[FM10] I've Gone and Started it Again

[Terk]

That's right, after losing my attempt at dafuge's challenge with Canvey, I've started up another one. I am clearly a sucker for punishment.

***

Boston United

A History

The club was founded in 1933 as a successor to a club called Boston. Their first game was a 3-1 defeat at home to Grimsby Reserves on 26 August 1933, when a crowd of 1,544 watched Boston's no.7, Blessed, score United's first ever goal. They then had a moderate amount of success in various leagues, including the Midland League and Southern League.

On 7 January 1956 Boston played Tottenham Hotspur in the 3rd round of the FA Cup in front of their largest ever crowd, 46,185, at White Hart Lane. The Pilgrims lost 4-0, but the match was more notable for the travelling support. Over 10,000 Boston supporters attended the game. A special train line from Boston to King's Cross was set up for the day.

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. However, their Northern Premier League title wins were not enough to gain them election to the Football League, and when they won the title in 1978 they surprisingly missed out on league status in favour of runners-up Wigan Athletic, who took the Football League place previously held by Southport.

In 1985 Boston United went to Wembley for the first and only time in their history for the FA Trophy Final of the 1984/85 season, after Bob Lee scored a winning last minute goal in the 2nd leg of the semi-final against Altrincham at York Street to put the Pilgrims through. Boston lost 2-1 to Wealdstone in front of 20,775, with Chris Cook scoring United's only goal.

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, with occasional flirts with relegation and the play-offs.

In May 2007 Boston were relegated from Football League Two on the last day of the season. Steve Evans and his assistant Paul Raynor on May 27 resigned from the club, and two days later joined Crawley Town.

Because of the relegation 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 penalty 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. This would be United's first season under the new ownership of David Newton and Neil Kempster, who took control of the club over from ex-Chairman Jim Rodwell.

Despite finishing the 2007/8 campaign in 10th place under the guidance of Tommy Taylor, United were still in administration by the 2nd Saturday of May in 2008. This meant they were relegated again to the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the forthcoming 08/09 season. Despite coming out of administration just before the start of the new season anyway, Boston United failed to have this decision overturned. Another result of this was that they would also have to enter the FA Cup in the 1st qualifying round, something which they hadn't done for many years. They reached the final of the Lincs Senior Shield but were swept aside by Stamford 4-1,and finished the league campaign in 16th position.

A much more favourable campaign the following season saw The Pilgrims finish 3rd in the league where they won the play-offs, beating Bradford Park Avenue in the final to earn promotion back to the Blue Square North.

[Terk]

Career Overview

Season League Final Pos. Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010/11 Blue Square North 1st Automatic Promotion

Managerial Record

Season Games Won Lost Drawn For Against Win %
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11 50 32 9 9 89 46 64.00


Total 50 32 9 9 89 46 64.00

[Terk]

Boston United Club Records

Team Records

Highest League Position: 11th in League 2 (2003/04)
Lowest League Position: 16th in Northern Premier League (2008/09)
Highest Attendance: 11,000 vs Derby (9/1/1974)
Highest Gate Receipts: £75,000 vs Exeter (FA Cup (2nd Round), 27/11/2010)
Lowest Attendance: 979 vs Nuneaton (Blue Square North, 21/9/2010)
Average Attendance: 1,644 (2010/11)
Biggest Win: 12-0 vs Wisbech (2/4/1966)
Biggest Defeat: 14-0 vs Spalding (5/9/1964)
Highest Scoring Game: 3-2 vs Droylsden (A) (Blue Square North, 17/8/2010)
Highest Scoring League Game: 3-2 vs Droylsden (A) (Blue Square North, 17/8/2010)
Most Games Won in a Row: 8 (14/8/2010 - 25/9/2010)
Most Games Lost in a Row: 2 (4/12/2010 - 11/12/2010)
Most Games Without Losing: 51 (29/1/1972 - 24/2/1973)
Most Games Without Winning: 2 (28/9/2010 - 2/10/2010)
Most Games Without Conceding: 3 (8/3/2011 - 19/3/2011)
Most Games Without Scoring: 2 (4/12/2010 - 11/12/2010)


Player Records

Top Goalscorer: Jabuti (26, 2010/11)
Top League Goalscorer: Jimmy Raynor (42, 1967/68)
Most Goals in a Match: Jabuti (3, vs Nuneaton - 21/9/2010)
Most Assists: Mark Hartmann (23, 2010/11)
Highest Average Rating: Jabuti (7.38 (40 apps), 2010/11)
Most Man of the Match: Jabuti (9, 2010/11)
Worst Discipline: Chris Wood (10 yellow/1 red, 2009/10)
Most League Apps for Club: Paul Ellender (275)
Most League Goals for Club: Gary Jones (43)
Youngest Player: Aaron Butcher (16 years 317 days, vs Southport - 1/12/2007)
Oldest Player: Tommy Evans (34 years 121 days, vs Alfreton - 30/4/2011)
Highest Transfer Fee Paid: £40,000 (Paul Ellender from Scarborough, 1/8/2001)
Highest Transfer Fee Received: £130,000 (Julian Joachim to Darlington, 14/8/2006)
Total Transfer Spending: £5,000 (2010)
Total Transfer Income: £0 (2010)
Fans' Player of the Year: Jabuti
Fastest Goal: Elliott Chamberlain (24 seconds vs Blyth, Blue Square North - 27/10/2010)
Youngest Goalscorer: Elliott Chamberlain (18 years 110 days, vs Droyslden - Blue Square North, 17/8/2010)
Oldest Goalscorer: Lee Canoville (2 years 333 days, vs Corby - Blue Square North 2/11/2010)

[Terk]

