Brackley Town F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Brackley Town


fullname = Brackley Town Football Club
nickname = The Saints
founded = 1890
ground = St. James Park
Brackley
capacity = 1,500
chairman = flagicon|England Sara Crannage
manager = flagicon|England Phil Lines
league = Southern League Premier Division
position = Southern League
Premier Division, 8th
season = 2007-08
pattern_la1=_red_hoops|pattern_b1=_whitehoops|pattern_ra1=_red_hoops
leftarm1=ffffff|body1=ff0000|rightarm1=ffffff|shorts1=ff0000|socks1=ff0000

pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=f1ef00|body2=f1ef00|rightarm2=f1ef00|shorts2=f1ef00|socks2=f1ef00

Brackley Town F.C. are a football club based in Brackley, England, who play their home games at St. James Park. They were established in 1890. They have never reached the FA Cup First Round proper, their best season in the competition coming in 2006-07, when they were knocked out in the Fourth Qualifying Round (the round immediately prior to the First Round proper) by Havant & Waterlooville. However, they have won the Hellenic League twice in their history. They are currently playing in the Southern League Premier Division.

History

Brackley Town FC was formed in 1890 and were initially a prominent side in the area, but fell away, with most of the period before World War II being spent in the Oxfordshire Senior Football League, before a switch to the North Bucks and District League in the post war years. In 1968 they took a step down the ladder by joining the Banbury & District League.

In 1974 they moved back to the North Bucks League and also moved to their current St James Park ground in Churchill Way. A small clubhouse and changing rooms were built and by 1977 the club had stepped up to the Hellenic League. They stayed in Division One until 1983 when they switched to the United Counties League, where they won the Division One title at the first attempt. Although they were Premier Division runners-up in 1988-89 their time in the division was generally spent near the foot of the table, with three consecutive last-place finishes between 1992 and 1994.

In 1994 the club moved back to the Hellenic League. After a mediocre first season, Phil Lines took over as manager and led them to the Premier Division title in 1997 and with it promotion to the Southern League, however they only managed two seasons at that level during which, with finances at full stretch, the club was forced into liquidation in February 1999 with debts of over £100,000. The club was saved from extinction but demoted back into the Hellenic League.

Despite a speedy turnover of managers they consistently finished in the Hellenic League's top 10 and were promoted back to the Southern League after winning the title in 2004. Phil Lines returned in February 2006 and guided the club to a third place finish, culminating in defeat in the last few minutes of the play-off final for promotion to the Southern League Premier Division.

In 2006-07, Brackley finished top of the Southern League Division One Midlands. In the 2007-08 season, they competed in the Southern League Premier Division. Manager Phil Lines, however, became director of football, and Roger Ashby became the new manager for the new season. Ashby was soon sacked by the club replaced by former player David Oldfield in a player/manager role. Oldfield departed Brackley Town at the end of the season to join Peterborough United, after which Phil Lines came back as manager.

Current first team squad

Honours

*Southern League
**Division One Midlands Champions 2006-07
*Hellenic League
**Premier Division Champions 1996-97, 2003-04
*United Counties League
**Division One Champions 1983-84

Club records

*Best league performance: 1st in Southern League Midland Division, 2006-07
*Best FA Cup performance: 4th qualifying round, 2006-07
*Best FA Trophy performance: 1st round, 1998-99 and 2004-05
*Best FA Vase performance: 3rd round, 1987-88

Ground

Brackley play at St. James Park. It currently has an inadequate stand. However, the club is planning to improve ground facilities. The following improvements are planned for the start of the 2007/08 season:

* A 200-seater stand
* 2 extra turnstiles
* female officials changing room
* outside ladies and disabled toilets

ources

*fchd|name=Brackley Town|id=BRACKLET

External links

* [http://www.brackleytownfc.com/ Website]