CLUB GUIDE: Boston United

Full name: Boston United Football Club

Nickname(s): The Pilgrims

Founded: 1933

Ground: Staffsmart Stadium (York Street),Boston Lincolnshire

Capacity: 6,645

Boston United Football Club are an English football team based in Boston, Lincolnshire, currently playing in Football League Two.

The club was formed in 1933 as a successor to Boston F.C., and had a moderate amount of success in various leagues, including the Midland League and Southern League. They were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968, of which they were champions four times, and of the Alliance Premier League (now the Football Conference) in 1979.

Boston finished third in the Conference in 1988-89, but were unable to build on this and were relegated to the NPL in 1993. They transferred again to the Southern League, winning the title in 2000, and went fully professional in 2001. In their first season as a professional club, Boston won the Conference and were promoted to the Football League.

However, in the wake of their promotion, Boston’s manager, Steve Evans, and former chairman, Pat Malkinson, were charged with breaking the Football Association’s rules over the registration of players. Both men received bans from the FA, and the club were fined and docked four points from their first season in the League. This angered some, especially at Conference runners-up Dagenham & Redbridge, who believed that any points deduction should have applied to the previous season, which would have meant Dagenham being promoted instead. Despite the penalty, Boston survived their first season in the Third Division, finishing in 15th place.

Their main rivals are Lincoln City.

The club’s board is attempting to move to a new stadium and fans are in the process of setting up ‘BUFCST’ a Supporters’ Trust. Boston United are one of the last clubs in the league to form a supporters trust.

The Ground

Boston United play at The Staffsmart Stadium the name recently changed from the York Street Stadium. Despite being close to many a heart due to the traditional look and central town location, chairman Jon Sotnick has claimed it not to be up to league standard and called for a new ground, of which the planning applications are to be discussed in June 2006.

The ground has a total capacity of 6,645, (all covered). The stands are as follows:

The Staffsmart Stand

This is the only all seater stand in the ground. It holds 1323 people. The Directors seating is situated here.

The York Street Stand

This is possibly a unique stand in football. At the lower level, there are rows of terrracing. At the higher level, which can be accessed by a case of stairs, there are some benched seating. It is situated behind a goal. This stand holds 1435 people. The Announcer and P.A are situated in this stand.

The Spayne Road Terrace

This is a remarkably low terrace, so much so that the roofs of houses can be seen over it from the Staffsmart Stand. It holds 2064 people.

The Town End

This is a reasonably large terrace behind the goal, with good acoustics. It is allocated to away fans, and it’s acoustics allow just a few hundred fans to create a signifcant amount of noise. It holds 1821 people.

Boston United Trivia

Boston United frequently feature in the Sky Sports programme Soccer AM, where the team are portrayed to be the only United States team in the English football league system. Highlights of the game are shown in the feature called ‘Boston Goals’ with typical American sports commentary by Mike Schweinburger and Randy Wakeman III.