Club Profile: Kettering Town FC

Kettering Town FC is today’s club of the day.

Year Founded: 1872

Nickname:The Poppies

Stadium: Latimer Park

Capacity: 2 500

Manager: Richard Lavery

League: Southern League Premier Division Central 

Find out more below and try our Kettering Town quiz!

Origins 

Kettering town were founded in 1872 under the original name of Kettering Football Club. 19 years later in 1891 the club turned professional before joining the Midland League in 1892.

It didn’t take long for the club to find success in the division.

They went on to be crowned champions of the league in the 1895/96 season, the same year that they would find success in the FA cup, beating two Football League sides before being drawn against the team that is now Manchester United, where they would get beat 2-1. 

Success Stories

There was rarely a quiet time on the pitch for the club during the 20th century and they would end up playing in 12 different leagues, until 1979 where the club would go down in the history books as one of the founding members of the Alliance Premier League (Now the National League).

The club would be main stays in the division for over two decades, until being relegated in the 2000/01 season. 

The club has had multiple memorable moments in cup competitions, most notably going on multiple dream runs in the Fa Cup.

The Poppies have reached the fourth round of the competition on two occasions, in the 1988/89 season and more recently the club are well known for their exploits in the 2008/09 season.

In this edition of the competition, the then Conference Premier side reached the fourth round beating Lincoln City and the world’s oldest football league club, Notts County, along the way.

They were then given a dream tie at home against Premier League Fulham.

5400 people packed out the Poppies Rockingham Road ground.

Kettering’s marksman Craig Westcarr scored a brace and it looked to be heading to a replay before heart-breaking late goals resulted in a 4-2 defeat.

Kettering also have played at Wembley twice, in the FA Trophy final on both occasions. 

A club yo-yoing 

Since the turn of the century, Kettering have been a club unable to perform consistently in the same division.

After their relegation in 2001, the club bounced straight back, winning the Southern League Premier Division the next season.

However, the club couldn’t find their feet upon their return to the Conference and were relegated again that season.

It wouldn’t be until the 2008/09 season that the Poppies would make their return to the highest division of non league football. Having won the Conference North the previous season. 

Dark times would soon hit the club however. The club would move out of its iconic Rockingham Road ground, a stadium that had been their home for 114 years.

Following this, Kettering would sadly go into administration and would be demoted two divisions.

However, the fall wouldn’t stop there and they would be relegated again.

It wouldn’t be until the 2018/19 season that they would return to the National League pyramid, winning the Southern League Premier Division Central and being promoted to the National League North. 

This is where the club remained until two seasons ago, when they would place fourth from bottom and once again be relegated.

On their return to step three, The Poppies would record a lower mid table finish and now they will look ahead to getting back towards the top end of the league next season. 

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