Scarborough

Scarborough FC was a football club representing the town of the same name who were formed in 1879, originally as Scarborough Cricketers FC as a way of staying fit for the cricket players during the winter months. 

The team played their games at Scarborough Cricket Club on North Marine Road before moving to the nearby Recreation Ground where Woodall Avenue now stands.

The team initially played in local football before being accepted into the Northern League, after two failed attempts, and being placed in Division Two for the 1898-99 season. At the same time the club moved across town to play at the Athletic Ground on Seamer Road.

In the 1909-10 season the club competed in the FA Amateur Cup. One of the club’s players had been ill and a fundraising game had assisted him with his treatment. ‘Boro’ defeated Preston Winckley, but their opponents were awarded the game as the FA had deemed the raising of money meant that the club were professional.

The following season saw Scarborough join the Yorkshire Combination; where they finished as runners-up in their debut season, before reverting to the Northern League in 1914-15. The club joined the Yorkshire League in 1926-27 for one season before turning professional and becoming members of the Midland League. The reserve side joined the Yorkshire League in 1928.

After finishing as runners-up in the Midland League in 1927-28, Scarborough were crowned as champions in 1929-30. In the 1938-39 season Boro defeated North Shields, Darlington and Bromley in the FA Cup to set up a third round tie with Luton Town. The game ended 1-1 at the Athletic Ground in front of a crowd of 11,162 before the team bowed out 5-1 in the replay at Kenilworth Road.

The club left the Midland League over the War years; playing a comeback campaign in the Scarborough & District League, before returning for the 1946-47 season with George Hall in charge of the team. Harold Taylor, who took the side to the second round of the FA Cup, and then Frank Taylor had short spells as manager before former Leicester City player Reg Halton took over.

Throughout the 1950’s Scarborough regularly appeared in the first round of the FA Cup where they were defeated on a couple of occasions by Rhyl, as well as Mansfield Town, Wigan Athletic, York City and Bradford City with George Higgins taking over as manager in 1957 before Andy Smailes replaced him a couple of years later.

In 1960-61 ‘The Seasiders’ became founder members of Northern Counties League before making the move to the re-formed North Eastern League in 1962-63; becoming champions at the first attempt under popular manager Eddy Brown.

Photo: with thanks to Bob Lilliman.

The title persuaded the club to rejoin the Midland League for the following season, where they ended as runners-up. Former players Albert Franks and then Stuart Myers had spells as manager before the club directors looked after team affairs as Scarborough became founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968-69.

That debut season saw Boro narrowly escape relegation, which led the club to employ local lad Colin Appleton as player-manager after his successful spells as skipper of Leicester City and Charlton Athletic as well as a term as Barrow manager.

The 1960’s had seen Scarborough appear in the FA Cup first round on several occasions with memorable ties with Bradford Park Avenue, Crewe Alexandra and Altrincham. The 1964-65 season saw Boro defeat Bradford City before being defeated by Doncaster Rovers in a replay.

Photo: with thanks to Bob Lilliman.

The transformation under Appleton’s stewardship was instant as the team never left the top four positions for the following four seasons, coming close to lifting the title in 1968-69. However, it would be in the cup competitions that Scarborough gave their fans so many memorable moments throughout the 1970’s.

The team had reached the first round of the FA Cup going out to Workington and then Hartlepool United before the 1972-73 run saw a win against Oldham Athletic in a replay at the Athletic Ground before going out to Doncaster Rovers.

The FA Trophy of that season would be etched forever more in the clubs history. Wins against Macclesfield Town, Sandbach Ramblers, Mexborough Town and Chelmsford City set up a semi-final against Ashford Town of Kent at London Road, Peterborough in the final season of neutral grounds being used.

Appleton fired Boro to Wembley with a second half penalty. In the final against Wigan Athletic, Malcolm Leask put Scarborough ahead before being pegged back in stoppage time. Malcolm Thompson’s extra time goal won the match 2-1.

Appleton headed off at the end of the season to become the assistant to Lawrie McMenemy at Grimsby Town with Kenny Boyes taking charge of the team as Crewe Alexandra were put out of the FA Cup before the side were defeated away to Port Vale.

Former Hull City player Ken Houghton came in as player-manager in the summer of 1974 and made some wise signings. His side went on another FA Trophy run defeating Gateshead United, Boston United, Enfield, Wimbledon in front of over 8,000 fans at the Athletic Ground and then Bedford Town to face Matlock Town at Wembley.

