IN OPPOSITION

IN OPPOSITION TODAY ROCESTER

Rocester F.C.’s lengthy history dates back to 1876 when a number of friendly matches were played against teams from the surrounding area.

As founder members of the Dove Valley League, Rocester played their first competitive football in the 1892-93 season, but it wasn’t until 1911 when the Ashbourne News Cup provided the club with its first ever trophy.

Several more honours followed during the 1920s and 1930s in local competitions before the club disbanded in 1939 due to the outbreak of World War II.

Reformed in 1946, Rocester were soon among the honours again, and a move into the Stafford Amateur League in 1953 brought unprecedented success when no less than eight trophies were won in just three seasons.

The club stepped up into the Staffordshire County League (North) in 1957, and remained in membership with varying degrees of success until the formation of the Staffordshire Senior league in 1984.

The appointment of retired Black Country businessman Don Hill as Chairman led to a rapid rise, and under the guidance of former player Alan Beaman the club won its first senior honours when both the Senior League title and the Staffordshire F.A. Vase were annexed in 1986.

Further success followed in 1987 when the Senior League title was retained, and only a penalty shoot-out defeat in the Staffordshire F.A. Vase Final prevented a repeat of the ‘double’ achieved a year earlier.

1986-87 proved to be a memorable season in the F.A. Vase, which Rocester had entered for the first time. Starting in the Extra Preliminary, they reached the last 16, knocking out the holders and hot favourites Halesowen Town along the way before a club record attendance of 1,026 at Leek Town’s Harrison park ground.

During the summer of 1987 Rocester moved from their old home, in truth no more than a field with wooden changing rooms, to the present ground, named at the time as Riversfield. The new ground was built on the site of an ancient Roman fort, which led to the adoption of their nickname ‘The Romans’.

At the same time the club joined Division One of the West Midlands (Regional) League where they remained unbeaten in their first 22 games before going on to claim the championship with some ease. The Romans also won the League Cup and the Staffordshire F.A. Vase to complete a magnificent treble.

Rocester took their place in the Premier Division and following an initial mid-table finish they made a challenge for the title in 1989-90 only to be edged into 2nd place by Hinckley Town on goal-difference.

In 1994 Rocester became founder members of the Midland Football Alliance, and in 1998 claimed second place behind Bloxwich Town. However the following season promotion to the Southern League was achieved as MFA Champions. The ground, now renamed ‘Hillsfield’ in memory of Don Hill who died in 1996, had already met the required grade.

The Romans reached the Staffs Senior Cup final for the first time in 2001, but struggled in the Southern League until being relegated back into the Midland Alliance in 2003 after four seasons away. However that disappointment was quickly forgotten when the Midland Alliance title was won at the first attempt, this time with promotion into the Northern Premier League. The move north signalled a big downturn in fortunes and the Romans went through a complete season without a league victory in 2004-05.

Once again relegated back into the Midland Alliance, the downward trend proved difficult to reverse and although performances improved, it wasn't until January 2006 that the team finally recorded its first league win, a 3-1 success at Quorn, to end a run of 67 league games without a win. After finishing bottom, a second successive relegation was only avoided due to league restructuring.

After two disastrous years the club began to move forward again and a respectable 12th place finish was attained in 2006-07 along with a run to the 3rd Qualifying Round of the F.A. Cup where the Romans lost narrowly at Kettering Town in front of over 1000 spectators.

The Romans continued to improve during 2007-08, and the season ended on a high when Kidsgrove Athletic were beaten 3-0 in the Staffs Senior Cup Final at Vale Park – the first and so far the only time Rocester have won the prestigious trophy.

Former player Dave Langston proved the most successful of several managers over the next seven years, but his departure in 2013 decimated the squad and a complete rebuild was required. Following a poor start the team failed to recover sufficiently, and after finishing in the bottom three the Romans were spared relegation only after Gornal Athletic were deducted points and Highgate United failed to attain the necessary ground-grading - meaning the club could begin the 2014-15 campaign in the Premier Division of the newly-formed Midland Football League.

Mark Wilson’s appointment as Manager in September 2014 saw fortunes improve dramatically, and in his first season in charge his team finished 12th and reached the final of the League Cup.

Wilson resigned in January 2015, but under his successor Danny Martin the club were relegated into the MFL Division 1 in 2017. Andy O’Connor returned to steady the ship before former player Paul Wright took charge in September 2019.

Following F.A. restructuring in the summer of 2021, the Romans were laterally moved into the North West Counties League Division One South, and begin a new chapter in their long history.

JON & NEIL DIRECTORS UPDATE

First of all, we would like to welcome Rocester, their players, staff and supporters to the NFU sports ground for our FA Vase match this afternoon.

In addition, we would also welcome everyone associated with Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club and any groundhoppers that may be in attendance for what hopefully will be an entertaining game.

