Retford United F.C.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Retford United
Full name	Retford United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Badgers
Founded	1987
Ground	Cannon Park, Retford (Capacity 2,000 (300 covered))
Chairman	Bill Wyles (Acting)
Manager	Peter Duffield
League	Northern Premier League Division One South
2007-08	Northern Premier League Division One South, 1st
Home colours 　 Away colours

Retford United Football Club (also known as the Badgers) are an English football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. The team was founded in 1987, originally playing in the Gainsborough League.

After a spell in the Nottinghamshire Alliance, the club was accepted as members of the Central Midlands League in 2001, and three years later stepped up again to the Northern Counties East League.

The success continued, finishing as runners-up in the Northern Counties East League Division One in 2005-06, gaining promotion to the Premier Division, which they won at their first attempt.

Retford reached the fifth round (last 16) of the FA Vase in the 2006-07 season, while their best run in the FA Cup has consisted of two appearances in the first qualifying round, in both the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. Their first season in the FA Trophy in 2007/08 took them to the First Round where they were defeated 2-5 by Histon.

Retford currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One South.

Contents 1 Origins and youth structure 2 Ground 3 Current squad 2007-08 Season 4 Honours 5 External links

[edit] Origins and youth structure

Retford United FC was founded in 1987 and at the time consisted of one Senior team that competed in the Gainsborough League and one Youth Under 10s team in the Retford & Worksop Leagues. In 1989, the Club’s Director of Coaching Dave Hickin introduced a 2nd Youth team as U10s and, along with the U12s, began United’s association with the Mid Lincs Youth League.

The Club place a massive importance on Youth football and ever since 1989 the Club have introduced a new Under 10s team each season. With the FA’s introduction of small-sided football in 1999, the club now consists of 27 youth teams ranging from Under 8s to Under 16s, an Under 18s, 19s and three senior teams (first team, reserve team and ladies team) all of which wear the club’s black and white stripes. This includes 2 girls teams.

[edit] Ground

Retford United's original ground was the council-owned 'Oaklands Playing Field'. Efforts began in 1997 for Retford to own their own ground, which they now do. Called Cannon Park, it has a capacity of 2000, 300 of which is covered. Named after the town's Cannon Monument [1], the ground has a current record attendance of 1,527, set in 2006 for a pre-season friendly against Doncaster Rovers.

[edit] Current squad 2007-08 Season

No. Position Player GK Chris Kingston GK Ross Turner DF Ryan Ford (Def/Mid) DF Stuart Ludlam DF Dan White DF Ben Chambers DF Michael Simpkins DF Ian Farmery MF Ryan Hindley MF Paul Grimes MF Ollie Chappell MF Steve Owens MF Luke Staton FW Peter Duffield (Fwd/Mid) FW Mick Godber FW Neil Harvey MF Matthew Fisher

[edit] Honours

• Unibond Division South
  • 2007-2008 Champions (Could not be promoted to Unibond Premier Division after failing a ground inspection).
  • 2007-2008 Chairmans Cup Winners
• Northern Counties East League
  • Premier Division Champions 2006-07
  • Division One Runners-up 2005-06
  • Wilkinson Sword Trophy Winners 2005-06
  • Presidents Cup Winners 2007
• Central Midlands Football League
  • Supreme Division Champions 2003-04
  • League Cup Winners 2004
  • Trophy Winners 2006
  • Floodlit Cup Runners-up 2004

[edit] External links

• Retford United website

Northern Premier League Division One South 2008–09 v • d • e
Belper Town | Brigg Town | Carlton Town | Glapwell | Goole | Grantham Town | Gresley Rovers | Kidsgrove Athletic | Leek Town | Lincoln United | Loughborough Dynamo | Quorn | Retford United | Rushall Olympic | Sheffield | Shepshed Dynamo | Spalding United | Stamford | Stocksbridge Park Steels | Willenhall Town