Salisbury City F.C.
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| Full name | Salisbury City Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Whites | ||
| Founded | 1947 (as Salisbury) | ||
| Ground | The Raymond McEnhill Stadium, Salisbury (Capacity: 3,500) |
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| Chairman |  Neville Beal |
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| Manager | Nick Holmes |
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| League | Conference National | ||
| 2008–09 | Conference National, 16th | ||
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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[1].
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[edit] History
The club was founded as Salisbury F.C. in 1947. A previous Salisbury City Football club existed during the late 19th century, and played in the Southern League Second Division between 1906 and 1911, but the current club does not consider itself to be related.[2]
The current 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[3], 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[4]. 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[4], 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.
As well as winning promotion, 2006-07 saw Salisbury embark on one of their most successful FA Cup runs, reaching the 2nd Round for only the second time in the club's history, where they were drawn against Nottingham Forest. In front of a record attendance of 3,100, Salisbury held Forest to a 1-1 draw live on BBC One.[5] The replay at the City Ground saw Forest progress into the 3rd round with a 2-0 victory, which was broadcast live on Sky. [6]
Salisbury's first season in the Conference National saw them finish a credible twelfth after a run of several wins in the second half of the season. This success continued into the 2008/09 season when they hit top spot in early September. However, this run soon came to an end when they suffered many injuries which saw their form slip [7]. Then an appeal to raise £100,000 in 2 weeks was asked of the fans and the city, of which they could only raise £33,000 [8]. This wasn't enough to keep the club going with the squad they had which meant cuts were taken. In October 2008 many of Salisbury City's top players went on loan in order for the club to cut costs. In April 2009 the club was put up for sale for £1 in a bid to attract new investors to help the club survive [9]. However the future of the club remains unclear after club announced it has been unable to find a buyer at that price [10].
[edit] Ground
In 1997 Salisbury City moved to a purpose built stadium at Old Sarum, named after the then chairman. The Raymond McEnhill Stadium's capacity officially stands at 3,500 (although it is technically able to hold 5,000 [11]) , with covered accommodation for 2,247 fans.
A then 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, with 3,100 attending the 1-1 draw.
The record league attendance figure of 2,633 was set on 19 January 2008 when Salisbury City played Torquay United, drawing 0-0. [12]
[edit] Squad
[edit] Staff
- Manager: Nick Holmes
- Assistant Manager: Barry Blankley
- Player Coach: Tommy Widdrington
- Physios: Conrad Parrott and Kevin Bushby
- Football in the Community Officer: Darrell Clarke and Mikey Harris
[edit] Current squad
- As of 13 June 2009.[13]
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[edit] Club honours
- Conference South Division Play-off Winners 2006-07
- [[Southern Football
[edit] References
- ^ The latest sport news from the Salisbury Journal
- ^ Salisbury Journal - History of Salisbury City Football Club
- ^ Last-minute reprieve for Whites
- ^ a b Nick returns to take over Whites
- ^ BBC News
- ^ BBC News
- ^ Injury Crisis
- ^ £100,000 in 2 weeks
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ BBC News - McEnhill gets green light
- ^ Salisbury Journal
- ^ "Salisbury City". FootballSquads. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2007-2008/confprem/salisb.htm. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- Salisbury Journal Sport
- History of club
- BBC Wiltshire - News reports from BBC Wiltshire
- 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
