Welcome to the history of Rushcliffe Eagles Junior Football Club
How It All Began
Rushcliffe Eagles Junior Football Club was formed in 1985 in Rushcliffe Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire.
Bob Panter who was a founder member and now Life President of the club takes up the story. The club began literally on the streets with a group of boys kicking a football up and down Rushcliffe Road on the Manthorpe Estate in Grantham. It was from this small beginning that the idea to start a football team flourished.
The team was formed with the help of residence living in Rushcliffe Road such as Pete Povey (pictured below with our 1987 cup winning team)
The club name comes from the Rushcliffe in Rushcliffe Road and the Eagles comes from the business name used by Bob Panter at the time "Eagles Sports".
Initially the club played friendly matches before joining the Stamford & Rutland league at Under 12's. In 1987 the Under 12's won the Stamford 7 Rutland League Cup beating Royce Rangers 4 - 0.
By the 1988 / 89 season the club had expanded to U12's and U13's in the Stamford and Rutland League and the seeds were sown for further expansion as more players joined the club and more parents became interested in youth football.
1989 / 90 season and the club not only entered teams in the Stamford & Rutland league at U12 and U14 but also joined the Mid Lincs League at U13, by looking at the results this first season in the Mid Lincs was one of learning.
Pld Won Drawn Lost For Against Points
20 4 1 15 51 87 9 (Under 13's Mid Lincs League)
To quote from notes by Derek Booles, "The team lost the first game against Greenbank 14 - 1 despite taking the lead, however the return match finished as a 5 all draw confirming a consistent improvement in the Eagles". The team was relegated.
The 1990 / 91 season saw the club enter U12's and U15's in the Stamford & Rutland league and U13's and U14's in the Mid Lincs league. The U12's regained the Stamford and Rutland Cup beating Uppingham 4 - 2, while the U14's became Mid Lincs League B Division Champions.
Pld Won Drawn Lost For Against Points
22 20 1 1 119 31 41 (Under 14's Mid Lincs League)
Champions
From Derek Booles Notes - The Manager (D Booles) blames himself for the only game lost. He had motivated the team by insisting that we need to keep winning to win the league (Although it had been won with a quarter of the season still remaining). He sent the team out with the words "Play like the champions that you are", but they went out and played like relegation candidates! Fortunately they recovered and won all of the remaining games.
The 1991 / 92 season saw the club again enter teams in the Stamford & Rutland League at U12's and U14's and the Mid Lincs League at U13's and a newspaper cutting announces that Eagles player James Brown scored his 101st goal for the club at U13's. Former Eagles player Jim Neill moved to Grimsby Town as a YTS player. James Brown also joined Grimsby Town.
The 1992 / 93 season becomes a little hazy and things were starting to decline, at the end of season 1993 / 94 Eagles were down to one team and a small committee.
Re-Birth
The 1994 / 95 season started a new chapter for the Eagles with Paul Johnson taking over the role of club Chairman and with the help of long serving Eagles manager Pete Geeson an U11's team was formed to play in the Grantham Youth League. Early training sessions at Cliffedale Primary School had proved to be a great success.
We registered 20 players and Mike Hale came in as assistant manager to myself, we ended the season with 15 points which was a creditable achievement. We were also able to have another squad of younger players playing friendlies and this team was managed by Bill Simpson and Charlie Horner, they performed very well and set us up for expansion the following season.
Katie Durrands was the first girl to play for the club until the F.A intervened and stopped her from playing mixed football, the story made the front page of the Grantham Journal. Katie went on to play for Grantham & Kesteven Girls. Now of course she would have been able to play for our Girls teams (more later).
1995 / 96, the club entered the Grantham Youth League again at U17's, U13's and U11's while we had U10's playing friendlies. The teams were managed by Dave Newboult U17's, Paul Johnson, Mike Hale and Andrew Selby at U13, while Pete Geeson and Charlie Horner took the U11's and Bob Ford and Bob Panter the U10's. The U17's finished with 23 points and lost 2 - 0 to Stamford in the Cup Final.
