 | |||
| Full name | Braintree Town Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Iron | ||
| Founded | 24 September 1898 | ||
| Ground | Cressing Road,Braintree | ||
| Capacity | 4,222 (553 seated)[1] | ||
| Chairman | Lee Harding | ||
| Manager | Steve Pitt | ||
| League | National League | ||
| 2024–25 | National League, 17th of 24 | ||
| Website | braintreetownfc.org.uk | ||
Braintree Town Football Club is a professionalfootball club based inBraintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of theNational League, the fifth tier of English football, and play atCressing Road.
The club was formed on 24 September 1898 asManor Works,[2] theworks team of theCrittall Window Company, from which they gained their nicknameIron.[3] The new club took over the fixtures of the recently defunct Braintree F.C. in theNorth Essex League, and also took on most of the former club's players.[3] They left the league in 1900, but returned in 1901. They won the title in 1905–06, 1910–11 and 1911–12, also winning theMid-Essex League in 1909–10 and 1910–11.[4] In 1911 they also joined Division 2A of theEssex & Suffolk Border League, remaining in the league until 1928.
In 1921 they were renamedCrittall Athletic to be more closely identified with their parent company.[3] After winning Division Two (Western) in 1922–23 and 1923–24,[5] they were promoted to the Senior Division of the Border League in 1925. In 1928 they joined theSpartan League, and in 1935 were founder members of theEastern Counties League, although they also continued to play in the Border League. They won the Border League in 1935–36 and both the Border League and the Eastern Counties League in 1936–37, but then left the Eastern Counties League to join the newly establishedEssex County League.[5][6] The new league folded after a single season (in which Crittall were runners-up) and the club returned to the Eastern Counties League.
AfterWorld War II the Eastern Counties League did not resume in 1945, so Crittall joined the Eastern Division of theLondon League instead. After finishing second in their first season, they were promoted to the Premier Division. They were invited to rejoin the Eastern Counties League in 1947, but turned the offer down and remained in the London League, where they won the League Cup twice before returning to the Eastern Counties League in 1952.[3] In 1954 they turned professional, but financial problems forced them to revert to amateur status and drop back down into the Border League at the end of the 1954–55 season.
In 1959–60 they won the league and League Cup double. They switched to theGreater London League in 1964, and then to theMetropolitan League in 1966. They were renamedBraintree & Crittall Athletic in 1968,[7] and after winning the League Cup in 1969–70, the club returned to the Eastern Counties League again. In 1981 all links with Crittall were severed and the club was renamedBraintree F.C.,[3][8] before adopting their current name a year later.[9] They won their second Eastern Counties League title in 1983–84 and retained it the following season. In 1986–87 they won the Essex Senior Trophy and the following season they won the League Cup.
In 1991 Braintree moved up to the Southern Division of theSouthern League. In 1996 the club askedthe FA to switch leagues to reduce their travelling. After initially being refused, they were allowed to move to Division Three of theIsthmian League, although it was an effective drop of two divisions.[3] They were promoted as runners-up in theirfirst season, and repeated the feat thefollowing season. After three seasons in Division One they were promoted to the Premier Division with a third-place finish in2000–01. They won the Premier Division in2005–06 to earn promotion to theConference South. The season also saw them reach the first round of theFA Cup for the first time, eventually losing 4–1 atShrewsbury Town.[10]
Braintree qualified for the promotion play-offs in theirfirst season in the Conference South, but lost 1–0 toSalisbury City in the final. They also reached the play-offs thefollowing season, but lost toEastbourne Borough in the semi-finals. In2010–11 they finished as Conference South champions, earning promotion to theConference Premier. The next four seasons saw the club reach the FA Cup for the first round, losing toTranmere Rovers,Newport County,Chesterfield andOxford United in successive seasons.[10] In2015–16 they finished third in the renamed National League, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. Despite winning the first leg atGrimsby Town 1–0, they lost the home leg 2–0 after extra time.[11] In2016–17 the club reached the second round of theFA Cup for the first time after beatingEastbourne Borough in the first round; they eventually lost 5–2 toMillwall in the second round. They were relegated from the National League at the end of the season after finishing in the bottom four.
The2017–18 season saw Braintree finish sixth in the National League South. In the play-offs they defeatedHemel Hempstead Town andDartford to reach the final, in which they beatHampton & Richmond Borough 4–3 on penalties to earn promotion back to the National League. However, they were relegated to the National League South thefollowing season after finishing second-from-bottom of the National League. In 2022–23 the club won theEssex Senior Cup, beatingConcord Rangers 2–0 in the final. Thefollowing season saw them finish fifth in the National League South. In the subsequent play-offs they defeatedBath City 1–0 in the quarter-finals andChelmsford City 3–2 in the semi-finals before beatingWorthing 4–3 in the final to earn another promotion back to the National League.
Braintree Town reserves joined Division One of the Eastern Counties League in 2012,[12] remaining in the league until the end of the 2018–19 season.
After being founded, Manor Works initially played at the Fair Field, now the site of the town hall, library and bus station.[3] They moved to Spaldings Meadow in Panfield Lane in 1903. In 1923, the club moved to a new ground on Cressing Road which had been built by their parent company. Due to problems with the pitch in 1975, the club were forced to play matches at several other venues, includingHeybridge Swifts' Scraley Road (a single match on 26 April arranged at such short notice that many fans arrived at Cressing Road for the match and only 50 attended the game), Braintree Rugby Club's Tabor Avenue (at the start of the 1975–76 season) and the Courtaulds Sports Ground in Church Street inBocking (a single match againstGorleston on 6 September 1975 with a crowd of 73).[3]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager | Steve Pitt |
| Assistant Manager | Karl Duguid |
| First Team Coach | Phil Coleman |
| Goalkeeping Coach | David Blackmore |
| Head of Analysis | Michael Pulford |
| Head of Medical | Kotryna Stoknaite |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Cullen Bacon |
| Head of Medical | Frankie Sullivan |
| Kit Man & Logistics | Rob Barlow |
Source: Braintree Town F.C.
