Daventry Town FC
Communications Park
Browns Road
Daventry
Northants
NV11 4NS
01327 311239
Ground Number: 237
Tuesday 8th January 2013
Daventry Town 0-0 Aylesbury
Southern League D1 Central
Tuesday 8th January 2013
Daventry Town 0-0 Aylesbury
Southern League D1 Central
DAVENTRY TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 1886 as a local club playing in the Northampton Town League, where they won Division 1 in 1976. The club moved up to the Northants Combination in 1987, winning Division 1 and the Premier Division in successive seasons. This was enough for promotion to the United Counties Division 1, where the success continued with the title won in their first two seasons. They had to wait until the second title win to gain promotion to the Premier Division due to ground issues. Despite a 5th place finish in 1993, they were relegated back to Division 1 the following season. Daventry would have to wait until 2001 for promotion back when they won their third United Counties D1 title. The club finished bottom of the table in 2004 but were given a reprieve following a reorganisation of the Non-League pyramid. However, the relation trap door opened the following season after another bottom finish.
The club was threatened with extinction in 2005/06, when the Elderstubbs clubhouse and changing rooms were destroyed by fire. However, a sponsorship deal with mobile phone company Go Mobile enabled the club to survive. United Counties D1 title number four came in 2008 and this time, Daventry were more successful at the higher level. The United Counties Premier title followed in 2010 and the club would spend six seasons at step 4. In 2011, they finished 3rd in the Southern D1 Central and made the playoff final after beating Biggleswade Town 2-0 in the semis, only to lose by the same scoreline to Hitchin Town. They also finished 4th in 2014 but lost 1-0 to Kettering Town in the playoff semis. In May 2016, Daventry Town resigned from the Northern Premier League due to financial problems and were later placed in the United Counties D1. They won their 5th title in 2017 and their second Premier Division title two years later. Daventry did well during their two seasons back in the Southern D1 Central but these were both cancelled due to the pandemic. A switch to the NPL D1 Midlands saw results decline, and the club was relegated to the United Counties Premier South in 2023 and has had two top-half finishes since.
The year 2013 saw Daventry Town's best-ever FA Cup run. They beat Hillingdon Borough, Berkhamsted, Belper Town, Grays Athletic and Hartley Wintney to reach the FA Cup 1st Round. They were drawn away to Chesterfield from EFL League Two, and ended up losing the tie 2–0. The same year, they reached the FA Trophy 1st Round and also have two FA Vase 5th Round appearances to their name. Local honours include the Northants Combination Knockout Cup in 1988, the United Counties Knockout Cup in 2019, two Northamptonshire FA Junior Cups, the Northamptonshire FA Lower Junior Cup in 1991, the Northamptonshire FA Hillier Cup in 2014, two Daventry Charity Cups, the Buckingham Charity Cup in 2018 and the Taygold Cup in 1989.
Famous players to pull on the Daventry Town shirt include Lee Hendrie and Mark Kinsella, amongst many others. The club used to have town rivals, Daventry United, who were established as Ford Sports Daventry in 1968. However, after the motor firm demolished the ground in favour of a factory, the club folded, having been located a few hundred yards from Daventry Town's current home. The old stand stayed in Northamptonshire, having been purchased by Kettering Town to aid their groundshare at Burton Park Wanderers. The Northamptonshire town of Daventry has a population of just over 28,000. Daventry once had its own railway station on the former London and North Western Railway branch line from Weedon to Leamington Spa, which opened in 1888 and was closed on 15 September 1958 and is now demolished. Daventry is now one of the largest towns in England without its own railway station with the nearest being in Long Buckby, four miles away.