The match saw Boro lay siege on the Matlock goal but they could not convert their chances, while the Derbyshire side scored from each of their attempts on target to win 4-0.

Appleton returned as manager in 1975 post season and set about more heroics. By now Boro were given exemption to begin their FA Cup campaign from the first round. Morecambe and Preston North End were defeated before eventual semi-finalists Crystal Palace ended the run, in front of the Match of the Day cameras.

However, any disappointment for Boro fans soon gave way in the FA Trophy. Wins against Willington, Goole Town, Dagenham, Tooting & Mitcham United and Enfield set up a final against rival Northern Premier League side Stafford Rangers.

Once again Boro were taken to extra time before they could claim a 3-2 victory with goals from John Woodall, Derek Abbey and a last minute penalty from Sean Marshall.

The season also saw Boro play in the Anglo Italian Trophy which ended in an aggregate defeat to US Lecce, while the also competed in the Anglo Italian Cup in which Udinese were beaten. In the 1976-77 season Boro defeated Parma before going on to retain the FA Trophy with victories over Frickley Athletic, Walthamstow Avenue, Hitchin Town, Nuneaton Borough and an epic four game semi-final against Altrincham setting up a Wembley final against Dagenham.

In the 1977 final Boro had to come back from a goal down to win with two late goals from Abbey and a Harry ‘A’ Dunn penalty. The joy turned to terrible sadness just a few days later when twenty-one year old winger Tony Aveyard died as the result of a head collision.

The 1977-78 season saw another fine FA Cup run with wins over Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra before a third round defeat away to Brighton & Hove Albion. The following season Boro were beaten in round two at York City. Throughout the stellar cup year, the side never finished outside the top five in league action.

Scarborough were founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979-80 while legendary manager Colin Appleton moved aside in 1981 with Jim McAnearney his replacement, whose spell lasted just a couple of years.

Stalwart skipper and record appearance holder Harry Dunn had a short spell at the helm before he was replaced by John Cottam. Boro were a struggling club at the time. Former chairman Don Robinson had taken charge at Hull City where he appointed Colin Appleton as manager. His entrepreneurial talents were missed. Gates and finances were both low.

Harry Dunn had a longer spell in charge between 1984 and 1986 as the league was renamed the Gola League and then the Football Conference, before chairman of the day Barry Adamson made an appointment which would change the club forever.

Neil Warnock was appointed from Burton Albion as the new Scarborough manager as he signed on fifteen new players and despite starting the season as 50/1 outsiders, they went on to win the Conference title to become the first club to be automatically promoted into The Football League. Boro also reached the last eight of the FA Trophy before going out to Fareham Town.

Stars of the season were Kevin Blackwell, Ces Podd, Steve Richards, Tommy Graham, Ray McHale, Mitch Cook and Stewart Mell.

The season was marred when chairman Adamson died of a heart attack when trying to break up crowd trouble at the Trophy match against Morecambe. Former player Terry Wood took his place until the end of the season when Peter Gargett took over the chair.

The squad was strengthened for their first season in the Football League. Improvements were made to the Athletic Ground but the first few home games were marred with crowd trouble. Within a few months high fences were fitted at the front of the terraced areas.

Boro completed a successful first season in a mid-table position. The club was sold to Leeds based businessman Geoffrey Richmond in the summer of 1988. The owner of Ronson lighters, Richmond authorised several big money signings such as forward Steve Norris.

In a groundbreaking move the Athletic Ground became the first football ground in the League to be renamed under a sponsorship deal as it became the McCain Stadium. On New Years Eve Boro went top of Division Four when the news broke that Warnock had resigned.

His replacement was veteran winger Colin Morris who took the side to the play-offs, where Boro went out to Leyton Orient in the semi-final. The League Cup brought national media attention to the club as Halifax Town and Portsmouth were defeated before Boro went out to Southampton in a replay at The Dell.

It was during the run that a TV voiceover rounding up the goals on national TV mentioned in the Portsmouth game about the ‘Seadogs of Scarborough’. From that time on, the fans and eventually the club took on that nickname.

Richmond announced plans for the club to move to a new stadium on the edge of town on the Dunslow Road Trading Estate.

Morris led the side to wins against Scunthorpe United and Chelsea in the League Cup the following season with big money signing Martin Russell starring. Boro went out in the next round 7-0 to Oldham Athletic on the artificial pitch at Boundary Park.