As you will read in the programme, on the field, the club is flourishing and the First team and The Knights have started the season strongly. We have seen a massive growth in the number of junior boys and girls teams and have a thriving Saturday Development and Soccer School. Personally, we would like to thank, all of the people involved on the football side, in making the summer and start of the season an enjoyable experience.

A lot of activity has been taking place off the field as well.

The date of 1st June 2020 was a significant milestone in the history of AIFC, as we reconstituted to Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club CIC, a company registered on Companies House. Several years of planning took place prior to this, in order that the new structure would provide sustainability to the football club, by diversifying and becoming a business.

Both myself and Neil Johnson became the named Directors with the responsibility to take the club forward, in the best interest of club and the community.

The formation of the CIC contributed massively in giving the club the ability to purchase the freehold of our ground. This had been put up for sale in the Autumn of 2019, as a result of the club’s landlord going into administration. At this time, the future of the club was in a precarious position, as there was another interested party in purchasing the ground, but as existing tenants, we worked proactively with the administrator’s to put our ourselves in a position to be given first choice as to whether we wished to purchase the ground. Despite the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, which affected everyone’s lives in one way or another, the CIC started the process of raising funds to acquire the freehold and following a turbulent journey, the date of 27th May 2021, will always be etched in my memory as the date that we finally completed the purchase of the freehold of the ground. The future of the Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club, that has been in existence since 1948, was secured. Personally, having been in business for nearly 40 years, the purchase and everything involved in the process was one of the toughest challenges that I have been involved with. For all parties involved in assisting us getting this over the line, thank you.

With the freehold of the ground secured, plans are being put into place to redevelop the NFU sports ground and we wish to share that towards the end of this year, a planning application will be submitted to provide a 2nd floor extension to the existing clubhouse, new changing rooms and a new 3G pitch, which will be located on the existing junior pitch and training areas.

Before this, we are totally aware that as a result of the number of spectators, players, parents that use our facilities on match days and training nights, our existing car park is constantly at breaking point and as a result, off site parking is very common occurrence. We are mindful of the disruption and inconvenience to our residential neighbours that this may cause. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that this week, we have agreed a lease with the current landowner to have a portion of the adjacent field as an overspill car park, and subject to receiving the necessary planning permission for change of use, then we are hopeful that this will be in operation by the end of the year. Further updates on the progress of this will be provided at the appropriate times.

Other exciting initiatives are being considered and are developing at pace and further announcements are to follow, but hopefully you will see that AIFC CIC has ambitious plans to provide a facility that you and the whole community can be proud of, enhance the enjoyment of people

Sponsored By

THE KNIGHTS BAR

Offering a warm, welcoming & safe environment for all the family to enjoy including an outdoor patio area.

Dog friendly (Dogs must be kept on a lead)

Fully licensed bar open 7 days a week, also available for Private Hire - Birthday Parties, Celebrations, Functions, Meetings etc…

Live Sports Shown Daily – BT Sports, Sky Sports & At The Races

Opening Hours Monday to Friday – From 4.00pm Saturday and Sunday – From 12.00pm Draught Beers, Wines & Spirits, Cold Drinks, Hot Drinks & Bar Snacks

Email: knightsbar@ashbyivanhoefc.co.uk Web: www.ashbyivanhoefc.co.uk

Knights Bar, NFU Sports Ground, Lower Packington Road, Ashby De La Zouch, LE65 1TS

Other key items that we wish to share, is that sponsorship is increasing and to date, we have over 50 sponsors, both new this season and existing ones that have supported the club over the years.

New signage to the front entrance is being manufactured ready to be installed, which will enhance the image of the club upon arrival.

From May 2022, the CIC became VAT registered and this month, we will be issuing our first VAT return to the HMRC.

The Knights bar is open from 4pm on weekdays and 12 noon at weekends and the number of people using the facility is continuing to rise. The catering team are performing very well on matchdays and we are constantly looking at ways of improving our offering.

With the partnership with LCFC Turf Academy and our groundsman’s infectious love of grass and white lines, we have obtain grants for new equipment and pitch maintenance, which is not an insignificant amount of money and will give us the impetus to hopefully continue to provide We are very proud of the achievements we have made to date and the current position that the club currently finds itself in. As you will see exciting times are ahead of us. We have got here through a very committed group of individuals that are all pulling in the right direction and long may this continue, however as always, we need additional people to join us and should anyone feel that they could contribute to our plans above, then please feel free to contact either Neil or myself to discuss in more detail.

There are too many people to name in person, but for all that have supported both Neil and myself in driving the CIC forward and for their tireless work that people put into undertaking their roles within the club, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, the support gives us the desire and strength to drive this club forward and to achieve new heights for all to enjoy.

Anyway, I’m off to the bar, hopefully the Chairman is in there to buy me a drink, and for all attending the game, enjoy the day and hopefully see you all back very soon.

Jon & Neil AIFC CIC Directors

SENIOR PLAYER SPONSORS

TREY WILKS DANNY TURNOCK CHRIS NETTLE

SPONSORED BY SPONSORED BY SPONSORED BY