The 1955/6 squad.
Although it was 1934 before the name Boston United first appeared, football had been played in the town since the late 1800's and, indeed, always on the same site as the present York Street stadium.
In those early days there were two clubs Boston Town, whose headquarters were "The Coach and Horses", and Boston Swifts, who used "The Indian Queen" as their H.Q. In fact, as both the public houses were situated on "Main Ridge" and the pitch was virtually just opposite, it wasn't surprising that for the first 40 years or so that was what the Ground was called. A small stand was erected in the early 1900's but other than that there were no other facilities, and the teams changed at the back of the appropriate pub! (They also retired there afterwards for a little longer...)
Swifts never re-appeared after the First World War and it was left to the Club called simply Boston to achieve the first giant-killing in the F.A. Cup by beating the then powerful Football League Club Bradford Park Avenue 1-0 in 1925. The Club was now competing in the Midland League, whereas it's predecessors had played in the Lincoln League, local cups and friendlies although Town had also entered the F.A. Cup prior to the turn of the century.
By 1933 lack of success and financial problems resulted in a Public Meeting being called in an attempt to sort things out and save the Club. Only one person showed any interest. That man rescued the Club and remained its guiding hand for over half a century. His name was Ernest Malkinson...
The Club was re-formed under the new title Boston United and the town's colours of Amber and Black replaced the White and Blue. By this time, with entrances and dressing-rooms at the west end of the Ground it was known as 'Shodfriars Lane'- and still is by some older supporters.
The Club still would find major success elusive until 1955/6 when they finished as runners-up to Peterborough United in the Midland League, whilst in the F.A. Cup they travelled to Derby County and with eight former Derby players in the United team, beat them 6-1. (This is still a record score by a non-league club against a League club on their own ground.) It was at Spurs in the 3rd Round that a brave fight wasn't enough to stop them going out.
The 1955/6 squad.
Attendances at Boston at that time were averaging 5-6,000 for League games, and when floodlights were first used for the visit of Corby Town in 1955 over 12,000 people were in the ground!
In a search for more honours, and a Football League place, United joined the Southern League for the 1958/9 season, finishing third in the North Western Zone. A mid-table position was all that was gained the next year, whilst the following season saw them rock-bottom and they resigned and spent 1961/62 in the Central Alliance completing a League and Cup 'double'. The next season they re-joined the 'new' Midland League but by 1964 financial problems were at such a point they were forced to resign and to keep the Club name alive whilst they sorted themselves out, they ran an amateur side in the local league during 1964/5.
Season 1965/6 saw the start of the climb back to senior non-league football with a United Counties League and Cup 'double'. Refused entry back into the Midland League in 1967 they became something of an oddity by being an east coast Club playing in the West Midlands League! The travelling didn't seem to bother them as they won the Championship both years and the League Cup as well in the second year. 1968 saw United as founder-members of the newly-formed Northern Premier League and the start of an 11-year period in which all kinds of honours were won and records were set...
Only twice were they not involved in the Championship race, winning it a record four times. (They were the first club ever to win a N.P.L. 'treble' of League, Cup and Shield.) The League Cup was won twice, the N.P.L. Shield four times and the non-league Champions of Champions Trophy twice.
United also created a record of conceding only 3 goals at home in league games in a whole season, 51 consecutive home and away league games without a defeat, and 64 home league games (over 3 years!) without a defeat. During this period a number of F.A. Cup triumphs over Football League opposition were gained and, notably, a return to the Baseball Ground in 1974 when they held Derby County, the team which would finish in third place in the League that season and win it the following season, to a 0-0 draw. The replay saw 11,000 spectators at York Street by which name the Ground was now known and Derby through with few problems...
Jim Conde scores against Derby County.
United received a huge body-blow in 1977 when Football League inspectors failed the Ground as being suitable for the Football League, and although United were N.P.L. Champions yet again, runners-up Wigan Athletic were put forward instead and were elected. The United Directors unanimously agreed that this must never happen again, and so commenced the vast undertaking of rebuilding virtually the whole of the York Street Ground, launching new fund-raising schemes in 1978. The local population backed them incredibly, and new floodlights, stands, toilets, turnstiles, terracing and snackbars turned York Street into the superb stadium it now is, recognised as the best in non-league football. It has taken United over ten years and the equivalent - at today's prices of over 3 million pounds and they still haven't finished as proven by the fact that now the Ground even boasts emergency lighting all round. It is one of the few in the country to do so.
Unfortunately, with priorities being centred off the field, memorable events as regards the playing side have been few and far between since United joined the Alliance Premier League in 1979 as founder members, third place is their highest ever placing. The highest point they have enjoyed was most certainly in 1984/5 when they celebrated 50 years by reaching Wembley in the FA Trophy Final. Although they went down fighting 2-1 to Gola League Champions Wealdstone, there were over 12,000 Boston supporters that day in the crowd of 20,775. About 5,000 of them turned out again the next day to welcome the team back to Boston.
Boston United - 1984/5
BACK ROW: Ray O'Brien, Gerard Creane, Derrick Nuttell, Richard Hearmon,
Bob Lee, John McPherson, Kevin Blackwell, Mick Lyon, Ian Ladd,
Mick Czuczman, Mick Laverick, Don Robinson (Trainer)
FRONT ROW: Arthur Mann (Manager), Chris Cook, Dominic Genovese, Paul Casey,
Gary Simpson, Brian Thomson, David Gilbert, Gary Mallender.
In the 1992-93 season the club finished bottom of the Conference and were relegated to the Northern Premier League. They did however also re-introduce a Reserve side, playing in the TSW Printers Lincolnshire League, which consisted mainly of local players.
In the 1995-96 season, United finished as runners-up in the Unibond League but an administrative error meant that they were unable to take the promotion spot and return to the Vauxhall Conference. At the end of the season, long serving chairman, Pat Malkinson "stepped down" allowing him to devote more time to his business commitments. Long-serving vice-chairman Sid Burgess stepped up to take the reins and immediately introduced a new youth development scheme at York Street.
The 1996-97 season saw United enjoy a good Cup run for the first time in ten years, finally bowing out to Chester City by a 1-0 margin in the Second Round Proper. They also reached the Unibond League Challenge Cup Final, losing 1-0 to county rivals Gainsborough Trinity at Sincil Bank, Lincoln. The club's newly founded Under-9's won their league at the first attempt.
The 1997-98 season saw the "Pilgrims" pick up the runners-up trophy again in the Unibond League. The club also introduced a highly successful "Football For Life Scheme" under the guidance of Chris Cook. The youngsters on the scheme won the Lincolnshire Services League Cup at their first attempt and in a close-fought match, lost to Lincoln City Youth in the final of the Lincolnshire Charity Cup by a 2-1 margin.
Last season the "Pilgrims" moved sideways from the Unibond League into the Dr. Martens League. After a poor start which saw them drop into a relegation spot, manager Greg Fee resigned and was replaced by the manager of Stamford AFC - Steve Evans. The turnaround in the club's fortunes was quite dramatic. Although it was always unlikely that Boston would catch up with runaway leaders Nuneaton Borough, they eventually claimed the runners-up spot. The club also had their best run in the FA Trophy since 1993, eventually being knocked out in the Quarter Finals by St. Albans City.
Further details of the Pilgrims' history can be found in the History Archive.
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