Grays at the Double!
Grays Athletic had to wait 115 years to reach the top flight of non-league football, but when the Club did make the grade, it did so in style.
In May 2005, the Club completed a remarkable double of league and FA Trophy success in a season of firsts.
Grays clinched promotion to the Football Conference, becoming the first club to win the newly-inaugurated Conference South league, wrapping up the title by the end of March, scoring 118 goals in the process.
Then, having claimed the scalps of Conference sides
Grays were the first Club outside of the Football Conference to achieve this league and FA Trophy double.
Elsewhere Grays produced their first non-league internationals, with captain Stuart Thurgood playing two games for Paul Fairclough's England National Game XI and teammates Mitchell Cole and Dennis Oli also getting callups. Star striker Freddy Eastwood was sold to Southend United for a considerable fee, going on to clinch promotion for the Shrimpers.
Off the field a series of developments transformed the 'New' Rec. A new 1,000 seater stand, away end, covered terracing and toilet facilities brought Grays' spiritual home up to Conference standard with plans to upgrade further for qualification into the Football League.
The Early Years
The 1980s
The 1990s
The End of the Saxton Era
Grays Athletic celebrated their Centenary in 1990, and have played at the Recreation Ground,
Grays became very strong after the Second World War, winning the Essex Senior Cup in 1945. Grays helped to form the Corinthian League in 1946 and won both the League and Memorial Shield and were Essex Thameside Trophy winters in 1948.
In the 1950's they reached the
In 1981 the Club Patron, Mr. Ron Billings, ensured the future of Grays Athletic at the Rec by purchasing the ground. The Club was reformed as a Limited Company in 1982 with Twin Managers Jeff and Fred Saxton introducing several of the Management Team. Under Chairman Jim Myers they gained promotion to the Isthmian League Division 2. Disaster struck before the end of the 82/83 season when a fire destroyed the 400-seater stand which included dressing and kit rooms. R.J. Billings came to the rescue by building the Ball Court Complex which included dressing rooms, club room and bar.
A fine F.A. Cup run in 84/85 set up Grays to become Division 2 champions. The 87/88 season proved one of the most successful in the Club's history. They were promoted to the Vauxhall Opal Premier League after amassing 100 points. The Club's twin strikeforce of Micky Welch and Tony Mahoney became known as "the most feared striking partnership in non-league football". They won the Essex Senior Cup after a gap of 31 years, and added the Essex Thameside Trophy by defeating near-neighbours Tilbury.
Another F.A. Cup run in 88/89 ended in the First Round proper at
1990/91 saw the pairing of twin strikers Richard Cherry and Dwight Marshall, who scored 58 goals between them, helping the team to sixth place in the league.
Grays won the League Cup with a 3-1 defeat of Enfield in 1991/92. The following
season they climbed to sixth spot in the league and had their best every
F.A. Trophy run, going out in a replay at
The following season they repeated their Essex Senior Cup win against
Billericay for their 8th County title. 1995/96 was another season with a
threat of relegation, but they reached the Essex
Thameside
Trophy final, losing in extra time to
The hard times of the mid-90s eventually culminated in relegation to Division 1 at the conclusion of the 96/97 season. But success eventually returned with promotion to the Premier division at the end of the 99/2000 season.
The 2000/1 season saw the club struggle at the foot of the table for most
of the season. However a successful run in the F.A. Cup finally came to an
end with a 4-0 defeat at
Reading in the First Round Proper. This signalled the start of changes
at
2001-2 saw the first team finish sixth in the Premier Division and win a place in the First Round of the FA Cup for the second year running. Grays also won the Essex Thamesside Trophy for the eighth time. The introduction of a reserve team brought further success in the shape of the Capital League title (which had not been won by a team outside of the Conference for 17 years) and runners up honours in the league cup.
2002-3 was tricky for Grays. The departure of manager Craig Edwards led to Mark Stimson taking over the reigns as player/manager. A series of high profile signings including Carl Leaburn and Jason Dozzell did not work out as planned and Grays narrowly avoided relegation.
2003-4 was more positive. In the close season, the Club announced its
intention to go full-time and manager Mark Stimson and coach Scott Barrett
hosted a series of trials, recruiting a host of talented and motivated young
players. The move paid off; Blues notched up some convincing victories, most
memorably beating
2005/2006 saw Grays in their first ever season in the National Conference. Mark Stimson and Scott Barrett’s philosophy of entertaining the crowds proved to be very successful with the blend of youthful exuberance and the outstanding quality of the more experienced players. Grays having equalled the Conference record of Kettering Town and going unbeaten in the first 15 fixtures of the season, again picking up both Manager and individual Player Awards on the way. The FA Cup defeat 3-0 away to Mansfield Town left a sour taste in the mouth. After the defeat in the FA Cup the team turned their attention to the FA Trophy and being the holders were determined to hold onto their title. This culminated with an appearance in the final against Woking held at West Ham United’s, Upton Park, followed by 8,000 supporters which Grays eventually went on to win 2-0 with a performance of breathtaking total football, a big mention should go to our goalkeeper Ashley Bayes who pulled of numerous quality saves. The National Conference campaign saw Grays eventually end a brilliant season with a 3rd place finish and gaining an appearance in the play off semi final where we met Halifax Town and bowed out of the competition after 2 fixtures of high drama and quality, 5-4 0n Aggregate.
