DUNKIRK FC

PRESIDENT     CRAIG SMITH

VICE PRESIDENT    M DAVIES

CHAIRMAN       JACK RILEY

DIRECTORS      D.S HARBOTTLE, M HARBOTTLE, A HOWES

SECRETARY      STEVE THROSSELL

TREASURER     CYRIL ALLEN

COMMITTEE   PHIL ALLEN, STUART HARBOTTLE, CHRIS HARDY, DARREN MILLER, JON PECK, SALLY OSBOURNE, SARAH UPTON, DAVE HOWES, L THORPE

PROGRAMME EDITORS   PHIL ALLEN AND DARREN MILLER

HONOURS

CENTRAL MIDLANDS LEAGUE

SUPERME DIV WINNERS 04/05

SUPREME DIV R/U 96/97,98/99

PREMIER DIV R/U 95/96

LEAGUE CUP WINNERS 97/98, 07/08

LEAGUE CUP R/U 02/03,04/05

FLOODLIT CUP WINNERS 02/03,04/05

RESERVE LEAGUE CUP WINNERS 04/05

RESERVE DIV 2 WINNERS 04/05

FRANK HARWOOD TROPHY RU 04/05

NOTTS ALLIANCE LEAGUE

SENIOR DIV R/U 88/89,89/90,90/91

DIV 1 WINNERS 84/85

DIV 2 WINNERS 80/81

DIV 2 R/U 75/76

LEAGUE CUP WINNERS 87/88

LEAGUE CUP R/U 82/83,90/91

NOTTS AMATEUR LEAGUE

PREMIER DIV WINNERS 74/75

DIV 1 WINNERS 73/74

LEAGUE CUP WINNERS 74/75

NOTTS INT CUP WINNERS 84/85

FA VASE

5th ROUND 93/94

NORTHERN UNDER 19 ALLIANCE

SOUTHERN SECTION DIV 2 WINNERS 03/04

SOUTHERN SECTION DIV 1 WINNERS 04/05

SPRING MINI CUP WINNERS 03/04

SPRING MINI CUP R/U 02/03

Dunkirk FC were founded in 1946 and their nickname is “The Boatmen”. The first league they joined was the Notts Amateur League, of which they were members until 1975. They won the Premier Division in that season, the clubs first major honour. Accepted into the Notts Alliance League, they got off to a good start, eventually finishing runners up, five years later they were champions.

In 1981/82, Dunkirk reached the semi-final of the Notts F.A Intermediate Cup, a feat they repeated the following season. In the league they led Division One for much of the season.

In 1986/87, the club finished 9^th and reached the semi-final of the league losing 2-0 to John Player. The following season saw the club improve on that semi-final by winning the League Cup, leading scorer that season Mark Frettingham hitting all 3 goals in the final. At the end of the 1988/89 season, followers of the club might have been forgiven for thinking their team might never win the Notts Alliance Senior Division Title. After hitting top spot on 25^th October, they led the table for 25 weeks, then dropped 6 points in as many games to finish second behind Hucknall Town by 4 points. The next season saw them runners up again, this time behind John Player by 2 points, in the Notts Senior Cup they reached Quarter-finals before going out to Eastwood Town in a penalty shootout. Dunkirk again ended as bridesmaids in 1990/91, seven points adrift of Rainworth MW who took the title in a late burst. In the League cup they reached the final with Pelican. Dunkirk lost 2-0 after a replay drawing 2-2 in the first game. In 1991/92 they slipped to 9^th in the league, but improved up to 4^th the following season. They also entered the FA Vase for the first time but made a quick exit by losing at home 5-1 to Lincoln United. 12 months later they beat Nettleham 5-3 to win their match in the competition, but the best was yet to come. In 1993/94 they had a magnificent run in the FA Vase reaching the last 16 before bowing out to Tiverton Town. 1995/96 saw the boatmen make their debut in the Central Midlands League, scoring 130 goals as they finished runners up to Kilamarsh Juniors and so gained promotion to the Supreme Division. In the 1997/98 season they finished in 4^th place and won the League Cup beating Clipstone Welfare 2-0 in the final at Hucknall Town. In 1998/99 season Dunkirk secured runners up spot again snatching it from Goole on the last day of the season with a 2-0 win over South Normanton.

The high expectations for the 199/2000 season never materialised with the club finishing in 6^th position in the league. The 2000/01 season saw the Boatmen’s worst season in the Supreme Division finishing 10^th.