Morris departed soon into 1989 with Ray McHale taking his place. Russell and goalkeeper Ian Ironside were sold on during his tenure, which was not helped when chairman Richmond put on unnecessary pressure by promising free season tickets to those purchasing the previous season if Boro failed to reach the play-offs.

This was despite McHale putting together a fantastic side featuring Tommy Mooney and Darren Foreman who played some lovely football as Bradford City, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle were knocked out of the League Cup before Arsenal won at a fogbound McCain Stadium in round four.

McHale was replaced by his assistant Phil Chambers who lasted just a few months before Steve Wicks came in. Richmond swapped his chairman position with the chairman of Bradford City; Dave Simpson, who in turn sold Scarborough FC to locally based businessman John Russell.

Wicks got the team playing some excellent football before he was sacked in a dispute over budgets before the start of the 1994-95 campaign. The new boss was a former Boro hero; Billy Ayre, who played at centre back in the final two Wembley triumphs.

Unfortunately, a mixture of poor form and a poor budget meant that things didn’t work out for Ayre who was replaced by the returning McHale. The season had seen Boro reach the third round of the FA Cup following victories over Chesterfield and Port Vale, before the Seadogs went out in a replay at Vicarage Road against Watford.

Both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 saw Boro hang on to their League status by the skin of their teeth after finishing second from bottom of the table, at a time when only the bottom side went down. Toward the end of the latter season Mitch Cook had replaced McHale in an unsuccessful term.

The summer of 1996 saw Mick Wadsworth arrive as manager, as Hull City were defeated in the League Cup before Boro went out to Leicester City. Wadsworth build a fine side with Gareth Williams, Steve Brodie, Andy Ritchie, Gary Bennett and Jason Rocket starring.

After a mid-table finish Boro reached the play-offs in 1997-98 as money was thrown at the squad. The experienced Ian Snodin and Paul Atkins came in but injuries and the age of the side eventually did for Boro as they went out in the semi-final to Torquay United.

The defeat was to prove costly for the club. It became obvious that Russell had gambled the clubs finances on the win as the stadium had been fitted with two new stands. Several players were forced to depart because of budgetary constraints.

With the team struggling, Wadsworth departed in January 1999. Derek Mountfield and Ray McHale took charge of a couple of games with the squad down to bare bones before the experienced Colin Addison arrived at the club.

The new manager brought in a plethora of new and loan signings including goalkeeper Tony Parks and full back Graeme Atkinson. In heartbreaking fashion, Boro were relegated in stoppage time on the final day of the season when Jimmy Glass; Carlisle United’s loan goalkeeper scored in their game with Plymouth Argyle to leapfrog the Seadogs.

Back in the Conference Boro finished in third spot in the 1999-00 season. Wins against Ilkeston Town, Stocksbridge Park Steels and Burnham saw the team reach the fifth round of the FA Trophy before going out away to Bishop Auckland.

Addison resigned soon into the following campaign as Neil Thompson was appointed. Russell was by now was losing popularity at quite a rate. The club entered into a CVA and Russell sold the club to Darryl Littlewood from Halifax who used the money from a friends lottery win to buy the club.

Football philanthropist and future Gretna owner and Northern League sponsor, Brooks Mileson got involved in October 2000 and brought in Keith Agar; a man with a controversial football background, as General Manager.

The club had spent a second spell in Administration and a CVA failed when Mileson sold the club In November 2001 to Malcolm Reynolds, a businessman with a financial background. He appointed the experienced Russell Slade as manager with Boro ten points adrift at the bottom of the table.

The change with Slade in charge was remarkable as he found hungry young players who reached the fourth round of the FA Trophy with wins over Hednesford Town and Barnet before bowing out to Morecambe in a replay. In the league the side finished in mid table.

Fans were expecting a challenge for the play-offs the following season, but Boro finished in seventh place. The 2003-04 campaign saw the team slip to a finish below half way but it was in the FA Cup that the Seadogs got worldwide attention.

The run saw Hinckley United, Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale and Southend United dispatched. This took Scarborough to the fourth round for the first ever time where they were drawn at home to Chelsea in a game that saw the Blues win 1-0 before a live audience on Sky TV.

The run was desperately required as the club continued to struggle financially. Reynolds and his colleague on the board; Ian Scobbie announced that the Cup money would secure the clubs future. Slade departed for Grimsby Town at the end of the season.

