking midfielder for Swindon Town and Lincoln City. He is currently first team coach at Kempston Rovers. Career Early career Dykes began his care ...

– (2005–06) *

Graeme Tomlinson Graeme Murdoch Tomlinson (born 10 December 1975) is an English former footballer who played as a forward. Tomlinson notably played for Manchester United and Wimbledon whilst both were Premier League sides but appearances for both teams only ca ...

– (2003–04) *

– (2005–08) *

Phil Gray Philip Gray (born 2 October 1968) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer. A striker, Gray won 26 caps for his country and played for ten professional clubs, his transfer fees totalling £1,475,000. Northern Ireland won every game Ph ...

– (2005) *

Liam George Liam Brendan George (born 2 February 1979) is a footballer who plays for Barton Rovers on a part-time basis, having signed for them in 2010. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland in the Under 18 European Youth Championship. Ca ...

– (2005)

Management Team

*Manager – Brett Donnelly *Assistant manager – Eddie McLoughlin *Assistant manager – Paul Donnelly *Goalkeeper coach – Michael Parkin *Physio – Ryan Jefferies *Development Team Manager – Jon Little *Development Team Assistant Manager – Sean Lyness *Kit Man – Roy Ryall

Honours

Premier Division **Champions 2007–08 **Runners-up 1993–94, 1995–96, 2008–09 *

Premier Division **Champions 1980–81 **Runners-up 1955–56, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1977–78 *

Premier Division **Runners-up 2022–23 *

Division 1 **Champions 1953-54 *

Division 1 **Champions 2021–22 *

Division 2 **Runners-up 1951-52 *

Knock-Out Cup **Winners 1999, 2000 *

Challenge Trophy **Winners 1982 *

Challenge Trophy **Runners-up 2014, 2022 *

Senior Floodlight Cup **Runners-up 2014 *

Division 1 Cup **Runners-up 2022 *

Senior Cup **Winners 1965, 1994, 2000, 2008 **Runners-up 2001 *

Premier Cup **Winners 1982, 1992, 1999 *

Intermediate Cup **Winners 1959, 1992, 1998, 2002 **Runners-up 2009 *

Senior Trophy **Winners 2020, 2022 Biggleswade Knock-Out Cup **Winners 1998, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013 **Runners-up 2010 North Bedfordshire Charity Cup **Winners 1956, 1957, 1962, 1982, 1988, 1991, 1998, 2003, 2010 Southern Combination Cup **Winners 1995, 1996 Hinchingbrooke Cup **Winners 2000 **Runners-up 2014

Records

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

**Third Qualifying Round 2007–08 *

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 ...

**Fourth Round 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2009–10

References

External links

Stotfold official website
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