Corby Town FC
Steel Park
Rockingham Road
Corby
Northamptonshire
NN17 2AE
Ground: 81
Date: Monday 22nd April 2019
Corby Town 3-2 Yaxley
Southern League Division 1 Central
Attendance: 386 (official)
Corby Town FC - History
Corby Town were founded in 1948, taking the place of the original Stewarts & Lloyds team in the United Counties League. The club won consecutive league titles in the 1950/51 and 1951/52 seasons before transferring to the Midland League. Their first two seasons in this league saw them finish 2nd and 3rd respectively, before slumping down to mid-table for a couple of seasons. After a further two seasons in this league, the club transferred to the Southern League's North-Western Division, before being placed in Division 1 the following season (the 1959/60 season).
Their first season in Division 1 saw the club finish third-from-bottom, but the next few seasons saw them rise into the top half. After a sixth-place finish in the 1961/62 season, the club applied for election to the Football League but were unsuccessful, failing to receive a single vote. They applied again the following season after finishing 7th, but again received no votes and were unsuccessful. In the 1964/65 season, the club finished 4th in Division 1 to earn promotion to the Premier Division and saw them once again apply unsuccessfully for election to the Football League.
In the club's first season in the Premier Division, they finished 12th and again applied for election to the Football League: they were once again unsuccessful, but did receive a single vote this time. The 1966/67 season - which saw the club finish 16th in the league - was the final time the club applied for election to the Football League, and once again they received no votes. The following season, the club finished third-from-bottom and were relegated back to Division 1.
After three seasons in Division 1, restructuring saw the club placed in Division 1 North. The club spent eight years in this league, intially starting strong with top half finishes but steadily sliding down the table until they finished bottom in the 1978/79 season. The following season saw the club placed in the Midland Division due to restructuring, and again the club finished bottom. The next two seasons saw the club earn respectable mid-table finishes, before further restructuring saw them placed in the Premier Division.
After eight inconsistent years in the Premier Division, the club finished third-from-bottom in the 1989/90 season and were relegated to the Midland Division, before finishing as runners-up to bounce back immediately. This was followed by a couple of high finishes in the Premier Division - including a 3rd-place finish in the 1992/93 season - but this success was short-lived and the club finished bottom in the 1994/95 season to drop back down to the Midland Division.
After three seasons of bottom-three finishes in this league, restructuring saw the club placed in the Southern League's new Southern Division, which was renamed to the Eastern Division after one season. The club spent five seasons in this league before being transferred to the Western Division for the 2004/05 season, before being transferred back again the following season. The 2005/06 season saw the club finish as runners-up to earn promotion back to the Premier Division.
After initially struggling in the Premier Division (the club finished third-from-bottom in their first season back), the club soon rose up the table and won the title in the 2008/09 season to earn promotion to the Conference North. The club spent four seasons at this level, finishing 6th in their first season but steadily falling down the table before suffering relegation at the end of the 2012/13 season.
After two seasons back in the Southern League Premier Division, the title was won again and the club returned to the National League North. However, the club finished bottom and were immediately relegated back to Step 3, this time joining the Northern Premier League's Premier Division. The 2016/17 season was even more disastrous for the club, as they finished in the bottom four and were relegated to Division 1 South. The club then finished 9th in the 2017/18 season before being transferred to Division 1 Central of the Southern League. This season, the club have secured a play-off place as they look to return to Step 3.
In the FA Cup, the club's best run saw the reach the 3rd Round in the 1965/66 season, beating King's Lynn, Burton Albion and Luton Town before losing to Plymouth Argyle. As for the FA Trophy, the club have twice progressed as far as the 3rd Round, most recently in the 2009/10 season when they beat Alfreton Town, Farsley Celtic and Stalybridge Celtic before losing to York City.
My Visit
This was another Yaxley away match that I had pencilled in as soon as the fixture list came out at the start of the season. In this case, though, I had asked my dad if he wanted to come to the game with me on the supporters' coach for a change, and he initially assented when I asked him about it last Wednesday. On Friday, I texted Jeff to book two seats for the coach, but yesterday morning my dad texted me to tell me he had a migraine so wouldn't be able to come.
Over the course of the prior week, I had also received word from the club that Corby were expecting us to wear shirts and ties into their boardroom, so I was hoping that the weather would cool down ever so slightly compared to yesterday. However, as I learned while walking down to the ground to catch the coach, this was not the case, meaning that I was going to be uncomfortably hot all day.
I left the house at around 12:10pm to walk down to the ground, arriving 25 minutes later and just after the coach had arrived. I got in and immediately took a seat, before changing into smarter shoes for later in the boardroom (I would have worn those shoes on the way, but they're not very comfortable to walk in for prolonged periods of time). The coach then left at 12:50pm and, after taking a wrong turn and taking us down the scenic route, we arrived at Corby's ground at around 1:35pm.
