CORBY'S HISTORY

Against all the odds Corby Town Football Club head towards the millennium as members of the Dr. Martens League. And after years of struggling at the wrong end of the table there is currently an air of optimism around the Rockingham Triangle ground. It is an optimism reminiscent of that present when the club first came into being during the summer of 1948.
Since 1935 the former rural village of Corby in Northamptonshire had been represented in the United Counties League by steelworks side Stewarts & Lloyds - hence the club's nickname of the Steelmen. But by the end of the 1947/1948 season it was decided that the new town of Corby had grown sufficiently enough to support an independent football club and Corby Town was born.
Local JP William Mongomery was elected chairman - a position he had previously held with S&L - and former Millwall, Dundee and England player Reg Smith was appointed player/manager.
Corby Town Football Club played its first game against Wellingborough Town at Occupation Road - home until 1985 - on Saturday, August 21, 1948 and began with an impressive 5-1 victory in front of a crowd of 2,300. Reg Smith departed just a month into that first season for family reasons, however and results were generally disappointing until senior player Wally Akers was given the manager's job in the summer of 1950.
The United Counties League championship was then won in style in both 1950/1951 and 1951/1952 by a side skippered from centre half by the imposing Scot Jimmy Strathie and with ace goalscorer Ernie Middlemiss setting a club goalscoring record of 135 in 136 games which was to last for more than forty years until being broken by David Hofbauer.
Those successes prompted a step up the Midland League in 1952 and in their first season Corby were pipped to the championship by Nottingham Forest Reserves in a last game decider. The Steelmen spent the next five seasons in the Midland League and although they were never able to match that initial success they did have their moments.
In 1954/1955 they reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time losing 0-2 at home to Watford before a crowd of 6,763. The following season two products of the club's youth system - Andy McCabe and Len Chalmers - were transferred to Chesterfield and Leicester City respectively for fees totalling almost two thousand pounds. And in 1956/1957 Corby won their home league encounter Gainsborough Trinity (who turned up without a recognised goalkeeper) by a club record score of 14-0!
The year of 1958 was a momentous one for the club. In February floodlit football came to Corby when an All Star XI took on the Steelmen in the inaugural game under lights and in March it was announced that the club was leaving the Midland League in favour of the Southern League. In May it was revealed that former Manchester United, Derby County, Leicester City and England inside forward Johnny Morris was taking over as player/manager.
During his three years in charge Morris brought a nimber of well known ex-leage player - including his former Manchester United and England colleague Henry Cockburn - to Occupation Road. But this policy almost bankrupt the club and at the end of 1960/1961 he was informed that he was not having his contract renewed for financial reasons.
Morris was succeeded by ex-Corby player Tommy Hadden and under his clever management and astute chairmanship of Fred Deely things improved both on and off the pitch. Promotion to the Premier Division was narrowly missed in 1963/1964 - when the capture of the Merit Cup as the Southern League's highest scoring team was some consolation - but the following year they did achieve promotion to the top flight. During this period the club made several applications for Football League membership and in 1966 actually picked up one vote!
In 1963/1964 Corby were knocked out ot the FA Cup in the First Round Proper by Bristol City and the following season they were defeated at the same stage by Hartlepool United. In 1965/1966 the Steelmen overcame that hurdle at home to fellow non-leaguers Burton Albion and in the Second Round faced Luton Town at Occupation Road. Hopes of an upset appeared to have been dashed when Luton earned a 2-2 draw with a late disputed penalty but on the most glorious night in a club's history a goal by local boy Maurice Goodall gave Corby victory over the Hatters at Kenilworth Road in the replay. In the Third Round a trip to Plymouth Argyle resulted in a 0-6 thrashing and in general the club's fortunes have been on a downward spiral ever since.
Corby were relegated from the Premier Division in 1968 and remained in various forms of Division One until earning a place in the new-look Premier Division in 1982. The Steelmen were relegated again in 1990 - by which time they had moved to a new home at the multi-purpose Rockingham Triangle sports complex - but bounced back after just one season as Midland Division runners up and Merit Cup winners.
In 1992/1993 under the management of Elwyn Roberts and with an experienced side which included Steve Collins, Gerry McElhinney, Bryn Gunn and skipper Dougie Keast they finished third in the Premier Division but just two seasons later following a cash crisis which had threatened the club's very existence they were relegated and ever since have struggled just to stay in the Southern League.
It appeared that the battle had been lost at the end of 1997/1998 but Corby were handed a late reprieve and switched to the Southern Division for the first time.
The new management duo of Pete Dowsing and Lee Adam had assembled a young squad of talented players led by returning skipper Dougie Keast. After a tentative start last season the Steelmen gave warning of their intentions by inflicting a first defeat of the season on high flying Margate, thrashing Newport (IOW) 5-1 and then beating the previous seasons runners up Chelmsford City. Another good run of results followed at the turn of the year and hopes are high that Corby Town Football Club can continue their improvement in the 1999/2000 season.