Retford United

Retford United is a non-league football club who come from the market town of the same name in the north of the county of Nottinghamshire. They were formed in 1987 and started off life in the local Gainsborough League and then the Nottinghamshire Alliance.

'The Badgers' carried on the mantle of the senior club in the town from Retford Town who were once Midland League members and Retford Rail, who later became known as BRSA Retford. Both those clubs played football in the Northern Counties East League for a spell.

Promotion from Division Two of the Notts Alliance was achieved in 1994-95, with a further promotion to the Senior Division coming in 1996-97. The setback of relegation in 1999-00 was soon forgotten as the Division One title was lifted twelve months later. 

The success continued which coincided with a move to Cannon Park, on the extreme outskirts of town. United were accepted into the Central Midlands League in 2001, winning the Premier Division title at the first attempt. Retford became champions of the Supreme Division in 2003-04.

The Badgers joined the Northern Counties East League in 2004, finishing as Division One runners-up in 2005-06. Finishing as Premier Division runners-up the following season saw the club move up to Division One South of the Northern Premier League.

Peter Duffield took over as player manager from Mark Colley, while United player Neil Harvey became their first international when he appeared for Barbados in the Caribbean Cup. More honours came to Cannon Park as they won the Northern Premier League Division One South title in 2007-08.

 

However, promotion was denied as Cannon Park was deemed unfit for the higher division. Not to be denied, United once again won the right to promotion to the top division the following season. They played home games at Ashby Avenue, the home of Lincoln United until Cannon Park was upgraded to the required standard.

The Badgers finished bottom of the league at the end of the 2010-11 season, but rather take relegation to the second tier, the club put in their resignation and applied to rejoin the NCEL owing to financial constraints at the club after their major backer withdrew.

Retford went on to lift the NCEL title in 2011-12, but they were denied promotion owing to the FA being not satisfied with the clubs’ financial situation as they close to bankruptcy with debts of around £180k. Richard Sennett took over the managerial roles from Brett Marshall. 

By the end of the 2014-15 season United just stayed clear of relegation in what was a chaotic season. Manager of the time Paul ward departed just after Christmas, while the whole first team committee resigned. Rich Williams was put in charge of the team prior to the appointment of Chris Sellers.

New joint managers Brian Entwistle and Darren Giovannetti were announced in June 2016, with Entwistle leaving before his partner, who was replaced in February 2016 by Mark Wilson following some horrific results which ended in relegation at the end of the season.

Jordan Hall was the next incumbent of the managerial hot seat from November 2017, lasting until the following April when the club was relegated once again. Back in the Central Midlands League, United finished Premier North Division runner-up in 2021-22 under manager Liam Kay who was then replaced by Ryan Hindley.

 

He led the side to the league title in 2022-23, with the Badgers returning to Division One of the Northern Counties East League, where they reached the semifinals of the playoffs before being defeated by Beverley Town.

Retford United FC will compete in the Northern Counties East League Division One in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Retford United 1 Scarborough Athletic 1 (Saturday 12th November 2011) Northern Counties East League Premier Division (att: 383)

I had booked the day off work well in advance of this game as it was the FA Cup first round day (well we can all dream!) and the match at Retford promised to be an important clash as well as me getting a new ground in.

I woke in good form on a beautiful late Autumn day. I enjoyed a marvellous fry up at a place I'd never used before while reading the paper and then got my bets on. I arrived at St Pancras at just the right time to board my train and I found a good seat in a quiet coach. All was good in the world.

Rustic in Retford. No pavements on the way to the ground!

Engineering works on the East Coast main line meant either a long journey involving buses, or going a longer way round via Sheffield at a cheaper price. It was a no brainer. In just over two hours I was in the superb Sheffield Tap pub on platform one of the station enjoying a couple of pints of fine ale. I then took the train to Retford through the former mining country of South Yorkshire.

