© Copyright 2008 COUNTY LIFE LTD, County House, 9 Checkpoint Court, Sadler Road, Lincoln LN6 3PW

Tel: 01522 527127 Fax: 01522 842000 email: | | |

The Pilgrims’ progress!

Taking on a football team with no manager and only one player just weeks before the new season is about to get underway is not a challenge for the faint-hearted. This is the situation which faced Dave Newton in July last year when he became Chairman of Boston United.

Words: Sue Hutson Photographs: Tom Allen

It comes as rather a surprise to learn that the Chairman of Boston United is a lifelong supporter of Lincoln City with a box at Sincil Bank! Dave Newton however, insists that there is no conflict of loyalty. He tries to go to all of United’s matches and watches City whenever he can. It is an arrangement which works well.

Dave Newton, is adamant that the most important thing about any football club is its sense of community. Nowhere is this more true than in Boston. The club has a very proud history and football has played an important part in the lives of Boston people since it was first played in the town in the late 1800s. Then, as now, the York Street stadium was the focal point for players and supporters alike. The club first joined the football league in the 1950s. They have played in and out of the league ever since.

This small club has had something of a chequered history and is certainly no stranger to adversity but in 2007 the club hit rock bottom. In the last few months of the season in the midst of mounting problems, players and staff went unpaid. In the final match of 2007 the team was defeated and went out of the football league. Going back to non league football was difficult enough for the stalwart fans to come to terms with but then came the news that the club was to enter a Company Voluntary Arrangement. As a consequence there was a further demotion to ‘Blue Square North’. The fans were devastated. It was at this point, with the bleak prospect of second tier non-league football ahead and no manager or team in place as August loomed, that Dave Newton took over the helm.

Chestnut Homes, where Dave Newton has been Managing Director for twenty years, has a number of building developments in Boston and had been a sponsor of the club for some time. When Dave heard that there was to be a public meeting to decide the future of Boston United he felt that as a representative of the local business community, he should go along to show his support.

He recalls, “It was June 17th and eight hundred fans showed up. There was no manager, only one player, just weeks to the start of the new season and eight hundred fans desperate to keep their football club alive. Though it hadn’t in any way been planned, taking on the club seemed the most obvious thing to do! The rest as they say is history!’’

Chestnut Homes officially took over on July 4th. Dave still recalls the emotion of the many, many fans, often with tears in their eyes, who thanked him for coming to the rescue of their beloved football club. In towns like Boston football really does matter.

He says the next ten days were the most difficult ten days of his life as he contemplated the enormity of the challenge which lay ahead. With the tremendous, generous support of the local community and the determination and tenacity of the management at Chestnut Homes, everything miraculously came into place. On August 11th , in a brand new kit and with six hundred season tickets sold, the new club team played their first match of the season against Workington. They won. Victory was sweet! It was a very proud moment for everyone who had worked so hard to see Boston United hold its head up high once more.

Half way through the season the team is doing well and is comfortably placed eleventh in the table. Dave Newton is very confident that the fortunes of the club are on the up with the Blue Square Premiership well within their sights.

He says that the club still faces a battle financially but is now run using the same business principles as in his day job and things are very clearly on track. Community initiatives are very strong. Football in the community is thriving and staff are teaching in local secondary schools. They have an excellent Study Support Centre – Boston Online and the Centre of Excellence is successfully developing the football talent in the area. It is clear that appreciating and motivating the workforce are at the centre of his plan to rebuild the club just as they are vital to his management of Chestnut Homes.

Dave appears to be very relaxed about what he is doing and modest about what he has achieved. He says, “I just brought my management experience to the situation. It is the community itself which has brought new hope and optimism to the club and it is support from the community which will secure its future.” Just months after the bleakest period in the club’s history there is no doubt that The Pilgrims are making very good progress indeed!