We then headed into the boardroom for some pre-match hospitality, before I then headed out at around 2pm to do my circuit of ground photos. After this was done, I headed back into the boardroom for another cup of tea, before heading up to take a seat high up in the main stand to watch the game. At half-time, we got served some food in the form of pie, chips and beans; it was certainly a surprise to be served this at half-time rather than full-time, but I certainly won't complain as it was good food.
While the two sides' respective recent form filled me with optimism that we could pick up another good result in this game, Corby's position right at the top of the league meant that I was taking nothing for granted and would have been more than happy with a point.
Here's my report on a match that should have seen us pick up at least a point, but saw us punished for a lack of clinicality in the final third:
We should have taken the lead after 2 minutes of this game, Matt Sparrow breaking forward at pace and passing across the box to Dalton Harris, who somehow shot well over the bar when all he had to do was tap in to score. However, all was forgiven a couple of minutes later when he did find the net: Sparrow broke again and crossed to Harris, who made no mistake this time and finished with a header. Corby started to wake up a little after this and had their first chance after 11 minutes when one of their strikers was one-on-one with Aaron Butcher but shot well over the bar. Six minutes later, though, Butcher had to react quickly to save a goal-bound shot after the ball was allowed to bounce in the box.
As the game continued to ebb and flow between the two teams, we had two chances in two minutes to double our lead, but failed to finish on both occasions: in the 21st minute, Dan Cotton shot audaciously from range, with Dan George in the Corby goal punching clear; a minute later, Sparrow once again broke away and cut inside, attempting to either shoot or square the ball to Cotton but missing both. For much of the rest of the half, Corby upped the pressure and had us pinned back in our half, only occasionally letting us break forward on the counter as they pursued an equaliser. They eventually got it in the 38th minute, a brief lapse of concentration leaving the ball loose in the box, allowing Stephen Diggin to get a curling shot away that gave Butcher no chance. 1-1 at half-time.
Perhaps due to the heat, both teams were a little slow out of the blocks at the start of the second half, but we produced the first good chance in the 49th minute as a Butterworth through ball set Sparrow through, but his shot was wide again. The next ten minutes saw Corby attempt to regain control of the game, but while they continued to pile the pressure on they weren't producing many clear-cut chances either. In fact, it was us who next came close to scoring again just after the hour mark: a Cotton free kick was floated into the box from 30 yards out and bounced awkwardly, with Ross Watson attempting to guide it into the net but failing to get a touch on the ball.
This once again woke Corby up and they continued to bombard our box with attack after attack after attack, eventually taking the lead in the 74th minute: Butcher cleared straight to a Corby attacker and, after some unsuccessful attempts to clear, Jordon Crawford curled a shot from the edge of the box past Butcher, his finish almost perfectly mimicking Diggin's first half goal. Three minutes later, though, we equalised with an unusual goal: Frazer Garner took a long throw into the box and Watson attempted to shoot when it reached the floor, with Corby defender Sam Warburton blocking the shot under pressure from Sparrow and placing it into his own net. However, Corby reclaimed the lead four minutes later: Elliot Sandy rattled a shot against the crossbar and it then bounced off Butcher's back and in. We then brought Charley Sanders on as we chased an equaliser, but ultimately it wasn't to be and we lost 3-2.
Overall, this was a frustrating game for us: we put in an excellent performance against a promotion-chasing side and deserved at least a point, but our finishing wasn't clinical enough and we were made to pay for it. Against the average team in this league, that performance would have seen us win - and it could and should have at least seen us draw today - but the top teams have that extra clinicality and that extra bit of luck sometimes that makes the difference. Still, aside from a couple of disappointing defensive lapses, this performance was most certainly nothing to be ashamed of.
MOTM: Joe Butterworth (a composed performance in the centre of park, playing numerous crucial through balls, breaking up attacks and constantly keeping the ball moving for us)
We should have taken the lead after 2 minutes of this game, Matt Sparrow breaking forward at pace and passing across the box to Dalton Harris, who somehow shot well over the bar when all he had to do was tap in to score. However, all was forgiven a couple of minutes later when he did find the net: Sparrow broke again and crossed to Harris, who made no mistake this time and finished with a header. Corby started to wake up a little after this and had their first chance after 11 minutes when one of their strikers was one-on-one with Aaron Butcher but shot well over the bar. Six minutes later, though, Butcher had to react quickly to save a goal-bound shot after the ball was allowed to bounce in the box.