I was in good time so I decided to walk to Cannon Park through the charismatic market square and town centre before I set off into the country down Leverson Road towards the ground. Now I realise some grounds have to be out of town, with Arnold Town's new place springing to mind, but I'd never walked to a venue before where there were no footpaths for half a mile. I arrived shaking my head, to have my good mates taking the mickey out of me.

Cannon Park looked a neat enough venue, but it really must have made the bear minimum requirements for the level of football it had previously staged. The ear end was a thin strip of flat open standing which went down the far touchline. 

This side also had a modern assembly type seated stand straddling the half way line. The far end was more of the same with a cover across the eighteen yard area. The final side had all the facilities stood behind a slightly sloped open path. There was changing rooms, a boardroom, club shop and a sizeable clubhouse which had a small overhang in front for smokers and spectators.

The latest heat of Mr Scarborough 2011 taking place in Retford

I went in the clubhouse to join my mates and hand out some flyers to try and raise some money for the Seadogs. There was no choice of proper ale either in tap or in a bottle, which was a shame as the clubhouse itself was pretty good. The snack bar where I later bought an excellent Pukka Pie was also of a good standard.

The match kicked off with the low sun making watching hard work. The game was of a high standard on an abysmal playing surface which didn't do justice to the players on display. Retford looked to have a definite penalty turned down when a clumsy challenge sent Carl Haslam tumbling. Boro were aware of this lad's talents before the game and he didn't let us down. He had dyed his hair bright pink. We agreed that anyone who had the confidence to do that must have been able to play.

Boro got into the game after the first fifteen minutes. They were missing the suspended Gary Hepples and Ryan Blott, plus their excellent full back Paddy Miller owing to a bout of food poisoning. It didn't stop the team dominating for the rest of the half, with the home defence on the ropes. Veteran Seadog Dean Windass hit the foot of the post with an excellent free kick, but the ball wouldn't go in.

After half time United went ahead, when Haslam broke away from a suspiciously looking offside position and scored. For a few minutes this set Boro back, but they gradually fought their way back into the game, led by the quite brilliant Joe Naylor. United made a substitution and the player who came on remarkably grabbed Naylor by the neck and assaulted him in the penalty area while play was elsewhere. 

The travelling fans went berserk and the linesman flagged to get the referee's attention. Remarkably he gave a free kick ten yards outside the box and booked both players. Boro full back Dave Kemp was fortunate not to be sent off when he deliberately handled a through ball, much to the annoyance of the home fans who were as vocal as the travelling Seadogs. 

I was with Fred, Jason and Andy who had offered me a ride back into the town centre. They had to be away on the full time whistle as two of them had tickets at the KC Stadium for the England v New Zealand Rugby League International, so we moved to where the home fans were in hyper moaning mode near the gates.

It didn't look like Boro would score despite having most of the play. Retford were employing some time wasting tactics and the clock went into stoppage time. We all agreed that even if we lost, there would be no despair as we had played so well. Then as we had just about given up Tony Hackworth who'd gone forward to try and salvage something, set up Joe Naylor who hammered home the equaliser in the ninety third minute. We went crazy, much to the disgust of the locals.

They moaned about how useless Boro were and how unjust the equaliser was. I offered plentiful feedback in return. The whistle went soon after and we all thanked each other for the game. It had been a brilliant game of football and probably the correct result.

Fred held cars up in the park so Andy could hit the road and they kindly dropped me near the local Wetherspoon's pub. I celebrated with a fine pint as the locals watched the England v Spain game begin. They didn't know what they had missed just a mile down the road. I grabbed another half before arriving on the station where I met Matt and a young fan called Will who was studying at Leicester University.

We grabbed another pint at Sheffield and grabbed some fine bottles from the York Brewery for the return ride. We chewed the fat about all things to do with the club, before Will alighted. I fell asleep and woke in London. I was glad to get home with a take away after an outstanding day out.

If only all Saturday's could be like that, with a few wins thrown in of course!