Results were mixed but promising and the growth was continuing, the u13's finished with 13 points, while the U11's finished with 39 points and picked up the Grantham Youth League shield beating Somerby 1 - 0 in the final.
The 1996 / 97 season is one I will always remember, the club put teams in the Grantham Youth League at U11 managed by Paul Johnson and Richard Baxter, U13's managed by Pete Geeson, Andrew Selby and Mike Hale and U15's managed by Bob Panter. While Bob Ford again managed the U10's.
The U11's completed the league and cup double with an outstanding season, finishing the league with 44 points with 202 goals for and 11 against.
The team is pictured below with the league trophy just prior to the final.
James Baxter was leading goal scorer with a staggering 99 in league and cup.
The U13's finished with 13 points while the U15's were disappointingly withdrawn from the league. James Baxter would later go to Lincoln City while defender Ben Sharp would join Peterborough United, both players would return to the club.
1997 / 98, another season and more teams, we entered U11's, U13's and U15's in the Grantham Youth League while our U10's again played friendlies. New faces were also joining our management teams. With Bob Ford, Mark Turner and Kevin Potter taking U10's, Charlie Horner, Nigel Smith and Pete Morrisroe taking U11's, Pete Geeson and Richard Baxter U13's and Paul Johnson, Andrew Selby and Mike Hale U15's.
The season finished well with the U11's beating Caythorpe 2 - 0 to pick up the Grantham Youth League U11's Cup, they also finished with 63 points. The U13's finished with 61 points and scored 222 goals in league and cup games, conceding only 36. The U15's had a mixed season of highs and lows but finished with 27 points.
1998 / 99, The teams for the 1998 / 99 season were, U10's managed by Kevin Potter and Phil Thompson, again this team only played friendlies, U11's managed by Mark Turner and Bob Ford, U14's (Mid Lincs League) managed by Pete Geeson and Graham Breden, this team was an amalgamation between ourselves and Barrowby Juniors and was called B.J Rushcliffe. U13's managed by Rene Keidel and Pete Morrisroe, U15's managed by Paul Johnson and Andrew Selby and U17's managed by Joe Nelson-Cofie.
The season finished on a high, the U11's finishing on 38 points, while the U13's completed the Grantham Youth League 62 points and doing the League and Cup Double beating Grantham Town 2 - 0 in the final. The U14's finished on 18 points, while the U15's finished with 27 points and picked up the Grantham Youth League shield beating Harrowby Terriers 2 - 0 in the final. The U17's finished with17 points and unfortunatley lost 3 - 1 in the Grantham Youth League shield final to Cranwell.
U13's League and Cup Double Winners.
1999 / 2000, the club lookked towards the new millenium in a strong position and we entered mini soccer teams for the first time with U8's and U10's managed by Kevin Potter and Phil Thompson, U12's managed by Bob Ford, U14's (Mid Lincs League) managed by Rene Keidel and Paul Johnson, U15's (Mid Lincs League) managed by Pete Geeson, U16's (Mid Lincs League) managed by John Maddick, Andrew Selby and Mike Hale and U18's managed by Joe Nelson-Cofie and Walter Cook.
The U8's finished with 33 points and were Grantham Youth League Champions, the U10'sA finished with 27 points, while the U10'sB finished with only 7 points, the U12's completed the season on 54 points finishing 3rd, and also winning the Playmore Cup (Grantham Youth League Cup). The U14's finished on 18 points while the U15's finished with 26 points, The U16's finished with 20 points and the U18's with 30 points.
2000 / 2001, the club was growing season after season and by 2000 / 01 season we were probably at the pinnacle of our growth. We entered teams in the Grantham Youth League, The Mid Lincs League and The Lincolnshire Intermediate League. U8'sA managed by Hunter Millar, U8'sB managed by Steve Cropper, U10'sA managed by Phil Thompson, U10'sB managed by Dave Couth and Geoff Smith, U12's managed by Kevin Potter, U13's managed by Bob Ford, U15's managed by Nathan Smith, U16's managed by Pete Geeson and U18's managed by Joe Nelson-Cofie.
