Cheltenham Town F.C.

Cheltenham has a history of football prior to The Robins. In 1849, the first use of three official referees in a match, two in field and one in tribune, was recorded in the town. However, the modern club was founded in 1887 by Albert Close White, a local teacher.[2]

The club spent its first three decades in local football. Notable players from those days include cricketers Gilbert Jessop and brothers Charles Barnett and Edgar Barnett. In the early 1930s the club turned professional and joined the Birmingham Combination before joining the Southern League in 1935.

They won promotion to the Alliance Premier League (now the Conference National) in 1985, but were relegated seven years later. They were promoted back to the Conference in 1997 and two years later gained promotion to the Football League.

After two mid-table finishes in Division Three (now League Two) they won via the playoffs and were promoted to Division Two (now League One).

Cheltenham Town's traditional colours

The appointment of Steve Cotterill as manager during the 1996–97 was the start of a period of success at the club which resulted in Cotterill being their most successful manager. Four months after taking charge he guided the club to runners-up spot in the Southern Football League Premier Division, but they won promotion to the Football Conference as champions Gresley Rovers were unable to meet the required ground capacity for Conference membership.

In 1997–98, Cheltenham finished runners-up in the Conference and were close to champions Halifax Town until the end of April 1998. They secured a place at Wembley in the FA Trophy final, beating Southport 1–0 in front of a crowd of 27,000. In 1998–99 Cheltenham secured the Conference title and entry to the Football League.

After two mid-table finishes in Division Three, Cheltenham finally won promotion to Division Two (via the Division Three playoffs) at the end of the 2001–02 season. Shortly after winning promotion, Cotterill left Cheltenham to join Stoke City as their manager.[3]

Cheltenham replaced Cotterill with first-team coach Graham Allner who had won the Conference championship with Kidderminster Harriers in 1994. Allner and assistant manager Mike Davis, who was originally assistant to Cotterill, were sacked in January 2003, after six months in the job, with Cheltenham near the foot of Division Two.[4] Cheltenham turned to Bobby Gould, one of the most experienced managers in English football whose exploits include an FA Cup victory with Wimbledon in 1988.[5] Cheltenham continued to struggle, and defeat in their final game of the season condemned the club to relegation back to Division Three after just one season.[6] Gould resigned as Cheltenham Town manager in November 2003 and was replaced by John Ward.[7]

During the 2005–06 season, a new stand for visiting fans was added (The Carlsberg Stand). They finished the season in 5th, earning a place in the play-offs. In the semi-final Cheltenham beat Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 away and drew 0–0 in the second leg at Whaddon Road.[8] In the play-off final, Cheltenham beat Grimsby Town 1–0, securing a place in League One for 2006–07. The match at the Millennium Stadium on 28 May 2006 was attended by 29,196 people.[9]

Cheltenham started life in League 1 with a 1–0 win against Gillingham.[10] Following Cheltenham's 3–0 defeat to Port Vale, manager John Ward announced he had agreed a four-year contract with League One side Carlisle United. A highlight of the season was winning twice against Leeds United.[11][12] Cheltenham's survival was secured on the final day of the season as they beat Doncaster Rovers 2–1 at Whaddon Road, denying their opposition automatic promotion.[13]

Early in the 2008–09 season, Keith Downing left Cheltenham Town[14] and was replaced by Martin Allen.[15] Allen's team started poorly with a club-record seven defeats in a row, part of a 15-game run without a victory. The club narrowly avoided administration, and the 10-point penalty that would go with it, before Allen revealed that all the players at the club were up for sale.[16] The season finished with Cheltenham's relegation back to League Two on the penultimate day of the season after three seasons in League One as they had conceded over 100 goals in all competitions.[17]

Cheltenham won their first match of the League 2 season against Grimsby Town 2–1, but fell dramatically down the table soon after. On 20 October, Martin Allen was put on gardening leave amid allegations he racially abused a nightclub bouncer, and assistant manager John Schofield took temporary charge.[18][19] Allen was formally cleared of misconduct but still left the club by mutual consent in early December.[20] Former Cheltenham captain and Kidderminster boss Mark Yates was appointed manager on 22 December 2009.[21] Cheltenham continued to struggle through the rest of the season, only managing to avoid relegation on the final day of the season, although they finished four points ahead of the relegated sides.[22]

Yates, ahead of his first full season with Cheltenham, revamped the squad, releasing eight players,[23] including defender Shane Duff, who had just completed his tenth year with the club. The season proved to be successful to begin with, with the Robins remaining close to the play-off positions, but they collapsed in the second half of the season and finished 17th, with only five wins in 26 games in 2011.[6]

Despite losing in the first round of the League Cup, they reached the Football League Trophy south quarter-finals and were handed a lucrative tie at Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup third round.[24] Yates won the Manager of the Month award for November after three wins from three[25] The Robins ended the season in 6th and defeated Torquay United 2–0 at home and then 1–2 away in the League 2 Play-off Semi-finals. The Play-off Final was contested at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 27 May 2012. Crewe Alexandra defeated Cheltenham Town 2–0 with goals from Nick Powell and Byron Moore in front of a crowd of 24,029.[26]

The Robins also enjoyed a good run in the 2012-13 FA Cup, eventually losing out 5–1 to Premier League side Everton.[27] On 6 November 2012, manager Mark Yates oversaw his 150th game in charge of the team in a 1–0 win against league leaders Gillingham. Cheltenham finished 5th, once again qualifying for the end of season play-offs after being pipped to the third promotion spot on the last day of the season by Rotherham United.[28] The season included a run of 21 home league games without defeat.[29] The play-offs saw Cheltenham face Northampton Town with Cheltenham losing both home and away games by 1–0.[30]

After finishing in the play-offs for two consecutive seasons, Cheltenham Town's 2013–14 season proved to be difficult.[31] Any hopes of a third consecutive play-off place were ended by March. The highlight of the season was a trip to Premier League side West Ham United, with the club eventually losing 2–1 at Upton Park.[32] Cheltenham finished the season in 17th place.

