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Just one point from title glory
Story courtesy of Burton Mail
One point cost Gresley Rovers the Banks’s Brewery League Premier Division title – but it has still been the Moatmen’s best ever campaign.
Some £2,100 in sponsorship money will soon be in the bank. This is made up of £1,000 for being league runners-up, £750 for clinching the League Cup and £350 for the reserves third spot.The average home gate was 416 – by far the biggest in the league – and only bettered by a handful of clubs in the Beazer Homes League Midland Division.
The club scored more goals, conceded the least and lost the fewest games – but the much-sought-after league title slipped away when they dropped two vital points at wooden spoonists Stourport Swifts in their final away game of the season.
The League Cup, the Derbyshire Senior Cup, the Johnson Cup, Centenary Bowl and the runners-up trophy will fill the trophy cabinet, this haul being the biggest at the Moat Ground for over 40 years.
Manager Frank Northwood, who has been with the club since January 1985, used 30 players in the 57 match campaign and Northwood’s record is quite remarkable since taking charge. Only 18 out of 169 league games have ended in defeat.
