Salisbury City F.C.
| File:Salisburycityfc.jpg | |||
| Full name | Salisbury City Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Citadel, The Whites | ||
| Founded | 1947 | ||
| Ground | The Raymond McEnhill Stadium, Salisbury | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Chairman | Neville Beal | ||
| Manager | Nick Holmes | ||
| League | Conference National | ||
| 2006-07 | Conference South, 2nd (promoted via playoffs) | ||
|
| |||
Salisbury City Football Club are an English football club based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. They were formed in 1947 and play at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium. Salisbury have gained back-to-back promotions in recent years, first to the Conference South in the 2005-06 season by finishing top of the Southern League Premier Division, followed by winning the play-off final in the 2006-07 season to participate in the Conference National in 2007-08.
History
The club was founded as simply Salisbury F.C. in 1947. A previous club had existed under the name Salisbury City prior to World War II but the current club does not consider itself to be connected to this club and uses the 1947 date of formation.
The club immediately entered the Western League and won the Second Division title at the very first attempt. An attendance of 8,902, a figure never beaten, saw the championship decider, a 1-1 draw against Weymouth. Salisbury remained members of the Western League until 1968, winning the championship in 1957-58 and 1960-61 as well as finishing second on four occasions and reaching the FA Cup first round on four occasions and the second round once.
In 1968 the club was elected to the Southern Football League but met with little success until the 1985-86 season when Salisbury finished as runners up to Cambridge City and were promoted to the Premier Division, albeit only for a single season.
In 1993 the club’s name was officially changed to Salisbury City, and in 1994-95 they won the Southern League Southern Division championship. After redevelopment work at the council-owned Victoria Park, the club was able to step up to the Premier Division, a promotion which had been denied them two years earlier due to ground gradings.
Salisbury lasted seven seasons in the Premier Division, but troubles off the field eventually led to the departure of manager Geoff Butler, who had been in the role for more than 17 seasons. Relegation followed and the club came close to being wound-up before being saved by a consortium led by one of the club's sponsors, Neville Beal, who was also able to tempt former Southampton player Nick Holmes, at the time living in the USA, to take over as manager in 2002. In the 2003-04 season, Salisbury gained promotion from the Southern League Eastern Division by finishing sixth, but a re-organisation of the English football league system saw them placed in the Isthmian League Premier Division, although after one season they were switched back to the Southern League Premier Division, which they won at the first attempt to gain a place in the Conference South. On 13 May 2007, they defeated Braintree Town 1-0 in the Conference South promotion playoff final, earning a promotion spot to Conference National.
The FA Cup, 2006-07
The 2006-07 FA Cup competition saw City register away wins in the qualifying rounds at VT F.C. (3-0), Eastleigh (1-0) and Fisher Athletic (1-0) before notching a 3-0 home victory in the first round proper against Fleetwood Town on 11 November 2006. The tie was played in front of a record-breaking crowd of 2,684, which took them to a second round tie at home to Nottingham Forest. It was only the second time in the club's 59 year history that Salisbury had reached this stage of the competition.
The second round tie was played on 3 December in front of another record attendance of 3,100. Salisbury took the former European Cup winners to a replay with a 1-1 draw after being a goal behind. Matt Tubbs scored the equaliser in the second half to take his team into the third round draw for the first time ever. The tie was shown live on BBC One on December 3. [1]
In the replay on December 12 goals from Nathan Tyson and Nicky Southall saw Forest triumph 2-0 to bring Salisbury's involvement in the competition to a close. [2] This match was also televised, this time on Sky Sports.
Squad
Staff
- Manager: Nick Holmes
- Assistant Manager: Barry Blankley
- Physios: Conrad Parrott and Kevin Bushby
- Football in the Community Officer: Andy Cook
Players 2006-07
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Club honours
- Conference South Division Play-off Winners 2006-07
- Southern League Premier Division Champions 2005-06
- Southern League Southern Division Champions 1994-95
- Western League Champions 1957-58, 1960-61
Ground
In 1997 Salisbury moved to a purpose built stadium at Old Sarum, named after the then chairman. The Raymond McEnhill Stadium's capacity stands at 3,740, with covered accommodation for 2,247 fans. A record crowd of 2,570 saw the FA Cup first round 2-0 defeat by Hull City in 1998. This figure was beaten twice during the FA Cup run of 2006-07 - against Fleetwood Town in the first round proper and then against Nottingham Forest in the second round. It has recently had two new stands built to increase the capacity to around 5,000.
References
Sources
- Salisbury City F.C.(former club) at the Football Club History Database
- Salisbury F.C. at the Football Club History Database
- Salisbury City F.C.(present club) at the Football Club History Database