OFFICIALS & SQUAD   2024-2025

Football has been played in the Arnold area for over a hundred years and the Eagles can trace their proud history back to its beginnings. The current club, formed in 1989, was born out of the merger between the old established Arnold FC (who began life as Arnold St Mary’s in 1928) and near neighbours Arnold Kingswell.
Initially the newly formed club competed in the Central Midlands League (Supreme Division) and then moved into the NCEL Division One and then swiftly to the NCEL Premier after two successive Championship seasons in 92/93 and 93/94. On a roll, the Eagles almost made it three in a row but ended 94/95 as runners up in the NCEL Premier. Season 2010-2011 saw Arnold compete for the 17th successive season in the NCEL Premier Division.
The Eagles have managed to lift the prestigious Notts Senior Cup trophy no less than five times since 1989 and have been runners up once. The most recent success came in 2005 when spectacular long range effort from Scott Huckerby was enough to give the Eagles a 1-0 victory over Eastwood Town in front of a crowd of more than 650 at Notts. County’s Meadow Lane ground.
A number of fine runs in the FA Cup and FA Vase have also been achieved over the years. In 2002 the Eagles had their best run in the FA Cup since reforming when they reached the 4th Qualifying Round before narrowly going out to Scarborough in front of 900 at Gedling Road. During the 05/06 season the Club equalled their best FA Vase performance by reaching the 5th Round where they lost out by a single goal to Crook Town , again at Gedling Road, in front of 560 spectators. They had earlier reached the same stage in 01/02 going out 1-3 at Wroxham.
The 2007-08 season saw the curtain finally come down at the Club’s Gedling Road ground which had been their home for over fifty years. They spent part of 2008-09 playing home games at various local Clubs whilst waiting for their move to their new home. The Eagles finally moved into their new £2 million home in January 2009. The first game saw the Eagles win 3-2 against Thackley with Craig Mitchell scoring the first ever goal at EV.
2008/09 saw the Eagle Valley Facility officially opened with friendlies against Notts Countywith a Club record attendance of over 1300, Nigel Clough’s Derby County with over 700 in attendance and an official opening day with Sven Goran Eriksson doing the honours cutting the ribbon outside the Clubhouse.
A real strength for the Club has been the strong fan base and the support provided by the Supporters Club which has existed for over 25 years.
The Club has consistently maintained links with the professional game. Chris Freestone (Middlesbrough - 1994) Tristram Whitman (Doncaster Rovers - 2000) and most recently (2006) Ben Hutchinson (Middlesbrough) all moved from the Arnold team into the professional ranks. Chris Freestone returned to us in 2005/06 and is now the Clubs top goal scorer with over 100 goals. Freestone, together with Martin Carruthers (Aston Villa, Stoke City), took over the management reigns midway through season 2009-2010.
Former Eagles managers include Ray O’Brien (Notts. County & Rep. of Ireland), Iain McCullough (Notts. County), Bill Brindley (Notts. County and Forest) and Phil Starbuck (Forest).
The Club has had its fair share of professional players wearing the Arnold shirt including the likes of Nigel Jemson, Jason Lee, Brett Williams and Bryn Gunn (Forest) and Adrian Thorpe (Notts County).
2012/13 Will go down in history for the wrong reasons with Gary Hayward at the helm but with the club languishing near the bottom Graham Walker and Frank Corrigan took the reins and despite a 13 point penalty, Arnold still made up the points to finish 3rd from bottom but unfortunately we still faced relegation hence our drop into the EMCL. 
Secretary Graham Peck took over as Chairman due to the sad passing of MR Arnold himself, Roy Francis and as if this couldn’t get any worse they did with an automatic relegation. 
2013/2014. After a great first half of the season Arnold were sitting in the top two, but after Xmas inclement weather saw a 9 week break from the game and a significant dip in form and 6th was the final placing.
2014/2015. A rather up and down season which saw the departure of Graham Peck as Chairman and at the end of the season both Managers left the Club. A solid mid table finish.
2015/2016. Ray Chilton appointed manager. Ray has connections with the Club mainly with the Youth teams winning several League and Cups along the way. Ray was one of the committee who brought the Club to Eagle Valley after many years at our former home at Gedling Road (King George v). 
A disappointing season saw us finish second from bottom and Ray decided to step down as manager.
2016/2017. Dave Marlow joined us from Linby CW as our new manager. Dave brought us stability during a much better season finishing 15th, sadly with things seemingly on the up Dave decided to move on to Eastwood CFC at the end of the season.
We also lost Peter Chapman our Chairman and Treasurer who had helped steady the ship after losing Roy Francis a few years previous.
2017/2018. Another new start saw Tom Richardson take the reins for the season. Tom and his assistant Chris Galley joined us from Real Utd. A disappointing season saw the Eagles finish second from bottom of the EMCL. As the FA revamped the League system we escaped relegation to step 7 probably thanks to the resignation of Blaby & Whetstone.
2018/2019. Wayne Looker, last season’s coach, takes over as Manager for the coming seasonassisted by Kelvin Mushambi & Ray Chilton. Another disappointing season saw the First team relegated for the first time in their History from a purely footballing reason. The side finished bottom of the EMCL winning only three games all season.
2019/2020. ‘Under New Management’ as we start our new life at step 7. We find ourselves playing in the Abacus Lighting Central Midlands League (Black Dragon South Division). We welcome the return of Dave Marlow after his stint at Eastwood came to an end last season.Dave and his team took them up to the East Midlands Counties League from the Central Midlands League the previous season. We wish Dave, Jonathan and his team the best of luckfor the coming season.
2020/2021. After last season was cut short due to Covid-19 we start a new season again with new Management. Phil Warwick takes over the First team after guiding last season’s u18’s in what was a very good season until the enforced curtailment. Richard Ashwell, Wayne Robinson and James Cottee join Phil as part of the Management/Coaching team.
2021/2022. Phil Warwick steps down after five games and a new management team is announced. Roy Hogarth assisted by Sergiy Korposh take over, their first game v Holbrook St Michaels at EV.
2022/2023. Eagles maintain their CML South position and with the addition of Ash White, who joined the Club last season in a coaching position, look forward to an improved season going forward. Mid season Roy Hogarth stepped down and Ash White steps up as Manager.
2023/2024. We move forward as we were after a much improved 22/23 season.
2024/2025. Ash again in charge after another better season.
 