Reynolds unveiled plans for a new stadium near to the railway line off Dunslow Road near to where Richmond had intended to build his new stadium back in 1989. Moneys were borrowed in advance to keep the club in business.

He was replaced by midfielder Nick Henry who’s side finished unbeaten at home during the 2004-05 campaign, but poor away form led to a mid table finish. Henry’s budget was extremely tight and he moved aside for the 200506 season by midfielder Neil Redfearn.

Once again another manager was hamstrung by financial constraints. This allied to some terrible performances saw Boro relegated to Conference North at the end of the season.

The finances got worse as Reynolds was barred for being a company director as Boro were found to be trading illegally. Scobbie took over as chairman while the team were deducted ten points because of their financial position with the club being severely restricted in their signing of players.

Former midfield man Mark Patterson came in as manager to work alongside Mitch Cook. Gates dropped as supporters lost faith in those running the club. The team put in some remarkable performances under the circumstances but the ten point penalty proved too much to drag back while the signing embargo remained in place.

In April 2007 Scarborough FC were relegated from the Conference North after a home draw against Leigh RMI. They should have played in the Northern Premier League Premier Division in the 2007-08 season.

However, after several brushes with the courts and the FA, Scarborough FC were would up by the High Court on the 20th June 2007 with debts of £2.5M.

The supporters Seadogs Trust had been set up the previous November; initially to try and obtain shares in the club and eventually run it as a fans owned organisation. However, as it was becoming more obvious that the club could fold, the trust made preparations to form a replacement club.

On the 25^th June 2007, Scarborough Athletic FC were successful in their application for membership to the Northern Counties East League and the NRCFA. To read about Athletic, click here.

Unfortunately not all supporters agreed with the setting up of the new club. A year later some of them formed Scarborough Town FC who entered the Wearside League. Please click here to read about Town.

My visits/My views

The Athletic Ground, later the McCain Stadium was the first place I watched football as a toddler. I have watched hundreds of games there at all levels with hundreds of mates and nearly all my family. I even had the pleasure of playing on the pitch in a local cup final.

I was always destined to spend a lot of time down Seamer Road. My dad was brought up just a goal kick away in Edgehill Road and spent much of his youth down there watching, training and helping with ground maintenance in return for free tickets. He started taking me from a year old.

My brothers Paul and Nick also went to plenty of games up to the end, sometimes with my grandads and even with my Mum on a couple of occasions. She appeared there in 1970 as part of the half time entertainment at the vital Northern Premier League decider against Macclesfield Town.

Over the years’ I watched regularly from every part of the ground. When I was still at school, Boro were very much a non-league side and it was customary to swap ends at half time to stand behind the goal we were attacking. At this time the Seamer Road End was an open terrace with an area of grass at the back where I got involved in some impromptu games as a youngster.

The Shed and the terracing either side remained pretty much unaltered until the ground's closure. The Edgehill Road End was a mixture of terracing and a grass slope with a small red corrugated cover at the rear, which offered a poor view if anyone stood in front.

The bank continued round the corner to an area where freeloaders would watch a game over the perimeter fence from the Hinderwell School fields. The Main Stand was a raised wooden construction with facilities underneath, which held about 500 bench seats. Alongside this stood the clubhouse, with a thin terrace at the front.

These surroundings provided me with many happy memories as a schoolkid, as Boro had a formidable cup side at the time. They could never quite crack it in the league but the cup runs under the stewardship of Colin Appleton; and Ken Houghton for one season, were another matter. The team were composed of a sprinkling of locals with the rest of the side travelling from the north east or the Hull area.

The club won the FA Trophy at Wembley three times as well as putting together some real shocks in the FA Cup. Several Football League sides left with nothing but a skip full of dirty kit, while eventual 1976 semi-finalists, Crystal Palace scraped through in front of the Match of the Day cameras.

The club erected make shift high fencing from the local Zoo and Marineland to keep the Palace fans in order! Gates of over 8,000 saw the Palace game and an FA Trophy clash with that years FA Cup giant killers, Wimbledon. They were one of many teams to suffer memorable defeats at the Athletic Ground.

Teams from all over the country visited Scarborough. Tooting and Mitcham United were defeated as Jeff Barmby nearly tore the net from its rigging with a ferocious free kick to win the game. This led to the Scarborough Evening News headline "It's toot toot Tooting and goodbye!" Loads more teams left empty handed. I loved every minute of it.

