Club History

Stotfold is a small country town with a population in the region of 7000. It is situated in the county of Bedfordshire, but being near the North Herts border, has strong links with the Hertfordshire towns of Baldock, Hitchin and Letchworth. The first recorded football in Stotfold was 1904, though it is certain that the game was played for a number of years before. Our present ground was first used in 1911 by Stotfold Athletic when it was just a meadow named 'Roker'. We were delighted to move back there some 43 years later in 1954 from the Hitchin Road Recreation Ground.

For the first 20 years of the club's history, we played in the Biggleswade and District League. This was followed by a spell of nearly 30 years in North Herts Football. The club's first trophy was won in 1911 when we beat Potton 1-0 in the Biggleswade and District Championship. In 1951 we joined the South Midlands League Division 2 and in 1953 were promoted to Division 1.

In 1955 we were promoted to the Premier Division, where we stayed for 30 years winning the championship in 1980 and running up no fewer than 9 times. The club joined the United Counties League in 1984/85 season with our best placing as runners up in 1993/94 and 1995/96 under the guidance of ex-Arsenal player Ian Allinson. During 1998-2000 the club won The Beds Senior and Premier Cups, UCL League Cup, and the Hinchingbrooke Cup as well as being runners up and finalists in two North Beds Charity Cups. The club also reached the last 32 of the FA Vase and the 3rd Qualifying Rd of the FA Cup in 2000 under Phil Pateman's management. Kenny Davidson took over the side in 2001 reaching the final of the Beds Senior Cup, but resigned in Dec 2002.

Phil Pateman assumed charge of the side again and the team won the North Beds Charity Cup and were finalists in the Hunts Premier Cup. However, their most notable success came from being awarded national fair play team of the year by Ladbrokes in association with The Non League paper as well as the UCL fair play award. They finished a creditable 10th place from a previous 18th and retained the NBCC.

During the summer, Phil Pateman stepped down to concentrate solely on his chairman duties securing the services of ex-player and former St. Albans City and Baldock manager, Steve Cook for the 2004/05 season. Steve left the club for Borehamwood after one season, and Jim Benton, stepped forward to take charge for the 05/06 season. This saw many familiar faces drift away from the club and many new ones appear. Poor discipline and performances on and off the pitch resulted in a bad year all round for the club, and after Jim's departure, local manager Glen Clarke was handed the position, handing in his notice on the eve of the new season. Coach/physio Ian Williscroft took charge for the first 9 games before Mark Teeling took over midway through September. After gaining 11 points from 17 league games and some heavy defeats, Mark was replaced in December by the previously successful partnership of Ian Donnelly and Ian Allinson.

With the club staring relegation in the face, Ian recruited several senior players and combined these with the best of our young squad and the club hauled themselves out of the bottom two, winning 8 of our last 10 games. During the summer the squad was strengthened further, and this culminated in the most successful season in the clubs history. The first and second team squads won their respective league and county cup competitions, (the first club to do so), with the second team remaining unbeaten in the league. In addition the club were the only UCL club to reach the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup before losing to Tonbridge Angels. So it was a shock and bitter disappointment when the UCL decided against awarding Ian Allinson the Manager of the Year Award. During the summer Ian was offered the managers job at Ryman Premier League Borehamwood and this was an offer he could ill afford to miss. He has since given the opportunity to several of the successful side to play with him at that level. However he left a great legacy and we promoted Ian Donnelly to the position with reserve manager Terry Kitchener stepping up to assist him. Success continued, winning the UCL League Cup and North Beds Charity Cup and finishing League Runners Up. The Reserves and the Under 18 Academy continued to sweep all before them under Gordon Bickerstaff's management and after Ian Donnelly stepped down with Terry at the end of the previous season, it was easy to promote from within again, with Gordon bringing his Assistant Cecil Lee with him.

In what turned out to be the club's final season in the UCL, 2009/10 saw the first team produce a very creditable performance reaching the 4th round of the FA Vase and finishing 7th in the league.

Having finally been granted a move to the Molten Spartan South Midlands League in 2010/2011 the Eagles struggled to adapt until the new year and eventually finished mid-table. The first team reached the final of the NBCC, losing to Biggleswade Town 2-1. The reserves lost many of their players who needed a fresh challenge after being so successful, leaving Manager Malcolm Ward with a difficult task and they also finished in a respectable mid-table position.

The Academy continued to go from strength to strength with the U15 and U18 Academy teams winning the Beds County Cup. The U18's also won the County Floodlit Cup and the Ridgeon's League West title under Manager Ryan Brooke.

During the close season the Eagles have strengthened their management set-up with Steve Young joining Gordon as Joint Manager, Roy Ryall as Assistant and Coach Tony Lamacraft joining from Biggleswade Town. Kevin Millett replaced Malcolm Ward as Reserve team manager, supported by Anthony Blows and Ryan Brooke, having previously been Hitchin Town's Under 18 manager. Everyone has been busy pre-season and we have an exciting squad of players throughout which bodes well for the season ahead.

Club Honours

BEDS FA
Senior Cup Winners - 1964/65, 1993/94, 1999/2000, 2007/08
Runners Up - 2001/02
Premier Cup Winners - 1981/82, 1991/92, 1998/99
Intermediate Cup Winners - 1958/59, 1991/92, 1997/98, 2001/02, 2007/08
Runners Up - 2008/09
U18 Challenge Cup Winners - 2010/11
U18 Floodlit Cup Winners - 2010/11
Runners Up - 2009/10, 2011/12
U15 Challenge Cup Winners - 2010/11
U16 Challenge Cup Runners Up - 2011/12

UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE
Premier Division Winners 2007/08
League KO Cup Winners - 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2008/09
Premier Division Runners Up - 1993/94, 1995/96, 2008/09
Fair Play Winners - 2002/03
Reserve Division One Champions - 1987/88, 1991/92, 1996/97, 2001/02, 2007/08, 2008/09
Reserve KO Cup Winners - 1991/92, 2004/05, 2009/10

SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE
Premier Division Champions - 1980/81
Division One Champions - 1953/54
Challenge Trophy Winners - 1981/82
Reserve Division One Champions - 1954/55, 1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1970/71, 1983/84
Reserve Shield Winners - 1965/65
Reserve Floodlit Cup Winners - 2008/09
Runners Up - 2009/10

OTHER HONOURS
Ladbrokes National Fair Play Award Winners - 2002/03
North Beds Charity Winners - 1955/56, 1956/57, 1961/62, 1981/82, 1987/88, 1990/91, 1997/98, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2008/09, 2009/10
Finalists 2010/11
Southern Combination Cup Winners - 1994/95, 1995/96
Southern Combination Res Cup Winners - 1994/95, 1995/96
Biggleswade KO Cup Winners (Most recent) - 1997/98, 1999/2000, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09
Runners Up - 2009/10
Hinchingbrooke Cup Winners - 1999/2000
Runners Up - 2011/12
Jan Anderson Memorial Trophy (Most recent) - 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2001/02 (shared), 2002/03
Jess Piggott Trophy - 2001/02, 2002/03
Hunts Premier Cup Finalists - 2002/03
Ridgeons Under 18's League Championship Winners - 2008/09, 2010/11, 2011/12
Ridgeons Under 18's League KO Cup Winners - 2004/04
Eastern Junior Alliance U16's Northern Division and Championship play off final Winners - 2006/07
Eastern Junior Alliance U15's Herts Division Runners Up - 2010/11
Eastern Junior Alliance U16's Beds Division Runners Up - 2011/12