CLUB HONOURS
As Arnold Town FC – Since Reformation in 1989
CML Supreme Division Champions 1992/93
Wakefield Cup Winners 1989/90
CML League Cup Runners Up 1990/91
NCEL Premier Division Runners Up 1994/95
NCEL Presidents Cup Winners 1994/95
NCEL Presidents Cup Runners Up 2009/2010
NCEL Division One Champions 1993/94
Notts Senior Cup Winners 92/93, 95/96, 96/97, 98/99, 04/05
Notts Senior Cup Runners Up  2006/07
Best Season in FA Cup – 4th Qual Round 2002/03
Best Season in FA Vase – 5th Round 01/02, 05/06
 
First Team Manager: Ash White
Assistant Manager/Coach: Adam Clift
Assistant Coach: Jordan Percival
Kit Manager: Sharon Holland
 
Chairman, Treasurer: Steve Holland
Vice Chairman: vacant
Secretary: Steve Holland
Programme Editor, Photographer: Mick Gretton
arnoldtownfc@hotmail.co.uk

Bakewell Town FC resides in a small market Town & civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district, the Town well known for the local confection the Bakewell Pudding.
 
Bakewell FC were represented at the inaugural meeting held at the Midland Hotel in Derby in September 1883 where an Association of Derbyshire Football Clubs was formed & called the Derbyshire Football Association.
 
