Formed as Rothwell Town Swifts
in 1895, the club were founder members of
the Northamptonshire Senior League, and
finished runners-up on three occasions before
winning the title in 1899/1900, as well
as the league the club also captured the
Northants Senior Cup for the first time.
The early part of the 20th century saw the
club endure financial hardship, switching
between senior and junior football before
commencing a twelve-year run in the Northants
League until 1933, achieving a highest placing
of fourth in 1930. In this period the only
silverware lifted was the Senior Cup in
1924. The club reverted to the Kettering
League, which they won in 1937. In 1948
they returned to senior football. Two seasons
followed in the Leicestershire Senior League
before becoming founder members of the United
Counties League Second Division in 1950.
Rothwell soon emerged as a force, winning
League Cup, and title honours in 1953 and
1954. Promotion to Division One was achieved
in 1955. After one season in Division One,
they moved to the Central Alliance. Following
their return to UCL football in 1961, Rothwell
finished runners-up in 1964/65. The early
70’s saw the side finish runners up
on two consecutive occasions, 1970 and 1971,
some consolation being gained by lifting
the League Cup in 1971 and 1972.
After many seasons spent in mid-table,
the Bones (the nickname derives from the
bone crypt in the town’s Holy Trinity
Church, one of only three in the country)
became one of the most consistent teams
in the UCL. Under the guidance of former
player, Jack Murray, the club finished second
three times between 1988 and 1991, and gained
third place in 1992 as well as winning the
League Cup for the first time in twenty
years. In a memorable 1992/93 season the
Bones became only the second team to win
the UCL ‘treble’, by winning
the league championship, League Cup and
the League Benevolent Cup. The club applied
for promotion to the Beazer Homes League,
but this deferred to allow the club to make
the necessary ground improvements. Despite
a faltering start, just one defeat in the
last 27 league games saw Rothwell retain
the UCL title and the Benevolent Cup. During
the 1993/94 season a ground-upgrading plan
was carried out, culminating in Rothwell
joining the Beazer Homes League Midland
Division.
In their first two seasons of Southern
League football, Rothwell finished in eighth
place. In 1996 the club won the Northants
Senior Cup for the fifth time, beating GM
Vauxhall Conference neighbours, Kettering
Town, 5-0 in the semi final, and BHL Premier
Division winners, Rushden and Diamonds,
in the final. The following season saw the
club finish in second place behind Tamworth,
and gain promotion to the Dr Martens Premier
Division.
Following further ground improvements the
club began playing at its highest level
of football in its history. Rothwell’s
stay in the top flight lasted three seasons,
with relegation confirmed in 1999/00. The
relegation led to the resignation of Jack
Murray, and ended a 24-year association
with the club. Former league player Nick
Platnauer, Platnauer enjoyed limited success
in his time with the club before he left
in late 2004. He was replaced by Dave Williams.
Williams’ first job was to keep the
team in the Southern League, a goal that
was achieved by using much of the clubs
youth and reserve players. Several of the
current players made their debuts in this
season and it gave them invaluable experience
at this level.
2005/06 saw a great improvement with the
club claiming the scalp of Nuneaton Borough
in the FA Trophy and finishing just outside
the play-offs.
After a stuttering start to 2006/07 the
committee took the decision to remove Williams.
Ex Portsmouth and Everton player Alan Biley
was appointed as caretaker manager and two
weeks later he was appointed to the position
on a permanent basis along with his assistant
Ian Jackson. Biley led the Bones to tenth
place but resigned from his position shortly
after the season finished. To establish
some continuity and stability Ian Jackson
was quickly appointed manager. A promising
pre-season and opening two games were followed
by a winless streak in the league that lasted
two months. A good end to the season drew
Rothwell away from the relegation spaces
but with 26 league defeats the writing was
on the wall for Jackson.
At the close of the season the committee
removed Jackson and appointed former Corby
manager Rob Dunion as the new manager. Rob
brought in his own backroom staff and started
to pull on his knowledge of local football.
Rob is fully aware of the financial limitations
of a small club like Rothwell but he has
previously achieved great success in similar
circumstances with Corby. Through pre season
he and his team have worked hard on assembling
a squad, mainly using players from the area
surrounding Rothwell, with a blend of youth
and experience which should give the Rothwell
faithful something to smile about.
|
