Teversal FC - A Potted History
The football club was originally known as Teversal Miners Welfare FC and was formed in 1918. Over the years, the club concentrated on fielding youth sides before it was re-established in 1986 as MW Teversal FC.
They competed in Division Two of the Central Midlands League (CML), where they were champions in 1987-88. When the nearby collieries of Teversal and Silverhill were closed shortly after, an air of uncertainty hung over the club as the Carnarvon Street ground was part of the complex.
Ashfield District Council stepped in and took it over, renaming it the Teversal Grange Sports and Social Centre. The club followed suit, changing its name to Teversal Grange FC in 1989, and then joined the Notts Alliance two years later.
The Tevie Boys were promoted to Division One of the competition at the culmination of the 1994-95 season before they rejoined the Central Midlands League in 1998. In 2000, the club changed its name once again to its present title, and a year later, they reached the league's Supreme Division of the CML after facilities were upgraded.
Another promotion followed, which saw Teversal commencing the 2006-07 campaign in Division One of the Northern Counties East League. Stace Leaper was appointed as manager, taking the side to tenth place in 2007-08 before a succession of managers came and went.
The club was transferred to the East Midlands Counties League from the start of the 2017-18 season before rejoining the Northern Counties East League in 2020-21. Martin Bower was in charge of the side that finished bottom of the Division One table and was relegated to the Premier South of the Central Midlands Alliance.
Teversal 2 Scarborough Athletic 1
We knew fully well that the grounds we would visit would not be of a standard we were accustomed to, and some of the standard of play would be lower. That said, a loyal fan quite rightly pointed out that he could count the number of good games he'd seen in the Conference over the previous few years on the fingers of one hand.
Boro were drawn to play their opening league game away to Teversal, which started a search on Google Maps and Wikipedia to try to glean information about the club and where it was. Little did we realise we'd passed within a couple of miles of the place on the M1 heading to Fulham and other household names. How things had changed!
Dave, my old pal of mine from Scarborough, was now living down south, so we arranged to travel to the game with him driving. For reasons that can never be described, I had a big Friday night before awakening on a scorching day to head to Sawbridgeworth for my lift after some breakfast.
I must have looked like I was heading to a wedding as I was in my suit. Boro fans had decided to travel looking like businessmen as an acknowledgement that all members of the Trust were equal owners of the football club. We set out with Dave's three-year-old son, as he asked the questions three-year-olds do, especially on long, boring car rides.
We drove and parked in the busy park behind the ground, meeting up with the other Seadogs, many of whom were enjoying a beer in The Teversal Grange. We went out to the back of the pub, where a cricket game was in progress. A poor batsman was dismissed for a duck when run out at the non-striker's end, much to the amusement of the crowd, who did their best to hide their giggles as he returned.
It was then time to enter the ground. Teversal had done a fine job of putting on our big day, with over three hundred Boro fans making the journey. The ground was neat enough with flat open standing areas by the turnstile end. In the corner by the changing rooms was a small bar and refreshment counter with tables and chairs outside, much to our joy.
We enjoyed our drinks while chatting about an extremely eventful summer until the teams came out to a tremendous reception. I must admit to feeling very emotional. The teams pre season had gone well, and I fully expected us to win promotion at the first attempt, like many of the fans. How little we knew!
Teversal was like many other sides we were to face in that first season. They were fit, physical, and organised, and could play a bit as well. Our lads looked like they had been a month earlier; strangers. We were not making much impression going forward, although Craig Hogg impressed me.
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We applauded the team off, most disappointed, although as I write this report a few years later and read our lineup, we probably did well to lose the way we did. We filed out to join the unusual queue of cars for a game at the ground, and headed back down south. I cheered myself up by playing with Ashley in the back of the car.
Up the Boro. Things could only get better!
