6. THE MODERN ROMANS...

The dream of Southern League football is followed by a long search for stability and consistency. (1993 -2023)..... 

In 1994, Rocester became founder members of the Midland Football Alliance, and in 1998 claimed second place behind Bloxwich Town.
However, the following season, promotion to the Southern League was achieved as Midlands F.A, Champions. The ground, now renamed 'Hillsfield' in memory of Don Hill (who sadly died in 1996), had already achieved the required grade.

The Romans reached the Staffs Senior Cup Final for the first time in 2001, but struggled in the Southern League until being relegated back into the Midland Alliance in 2003 after a four season absence.
However, that disappointment was quickly forgotten when the Midland Alliance was won at first attempt, this time with promotion into the Northern Premier League....

The move north signalled a big downturn in fortunes and the Romans went through a complete season without a league victory in 2004-05.
Once again, relegated back into the Midland Alliance, the downward trend proved difficult to reverse and although performances improved, it wasn't until January 2006 that the team finally recorded its first league win, a 3-1 success at Quorn, to end a run of 67 league games without a win.
After finishing bottom, a second successive relegation was only avoided due to league restructuring....

After two disasterous years, the club began to move forward again and a respectable twelfth place finish was attained in 2006-07 along with a run to the Third Qualifying Round of the F.A. Cup, where the Romans lost narrowly at Kettering Town in front of over 1000 spectators.
The Romans continued to improve during 2007-08, and the season ended on a high note when Kidsgrove Athletic were beaten 3-0 in the Staffs Senior Cup Final at Vale Park – the first and so far, the only time Rocester have won this prestigious trophy.

Former player Dave Langston proved the most successful of several managers over the next decade, but his departure in 2013 decimated the squad and a complete rebuild was required.
The team failed to recover from a poor start to the 2013-14 campaign, but after finishing in the bottom three, the Romans were spared relegation only after Gornal Athletic were deducted points and Highgate United failed to attain the necessary ground-grading – meaning that the club could begin the 2014-15 campaign in the Premier Division of the newly formed Midland Football League.

Mark Wilson's appointment as Manager in September 2014 saw fortunes improve dramatically, and in his first season in charge, his team finished twelfth and also reached the final of the League Cup....
However, Mark Wilson resigned during the 2015-16 season, and under his successor - Danny Martin - the club were finally relegated into the MFL Division 1 during the 2017-18 season.
Following relegation, Danny Martin resigned, all but two or three players left and (not for the first time), the squad required a complete rebuild...

Andy O'Conner was appointed as the new manager at the start of the 2018-19 season and quickly set about the huge task.
He built a squad composed largely of young, inexperienced but talented and enthusiastic players...

Initially results didn't materialise. However, the Romans' fortunes changed and they finished the season twelve points clear of the relegation zone.
Unfortunately, owing to personal committments, Andy O'Conner resigned at the beginning of the 2019-20 Season...

Fortunately, the Romans were lucky to secure the services of an experienced and well-connected manager – Paul Wright – and his team – Neil Robinson and Dan Edwards...
Paul continued to strengthen the squad and under his direction, the Romans had reached ninth place in Division 1 prior to the cancellation of the season due to the Covid-19 Pandemic...

The following season (2020-21) saw Rocester get off to a reasonable start, however, as a result of player absenteeism due to Covid, we never had a consistent lineup from one game to the next and the Romans never really 'found their feet' as they finished in fourteenth place of Division One before yet another Covid lockdown resulted in a successive cancellation of the season.

Prior to the commencement of the 2021-22 season, and following a restructuring of the league, Rocester FC were asked to transfer to the North West Counties League Division One South.
Despite an away win at Eccleshall FC on the first day of the new season, the Romans' form then proceeded to go downhill as they suffered six consecutive losses and whether it was right or wrong, the football club made the difficult decision to replace the manager.

The club appointed former player and assistant manager. Mark Grimley, initially as caretaker manager and following a promising start, Mark was eventually appointed on a permanent basis.

Unfortunately, the club struggled for the remainder of the season as we finished second from the bottom of the league with just 29 points.

However, due to the vagaries of the league structure, Rocester were offered the chance of re-election into the NWCL Division One South.

The Manager spent the close season rebuilding the squad for the 2022-23 campaign and our first match was away at Sandbach. At the half-time whistle, the Romans were leading by one goal to nil and we were all hoping for a result to 'get our season kick-started'.

However, by the full-time whistle, Rocester had capitulated and lost the game by six goals to nil! - And to make matters worse, the manager resigned with immediate effect!

The club immediately set about finding a replacement and announced the appointment of Keiren Gudgeon - who had previous playing and coaching experience in the NWCL.

However, Keiren's tenure was short lived, and he resigned on the 16th Sept 2022 following nine consecutive losses.

Keiren's departure was followed by the appointment of former manager Mark Wilson.

Mark relished the challenge as he endeavoured to strengthen the squad and initially, we were heartened when the Romans beat Uttoxeter Town by three goals to one in the Staffs FA Senior Cup!

However, following this early victory, wins were few and far between as Mark realised the enormity of the challenge.

Following yet another loss against Sandbach Town, Mark regrettably announced his resignation on the 6th March 2023.

With little more than a month remaining of the season, goalkeeping coach, Laurence Kennerson, agreed to take over the reins as caretaker manager, abley assisted by club stalwarts - Matt Nutt and Darren Bullock - for the remainder of the season...

The season finished with Rocester bottom of the league having gleaned just eleven points (three wins and two draws), and were relegated to the Staffs County Senior League Premier Division.

During the early months of 2023, off the field, Rocester FC's fortunes were changing for the better when they were lucky enough to persuade local businessman - Mr. Dave Jackson - to join the committee...

Dave had become a familiar figure at club as a supporter following the club's signing of his son, goalkeeper Lewis.

Dave turned out to be a most enthusiastic and resourceful member of the committee and despite Dave's early reservations, after much consideration, he agreed to take over as the club's chairman...

Dave 'threw' himself into the roll and during the close season, he was instrumental in securing the services of Pete Griffiths & Danny Griggs as joint managers abley assisted by goalkeeping coach Matt Ashcroft on the 5th May 2023 and they immediately set about rebuilding the squad and getting them fit for the new season and a new chapter in Rocester's long history.

Part Seven - The Staffs County Senior League2023-24...)>>

Back to the History Menu >>