The season was one of learning and development but enjoyable non the less. Our U8'sA completed a tough season with only 3 points while the U8'sB faired better finishing with 13 points. The U10'sA ended the season on a creditable 30 points, with the U10'sB finishing on 48 and winning in the Cup Final by 4 - 3 against Cranwell Tornadoes.
The U12's finished on 34 points and lost to Bottesford Lions in the Plate Final by 3 - 0. The U13's enjoyed life in the Mid Lincs League and ended on 19 points. The U15's under manager Nathan Smith finished with 28 points, this was Nathans first season in management. The u16's only managed 10 points but acquitted themselves well. The U18's had a really good season and totalled 40 points and were close to winning the league.
2001 / 2002, The club looked to sustain its growth and development and try to pick up more trophies along the way. We entered an U8's team managed by Steve Cropper, U10's Falcons managed by Phil Thompson, U10's Kestrels managed by Hunter Millar, Under 12's Kites managed by Dave Couth and Geoff Smith, U12's Condors managed by John Lovell and Mark Denton, U14's managed by Tony Pearson, Under 16's managed by Nathan Smith and U18's managed by Pete Geeson. The U8's finished with a total of 27 points, the U10's Falcons with 16 points, the Kestrels with only 1 point but a well mannered and hard fought season, U12's Kites with 20 points while the Condors finished with 50 points and the Grantham Youth League Shield, beating Easton Eagles 1 -0 in the final. The U14's finished on 14 points in an up and down season. The U16's finished with 26 points and were Mid Lincs League B Division runners up. Finally the U18's completed the season on 28 points.
2002 / 2003, The club growth continued and this season saw the introduction of Girls football. Jon Clegg takes up the story.
In the summer of 2001, Paul Johnson became aware of the need to provide the opportunity for girls over 11 to play competitive football.
Although the club had a history of supporting girl players – and numerous players had participated in mixed junior teams – following FA guidelines mixed sex football was not permitted after U11.
Unfortunately these players were then forced to travel if they wished to continue playing.
Aware that there was a Girls League within the Mid Lincs. League Paul considered the option of organising teams for all girls and called on the services of Jonathan Clegg who had experienced running Girl teams elsewhere.
Paul and Jonathan soon drew up a 5-year plan that would culminate in the club offering girls the opportunity to play in a girl’s league from the age of 8 through to adult
Jonathan Clegg begun the girl-only training sessions in October 2001 and after a bit of a slow start, the number of female players attending soon grew.
Following a successful bid for a Lottery grant, the club was soon able to offer quality training equipment and facilities for the new players where the emphasis was on fun with an opportunity to learn new skills.
2002/03
Following a winter of playing friendlies, the club and players were ready for entry into the Mid Lincs. League at U11. Whilst there were also a number of U12 & U13 players it was felt that they required further time to develop before entry into a competitive league – their time would come the following season.
But, before the league, the club entered a number of summer tournaments – with success in winning at the Wyberton Invitation at U11 and at the Beach Tournament at U12 level.
In the league the U11 squad played some attractive football and won many friends with their positive attitude and although they lost more than they won, it was clear that they were enjoying themselves and learning.
All of the players remained committed to their football and deservedly won the Mid Lincs. Fair Play trophy for 2002/03.
Off the pitch the number of girls continued to grow and it soon became evident that further coaching staff were required.
Simon Pattison and Kevin Taylor began running the U12/13 squad and with assistance form the club, were successful in obtaining their level 1 FA Coaching qualifications.
Their commitment and support resulted in the U12/13 squad winning all of their friendlies during the 2002/03 season and were clearly ready for league football in 2003/04.
2003/04
The third year of girl’s football at Rushcliffe was to be the most exciting one yet.
• Three teams were entered into competitive league football – U11, U12 & U14
• A fourth team at U10 was formed – playing a series of friendless
• Senior ladies football was introduced with the arrival of ladies playing in the East Midlands Unison League
• More coaches were sponsored through the FA First4sport programme with Simon Pattison and Laura Jones successful at Level 2 and Chris Cummins, Sally Clegg, Carlene Ferris, John Nicholson passing their Level 1 exams.