The club were one of the richest in non-league at the time and had even made an audacious bid to move Halifax Town, lock stock and barrel to the coast, long before Milton Keynes had a similar notion. A new Main Stand was erected in 1979.

It was considered the height of fashion at the time, but in truth a lot of the seats offered a poor view. Players had to change at the Rugby Club, two miles away and travel to and from the ground by mini bus for the first few weeks of the season until the stand was fully fitted out. Crush Barriers were also installed at the same time.

Nothing changed at the ground as Boro somehow managed to squander their money as the team was dismantled and crowds stayed away. It was the slow beginning of the maladministration that eventually would signal the end twenty years later.

Promotion to the Football League signalled the need for drastic ground improvements to satisfy the ground grading authorities. Segregation and high fences were erected to accommodate away fans at the Edgehill Road End along with new toilets. New press facilities and a police control room were also fitted in the Main Stand.

I went down to the ground the evening before the opening game against Wolverhampton Wanderers and it looked a picture with the new modern goals and the pitch looking like a carpet. Twenty four hours later showed a very different scene.

The Wolves fans tore town the perimeter fence and walked in for free while throwing the vat holding the soup onto the pitch after hi-jacking the refreshment kiosk. Because there were so many in the away end, some clambered onto the corrugated roof and jumped up and down buckling all the steelwork and thus forcing its demolition after the game.

One decided to take a better view and climbed onto The Shed roof. It didn't take his weight and he fell through into the section of Boro fans below who didn't give him the warmest welcome on landing where the atmosphere was not for the faint hearted or indeed the sober.

The game was in danger of being abandoned until Wolves manager, Graham Turner appealed to the fans to calm down. It eventually finished 2-2 and was a great end to end game. Stewart Mell scored Boro's first ever League goal while Ray McHale equalised later with a stunning volley. Steve Bull scored for the visitors on his way to breaking the clubs goalscoring record.

The game hit the headlines but for all the wrong reasons. It cost some their liberty for a few months. The Athletic Ground had seen its share of punch ups at cup games in the past but this time it really terrified some of the locals and gave the anti football lobby a feeding frenzy.

The attendance that day was officially around 7,500 although the Wolves programme listed it as 11,500 for some months. I know which figure I believed. Later that season, high fences were also installed in front of the open terracing at the Seamer Road End and round the corner to The Shed which was made a members only area.

Geoffrey Richmond became chairman putting standing prices up with vowing that the extra income would be used to roof the Seamer Road End. Devastatingly for football fans everywhere, and not least the bereaved families, 96 people lost their lives at Hillsborough in April 1989.

Richmond looked at the situated with many people on the periphery with little knowledge of the game screamed for all seater stadiums. He approached Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) with plans for an all seater stadium for 4,000 at Dunslow Road on the outskirts of town by the A64.

It never happened, nor did the roof. He ostracised local businesses when Boro were to play the 2nd Leg of the League Cup tie against Chelsea as the feature match on "Midweek Sports Special" by covering all their advertisement around the pitch and replaced them with more lucrative donors who he did a separate deal with.

Some of those affected sponsored the club for decades previously. They severed their deals and some never returned. Richmond also had the idea of corporate boxes. They were basically portacabins placed in front of the clubhouse, thus alienating the regulars who stood there and had to change their lifetime habits and move elsewhere.

I’m proud to say that I was one of many fans who protested against Richmond. He got rid of the reserve and youth teams; thus missing out on the talent and future transfer fees for Geoff Horsfield and Jonathan Greening, to form the Scarborough Pirates Rugby League Club.

This was too much and some fans and they reacted to the 4-1 derby defeat at York City by breaking into the McStad to tear down the rugby posts and scoreboard before the game the following day. The team lasted just one season!

He sacked the Pirates boss Len Casey on New Years Night which was ironic as it was the same date he sacked hero, Neil Warnock a few years earlier.

 He put ridiculous and unfair pressure on then manager, Ray McHale, the following season by offering all fans who bought a season ticket a free one for the following season if Boro didn't reach the play offs. "Razor" performed near miracles with his tight budget as Boro went on a great League Cup run brushing aside Bradford City, Coventry City in an amazing game.

