TODAYS OPPOSITION

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TODAYS OPPOSITION HOLBEACH UNITED FC

Holbeach United, nicknamed “The TIGERS”, were formed in 1929 and played in the Kings Lynn and Peterborough leagues. They joined the United Counties League (UCL) after world war 2 and enjoyed a good spell in the early fifties, finishing third in 1952 and 1955 and runners up in 1954. In 1955 under the management of ex Crystal Palace player Len Richley, Holbeach United joined the Eastern Counties League where they stayed for seven years, competing against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and West ham United A sides. Success came with victory in the Lincolnshire Senior Cup “B” in 1958. In 1962 Holbeach United joined the Midland Counties League but failed to gain re-election after finishing next to bottom and the following season they returned to the United Counties League. After missing out on the championship by a single point in their first season back the tigers carried off the Knockout Cup in 1965 beating Desborough 7-1 in the final. Long serving manager Mr Freddie Watkins guided Holbeach to the runners up medals in 1969. The seventies past with their only success being runners up in 1974. The arrival of Mr Lloyd Hudson as player manager turned their fortunes around and in the 1982 /83 season campaign saw the tigers reach the FA Cups first round where they lost 4-0 to Wrexham They went on to win the Lincolnshire Senior Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1987, while Alan Day led the side to the last 16 in the FA Vase in 1988 / 89. The UCL title was won for the first time in 1990, along with the Knockout Cup and the benevolent cup – this was the first domestic treble in the leagues history. The next major success came under the management of Mr Dominic Genovese when the club won the Senior Cup in 1994 / 95 season. In 2002 the tigers finished league runners up and in 2003 they were crowned Premier League champions adding the Lincolnshire cup with a 3-1 final defeat of FA Vase winner Brigg Town. The 2003 /04 season saw a change in management with Sean Keeble, who started his senior career with Holbeach take over after two seasons as assistant. Assisted by Ex Peterborough and Holbeach player Milton Graham they managed to finish a credible 7th in their first season and the 2 local derby’s matches with Spalding United drew in their record UCL crowds of 701 & 760. The following season 2004 / 05 saw Holbeach gain 3rd place and also all the hard work on the pitch was matched by the excellent work by the clubs committee in gaining a 90% grant from the FA to develop a new 140 seater stand and associated fencing and dugouts to replace the condemned 70 year old stand. Holbeach have played at Carters Park since their establishment. The site was bequeathed to the town in the mid 1920’s by a man names Carter. A stand was built in the late 1930’s and a covered area to its left was also built and later became known as the “pig pen” . The ground was originally shared with the local cricket club, meaning that it only had three permenant sides. However, after the cricket club folded, the forth side was fenced off. The grounds record attendance was 4,094 was set on 28th September 1955 for an FA cup first qualifying round replay against local rivals Wisbech Town. 2012 / 13 was one to remember in the history of “the Tigers”. It saw them complete the league and cup double . John Chand and his management led the club to their first league championship in ten years and retain the Lincolnshire Senior Cup – the first club to do so in ten years. Andrew Tidswell completed a treble of awards, securing the UCL golden boot with 35 goals in the season. In the 2015 / 16 season the club received national attention when their goalkeeper, Ricky drury scored a last minute bicycle kick equaliser against Worcester City in the FA Cup to send the tie to a replay.