The rapid growth of girl’s football was clear for all to see!
Season 2003/04 brought all of the players many enjoyable experiences, some notable victories and a further clutch of trophies.
The 2003 summer saw the club retain the Mablethorpe Beach Trophy , their first involvement in the Nottingham Forest Victoria Cup where they played teams from Everton, Wolves, Forest and Liverpool , and two semi final appearances at the highly competitive Nettleham Trophy.
Whilst the league involvement produced two further Fair Play Awards (U12 & U14) and the Divisional Player of the Year award to Carlene Ferris of the Ladies.
2004/05
As the club enters its third year of league football for girls, the excitement continues to grow.
• Four junior teams at U11, U12 x 2 and U14 are joined once again by the senior squad.
• The senior squad will also be playing in the FA Cup for the first time, whilst they will be hoping to consolidate their league position with an eye on promotion.
• The U12 managers Phil Lansdell and Jeff Foster are currently taking their Level 2 exams whilst Jonathan Clegg is attempting to pass his Level 3 exam.
A FIRM BASE
Alongside the increase in numbers with around 70+ girls & ladies attending training each week, the club has ensured that there was a firm financial base to work from alongside parental involvement.
These two features have clearly helped the club grow so quickly whilst still able to offer quality coaching in a safe and friendly environment.
A further grant was awarded to the club to help the development of senior football in 2003/04.
The club has also supported those parents and senior players in their development of coaching skills through generous sponsorship and training opportunities.
Other parents have attended 1 st Aid Training and referee courses.
Alongside quiz nights, trips to the FA Cup, sponsored events all of the players and their supporters have clearly benefited from their involvement in the club.
The 5-year plan?
Entering year 4, the club currently offers football to all girls aged 8 and over
Clearly Rushcliffe has achieved what it set out to do with a year to spare!!
The First Rushcliffe Eagles Ladies Team (2003 / 04 Season)
Thanks Jon for your informative history of Girls football at Rushcliffe Eagles.
2002 - 2003 Season
For the 2002 - 2003 Season the club as you have just heard looked for even more expansion, entering teams in the Grantham Youth League, The Mid Lincs League and The Lincolnshire Intermediate League.
The Grantham Youth League Teams were at Under 8 managed by Nigel Kightley and Kevin Potter, U10's Kestrels managed by Hunter Millar, U10's Falcons managed by Steve Cropper, U12's Kites managed by Geoff Smith and Dave Couth, U12's Condors managed by Phil Thompson and Adrian Wing and U14's managed by Tony Pearson. The Mid lIncs League teams were at U11 Girls managed by Jon Clegg and U13's Boys managed by John Lovell and Mark Denton. The Lincolnshire Intermediate team was at U18 managed by Peter Geeson but this team was unfortunataly withdrawn from the league due to insufficient players mainly through work committments.
The season ended with the:
U8's: Played 20, Won 11, Drawn 4, Lost 5, Goals for 45, Goals against 25, Points 37
U10's Kestrels: Pld 16, Won 1, Drawn 0, Lost 15, For 14, Against 107, Points 3
U10's Falcons: Pld 18, Won 15, Drawn 0, Lost 3, For 61, Against 17, Points 45
U12's Kites: Pld 18, Won 10, Drawn 1, Lost 7, For 45, Against 48, Points 31
U12's Condors: Pld 13, Won 3, Drawn 0, Lost 10, For 28, Againsy 82, Points 9
U13's: Pld 18, Won 11, Drawn 4, Lost 3, For 84, Against 35, Points 26
U14's: Pld 17, Won 8, Drawn 2, Lost 7, For 58, Against 61, Points 28
U11's Girls: Pld 12, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 12, For 5, Against 93, Points 0
Overall it was a good season with us learning a lot and attempting to introduce more players to competitive football.
2003 - 2004 Season
The 2003 - 2004 season saw yet another season of growth and the most adventurous season so far in the clubs history. More girls joined the club and Ladies were introduced for the very first time. The boy's teams stabalised.