Boro were 2-0 down from the first leg still trailed with only fifteen minutes remaining. They somehow won 3-0 with a last minute Lee Hirst goal sending the Seadogs delirious. Boro eventually bowed out to a rare Nigel Winterburn goal against Arsenal on a fog bound night on the coast, thanks to the assistance of mega biased referee Keith Hackett.

We also had the delight of a 4-2 win against York with Darren Foreman bagging a first half hat trick while Tommy Mooney finished them off with one of his specials. Sadly the form subsided, Razor paid with his job and I had serious words with Richmond on the steps of the directors box before I was ‘politely’ asked to leave.

By now the fences had come down, but the roof hadn't gone up.

Richmond did a deal with Bradford City Chairman, Dave Simpson, to basically swap clubs! Simpson wasn't much interested in us and Richmond went to build a far too big a stadium at Valley Parade and take them to The Premiership, before leaving them virtually bankrupt before getting himself involved in the financial shambles at Elland Road, Leeds a few years later.

I'd warned the Bantams fans as to what they were about to receive in their "City Gent" fanzine. Richmond told them I was talking rubbish and we gave him a lovely welcome back when the clubs played a pre-season friendly.

Simpson quickly sold the club to a locally based ‘businessman’, John Russell who’s first few months in charge were a disaster as he replaced Steve Wicks with Billy Ayre. Billy was a hero to many of us but he wasn’t given the proper resources.

Russell had told us after being torn apart in a Yorkshire Cup game at Guiseley that he was signing two Czechs and things would change and the fans were out of order for moaning. If only I'd realised he meant he'd be signing two cheques and bouncing ones at that!

Ray McHale was brought back once again from Guiseley but he couldn't recreate his previous glories. Mitch Cook took over. Mitch had been a good servant as a player and a coach but he was horrendous in his spell in charge. He took the team out for a ‘bonding’ session before the Plymouth away game. We lost 5-1. We also lost at Chester City where it got so bad that Russell joined him on the bench to offer advice.

Despite all this it was fun to be a Seadog, probably because of our gallows humour. A group of us would travel to games on mini buses and each Saturday Crusher would come round for me before we met Karl, Baz and the rest of the lads in the Commercial in Falsgrave for re match ales. Boro fans used the pubs in Falsgrave most of all and the lunchtime atmosphere was always good.

Despite Russell's apparent inability to pick a manager he was still relatively popular, partly because we thought he was crackers and partly because he changed the appearance of the McCain Stadium forever.

In the space of sixteen months, virtually identical structures called the East and West Stand were erected, each accommodating around 1,400 seats. They were very impressive and Russell showed off plans for a continuation to replace The Shed including new changing rooms and corporate facilities.

He appointed Mick Wadsworth as manager and the team played some great football. In his second season the manager signed some quality players and Boro reached the play-offs before falling well short against Torquay United. It was a great couple of years to watch Boro. However, the money had obviously run out after Russell's gamble failed.

Players were released and replaced with some poor substitutes. Top keeper Tony Elliott had to pack in with a bad back while his understudy Kevin Martin had a bad knee. Boro tried to get by with rookie loan keepers on the cheap but were found out. Russell tried to sell the club and comically introduced Anton Johnson, who had a very shady past at best.

Money from admission fees was allegedly being taken away in the boot of a car. Johnson disappeared after a while and Russell rode back into town. He claimed at a fans forum that he couldn't even afford to put jam on his toast.

He made director and local businessman, Ken Ferrie Chairman. The majority of Boro fans were taken in and tried to raise money. Colin Addison came in and battled hard and brought in some experienced pros which nearly worked.

Sadly it proved to be too little, too late as Carlisle's loanee keeper Jimmy Glass remarkably scored the goal which sent Boro through the relegation trap door as Russell and his wife popped the champagne corks in the Directors Box before news broke.

Boro started the 1999-00 season back in the Conference. By now I was based in London so I only got back to the McStad three or four times a season, although my away game count increased. The following season news broke that the club was skint.

Boro had a shambolic spell under Russell, Darryl Littlewood and Brooks Mileson before he managed to pass the club on to Malcolm Reynolds. He was joined on the board by Ian Scobbie while Philip Webster was appointed as Company Secretary.

He brought in Russell Slade to replace caretaker and excellent youth coach Ian Kerr who left to join Hartlepool United who in turn had replaced former hero Neil Thompson.

