Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Episode 21
Tue 27th December 2016 | General | By Stewart Taylor
Episode 20 took us to Barnton in the southern part of our region.
The picture was only helpful if you knew that Barnton FC and Barnton Memorial Hall share a driveway and it is down this driveway, and past the sign, that you need to go to access the ground.
The cryptic crossword clue, a nobleman might include 27 books to get to this place, works like this. The lowest rank of the peerage in the UK is baron and there are 27 books in the New Testament. The New Testament is almost always abbreviated to nt in cryptic crosswords so if include nt in Baron we get Barnton.
So on we go to the next episode and, not for the first time in this series, we concentrate more on the football club than its location.
This club was established in the 1950s and, as with many of our clubs, did not immediately find a settled home or identity. The original club concentrated on Sunday football and was, in effect, a “friends” club offering the opportunity for a number of like minded individuals to put behind them the trials and tribulations of a rather bucolic Saturday.
In the late 1960s the club moved location and changed its name to reflect this new home. Under this new name, which was to last through to the current day, the club began to become more ambitious moving to the local Saturday League in the early 1970’s.
The 1970s and 1980s were successful decades for the club which culminated in joining the NWCFL in 1987, having settled into what remains their current home. Most of the years since then have seen them grace what is now the Premier Division but with a short spell in the second tier.
So far so good and development continued, but in a way whilst not altogether unique is certainly creditworthy. As with all clubs at our level, the presence of committed individuals prepared to invest their time, and often money, is a crucial factor. This club numbers amongst the current ranks of volunteers several who can trace their involvement with the club back to those days in the 1970s and 1980s.
Included in the ranks of committed individuals are a number of former players who have played in excess of 400 matches for the club. In addition, in these times where club Chairmen tend to feel that a change of manager is the route to success with the average tenure of a Manager in the Premier League now being less than 2 years, this club has had only nine managers in sixty years and most of those have been former players.
Numerous trophies have been won over the years and the club holds the unique record of having won all of the cup competitions run by the County FA.
Nationally, the club achieved its best performance in the FA Vase in season 1994-95 winning four rounds before bowing out of the competition at the hands of Leicestershire side St. Andrews.
The major focus of the club is on youth development. A number of strands feed into the Reserves side where the objective is to develop players to play the game in the right way and to prepare them for First Team football. This development tends to find “year groups” moving on together, having formed strong bonds and understandings in their development years. From this comes the situation where young sides can show their skills to a wider audience.
It then comes as no great surprise to see that many of the players move on to other clubs at a higher level of the football pyramid but this is supported by the club, whose structure ensures a ready supply of replacements from within the ranks.
Quick link - What links a manufacturer of cricket bats based in Leeds, West Yorkshire with this club?
Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Episode 21
Tue 27th December 2016 | General
By Stewart Taylor
Episode 20 took us to Barnton in the southern part of our region.
The picture was only helpful if you knew that Barnton FC and Barnton Memorial Hall share a driveway and it is down this driveway, and past the sign, that you need to go to access the ground.
The cryptic crossword clue, a nobleman might include 27 books to get to this place, works like this. The lowest rank of the peerage in the UK is baron and there are 27 books in the New Testament. The New Testament is almost always abbreviated to nt in cryptic crosswords so if include nt in Baron we get Barnton.
So on we go to the next episode and, not for the first time in this series, we concentrate more on the football club than its location.
This club was established in the 1950s and, as with many of our clubs, did not immediately find a settled home or identity. The original club concentrated on Sunday football and was, in effect, a “friends” club offering the opportunity for a number of like minded individuals to put behind them the trials and tribulations of a rather bucolic Saturday.
In the late 1960s the club moved location and changed its name to reflect this new home. Under this new name, which was to last through to the current day, the club began to become more ambitious moving to the local Saturday League in the early 1970’s.
The 1970s and 1980s were successful decades for the club which culminated in joining the NWCFL in 1987, having settled into what remains their current home. Most of the years since then have seen them grace what is now the Premier Division but with a short spell in the second tier.
So far so good and development continued, but in a way whilst not altogether unique is certainly creditworthy. As with all clubs at our level, the presence of committed individuals prepared to invest their time, and often money, is a crucial factor. This club numbers amongst the current ranks of volunteers several who can trace their involvement with the club back to those days in the 1970s and 1980s.
Included in the ranks of committed individuals are a number of former players who have played in excess of 400 matches for the club. In addition, in these times where club Chairmen tend to feel that a change of manager is the route to success with the average tenure of a Manager in the Premier League now being less than 2 years, this club has had only nine managers in sixty years and most of those have been former players.
Numerous trophies have been won over the years and the club holds the unique record of having won all of the cup competitions run by the County FA.
Nationally, the club achieved its best performance in the FA Vase in season 1994-95 winning four rounds before bowing out of the competition at the hands of Leicestershire side St. Andrews.
The major focus of the club is on youth development. A number of strands feed into the Reserves side where the objective is to develop players to play the game in the right way and to prepare them for First Team football. This development tends to find “year groups” moving on together, having formed strong bonds and understandings in their development years. From this comes the situation where young sides can show their skills to a wider audience.
It then comes as no great surprise to see that many of the players move on to other clubs at a higher level of the football pyramid but this is supported by the club, whose structure ensures a ready supply of replacements from within the ranks.
Quick link - What links a manufacturer of cricket bats based in Leeds, West Yorkshire with this club?
