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Nuneaton Borough v Barnet

Nationwide Conference
Saturday 7th December 3.00pm

Nuneaton lost 0-3 away to bottom placed Kettering last Saturday which followed two 1-1 draws. Lying in 13th place their season hasn't really got going, a bit like the Bees, but they seem to like games with an aggregate of five, with five games finishing that way.

Mark Quayle is their top scorer, with twelve of their twenty-six goals, unfortunately for him the defence have let in thirty-six.

The only team of any note that they have beaten was Chester City, in the match before we played them at Underhill. It didn't put our lads off though, as we beat them 2-1, with goals from Purser and Agogo.

As for Barnet, what can I say. A 0-4 drubbing down at Hereford wasn't what the form book suggested, but our lads are nothing but predictable. (Shouldn't that be unpredictable? Ed)

This is yet another 'must win' game, hopefully the Lads will come right for us this time.

Phil's Prediction
Nuneaton 2 Barnet 3

Current Form

Nuneaton's Last Six

All games
L W W D D L

Home
W W L L W D

Away
L W L W D L

Results Grid

Below are the result grids for Barnet and Nuneaton Borough so far this season. These show how many times various scores have been attained by each club.

Key

Barnet (away)

Nuneaton (home)

League Snippet

Below is Barnet and Nuneaton's league details based on their Home and Away performances.

Coach

The coach leaves from the usual place at 12:00. See coach page for more details.

Programmes Sales

We have Barnet v Nuneaton programmes for sale going back to 1966-67. See the programme pages for more info.

History

Pre 1937

The origins of Nuneaton Borough Football Club date back to 1889 when members of Nuneaton Parish Church formed Nuneaton St. Nicholas later to become Nuneaton Town. During the early years championship successes were achieved 1904-5, 1905-6, 1914-15, 1928-29 and 1930-31, the latter including the winning of the Birmingham Senior Cup. During the 1920s the club spent two financially disastrous years in the Southern League.

1937-1974

Borough was formed in 1937 from the ashes of the Town club which had been wound up following an E. G. M. Within days, the new Club was formed and with the help of some of the Town players entered the Central Amateur League before turning semi-professional in 1938 when they joined the Birmingham Combination.
The Second World War merely delayed the progress of the Club and they were runners-up in the Combination in 1945-46, 1948-49 and 1950-51. In 1952 the club moved to the Birmingham League with the championship trophy coming to Manor Park in 1954-55 and 1955-56. Borough were not without major Cup successes during this period either, as they reached the F. A. Cup Third Round in 1949.50 and lifted the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1949, 1956 and 1960.
Clearly ready for higher grade football, Borough joined the Southern League in 1958 and became founder members of the Premier Division in 1959. Although relegated in 1960, Nuneaton returned to the Premier in 1963 to start a period in which they began to stake their claim as being one of the country's leading non-league clubs.
Runners-up to Romford in 1966-67, they again reached the Third Round of the F. A. Cup and this time a record crowd of 22,114 crammed into Manor Park to watch the tie against Rotherham United.

1974-1991

Premier Division runners-up again in 1974-75, this time to Wimbledon, Nuneaton won the Birmingham Senior Cup again in 1978 and 1980 by which time the club had gained a place in the Alliance Premier League on its formation in 1979. Relegation followed in 1981, but Borough returned as champions of the Southern League's Midland Division twelve months later. Managed by Graham Carr, Borough were runners-up in the Alliance in 1983.84 and 1984.85 before problems with the Ground led to relegation back to the Southern League in 1987. A year later Nuneaton found themselves back in the Midland Division after a sorry season in the Premier and then in 1990 they were in court facing a Winding-up order.

