Daventry Town F.C.


Daventry Town F.C. is a football club based in the town of Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, formed in 1886. They are members of the.

History

The club was established in 1886 as a local-town club playing in the Northampton Town League. The club moved to the Northants Combination in 1987, and their emergence began under manager Willie Barrett, who led the club to successive championships in the Combination First and Premier divisions. In 1989–90, the club joined the United Counties League Division One. Since joining the United Counties League, they have won promotion to the Premier Division on three occasions, but have also been relegated twice.
The club started at The Hollow Ground in the town, but having won promotion at the first attempt were denied because their new Elderstubbs ground was not ready in time. Their manager left, and the fortunes of the club declined with relegation alternating with promotion.
The club was threatened with extinction in 2005–06, when the Elderstubbs clubhouse and changing rooms were destroyed by fire. However, a sponsorship deal with mobile phone company Go Mobile enabled the club to survive.
2007–08 was a very successful season for Daventry Town. They won UCL Division One, losing just once, and defeated three Premier division teams en route to the League Knockout Cup final, where they were defeated by Desborough Town 3–2.
In the 2009–10 season Daventry won promotion to the Southern League Division One Central, by becoming champions of the United Counties League under the guidance of manager Darren Foster.
2010–2011, Fuller's Town finished 3rd in their first season in the Southern League Division One Central losing to Hitchin Town 2–0 in the play off final in front of a crowd of 1048.
Prior to the start of the 2011–2012 Mark Kinsella was brought in and Ady Fuller moved on to become manager of Banbury United. A majority of Fuller's team moved elsewhere. Over 40 players wore the purple shirt during the season and not surprisingly the team struggled to find any consistency until the end of the season.
During the 2011–2012, local rivals Daventry United folded and their Manager Darran Foster moved to Daventry Town as Mark Kinsella's Assistant. However, Kinsella was relieved of his duties shortly afterwards and Foster took charge of team affairs. In Foster's first season, 2012–2013, Town finished a highly respectable 8th in the table.
With a majority of the players remaining at the club for the 2013–14 season, the team made an incredible start to the campaign, winning their first 7 matches in the league whilst also qualifying for the FA Cup first round proper for the first time in their history. They were drawn away to Chesterfield from Football League Two, and ended up losing the tie 2–0.
After the playing budget was cut, manager Darran Foster resigned in early November 2014. Daventry then appointed ex Watford striker Allan Smart as his replacement.
However, in June 2015, Iain Humphrey resigned as chairman and was replaced by Allan Smart, who relinquished his role as Daventry Town's manager in the process.
Ady Fuller, who had served as Smart's assistant and had a previous spell as Daventry Town boss as well as stints as manager at Banbury United and Bedworth United, was appointed as caretaker manager in the interim period in June 2015.
However, Humphrey would make a U-turn and return as chairman just a month later, in July 2015, replacing Smart and caretaker manager Fuller who both left the club altogether. His first move was to re-appoint former manager Darran Foster who had left the club in November 2014. Foster had only just been appointed manager at Woodford United in June 2015.
Foster resigned in April 2016 following a 5 0 home defeat to Kidsgrove Athletic.
Club Goalkeeping Coach Derren Midson and the Club's Juniors Development Officer Pete Flockhart stepped in as Caretaker Managers with Brian Porter returning as Club Secretary to ensure the club somehow completed their remaining 6 fixtures of the 2015/2016 season.
In May 2016, Daventry Town resigned from the Northern Premier League due to financial problems and were later placed in the United Counties League Division One, step 9 of English football for the 2016/17 season. Ian Humphrey resigned and handed over full control to a New Executive Committee. Local businessman Steve Tubb took over as Chairman.
In May 2016, Woodford United Player Manager Arron Parkinson and Ex-Cogenhoe United Manager Andy Marks were confirmed as Joint Managers for season 2016-17.
In April 2017, Daventry Town won the UCL Division One in their first season back at this level, going undefeated at home. They were promoted to the United Counties Premier Division.
Following Andy Marks's decision to step down as Joint Manager, Ian King was appointed Joint Manager alongside Arron Parkinson.
In May 2018, Daventry Town won the Buckingham Charity Cup beating Buckingham Athletic 2 0 in the final.
In June 2018, Ian King resigned so he could find a position in the professional game. Arron Parkinson took on the role as Manager and appointed former Woodford United and AFC Rushden & Diamonds keeper Matt Finlay as his Assistant. Pete Harris joined as Coach and Andy Emery was announced as Reserve Team Manager.
2018/19 saw Arron Parkinson lead the club to the double by winning the UCL Premier Division and the UCL Knock Out Cup. The club returned to the

Current squad

Club honours

SeasonDivisionPointsPositionLeague CupF.A. CupF.A. VaseF.A. TrophyCounty CupNotes
1989–90United Counties League Division One811/19
1990–91United Counties League Division One951/19
1991–92United Counties League Premier Division6414/24Prelim
1992–93United Counties League Premier Division795/22Ex Prelim
1993–94United Counties League Premier Division3520/22PrePre
1994–95United Counties League Division One1419/19
1995–96United Counties League Division One4112/19
1996–97United Counties League Division One3613/18
1997–98United Counties League Division One537/18
1998–99United Counties League Division One4610/18
1999–00United Counties League Division One645/18
2000–01United Counties League Division One751/18
2001–02United Counties League Premier Division4615/21
2002–03United Counties League Premier Division5610/212 QR
2003–04United Counties League Premier Division2222/22Ex PreR 2R 1
2004–05United Counties League Premier Division3422/22Ex Pre2 QRR 1
2005–06United Counties League Division One516/182 QRR 2
2006–07United Counties League Division One534/16R 1
2007–08United Counties League Division One811/16Finalist
2008–09United Counties League Premier Division707/21R 3−3 Points
2009–10United Counties League Premier Division1021/211 QR 5
2010–11Southern League Division One Central813/22PRE2 QR−6 Points
2011–12Southern League Division One Central5016/223 Q2 QR
2012–13Southern League Division One Central768/222 QPREFinalist
2013–14Southern League Division One Central864/22R 1R 1Winners
2014–15Southern League Division One Central4219/22...
2015–16Northern Premier League Division One South3321/22R 3Prelim.
2016–17United Counties League Division One871/19R 1Ex PrelimR 1.
2017–18United Counties League Premier Division6710/22Q.F.Ex Prelim.
2018–19United Counties League Premier Division941/20Winners1 QEx PrelimR 1
2019–20Southern League Division One Central00Ex PreEx PreFinalistSeason Expunged - Coronavirus

Key – Ex Pre = Extra Preliminary Round, Pre = Preliminary Round, 2 QR = Second Round Qualifying, R 1 = First Round, R 2 = Second Round, R 3 = Third Round
Source:

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level.
2. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club.