OpponentSpotlight GRESLEYROVERS

Paul Futcher was appointed manager with Garry Birtles, former England International, his assistant on 2nd November 1995. Rovers improved their League position yet again in 1995/6 as they ended the season in 5th place and had the bonus of winning the Derbyshire Senior Cup yet again. The season 1996/7 was the best in the Club's long history because in addition to retaining the Derbyshire Senior Cup they also won the Dr. Martens Premier Division championship. Rovers were unbeaten in their first seventeen league games (won 10 drawn 7) and were league leaders for 31 weeks. The title was finally won with a 3 - 1 home victory against Gloucester City at the Moat Ground on April 26th 1997. Gresley Rovers became the first Derbyshire side and first village side to win this prestigious trophy, but ground grading meant that they were unable to gain promotion to the Football Conference.

Paul Futcher the Manager during that campaign left during the close season and his Assistant Manager Garry Birtles stepped up into the Manager's position. The disappointment of not being promoted to the Football Conference saw many of Gresley's players leave the club. The 1997/8 season saw Gresley finish in the bottom half of the Dr. Martens Premier League. The 1998/99 season will go down in the history of Gresley Rovers as one of the worst. At the end of 1998 they were in the top six. By the end of April, they were relegated. The season started well and 13 points from their September games saw them in third place just four points adrift of the leaders Nuneaton Borough. In November Gresley Rovers were drawn to meet Walsall at the Bescot Stadium in the first round of the F.A. Cup. Gresley went close to causing an upset but were denied at least a replay by a goal 11 minutes from the end. Victories over Kings Lynn and Hastings got December off to a fine start; however, three defeats saw them drop to 6th place. After a disastrous run of 6 successive defeats in January saw them slump to 17th place just 5 points above the relegation places. In February two successive draws and three defeats proved to be Garry Birtles downfall and he and his assistant, Paul Fitzpatrick were dismissed. Stuart Ford took charge temporarily and saw the team beat Atherstone 2-1 that ended a run of 14 games without a win. In March 1999 Brian Kenning was appointed manager. The opening game of April produced a comfortable 3-0 victory over Cambridge City. But three defeats followed against Nuneaton, Crawley, and Rothwell. Vital game at Dorchester and Salisbury yielded only one point. The defeat on the final day against Bath City pushed Gresley into the Midlands Division just two years after winning the Dr. Martens Premier Division Championship by 11 points. The last time Gresley were relegated was in the 1958/9 season when they went down from the Birmingham League Division one to Division two.

Gresleyrovers

After financial difficulties, Gresley Rovers liquidated at the end of the 2008–09 season, forming a new football club, Gresley F.C.

Gresley FC

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.