2002/03 saw the Boatmen beat Sutton Town on penalties to win the Floodlit Cup and also reach the league cup final losing though 2-0 to Dinnington Town At Alfreton Towns ground. Dave Harbottle took over the reins as player/manager and quickly drafted former Dunkirk player Wayne Manners as his Assistant, in which they guided the club to 6^th in the league Table. The 2004/05 season may be the greatest season in history for the Boatmen, winning the Central Midlands Supreme Division for the Very First time and also reaching the Floodlit Cup and the League cup final. They lifted the Floodlit Cup for the second time in three years with a 2-0 win against Clipstone Welfare. Unfortunately the Boatmen lost in the league cup final, losing 1-0 in a tight game against Sandiacre Town at Alfreton Towns ground. After Dunkirk’s memorable championship season promotion was denied due to the ground not being up to the required standard for the league above. This dissapointment led to many players moving on to higher placed clubs in the football pyramid which meant the “Boatmen” needed to regroup. This rebuilding period gave Dunkirk the opportunity to blood many of the clubs under 19 players into the 1^st team and after a difficult season they finished in 8^th position.

In the 2007/08 season Dunkirk went into the campaign with an optimistic view that silverware may be returning to the club but after a poor start their league title dreams looked to have slipped away from them. Dunkirk now turned to the cup competitions and after a good run in the F.A Vase where they lost narrowly to Oldbury United in the 2^nd round after a reply a bit of confidence returned to the side. The 2^nd half of the season saw this confidence flourish with the “Boatmen” storming up the table to grab what looked to be an impossible 4^th place league finish as well as reaching the league cup final at Alfreton Town’s ground where they defeated Blidworth Welfare 1-0 after extra-time. This was to be the clubs last game in the Central Midlands League and after a 13 year successful time in which they claimed 1League Title, 2 League Cups as well as 2 Floodlit Cup trophies also claiming 3 League runners up positions and losing in 2 league cup finals they leave the Central Midlands League with many happy memories.

 

DUNKIRK FOOTBALL CLUB

CENTRAL MIDLANDS LEAGUE CLUB HISTORY

 

SEASON   DIV           PLAYED  W   D    L    F     A    PTS    POS

 

1995/96      PREMIER        34        23   7     4   130    34      76      2^nd

1996/97      SUPREME       30        17   6     7     66    35      57      2^nd

1997/98      SUPREME       30        17   4     9     64    38      55      4^th

1998/99      SUPREME       36        26   4     6   109    38      82      2^nd

1999/00      SUPREME       36        21   2   13    81    48      65      6^th

2000/01      SUPREME       38        17   8   13    69    69      59      10^th

2001/02      SUPREME       38        17   6   15    62    70      57      9^th

2002/03      SUPREME       38        17   6   15    75    64      57      12^th

2003/04      SUPREME       36        19   4   13    63    42      61      6^th

2004/05      SUPREME       42        29   8      5  109    43      95      1^st

2005/06      SUPREME       40        19   7   14    66    44      64      8^th

2006/07      SUPREME       38        22   5   11    80    58      71      6^th

2007/08      SUPREME       38        23   3   12    88    51      72      4^th

 

The 2008-09 season held fresh optimism for Dunkirk as the were accepted to become founder members of  the East Midlands Counties Football League which is a step up in league terms for the club.  This step up also has given Dunkirk the opportunity to enter the F.A Cup for the first time in their history.

 

Our 1^st game in the 2008-09 season started with the F.A.Cup as we faced Alvechurch from the Midland Football Alliance (step 5). Alvechurch though proved to be a little too strong for us as they raced into a 4 goal half-time lead. Although we did put in a spirited 2^nd half performance the game ended 4-1. In our 1^st ever step 6 league campaign we started extremely well and remained unbeaten until the end of October when we crashed to a 3-0 defeat against eventual league winners Kirby Muxloe. For most of the season though we found ourselves just behind the front two but with only 12 games remaining we did top the table. This though was to be the highlight of the season and after this spell at the top we did dwindle away and had to settle for a 5^th place finish.

 

DUNKIRK FOOTBALL CLUB

EAST MIDLANDS COUNTIES LEAGUE CLUB HISTORY

 

SEASON                      PLAYED  W   D    L    F     A    PTS    POS

 

2008/09                              34          18   7      9   59   38     61         5^th