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5. THE BEAMAN YEARS...
Player and legendary Manager Alan Beaman
makes his mark. (1984-1992).....
The club stepped up into the Staffordshire County League (North) in 1957, and remained there with varying degrees of success until the formation of the Staffordshire Senior League in 1984.
The appointment of retired Black Country businessman Don Hill as Chairman led to a rapid rise, and under the guidance of former player Alan Beaman, the club won its first senior honours when both the Senior League title and the Staffordshire F.A. Vase were annexed in 1986.
Further success followed in 1987 when the Senior League title was retained, and only a penalty shoot-out defeat in the Staffordshire F.A. Vase Final prevented a repeat of the double achieved a year earlier.
1986-87 also proved to be a memorable season in the F.A. Vase, which Rocester had entered for the first time.
Starting in the Extra Preliminary Round, they reached the last 16, knocking out the holders and hot favourites Halesowen Town along the way before a club record attendance of 1,026 at Leek Town.
During the summer of 1987, Rocester moved from their old home, in truth no more than a field with wooden changing rooms, to the present ground, named at the time as Riversfield. The new ground was built on the site of an ancient Roman fort, which led to the adoption of their nickname 'The Romans'.
At the same time, the club joined Division One of the West Midlands (Regional) League where they remained unbeaten in their first 22 games before going on to claim the championship with some ease.
They also won the League Cup and the Staffordshire F.A. Vase to complete a magnificent treble!
Rocester took their place in the Premier Division and following an initial mid-table finish, they made a challenge for the title in 1989-90 only to be edged into second place by Hinckley Town on goal difference.....
The following two seasons saw Rocester consolidating their
membership of the Premier Division with a sixth place finish in 1990-91 and a fourth place finish in the 1991-92 season and the future looked promising...
Back to the History Menu >>
Part Six -
Modern Romans. (1993 -2023)>>
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