For my first new ground of 2013, I was off to Daventry Town v Aylesbury, again with my mate Anwar. He is actually an Aylesbury fan, so it would be nice to see a team that I could get some extra knowledge of. I already knew of 2 of their players - former Wycombe striker Craig Faulconbridge who came to the club with a big reputation after being top scorer at Wrexham the previous season. But he never lived up to his big billing and eventually departed after a bad run of injuries. The other was James Faulkner, also for Wycombe, but only as a youth teamer and occasional reserve team player. I had actually been to Daventry's ground before, when on the way to a Wycombe game and had been impressed with the venue. It was also a good game to go to, as after today, I would only have 4 grounds to tick to complete the Southern League Division 1 Central. My finances had received a boost with a nice profit on the Groundtastic magazines that I had bought at Yeovil, but that was knocked off with getting caught speeding on the way back from Hornchurch which meant I would have to pay the best part of £100 for a 'driver improvement course' with a sizeable commission going towards the Thames Valley Police 2013 Christmas party I would imagine. But it was my own fault really, I knew the camera was there and just kept pace with the car in front, being clocked at 35MPH, the very lowest speed that they can 'do' you for.
As per usual, I was off on Tuesday. I had been looking forward to getting my new TV, but sadly had relied on my parents being in to receive it as it was due to come when I was out at the game. But they forgot and had plans elsewhere, so I had to reschedule it. I could have cancelled tonight, but was looking forward to it and was in no rush anyway, as the TV I have at the moment is still doing its job well enough. I spent the day getting parcels ready to send on eBay, going down the post office at lunchtime before going down to Wycombe for a quick pint with a mate from work. I had planned to meet Anwar just after 5, so after coming back home and chilling for a bit, I set off at 4.30, getting to Aylesbury bang on time. The journey to Daventry took just under an hour and a half, with traffic and slow-moving roads. We got to the ground about 6.45 and so with time to spare, headed off into town to find something to eat. We found a Chinese and got a small bag of chips each, which in truth were pretty massive and filled us right up. They were good chips too, only hindered by a complete lack of condiments. After eating them, we went back to the ground and got in about 7.10, each getting of only eight programmes that they had printed. At £1 it was just about the only thing that came cheap, as the entry, the club shop and the tea bar were all a bit more than you would expect at this level. We spent pre-game chatting to some Aylesbury fans, getting some pictures and checking my phone, though the data signal was a bit iffy, especially for a club that had loads of mobile phones advertised, thanks to one of the clubs sponsors.
Though the game finished 0-0, it was a fairly decent game to watch. Daventry dominated, though both sides struggled to create chances despite lots of attacking intent on a damp pitch. Daventry hit the woodwork twice from open play, and then again from the penalty spot after a player was felled in the area. Aylesbury keeper Simeon Charles played a blinder, though ex-Wanderer Craig Faulconbridge looked like the years had caught up with him, making a few errors. The visitors actually had a chance to take all three points late on, Leon Osie going down in the area, but the appeals were waved away and the game stayed goalless. After the game, the journey home was much quicker, dropping off Anwar at 10:50 and getting back myself 25 minutes later. Though I was wide awake and didn't manage to get to sleep till 2am, not good when you have to wake up at 4.
Though the game finished 0-0, it was a fairly decent game to watch. Daventry dominated, though both sides struggled to create chances despite lots of attacking intent on a damp pitch. Daventry hit the woodwork twice from open play, and then again from the penalty spot after a player was felled in the area. Aylesbury keeper Simeon Charles played a blinder, though ex-Wanderer Craig Faulconbridge looked like the years had caught up with him, making a few errors. The visitors actually had a chance to take all three points late on, Leon Osie going down in the area, but the appeals were waved away and the game stayed goalless. After the game, the journey home was much quicker, dropping off Anwar at 10:50 and getting back myself 25 minutes later. Though I was wide awake and didn't manage to get to sleep till 2am, not good when you have to wake up at 4.
THE GROUND
COMMUNICATIONS PARK is a typical new non-league ground with just the metal style stands for cover. In this case, a small bit of cover on the far side and 2 smart looking stands with yellow seats either side of the clubhouse. The rest is open standing. Talking of the clubhouse, it is as smart and as modern as you will find anywhere and has the usual range of drinks you would expect to find in such a place. The ground is pretty isolated, so it's probably your only choice for a drink nearby. This also houses the club shop, and although there were no old programmes, there was a good range of merchandise, albeit expensive, for example, a scarf cost £10.
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