On 25 November 2014, Mark Yates was sacked by Cheltenham Town after almost five years in charge.[33] Cheltenham subsequently appointed Paul Buckle as team manager,[34] but he was dismissed after just 79 days.[35] In March 2015 Gary Johnson was appointed manager.[36] In April 2015, after Bryan Jacob, a lifelong supporter, gave the club's supporters trust £222,000 in his will, members voted to use the money to accept a long-standing offer from the club for a permanent seat on its board of directors. Football fan Clive Gowing was subsequently elected. The club said it would also name a stand and supporters' player-of-the-season award in Jacob's memory.[37] On 25 April 2015, Cheltenham Town lost at Whaddon Road to Shrewsbury Town, which meant that Cheltenham were relegated from the Football League after sixteen seasons.[38]

After only one season outside of the Football League, Cheltenham secured an immediate return on 16 April 2016 with a 2–0 home win against FC Halifax.[39] The team amassed 101 points, scoring the most and conceding the fewest goals, on their way to becoming Champions, finishing 12 points clear of second-placed local rivals Forest Green. January signing Dan Holman was joint winner of the National League's Golden Boot award, with 30 goals, having netted 16 times in just 18 games for the Robins. Danny Wright, a summer signing, finished the season with 22 league goals and 11 assists, winning the Supporters Player of the Year award.[40]

For the club's return to the Football League, manager Gary Johnson largely kept faith with the players that had won the previous year's National League. The 2016–17 season proved to be a struggle with a number of players finding the step up to League 2 more difficult than had been hoped. The Whaddon Road pitch also came in for criticism, from both supporters and visiting managers, as it struggled to cope with its high levels of use (Gloucester City were in the final season of a ground-share at Cheltenham during 2016–17).[41] Results improved somewhat during the spring, although Johnson was absent on sick leave from March onwards while recovering from heart bypass surgery, leaving his assistant Russell Milton in charge.[42] The Robins secured their league status with a 1–0 win over Hartlepool United in the penultimate game of the season.[43] They finished the season in 21st place.

During the close season a recovered Johnson returned to work and signed a new two-year contract.[44] He oversaw a major clearout of the squad with eleven players released.[45] In the 2017–18 season the club ultimately only gained one point more than in the previous year (51 compared to 50), and finished in 17th place in League 2.

By far the biggest success of an otherwise low-key year was Sudanese striker Mohamed Eisa. Signed as a free transfer from non-league football, Eisa scored 23 league goals for Cheltenham during the season and ultimately moved to Bristol City, for a transfer fee reportedly in excess of £1m (a club record sale), in July 2018.[46] At the end of the season, long-serving club chairman Paul Baker stood down from the role after 20 years, handing over the chairmanship to Andy Wilcox.[47]

On 10 September 2018, ex-Cheltenham player Michael Duff was appointed after the departure of Gary Johnson.[48] Duff guided the Robins to 16th.[49] The following 2019–20 season was very successful, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion in 4th place. Final league standings were decided on a points-per-game basis following disruption caused by the COVID–19 pandemic.[50] Cheltenham missed out in the play-offs to Northampton Town, losing 3–2 on aggregate.[51] In the 2020–21 FA Cup, Cheltenham reached the 4th round where they lost 3–1 to Premier League side Manchester City, despite winning until the 81st minute.[52]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Scott Flinders 2 DF  IRL Sean Long 3 DF  ENG Chris Hussey 4 MF  ENG Ben Tozer (captain) 5 DF  ENG Charlie Raglan 6 DF  ATG Daniel Bowry 7 MF  ENG Conor Thomas 8 MF  ENG Chris Clements 9 FW  ENG Sam Smith (on loan from Reading) 10 FW  ENG Alfie May 11 DF  ENG Matty Blair 14 FW  ENG Andy Williams 15 DF  ENG Will Boyle 16 FW  ENG Alex Addai

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  ENG Lewis Freestone 18 MF  ENG Finn Azaz (on loan from West Brom) 19 FW  ENG George Lloyd 20 GK  ENG Josh Griffiths (on loan from West Brom) 22 GK  ENG Max Harris 23 MF  GUY Elliot Bonds (on loan from Hull City) 25 MF  ENG Tom Chamberlain 26 MF  ENG Liam Sercombe 28 MF  ENG Ellis Chapman 29 FW  USA Indiana Vassilev (on loan from Aston Villa) 30 FW  ENG Callum Ebanks 31 MF  ENG Connor Jakeways 34 DF  ENG Harvey Skurek — MF  ENG Callum Wright (on loan from Leicester City)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW  ENG Tahvon Campbell (at FC Halifax Town) 24 DF  ENG Grant Horton (at Bath City) 32 MF  ENG Felix Miles (at Tuffley Rovers)