Both Mark Stimson and Scott Barrett left Grays along with Paul Wilson after the FA Trophy Final for pastures new.
Chairman Mick Woodward had now signed a new management team of Frank Gray, Gerry Murphy and Physio Steve Snelling, and we looked forward to another successful season in the Conference under their expert guidance.
2006-2007 After a reasonably good start and high expectations the season started to gradually go downhill rapidly and after a defeat at the hands of Bromley in the FA Cup, Chairman Mick Woodward along with the Board of directors decided to part ways with Frank Gray along with the remaining members of the management team. Mick Woodward replaced Frank Gray temporarily himself and this then saw the introduction of Andy King who replaced the Chairman / Manager along with assistant manager Justin Edinburgh. The appointment of Andy King was short lived and he decided that he did not have enough knowledge of Non-League football and he left shortly afterwards. Justin Edinburgh then decided to take on the reins of becoming Grays 4th manager of the season and he quickly recruited Jimmy Dack as his assistant from Fisher Athletic. Grays went on to reach the semi final stage of the FA Trophy and were beaten by Stevenage Borough and also stopped from defending the Trophy at Wembley. The league form from the side was still patchy but managed to pick up some good points towards the end of the season to keep our place among the elite of Non–League football in next seasons Blue Square Premier. 2007/08 season promised to be more exciting and Justin and Jimmy’s first in charge and they had already added some quality signings to the squad for hopefully a good campaign
Following a turbulent 2006-07 campaign there was hope that this season would see more stability brought to the Club as we entered our third season in the top flight of the Non League game under the sponsorship of Blue Square.
Well the Board of Directors remained the same, but the Chairman decided to have another go at team management following a disappointing home defeat at the hands of Exeter City on 16 February. Manager Justin Edinburgh had struggled to produce a consistent, winning side which had defended as well as anyone in the Division but had failed to score an average of a goal a game.
Chairman/Owner/ Manager, Mike Woodward declared himself better placed this time to take the reins again and he swiftly appointed two professional coaches, Neil Smith and Tim O‘Shea to support newly promoted Assistant Manager Gary Phillips.
The first third of the season saw 4 wins, 4 draws and 7 defeats, just 16 points from 15 games - more relegation fodder than play-off potential. The best aspects were the creditable draw on the opening day of the season in front of the Setanta cameras against demoted, but clearly ambitious Torquay, and a 5-1 demolition of Kidderminster at the Rec with Danny Kedwell hitting a hatrick. The worst, a 2-0 home defeat against York, which included a sending off for Jamie Stuart and a bad injury for visiting striker, Chris Beardsley.
The next 14 League games saw a record of 7 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats. We had also lost poorly to Lewes in the F A Cup following a drawn game at the Rec which should have been won. Some success in the Trophy, with a revenge win against Lewes was followed by another disappointing defeat, this time at home to York in a replay which should not have been necessary following a dubious penalty awarded at Kit-kat Crescent when we were one up and looking comfortable.
Wins in the much downgraded Essex Senior Cup against Braintree and Stanway Rovers was followed by a home defeat to Heybridge. A 3-1 win at Welling with Scott Taylor neting a hatrick, was followed the next week by an inglorious exit at Crawley where we were on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing. During this time we lost Dennis Oli and Stuart Thurgood to Gillingham who were re-united with former manager, Mark Stimson. A number of other players moved on and a number of new players joined as the Club sought that elusive formula for success.
By the 23 February, Mike Woodward decided to take charge again and his record for the last 17 games of 8 wins, 6 draws and 3 defeats was certainly what many had hoped for earlier in the season. Our strike rate had also improved significantly with 30 goals at a rate nearly double what had been witnessed during the previous 39 League and Cup games under Justin.
Mike Woodward clearly has a strong man-management approach and coaches Neil Smith and Tim O‘Shea with Gary Phillips appeared to bring better organisational qualities and perhaps a fitter squad. Whatever the reason, the season finished well with a top ten position.
Following personal reasons Chairman, Mike Woodward, stood down as 1st Team Manager on 13th September 2008, he appointed Tim O'Shea as manager with Gary Phillips as his assistant and Neil Smith in the role of Head Coach.
Club history & honours
2005-6
Conference National Play-Offs
FA Trophy winners
2004-5
Conference South champions
FA Trophy winners
2003-4
1st Round FA Cup
2002-3
4th Round FA Trophy
2001-2
1st Round FA Cup
2000-1
1st Round FA Cup
1999-2000
Isthmian League Division One runners-up (on goal difference) Promoted to
Premier Division
1996-7
Relegated to Division One
1993-4
Essex Senior Cup winners
1991-2
AC Delco League Cup winners
1988-9
1st Round FA Cup
Essex Thameside Trophy winners
1987-8
Isthmian League Division One runners-up
Promoted to Premier Division
Essex Senior Cup winners
Essex Thameside Trophy winners
1984-5
Isthmian League Division Two South Champions
Promoted to Division One
1983-4
Joined Isthmian League Division Two
1982-3
Athenian League runner-up (on goal difference)
1973-74
League re-organisation. Division One now top
section
1972
Relegated to Division One
1958-9
Rejoined Athenian League
1954-5
Corinthian League runners-up
1947-8
Essex Thameside Trophy winners
1945-6
Founder member of Corinthian League
Corinthian League Champions
Essex Senior Cup winners
1914
Left Athenian League
1912
Founder member of Athenian League