GRIMSBY TOWN
ST NEOTS TOWN
ROBERTS DAVIES
went on to dominate last season winning the title with four games to spare and finishing nineteen points ahead of second placed Salisbury. Significantly, the previous season Weymouth had won the same division by eight points (albeit with the same number of points as Histon: 94) despite their heavy outlay. The turning point came in December when Histon trashed neighbours Cambridge United 5-0 in the FA Trophy. For them to win so easily against a professional side playing in higher division was a momentous result. It also helped
win nine and drew the other one. Suddenly they were clear at the top and kept pulling away. A 1-0 win against Welling United – on the same day that their Glassworld Stadium was certified as being adequate for the Blue Square Premier – finally saw them clinch promotion. Histon’s dramatic rise is captured by their changing rivalries. Just a few years back, a game against Ely City was considered their derby. Next year, however, it will be the games against former Football League outfit Cambridge United that will deserve that title.
WHAT MIGHT OUR NATURAL LEVEL BE? CONFERENCE NORTH/ SOUTH? CONFERENCE PREMIER? boost the belief that the club could achieve promotion even when they slipped to fourth. Not least as that had come about through bad weather which had forced the postponement of a number of games. When Histon finally got to play those games, they embarked on a run of ten games that saw them
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wonder how the writer views his supported clubs position now? They could very well next year playing Ely City FC again, if their fortunes don’t change quickly? What could we do differently? I hear you say. The one underlying thing we have at our disposal that
Histon FC don’t have is population. Histon’s home attendances doubled the season they were promoted (2007) from Conference South, with attendances of around 550 average, to just over 1100 average in the Conference Premier division. Had they been promoted into the Football League, the lowest averages that season were Dagenham and Accrington with just under 2000 attendance averages. It might also be noted that Histon’s rise coincided with Cambridge UTD’s demise...... What might our natural level be? Conference North/South? Conference Premier? One things for sure as fast as a clubs success grows, failure can happen just as quickly! Clubs such as ours need you and me, the fans, to buy in to our success and come and support your local side. We can’t always make that long journey to watch the Saints away from home, but I’ll wager that 90% plus of our current home support lives within 2 or 3 miles of Rowley Park and they’ll be other people in your street that don’t know what the clubs about, or what it’s trying to achieve.... Yours Aye Craig
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