Braintree Town F.C.
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| Braintree Town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Braintree Town Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Iron | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1898 (as Manor Works) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Cressing Road Braintree (Capacity 4,145 (550 seats)) |
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| Chairman | Lee Harding | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Lee Patterson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Conference South | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | Conference South, 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Braintree Town F.C. is a football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. The club is currently in the Conference South. Club history was made in 2005 upon reaching the First Round proper of the FA Cup for the first time, and later that same season the club won the Isthmian League Premier Division, gaining promotion to the Conference South for the 2006-07 season.
They are managed by Lee Patterson, who took over the running of the club on 27 October 2007.
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[edit] History
The club was formed in 1898 and accepted into the North Essex League as Manor Works FC, the works team of the Crittall Window Company - suppliers to the Titanic and once the leading window makers in England. The club's nickname "The Iron" also comes from this source, reflecting the company's iron window frames. The club's crest reflects its origins and shows the factory of the old Crittall Garage which overlooked the club's Cressing Road ground before being demolished in 2005. In 1921 the club changed its name to Crittall Athletic FC and soon afterwards moved to a new stadium (which has been their home since). Around 1968 the club changed name once again, this time to Braintree & Crittall Athletic FC, but when links with Crittalls ended in 1981 they became Braintree Town FC.
In 1935 the club became founder members of the Eastern Counties League, where they were champions in the 1936-37 season. After this they joined the Essex County League, where they were runners-up in their first season, but then rejoined the Eastern Counties League. After World War II the club appears to have been inactive until 1952 when they rejoined the Eastern Counties League. In 1955 they left this league and it is unclear where they played for the next decade.
In 1964 Crittall joined the Greater London League, before moving to the Metropolitan League in 1966. In 1970 they rejoined the Eastern Counties League, where they were to play for the next twenty years.. Their most successful decade was the 1980s, when they were league champions twice (1983-84 and 1984-85) and runners-up on four other occasions. After the last of these second-place finished in 1990-91 they stepped up to the Southern League Southern Division. In 1996 they switched to the Isthmian League Division Three, but three promotions in five years brought them to the Premier Division by 2002. in 2005-06 they were Isthmian League champions and gained promotion to the Conference South. In the 2006–07 season they lost 1-0 to Salisbury City in the Conference South play-off final.
[edit] Ground
They play their home games at their Cressing Road Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,145. Of those approximately 1,400 are under cover with a further 550 seated under cover in an extended Main Stand. The club has recently completed many improvements to their stadium, including Football League floodlighting, new dressing rooms and turnstiles. All these improvements were needed to meet Conference National standards. This was inspected and approved by the Conference on 27 March 2007. The largest attendance in recent history, was over 1,500 for a match against Havant & Waterlooville in the 2007 play-off semi-final second leg.
[edit] Honours
- Isthmian League
- Premier Division champions 2005-06
- Eastern Counties League
- Champions 1936-37, 1983-84, 1984-85
- Essex Senior Cup
- Winners 1996
[edit] Sources
- Braintree Town at the Football Club History Database
- Braintree at the Football Club History Database
- Braintree & Crittall Athletic at the Football Club History Database
- Crittall Athletic at the Football Club History Database
[edit] External links
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AFC Wimbledon | Basingstoke Town | Bath City | Bishop's Stortford | Bognor Regis Town | Braintree Town | Bromley | Chelmsford City | Dorchester Town | Eastleigh | Fisher Athletic | Hampton & Richmond Borough | Havant & Waterlooville | Hayes & Yeading United | Maidenhead United | Newport County | St Albans City | Team Bath | Thurrock | Welling United | Weston-super-Mare | Worcester City |
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