Roll of Honour: Domestic

Premier League

2009/10: Manchester United

2010/11: Manchester United

FA Cup

2009/10: Tottenham

2010/11: Manchester City

League Cup

2009/10: Manchester City

2010/11: Manchester City

Roll of Honour: European

Champions League

2009/10: Chelsea

2010/11: Arsenal

Europa League

2009/10: Manchester United

2010/11: Liverpool

Roll of Honour: International

World Cup

2010: Argentina

European Championships

-

Copa América

2011: Brazil

African Cup of Nations

2010: Ghana

Gold Cup

2011: Mexico

Asian Cup

-

[Terk]

Boston United

Season 2010/11

Blue Square North

The board set me the target of 'learning from the experience' of being in the Blue Square Premier, and I think it's safe to say that we achieved that. From very early on it was clear that we had a good side and that our pace would worry anyone and in only week five we topped the table. We fell from that position twice, but stayed top for the entire second half of the season, nailing the trophy with a fitting 3-0 home victory over the team who ran behind us for most of the season, Southport.

League Position Graph

FA Cup

Cup runs were the lifeblood of the club when I attempted this challenge with Canvey, so I was determined to get my eye in early with Boston. We got through the qualifying rounds with relative ease, beating Cambridge City, Matlock and Braintree before meeting Southport in Round 1. A draw at their place was followed by an extra time win at York Street in the replay, and set us up with a match against League side Exeter in Round 2. A strong performance saw us finish with a creditable 1-0 defeat against a side who eventually finished 4th in League 2.

FA Trophy

Not much to say here, we dicked Chasetown in the final qualifying round but got badly beaten by Stafford in the first round of the tournament proper. I wasn't happy.

Transfers

As you would expect at this level, a lot of names came through the door. I 'cheated' a bit in signing Jabuti on the knowledge that others had him do well for them at this level and Scott Evans was a transfer arranged by the previous management. However, once I had my own scouting department up and running they started churning out the finds, and with the late season signings of Alan Power and Astrit Ajdarevic, I have started to build my team for next season in the Blue Square Premier.

Top 5 Players

5. Liam Ellis - A young lad picked up on a free, I expected him to play back up to the more experienced Scott Evans, but some impressive early performances convinced me to give him a run. He proved to be a solid defender and created a very strong left flank for us in tandem with Ryan Conroy. Did more than enough to earn himself a contract extension.

4. Jamie Yates - One of the players I inherited at the club, he initially didn't impress me much, but his performances got better as the season wore on, and when we most needed him as we pushed on for the title, he was regularly a stand out performer. Another who definitely earned his contract extension.

3. Ryan Conroy - Picked up from the talent wasteland that is Scotland, the former Celtic winger was crucial to the balance of our side. Although set up as a 4-4-2, the way the wingers pushed forward at every opportunity effectively made it play like a 4-2-4, and Ryan's willingness to hug the line as well as his stunning crosses earned him a place in my heart. On many an occasion, a Conroy cross was knocked down by Chamberlain, into the path of Jabuti who tucked the chance away. I'm pretty certain that, if we can keep hold of him, Ryan can move all the way into league football with us.

2. Elliott Chamberlain - The order of the final two was a tough call, both had stunning seasons and twenty-three assists is an incredible tally from the on loan striker. Elliott lost out on the #1 spot because he was't quite as consistent a performer, occasionally going through periods of poor performances, but I can have no real complaints over the course of the season. May well look to try and get him back from Leicester next season.

1. Jabuti - I've heard the stories and now I know why he's such a legend. Twenty-six goals and voted as BSN Player of the Season, he could always be relied upon, and his record would have been much better had he not spent seven weeks of the season sidelined through injury. I'm confident that he can step up to BSP level next season, and still justify the wages that I'm spending on him.

Next Season

Staying up is, of course, the be all and end all, but with players such as Jabuti and Conroy, I'll be a little disappointed if we only scrape survival. To be perfectly honest, I'm targeting a safe-mid table existence next season.

Career Overview

Season League Final Pos. Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010/11 Blue Square North 1st Automatic Promotion

Boston United 100 Club

Name (Position) League Games (Overall Games); League Goals (Overall Goals); Average Rating
(Dates at club)


No entrants to date.

[psychonaut]

Well done on the league win.

[rancer890]

Welcome back Terk. Been a while since you were here. Good luck with Boston United and surviving in the BSP.

[Terk]

Cheers guys Nice to be back around here again, I like this forum

[Terk]

2011/12

Preview

Info

Division: Blue Square Premier

Stadium: York Street

Capacity: 6,643 (1,826 seated)

Bank Balance: £90,350

Transfer Budget: £7,120

Wage Budget: £7,080 per week

Wage Bill: £5,443 per week

Board Expectation: Attempt to avoid relegation

Media Prediction: 23rd

Pre-Season Odds: 20-1

To be honest I'm feeling more optimistic than the board are; we've brought a few good players with us from the Blue Square North and added some signings I'm hopeful will turn out to be very good over the next few years. I'm aiming for mid-table this season and, ideally, a push at the promotion places in 2012/13.

I've had to change a few things in the backroom team as my assistant, physio and one of my scouts turned down new deals. Working hard to get that side of things up to scratch has been as much work as getting the right players in, but I'm pretty confident in the team I've put together now. All in all, I'm pretty hopeful for the near future of Boston United.

[hrbfcrule]

Good to see you back Terk, I hope you finally complete the challenge with Boston

[crouchaldinho]

Very nice start Terk.

[Saxonaitor]

Neat start Terk

You sold Chris Wood though. He was in the world cup you know..

[m1234566778]

Where have you got the club badges from Terk?