It is believed that organised Football has been played in Bakewell ever since with the eldest photo held on ‘internet’ record taken in the Town (on Water Street) & believed to date back to between 1891 - 1897.
 
Following its formation and the introduction of more localised leagues Bakewell FC had a long history playing in the Hope Valley Amateur League, where a Derbyshire Divisional Cup and Lawrence Cup win were the highlights in the 1960s and 70s.
 
Having played in all three of the Hope Valley Divisions in the 80s and 90s an increase in interest for football in the Town post England’s near miss in the 1990 World Cup resulted in an eventual saturation of playing resource as three teams Bakewell FC & Bakewell Wheatsheaf FC 1st & Reserves met at the Manners Public House Hotel to broker a merger at the end of the 1999/2000 season, this saw two teams, a First Team and Reserve side playing under the banner of Bakewell Town FC formed with one Team residing in the top Hope Valley Premier Division and the other in the third tier B Division, this is the current mens team structure that the club runs with Bakewell boasting a total of 23 teams at all age groups.
 
After several years moving between Premier and A Division of the HVL structure the Adult 1st Team saw an upturn in fortunes as firstly they secured the A Division cup and backed up that success a year later with the A Division League Title in the 2009/10 season amassing 97 goals in 24 games and a belief the club had a core nucleus to finally establish itself in the HVL Premier Division again.
 
The following two seasons saw the club narrowly escape relegation with the latter 2011/12 season seeing the combined efforts of the majority of the current Board & 1st Team Management structure put in place & after several years of steady progress & semi final near misses the club secured its first ever Hope Valley Premier League Title with the addition of the League Cup in the same successful 2016/17 campaign.
After one more season of HVL football Bakewell Town FC then took a plunge into the unknown and joined the Central Midlands Division One South & after a less than auspicious start they quickly acclimatised & headed the league table until the turn of the year when a slight dip in form saw them finish a respectable 3rd place but after a memorable Quarter Final night at Alfreton the club began to believe that a sustained Cup run was on the cards which culminated in a 2-1 victory against Doncaster based Crowle FC, in the Division One Cup Final hosted at Retford FC. Long term club Captain Ben Rach lifting his and the clubs 3rd trophy in 3 seasons.
 
Due to the early curtailment of the 2019/20 season the clubs second season in the Central Midlands concluded with the club stalled in 5th position and an unfulfilled Cup run that was paused and then ceased at the semi final stage.
 
After the COVID Lockdown and announcement of the impending restart to the 2020/21 season the club saw a further tweak to its structure, the Reserves side being renamed as ‘Development’, a youthful outfit that also exited the HVL to operate in the Midlands Regional Alliance 3rd Tier.
 
Prior to the 2nd Covid Lockdown of the 2020/21 campaign Bakewell Town were unbeaten in their opening 5 fixtures, recording four wins and one draw. When the league recommenced the club recorded an unbeaten season albeit narrowly missing out on the league title by a solitary point.
 
In 2021/22 the club realised its ambition and won the Central Midlands Division One (Central) title, and despite some stiff challengers Town ran out as winners by five points, recording a healthy plus 71 goal difference as striker Alex Moth recorded 27 goals.
 
With the Division One cup not played to a conclusion due to the pandemic the club were still classed as holders and again reached the final, where a disciplined performance was capped off by a Louie Davies wonder strike in the last minute that saw Derby Singh Brothers edged out in a 2-1 triumph.
 
In 2022/23 Bakewell showed a competitive edge in its first ever foray into Central Midlands Premier League level last season, completing a mid table finish in the North section. The Development Team recording a league win of their own at Midlands Regional Alliance Division One Level.
 
Both 1st and Development Team now compete in the same league structure following the merger that has seen the creation of the Central Midlands Alliance, with the 1sts moving across to the South Division and finished a credible 8th place in the 20223/24 season.  We are now looking for another productive campaign as the club continue to acclimatise to the standard.

