Grantham Town Football Club is a football club, based in

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England. They are currently members of the and play at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium.

History

The club was established in 1874 as Grantham Football Club.History
Grantham Town F.C. They joined the Midland Amateur Alliance, but withdrew from the league during the 1892–93 season. They joined the Grantham & District League the following season.Grantham Town: History
The Football Archives The club later returned to the Midland Amateur Alliance, where they played until becoming founder members of the

Central Alliance The Central Alliance was a football league in England, covering the East Midlands. History The league was established in 1911 with twelve clubs, most of which had previously been members of the Notts & Derbyshire League; Derby County Reserve ...

in 1911 alongside Grantham Avenue.The Central Alliance 1911–1925
Non-League Matters In 1924–25 they were Central Alliance champions, also winning Division B of the Subsidiary Competition. Grantham then moved up to the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

. In 1928–29 they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since the Victorian era, and after beating Rhyl Athletic 1–0, they lost 2–1 at

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club Wigan Borough. In 1933 they joined the new

Central Combination The Central Combination was a short-lived football league in central England. The league was established in 1933 to create a stepping stone for clubs looking to progress from county leagues to the Midland League and initially had 17 members.

, but after finishing second-from-bottom of the league in its first season, they returned to the Midland League. The club qualified for the first round again in 1935–36, losing 2–0 at home to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. The 1937–38 season saw the club finish the season as Midland League runners-up. In the

1945–46 FA Cup The 1945–46 FA Cup was the 65th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, generally known as the FA Cup, and the first to be held after the Second World War. Derby County were the winners, bea ...

, the first after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Grantham reached the second round again; after beating

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

in the first round, they lost 4–2 on aggregate to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

in the second round. Another first round appearance in 1947–48 resulted in a 2–1 defeat at Stockton, whilst the club's

1949–50 FA Cup The 1949–50 FA Cup was the 69th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Arsenal won the competition for the third time, beating Liverpool 2–0 in the final ...

run ended with a 4–1 loss at

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. In 1959 the club left the Midland League to rejoin the Central Alliance and were placed in Division One South. However, after two seasons the club returned to the Midland League. In 1961–62 they reached the first round of the FA Cup again, this time losing 3–0 at Brierley Hill Alliance. Grantham were Midland League champions in 1963–64 and runners-up the following season. In 1965–66 they beat Hendon 4–1 in the first round of the FA Cup before losing 6–1 at home to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in the second round. They also reached the second round the following season after beating Wimbledon 2–1 in the first round; in the second round they lost 4–0 at home to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

. After finishing as Midland League runners-up again in 1969–70, they won back-to-back league titles in 1970–71 and 1971–72; the 1970–71 season also saw them beat Football League opposition in the FA Cup for the first time, defeating

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

2–1 in the first round before losing 4–1 to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in the second. After the second successive title in 1971–72, the club were promoted to Division One North of the Southern League, which they won at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division. The following season saw Grantham progress to the third round of the FA Cup for the first time since the 1880s. After beating Hillingdon Borough 4–0 in the first round, they went on to defeat Third Division

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

5–3 in a second round replay, before losing 2–0 at home to Second Division

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in the third round in front of a record crowd of 6,578. They went on to finish the league season as runners-up in the Premier Division. However, in 1977–78 the club finished bottom of the Southern League Premier Division and were relegated to Division One North. The following season saw them win the division. As well as being promoted, the club were also transferred to the Northern Premier League. However, after being relegated at the end of the 1984–85 season, they were transferred back to the Southern League and placed in the Midland Division. In 1987 the club was renamed Grantham Town. They were Midland Division champions in 1997–98, earning promotion to the Premier Division. The club were relegated again at the end of the 1999–2000 season, this time of the Eastern Division. After finishing as runners-up in the Eastern Division in 2001–02 the club were promoted back to the Premier Division. In 2006 they were transferred to the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League, but were relegated to Division One South at the end of the 2007–08 season. In

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

a fifth-place finish saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs, in which they beat Newcastle Town 3–0 in the semi-finals before losing 2–0 to

Rushall Olympic Rushall Olympic Football Club is an English football club based in Rushall, a former mining village now forming part of the northern suburbs of Walsall. The team plays in the . History Early years Although football had been played in the villa ...

in the final. However, they won Division One South the following season and were promoted back to the Premier Division. In 2017–18 the club finished fourth in the Premier Division, qualifying for the play-offs. After defeating Warrington Town 3–0 in the semi-finals, they were beaten 2–0 by Ashton United in the final. A 4–1 defeat to Stafford Rangers saw Grantham end the 2021–22 season bottom of the league and relegated from the Premier Division.

Ground

The club spent much of their history playing at London Road until leaving during the 1990–91 season. They briefly groundshared with Spalding United before moving to the council-owned South Kesteven Sports Stadium in October 1991. The ground was built on the Meres playing fields and is also referred to as 'the Meres'.Grantham Town
Pyramid Passion On one side of the pitch is the seated West Stand, which has uncovered terracing on either side. The East Stand on the other side of the pitch is of a covered terrace. There are no stands behind the goals due to the running track. The ground currently has a capacity of 7,500, of which 750 is seated and 1,950 is covered.

Honours

*Northern Premier League **Division One South champions 2011–12 *Southern League **Division One North champion 1972–73, 1978–79 **Midland Division champions 1997–98 *Midland League **Champions 1963–64, 1970–71, 1971–72 **League Cup winners 1968–69, 1970–71 *Central Alliance **Champions 1924–25 **Division B champions 1924–25 *Midland Amateur League **Champions 1910–11 *

Lincolnshire Senior Cup The Lincolnshire Senior County Cup is a football (soccer) competition for senior football clubs in Lincolnshire organised by the Lincolnshire FA. The competition can be traced back to the formation of the Lincolnshire FA at a meeting held at th ...

**Winners 1884–85, 1971–72, 1982–83 *Lincolnshire County Senior Cup **Winner 1936–37 *Lincolnshire Senior Cup 'A' **Winners 1953–54, 1960–61, 1961–62 *Lincolnshire County Shield **Winners 2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12

Records

* Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

performance: Third round, 1883–84, 1886–87, 1973–74 * Best FA Trophy performance: Quarter-finals, 1971–72, 1997–98 *Biggest victory: 13–0 vs Rufford Colliery, FA Cup preliminary round, 15 September 1934 *Heaviest defeat: 15–0 vs Notts County Rovers, Midland Amateur Alliance, 22 October 1892 *Record attendance: 6,578 vs

, FA Cup third round, 1973–74 *Most appearances: Chris Gardner, 664 *Most goals: Jack McCartney, 416 *Record transfer fee received: £20,000 from

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

for Gary Crosby

References

External links