Slade’s players weren’t the most talented of Seadogs but they battled for every minute on the pitch which was massively appreciated by the loyal but suffering fans. The midfield duo of Gareth Stoker and Mark Patterson were real dogs of war!

The record FA Cup run, saw the Chelsea game brought forward to a 12.30 kick off. Tickets were like gold dust and Chairman Reynolds told everyone that this would help build the new ground and keep the club for a couple of years. Everyone rejoiced as it seemed all our troubles were over!

Boro lost the game 1-0 but put in a cracking performance. I was actually gutted for us to lose. It was a great day as the whole run had been, with the whole town going cup crazy. I had an amazing weekend doing an interview for Radio 5 Live and TV while not in a very pristine condition!

A week later Boro defeated Forest Green Rovers at the McCain Stadium in front of just 1,200 fans. No statistic summed up the lethargy of the local support better.

Slade had gone by the end of the season to be replaced by player Nick Henry who hung up his boots. It was obviously a cost cutting move as rumours were doing the rounds that money was an issue again despite Reynolds earlier announcement. There was still talks but nothing concrete concerning the ground. Director and Insolvency Solicitor, Scobbie, was dealing with it!

Henry was replaced by a player manager, Neil Redfearn with experienced coach Eric Winstanley as his assistant. To be honest they were a disaster. Boro finished in the relegation places but were given a reprieve as Canvey Island resigned from the league and Altrincham were given an 18 point dedeuction for fielding an ineligible player.

However, the Conference were not convinced of the club's financial stability, and Scarborough ended up suffering the same fate as Northwich Victoria had the previous year by being relegated to the Conference North.

The club claimed that they had been treated unfairly and that Conference chief, John Moules, had a grudge against us because we'd successfully challenged a points deduction when Reynolds first took over. I previously liaised with Mr Moules and he had nothing but sympathy for the fans of the club so I consider the claims unfounded.

Reynolds had now stood aside for Scobbie to step in because of a health scare which coincidentally materialised at the same time he was being disqualified from holding a position as a Company Director because of his malmanagement of Boro's financial position. The cracks were starting to appear.

Redfearn and Winstanley were offered much reduced roles which more or less forced them to resign in the summer. They demanded compensation but the club refused after offering them other roles. The club was absolutely skint.

It was claimed that all the Chelsea money went because the club once again entered Administration and the money was eaten up by it? The team started on minus 10 points because of this as well as an embargo being placed which prevented the club from signing any new players after the start of the season because of football debts, which in effect was unpaid wages and expenses.

Rumours were abound that players had been unpaid on many occasions since relegation and this confirmed it. Some supporters had had enough and formed a supporters trust "Seadogs Trust" to try and eventually buy shares in the club so that supporters had an elected voice on the board to try and assist in finances and to keep an eye on what was going on as all was obviously not right.

The Supporters Club manfully carried on fundraising and doing a remarkable job despite quickly dwindling support. For many relegation and another financial crisis was one step too far. The Conference refused to hand over £15K that it owed the club because of the debts. Scobbie said he'd take them to court to get the cash but we never heard any more about it.

Patterson did his best with his threadbare squad and they played some lovely football. He must have been at his wits end as sometimes he was down to two instead of five subs, such was the embargo. He even came out of retirement with dodgy knees at the age of 41. The FA eventually agreed to lift the embargo in January 2007 but the Conference refused.

They were taking a severely hard line on clubs and were obviously getting fed up with Boro's antics. Mel Stein was on the league's lawyer who checked over footballing debts and it just so happened that Redfearn and Winstanley paid him as their agent!

SBC came to a conditional agreement to transfer the covenant when a new ground was ready on the McStad which secured that the land could only be used for sporting purposes. Rumours were flying around and it was obvious not everything was not right. Scobbie, who was not a popular man told fans everything was well and lambasted us for doubting him.

The board then asked for the unconditional lifting of the covenant according to the SEN. At one point the gas was turned off at the ground because of an unpaid bill.

For a good account of the time, click here:

The team played Leigh RMI at the McCain Stadium on the 21st April 2007 in their last home game of the season, needing a win in both that game and away to Hucknall the following week to avoid relegation. They drew 1-1, were relegated and it proved to be the last ever game at the stadium.

Jimmy Beadle was the scorer of the final Boro goal at Seamer Road. It was a sad end to a venue that staged football, rugby league, floodlit cricket, greyhound racing, union meetings and boxing among other things.

