The end of an era: Boston United’s final season at York Street

After more than 85 years at York Street, Boston United are a club on the move.
But before they uproot to their new home, currently being built on the outskirts of town, manager Craig Elliott hopes he can plot one final season to remember.
With the Pilgrims currently 20/1 outsiders with William Hill, it doesn’t look as if everyone shares the manager’s optimism, even if there remains a quiet confidence in the squad he has assembled.
York Street – now known as the Jakemans Stadium due to a sponsorship tie-in with a local sweet manufacturer – was a Football League ground for five seasons between 2002 and 2007, the place where Jim Smith and Howard Wilkinson both cut their managerial teeth.
Paul Gascoigne also pulled on the amber and black shirt during a brief stint with United.
The stadium, with its three steep sides of terracing and seating and further two-tier end, was once proudly felt to be the best in non-league by the club and its supporters.
It has been the Pilgrims’ home since their formation in 1933, when they were nicknamed the Stumpites in honour of the spire-less church which looms above the stadium.
But the numbers no-longer add up. With the ground leased from former owners the Malkinson family, who have since put it on the market, chairman David Newton’s bid to make the club financially self-sustainable has seen construction begin on The Quadrant, a modern-day stadium which will come complete with the usual function rooms, bars and nearby retail outlets to generate additional revenue.
Moving the club from its current town centre site may be seen as unpopular by many fans, eradicating the stroll from shops to stadium which has become a family tradition for generations of supporters.
But you don’t need to look far back for evidence that a move may well be necessary.
Among Boston’s opponents in their inaugural Football League season were Swansea City, Hull City and AFC Bournemouth. Three teams who, by moving home or making considerable improvements, have enjoyed Premier League status.
And then there’s Wigan Athletic too, that impressive stadium fit for top-flight football and rugby league. Somewhat a bone of contention in eastern Lincolnshire, due to Boston winning the Northern Premier League in 1977 only for their ground to be deemed unfit for the Football League, the Latics elected in their place.
This caused work to begin on creating the stadium which stands here today.
Long before Gazza, Former Sheffield United and England winger Fred Tunstall was the club’s first major signing in 1936, the first household name to appear for the club.
In the early 1970s under player-manager Smith, and then Wilkinson after his former gaffer left for Colchester United, United put together a 51-match unbeaten league run, the Pilgrims stretching their unbeaten home record to 64 league matches (a period of more than three years).
In 1974, Wilkinson’s United side held Derby County, who would finish third in the nation’s top flight that season, to a goalless draw in the FA Cup at the Baseball Ground.
The replay saw 11,000 fans crowd into York Street, but Derby spoiled the party, winning 6-1 with a team including four internationals.
This season Elliott has been tasked with ending the York Street era on a high.
Learning the lessons from last season, where a number of impressive signings with Football League pedigrees came and went before Christmas, he has assembled a team of young-yet-experienced National League North campaigners, many of whom have experience of playing with one another at recently-promoted Harrogate Town.
Whether they have what it takes to win one final promotion at York Street is yet to be seen, but either way it has been one rollercoaster journey.