LINBY COLLIERY WELFARE HISTORY 

A team known as Linby Church Institute plied their trade in the Notts Alliance as early as 1903 , reaching the semi finals of the Notts Senior Cup in 1905 before losing to Nottingham Forest Reserves, who went on to win the cup. They disbanded in the early 1930s.

Re-formed in 1946, under the shrewd guidance of ex Arsenal player Ernest "tim” Coleman. Linby became the biggest non league club in Notts in the space of 10 heady years. Honours included Notts Alliance Championships, Central Alliance Titles, 3 Notts Senior Cup wins, and 3 Senior Cup Runners-up. The Senior Cup wins came in 1950, 1952 and 1954.

November 1950 saw Linby entertain Gillingham FC in the FA Cup 1st Round (proper) in front of a record crowd of 6,850 at the old Gatehouse Ground, the last Hucknall-based team to reach that round.

An astonishing 20,500 supporters saw Linby beat Retford in the 1950 Notts Senior Cup Final, a record for the competition. When Coleman was tempted away to save Notts County from re-election in 1956 Linby's fortunes dipped.

The Club adopted an unfamiliar all-green kit in the 1960s, much to the dismay of their legions of supporters. With the green kit came relegation from the Central Alliance Division 1, and Linby for the first time since 1946 were no longer the top Hucknall & District team.

In the 1970's Rick Bentley and Phil Cresswell managed Linby in the old Central Alliance and the East Midland League, with players the calibre of Ricks son Steve Bentely and Ray Sears (a 4-time Notts Senior Cup winner with Sutton Town) playing for us. Unfortunately, the standard prompted a move from the now decaying Gatehouse, Linby went to play at Annesley Welfare.

Sadly the old ground has now gone, Linby moved to their present ground in 1985, and under the guidance of Dave Ingram began to edge their way back to former glories. Notts FA Intermediate Cup winners in 1995, they won promotion to the Notts Alliance Senior division in 1997.

In 2005 the club achieved FA Charter Standard status, and under former Player and Reserve Team Manager Dave Bradshaw they came runners up in the NSL Senior Division in 2004-5. Kevin Corbett took over in 2007, and led the club to the Final of the NSL Senior Cup, losing to double winners Caribbean Cavs.

After Corbetts departure the club turned to Kez Dean and Matt Keetley, who guided Linby to the Final of the NFA Intermediate Cup, in 2008. Only to lose to Carlton Town Res 2-0. Then after a steady decline in fortunes over the next 3 years, the club appointed former Player Dave Marlow and former Manager Dave Bradshaw as “Joint” First team Managers.

2011-12 has proved to be one the clubs best ever seasons, finishing 4th in the NSL Senior Division and unluckily losing on penalties to Bulwell in the Final of the NSL Senior Cup. Suddenly “The Lane” was buzzing again, with gates back up to more than 150 and in 2012 the decision to step up to the CMFL and to start a Junior Section was made.

2012-13 saw the First Team establish themselves in the CMFL South Divison, and reach the last 8 of the Notts Senior Cup for the first time in 16 years. Dave Bradshaw stepped down as Joint Manager in 2012, Dave Marlow appointed Jonathan Dakers as his Assistant and Tony Cox joined as First Team Coach. 

In 2013-14 Linby had teams at Under 11, Under 14 and Under 18, as well as our Reserves who played in the NSL Division One. The season proved to be a difficult one for the First Team, with Marlow having to introduce several of the Clubs Under 18 players into the squad.
But with youth in the side, the future looked bright.

2013-14 saw the Club win its first Trophy since 1997, when the Reserves won the Notts Senior Leagues Junior Cup 4-1 against Radcliffe Olympic Reserves.

Gresley FC was formed in 2009 and enjoyed a very successful first season in the East Midlands Counties League. The side, managed by Gary Norton, finished as runners up and therefore narrowly missed out on promotion. 