Meanwhile in Devon, former Boro and Exeter City Chairman John Russell was jailed for twenty one months for fraudulent trading while at City. He obviously wasn't satisfied with becoming the first Chairman to relegate two different clubs from the League.

He had to trade illegally as well. I didn't trust the man for the majority of his time at Boro. The attendance figures were dubious at best. He told us his great grandfather played for the club although nobody ever found any proof to back it up. He changed the clubs kit from all red to incorporate large measures of green and white as he said they were the clubs original colours, when in fact we started in white and navy.

To read and remember the acts of John Russell, click here:

The club failed to convince the SBC that its proposals would raise enough money to both to pay off the debts and build a new ground. On Friday 8 June, the FA in London said that it was a very strong possibility that by June 12th Scarborough F.C. may well go out of business. On Tuesday 12th June, the club was given an eight day 'stay of execution' following a 'change of heart' by their local Borough Council.

Chairman Scobbie had produced a plan for a new ground on land occupied by the George Pindar Community Sports College but SBC wanted business plans which he didn't have. On Wednesday 20th June Scarborough Football Club was wound up in the High Court, ending its 128-year run as a club with debts of £2.5 million.

Scarborough Athletic were given a mandate to proceed by fans at a public meeting at the town's St Nicholas Hotel. They gained admission into the Northern Counties East League at the AGM on 25th June. 

Ian Scobbie threatened to derail the bid to gain a place in the league by threatening to apply to enter his own club despite knowing that the NCEL stating that if they received more than one application, then no Scarborough side would be admitted. Scobbie didn't deliver his application.

Many thanks

To all the players and fans who gave me so many memories, both good and bad. Special mention to the following players who gave me special memories, in no particular order, except Jeff Barmby who was the greatest in my opinion!

Jeff Barmby, Gerry Coyne, Ted Smethurst, Harry Dunn, Bert Garrow, Colin Appleton, Gerry Donaghue, Bernie Fagan, Jimmy Shoulder, Mally Thompson, Sean Marshall, John Woodall, Tony Aveyard, Billy Ayre, Harry "A" Dunn, Derek Abbey, Dave Hilley, Steve Deere, Dave Chapman, Bryan Magee, Ian Smith, Neil Thompson, Neil Sellers, Kenny Dennis, John Hanson, Ces Podd, Steve Richards, Ian Bennyworth, Paul Kendall, Ray McHale, Kevin Blackwell, Stewart Mell, Phil Walker, Stuart Hamill, Steve Adams, Dave Bowman, Steve Brodie, Mark Calvert, Mitch Cook, David D'Auria, Richard Dixey, Sean Dunphy (for comedy value), Darren Davis, Tony Elliott, Darren Foreman, Tommy Graham, Mark Hotte, Ken Houghton, Ian Ironside, Alan Kamara, Gary Himsworth, Jimmy Kelly, Scott Kerr, Darren Knowles, Ashley Lyth, John MacDonald, Alex Marinkov, Mick Matthews, Stewart Mell, Adie Meyer, Stuart Hicks, Jamie Mitchell, Tommy Mooney, Kevin Nicholson, George Oghani, Pat Olney, Martin Harris, Mark Patterson, Brendan Phillips, David Pounder, Sean Rennison, Andy Ritchie, Darren Roberts, Jason Rockett, Martin Russell, Matty Russell (you can't choose your parents), Chris Senior, Paul Sheppard, Dene Shields, Chris Short, Craig Short, Mo Sillah, Dave Smith, Ian Snodin, Dean Spink, Colin Sutherland, Simon Thompson, Tyrone Thompson, Leigh Walker, Gareth Stoker, John Watson, Mark Wells, Pete Walters, Jason White, Trenton Wiggan, Gareth Williams, Colin Williams, Andy Woods and Super Ben Worrall.

Thanks to all the fans I stood with at games both home and away. Special greetings and thanks to everyone I travelled on the mini buses with over the years and drank with before and after games.

What I really miss

Pre-match drinks in the Commercial, Falsgrave in its prime.

Arranging the mini bus for the following week when we ran them.

Just walking down to the ground knowing that generations of my family and friends had given so much to the club, only to have it taken away by incompetent, and in some cases devious people, who were only looking after their own welfare who then had the temerity to blame us fans.

Standing in The Shed at the match. On its day, an atmosphere to match anywhere.

Being young!

RIP Scarborough Football Club and The Athletic Ground