1991-2000

Reformed in 1991, the corner seemed to have been turned when in 1992-93 they won the Midland Division title plus the Birmingham Senior Cup. However, the following season saw their hopes dashed when, despite a memorable F. A. Cup victory over Swansea City, Borough finished bottom of the Premier Division and were doomed to another spell in the Midland Division, with 1994-95 seeing the club's lowest position in the Non-League Pyramid for many years.
After a change in the management team at Nuneaton Borough in the 1995-1996 season, Brendan Phillips and his then assistant manager Colin Welsh took upon the task of building the team from where Elwyn Roberts had left them and taking Nuneaton Borough back to the top flight of non-league soccer, the Football Conference.
During his first season in charge he reaped immediate rewards by winning both the Southern league midland division championship and the Southern league cup.
The first season back in the Southern league premier division saw a period of consolidation and the seeds of a strong squad being sown. It was vital to build the basis of a championship winning squad and not get too carried away with the new status and risk the hard work that they had put in to the club by being too hasty.
The second season brought fresh new hope with Brendan bringing a whole bunch of quality signings into the team. The start of the season saw a revitalised Nuneaton team and they were scoring an average of around 3 goals per game. The team was progressing well in the FA cup, starting from the 1st Qualifying round they were eventually to lose out in the final qualifying to Emley (who were to progress to the second round of the FA cup but were narrowly beaten by West Ham). It may be argued that from that point that things did not go according to plan and a drop in form saw the team finish in a disappointing (although credible) mid-table position. The end of the 1997-1998 season saw the end of the partnership between Brendan Phillips and Colin Welsh. The vacancy was then filled by long term friend Steve Burr.
The following season saw Boro make one of their best ever starts to the season winning the first 6 games. 'Boro rose to the top of the league at the end of August 1998 and they successfully made the first place their own fending off challenges from Gresley Rovers, Crawley Town, Bath City , Gloucester City and more. However towards the end of the season there was little pressure from the rest of the league and Boro finished 23 points ahead of second place Boston United.
The title was won April 3rd 1999 away to old rivals Atherstone United. Goals from Anton Thomas and Andy Kiwomya sealed the championship and secured Conference football for Nuneaton Borough. The Southern League Championship shield was presented at the final home game on April 24th against Rothwell Town. It is the first time that the club have one the Shield, the closest that Boro had previously came was runners up during the 1966-67 and 1975-75 seasons.
Since winning promotion to the Conference, Nuneaton Borough have numerous changes to both playing and non playing staff.
Boro briefly found themselves occupying first place in the Nationwide Conference during December 1999, however the new year saw a change of fortune for Boro manager Brendan Phillips. Boro could only manage two victories between New Year and the end of the 1999-2000 season.
2000 and onwards
A poor start to the 2000-2001 season was enough to send the end of Brendan Phillips, who was to be replaced by his assistant Steve Burr.
Burr was quickly thrust into the limelight when he lead Boro to a famous FA Cup victory over Stoke City. Few people fancied Boro to cause an upset when they faced a side that were arguably the strongest team from outside of the top two divisions.
After a goalless draw at the Britannia Stadium the two sides met some three days later. This time Boro were given extra cause to put on a good performance as the match was broadcast live on Sky TV.
Boros record signing Marc McGregors grabbed a last minute winner sparked scenes of celebration at Manor Park that had not been seen for many a year.
The second round of the Cup was overshadowed by the tragic loss of life of three Boro supporters who were involved in an accident whilst travelling home from Boros match at Bournemouth.
Since then the club have decided to look to the future, with changes to the rules regarding minimum ground requirements being implemented in the 2003-2004 season Boro are looking to move from Manor Park to a new ground and the club are already in the process of seeking planning permission for a possible move.
The supporters of Nuneaton Borough have also decided to help the future of the club by setting up a Supporters Trust. The trust was brought into life to enable greater co-operation between the club and it fans.
Steve Burr has also brought in a new Assistant Manager. Dennis Booth, a vastly experience individual who has worked with some of the finest football players in the country. Until recently, Dennis was the assistant manager at Nottingham Forest where he was working underneath David Platt.

Last season borough finished 10th in the Conference.

History with thanks to the official Nuneaton Borough Website.

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