Gresley also enjoyed a long run in the FA Vase by beating Spennymoor, Dawlish and Long Buckby. The Dawlish tie in particular will live long in the memory as the original tie was abandoned in extra time and the Moatmen won the replay in South Derbyshire on penalties. The Vase run came to an end in front of the home fans in disappointing fashion at home to Whitehawk in the quarter-finals. 

New Directors joined the club looking to turn the dream of moving to a new stadium into a reality. 

Manager Gary Norton and his assistant Martin Rowe invited Martyn Rowntree to step up from the reserves to become first team coach.

2010-2011 Gresley’s second season as a club and also their second in the East Midlands Counties League saw another good FA Vase run getting to the last 32 and then going one step further from the previous season by winning the league after an exciting run-in. Being a few points behind the leading contenders Gresley could not afford to slip up again after an unexpected home defeat in early January if their dreams were to be realised. 

An amazing 20 game unbeaten run with the final 8 all victories saw Gresley crowned as champions and promoted into the Midland Football Alliance 

Season 2011-2012 saw another good run in the FA Vase reaching the last 16 and to top off a superb season Gresley achieved a remarkable back-to-back title success as they lifted the Midland Football Alliance title at their first attempt and promotion to the Evo-Stik NPL Division One South.

The first season back at level four was successful as Gresley settled into the Division One South. Gresley finished just outside the top ten in the league and reached the 3rd Qualifying round of the FA Cup. At the end of the season joint manager Gary Norton stepped down with Martin Rowe named as manager. 

After losing their first two league fixtures of 2013-2014 and then an indifferent spell up to Christmas Gresley managed to stabilise their performances and ended the season in a creditable 9th place.

However, in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy Gresley had good runs going out of the cup after forcing Conference South outfit Brackley Town to a replay after a good draw at St James Park in the 2nd Qualifying Round and in the Trophy they took Conference Premier side Wrexham almost all the way in the First Round Proper losing by the odd goal in three at the Racecourse Ground.

In September 2014 Martin Rowe resigned and his assistant Wayne Thornhill was appointed as first team manager at the end of October.

Wayne, along with his assistants Jamie Barrett and Russell Peel, turned the season around and they finished in a creditable fifth place making the play-offs where they met Leek Town at Harrison Park who narrowly beat the Moatmen by a single goal. An appearance in the Derbyshire Senior Cup Final at the home of Chesterfield FC ended with Gresley as runners-up losing to Evo-Stik Premier side Matlock Town.

At the beginning of September Wayne stepped down and Dave Langston appointed as caretaker manager. In October Scott Goodwin was appointed as manager with Jamie Barrett and Gary Rickets as his assistants.

After a disappointing run of defeats Scott was released and Gary Ricketts appointed as player/manager assisted by Jamie Barrett and Dave Langston.

The 2015-2016 ended with Gresley in a disappointing 16th position. Ricketts stood down as manager and former Leicester Nirvana manager Damion Beckford-Quailey appointed in the close season. 

Damion’s first season started well but the loss of three key players around Christmas time saw his side struggle for the rest of the campaign finishing in 18th position.

His second season, 2017-2018 was not much better but it ended in a disappointing manner when the manager, management team and most of the players left the club with just four games remaining and the danger of being relegated.

Former Moat boss Gary Norton stepped in to steer the club to the end of a trying season and using a mixture of reserve and youth team players managed to keep the club in step 4 finishing 17th.

Norton agreed to take on the role of manager for season 2018-2019 and along with assistant Carl Slater and player/coach Jamie Barrett have started to rebuild a side that hopefully be more competitive than the last two seasons. 

Early in January 2019 Norton stood down and Gavin Hurren was appointed as manager.

Unfortunately, at the end of the season, Gresley were relegated from the Evo-Stik East to the Midland League.

Hurren left early in the new season to be replaced by David McDermott.