As the game continued to ebb and flow between the two teams, we had two chances in two minutes to double our lead, but failed to finish on both occasions: in the 21st minute, Dan Cotton shot audaciously from range, with Dan George in the Corby goal punching clear; a minute later, Sparrow once again broke away and cut inside, attempting to either shoot or square the ball to Cotton but missing both. For much of the rest of the half, Corby upped the pressure and had us pinned back in our half, only occasionally letting us break forward on the counter as they pursued an equaliser. They eventually got it in the 38th minute, a brief lapse of concentration leaving the ball loose in the box, allowing Stephen Diggin to get a curling shot away that gave Butcher no chance. 1-1 at half-time.
Perhaps due to the heat, both teams were a little slow out of the blocks at the start of the second half, but we produced the first good chance in the 49th minute as a Butterworth through ball set Sparrow through, but his shot was wide again. The next ten minutes saw Corby attempt to regain control of the game, but while they continued to pile the pressure on they weren't producing many clear-cut chances either. In fact, it was us who next came close to scoring again just after the hour mark: a Cotton free kick was floated into the box from 30 yards out and bounced awkwardly, with Ross Watson attempting to guide it into the net but failing to get a touch on the ball.
This once again woke Corby up and they continued to bombard our box with attack after attack after attack, eventually taking the lead in the 74th minute: Butcher cleared straight to a Corby attacker and, after some unsuccessful attempts to clear, Jordon Crawford curled a shot from the edge of the box past Butcher, his finish almost perfectly mimicking Diggin's first half goal. Three minutes later, though, we equalised with an unusual goal: Frazer Garner took a long throw into the box and Watson attempted to shoot when it reached the floor, with Corby defender Sam Warburton blocking the shot under pressure from Sparrow and placing it into his own net. However, Corby reclaimed the lead four minutes later: Elliot Sandy rattled a shot against the crossbar and it then bounced off Butcher's back and in. We then brought Charley Sanders on as we chased an equaliser, but ultimately it wasn't to be and we lost 3-2.
Overall, this was a frustrating game for us: we put in an excellent performance against a promotion-chasing side and deserved at least a point, but our finishing wasn't clinical enough and we were made to pay for it. Against the average team in this league, that performance would have seen us win - and it could and should have at least seen us draw today - but the top teams have that extra clinicality and that extra bit of luck sometimes that makes the difference. Still, aside from a couple of disappointing defensive lapses, this performance was most certainly nothing to be ashamed of.
MOTM: Joe Butterworth (a composed performance in the centre of park, playing numerous crucial through balls, breaking up attacks and constantly keeping the ball moving for us)
Though it was certainly a disappointing result and frustrating game for us, this was a reasonable day out on the whole. After the match, we headed to the bar rather than the boardroom as we waited for everyone to be ready for departure. This gave us time to watch the first half-hour of the match between Brentford and Leeds. As this was ongoing, I got into a chat with our striker Tom Waumsley - who happens to be a Leeds fan - about the match and the Championship promotion race.
Eventually, the coach left the ground at 5:45pm and arrived back at our ground 40 minutes later. I was then going to walk back home (and made it to the top of Holme Road in the process), but our keeper Aaron Butcher was kind enough to offer me a lift, so I ended up back in the house at 6:35pm, having camembert for dinner before getting to work on my match report and photos.
When I was double-checking Kintbury's fixture list this morning, I noticed that they moved the match I intended to watch for this season's final groundhop (I'll be taking in Yaxley's final game of the season at home this Saturday rather than groundhopping) to the Tuesday night. So, I had a look all over to find another possible match to finish the season with, and found one reasonable option: on the 4th of May, I'll be visiting Enfield Town's ground to watch a Step 7 game between New Salamis and Letchworth Garden City Eagles, the latter of whom look set to win the title while the former look set to be promoted to Step 6 (due to the latter being refused an extension to allow them to meet the ground grading criteria for promotion).
The Ground
Having been opened in 2011 adjacent to the club's old ground, Steel Park is a fairly new build but, having been used as high up as Step 2 in recent years, it's better than most others in this league. On the near side is an impressive 577-seater main stand, which offers impressive elevated views of the entire ground (and with no support pillars in the way to hinder the view). The only other area of cover is a large covered terrace behind the far goal which runs most of the width of the pitch and could probably provide cover for at least 500 people.
Other than this, the rest of the ground is open hard standing but there is still reasonable amounts of room for further expansion, although given that this ground was sufficient for Step 2 in the past it probably doesn't need much if any upgrading for the time being. The boardroom is situated in the bottom of the main stand, and other than that there's a club shop and tea bar on the near side, as well as a further refreshment's stand behind the near goal.
Photos
