Northampton ON Chenecks F.C.
File:Northampton ON Chenecks F.C. logo.png | |||
Full name | Northampton Old Northamptonian Chenecks Football Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | The Chens | ||
Founded | 1946 | ||
Ground | The Old Northamptonians Sports Ground Billing Road, Northampton | ||
Capacity | 1000 | ||
Chairman | Eddie Slinn | ||
Manager | Ben Foster (1st team) | ||
2023–24 | Spartan South Midlands League Division One, 1st of 20 (promoted) | ||
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Northampton Old Northamptonian Chenecks F.C. are a football club based in Northampton, England. They play in the United Counties League Premier Division South.
History
The club was founded as Chenecks FC in 1946 under the guidance of well-known Coroner Sergeant of the Borough Police, George Lloyd. The club was formed to enable boys at the rugby playing Northampton Grammar School to play football.[1]
The club's unusual names is derived from the School Houses, Chipseys, Spencer, Beckett and St Crispins. The club became members of the Northampton Minor League playing at under 17 level, and when the boys were too old for youth football the club joined the Town League in 1950, playing at Abington Park. In 1960 the Old Northamptonians association invited the club to become one of their sports sections, thus Chenecks became ON Chenecks and relocated to the Billing Road sports ground.[1]
They joined the United Counties Football League in 1969, and are still members of that league, in Division One. During that time, they have always been members of the lowest division of the league, which has successively been known as Division Three, Division Two and Division One. The club has twice won the Division One Championship (in 1977-78 and 1979–80),[2] but their ground has not been sufficiently developed to enable them to take promotion to the Premier Division. The lack of facilities at their ground is also the reason they have not been able to participate in any F.A. national competitions.
Chenecks beat Tam O'Shanter from Coventry to win the 1985 Daventry Charity Cup final and in 1994 they were Northants Junior Cup runners-up, losing 1-0 to Vanaid.[1] In 1996 they lost 4-0 to Cogenhoe in the Daventry Charity Cup final having beaten Southern League Rothwell Town 1-0 away en route to the final.
In the 2009–10 season the club won its first major honor in the last twenty years under the guidance of Andy Marks when they picked up the Junior Cup with a 1 - 0 victory over local rivals Silbey at Nene Park. The 2010–11 season started with a change at the helm when rookie manager Graham Cottle accepted the vacant manager's position.
During 2014-15 season the club installed floodlights at the ground, the inclusion of other ground improvements (such as a turnstile) allowed them to compete in F.A. national competitions.
The 2015-16 season, under the continued management of Graham Cottle, Chenecks finished as runners up in the United Counties Division 1. As ground improvements (driven by the current Chairman Eddie Slinn) had been made during the season promotion was granted to the United Counties League Premier Division for the first time in the clubs history. The promotion also meant that they were allowed to play in the FA Cup for the first time.
2017-18, after a 2nd stable season in the United Counties Premier Division Graham Cottle decided to end his 8 year reign at the club. finishing as one of the most successful managers at the club to date. His replacement for the new season has come from within the club as Eddie Slinn decided to promote reserve team manager Ben Foster into the role.
Honours
- United Counties League Division One:[2]
- Winners: 1977-78, 1979–80
- Runners-up: 1978-79, 2015-16
- Daventry Charity Cup[1]
- Winners: 1985
- Runners-up: 1996
- Northants Junior Cup[1]
- Winners: 2010, 2014, 2015
- Runners-up: 1994
Records
- Best FA Cup performance:
- Pre-Qualifying round, 2017-18
- Best FA Vase performance:
- First round, 2016-17
Current players
Goalkeepers
- Bartosz Wiciak
Defenders
- Calvin Budd
- Simon Underwood
- Joe Lewington
- George Clarke
- Chris Dorans
Midfielders
- Luke Tolworthy
- Ben Lewington
- Adam Spalding
- Ash Ogden
- Liam Butcher
- Sam Watkins
- Jake Nagy
- Wayne Richardson (player/coach)
Forwards
- Adam Hancock
- Ben Diamond
- Ben Foster
- Brandon Williams
Former players
1. Players that have played/managed in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club.