Kempston Rovers F.C.
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| Full name | Kempston Rovers Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Walnut Boys |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Ground | Hillgrounds Leisure, Kempston |
| Capacity | 2,000 (100 seated) |
| Chairman | Russell Shreeves |
| Manager | Jimmy Stoyles & Gary Flinn |
| League | Southern League Division One Central |
| 2015–16 | United Counties League Premier Division, 1st (promoted) |
Kempston Rovers Football Club is a football club based in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England. The club are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Hillgrounds Leisure. The club is affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association.
The club are thought to have been founded in 1884, although the first evidence of their existence dates to 1887 when the Kempston Rovers rugby club played their first football match. At the rugby club's AGM in 1891, it was decided to create a football team called Kempston Montrose. Three years later Kempston Montrose folded and its assets transferred to Kempston Association . An 1895 meeting saw another new team formed, Kempston Rovers. They gained the nickname "the Walnut boys" due to Kempston being well known for its walnuts.
The club initially played in both the Bedford & District League and the Biggleswade & District League; they won the Bedford & District League in 1907–08 and 1908–09 (a season in which they also won the Bedfordshire Senior Cup for the first time) and the Biggleswade & District League in 1910–11 and 1911–12. In 1927 they joined the Bedfordshire & District County League, which became the South Midlands League in 1929, where they remained until switching to Division Two of the United Counties League (UCL) in 1953. They won the division in 1955–56, and the following season Division Two and One were merged into one league in which Kempston finished runners-up. In 1957–58, the club were crowned champions of the UCL. The league was split into two division again in 1961–62 and Kempston were placed in Division Two. Despite finishing tenth that season, they were promoted to Division One.
In 1973, Division One was renamed the Premier Division and in 1974–75 the club were league champions again, also reaching the fifth round of the FA Vase. In 1978–79 Kempston reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, the furthest they have ever got in the competition. They repeated their record FA Vase run in 1980–81, again reaching the fifth round. Rovers were relegated to Division One at the end of the 1983–84 season, but were promoted again in 1985–86 after winning Division One.
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