Gresley’s results failed to improve and in February McDermott was relieved of his position former manager Gary again stepped in to steer the ship until the end of the season.

TEVERSAL HISTORY, THE TEVIE STORY SO FAR …
After a long history of football at Carnarvon Street supporting the local mining community dating back to 1918, under various names including Teversal Miners Welfare or Teversal & Silverhill a long-playing history of football to a high level that includes playing in the FA Cup. The football side of the complex became run down and it was only down to the hard work of Sam Slack in the 1970’s and early 1980’s that football continued, under the banner of youth football.
Senior football returned in 1986 under the name of M.W. Teversal. The closure of Teversal and then Silverhill Colliery was followed by the Miners Welfare closing in 1989 with some claiming that was the final nail in the coffin which led to a steady decline of the site. The period of uncertainty saw action taken with Ashfield District Council taking over the Trusteeship of the complex in 1989, with the name changing to the Teversal Grange Sports and Social Centre, hence the club’s name changed to Teversal Grange F.C. The name was changed again at the start of the 2000-2001 season to the current name due to it causing confusion with the successful restaurant on the site at that time..
From the uncertain times, which saw the club running just one Senior team, the club's strength has grown to have two Senior teams, Youth teams a various age groups from Under 7’s to 18’s.  A return to national competitions is a mark of how the club as developed, F.A. Vase 2003-04 season, F.A. Youth Cup 2004-05 season and the big one the F.A. Cup 2005-06 which was gained after winning promotion to the Northern Counties East League from the Central Midlands League.
A short period in the East Midlands Counties League in 2017/18 saw a third-place finish and missing out on winning it by only two points. That was an achievement that reached the standard that allowed us to return to the FA Cup competition for 2018-19 season. A change of management and bottom half finish in the League table and the impact of Covid-19 we have not been eligible to play in the FA Cup again since. For the 2021/22 a restructuring by the FA, we found ourselves back in the Northern Counties East League, which unfortunately saw us relegated at the end of the campaign back into the Central Midlands Football League.
2012-13 season saw the club make history again with the introduction of our first ever Ladies side, which bettered all expectations, runners in the Nottinghamshire Girls & Ladies League, League Cup Final runners up and County Cup Semi-finalist, saw promotion to the East Midlands Ladies League. After a couple of difficult seasons, the Ladies returned to the Nottinghamshire Girls & Ladies League for the 2018/19 campaign. The Ladies won the Division 2 Championship in 2021/22 season that sees them promoted to Division 1, but a steady decline and commitment saw the team fold at the end of the 2023/24 season. We maintain Girls football with an Under 15s team that is in the top diversion of the Nottinghamshire Girls & Ladies League for their age group. The Girls and Ladies side of the club is here to stay and is key feature of the Club Futures Project that is currently being undertaken.
Honours wise in the short term history, the club has gained promotion through the National System without winning a league, and the success was a being finalist in the 2007-2008 Northern Counties East League Wilkinson Sword Trophy, which goes with our runners up berth to Hucknall Town of the Unibond Premier League in the Notts Senior Cup Final at Meadow Lane, losing 2-0 in April 2003, marking the 2002-03 season as one of the best seasons in the club’s history.
But the story continues, and the aims of the club remain the same, and it’s hoped to reward these efforts with some senior silverware for both the men and ladies, along with the continued success within the club’s Youth Section. Recent successes of the progress of players into the professional game are Ryan Williams (Mansfield Town, Tranmere Rovers Chesterfield, Hull City, Bristol Rovers, and Aldershot Town), Jake Buxton (Mansfield Town, Burton Albion, and Derby County), Dave Kettle (Notts County), Danny Fletcher (Mansfield Town), Jason Law (Mansfield Town), Jess Reavill (Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion) Will Flint (Doncaster Rovers) and the most recent being Jakub Kruszynski signing professional in the summer of 2023 for Mansfield Town.