BELPER MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BELTER

This post number 651. I wonder if there is anyone out there who can claim to reading them all? I was drinking many real ales in an ale house, The Brunswick Inn, in the "heritage sector" near Derby Station last evening. My dear wife had a school reunion and a good friend of hers (ours) introduced me to an old school buddy of his who had played some serious football and cricket in the region. I am hoping he might get in touch and give me a few ideas from his knowledge of football, so I can expand my research and give him a mention.

Travelling from South Yorkshire through the eastern Peak District to Derby took us past a few quaint villages and towns; Eyam ( I did a blog on Eyam http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/a-plague-on-you.html), Matlock and the Spa, Cromford and so on. It was Belper that attracted me as I neared Derby. I saw substantial floodlights and a proper football stadium. Bliss!

Belper FC was founded in 1883 and now play in the Northern Counties Division One South. This season they came 13th.

In 1887, probably the club's most notable match was played against Sheffield Wednesday in the 1st round proper of the FA Cup, losing by a creditable 2-3 scoreline. To put this into perspective, the Old Carthusians (a bunch of posh old school boys!!) were eventually knocked out of the FA Cup that season by WBA, the eventual winners, in Rd 6! Wednesday lost to Preston in the same round. Preston NE also got to the final.

Belper has not ventured further in the Cup than this, but they did reach the semi-final of the FA Vase in 1994-5, losing to Oxford City.

Over the years the club has "folded" three times and most recently reformed in 1951 taking over land from the Tootal Group (remember Tootal ties?) and building the ground at Christchurch Meadow now with the Marston's name emblazened. Good sponsorship move!
The club moved into the Central Alliance League when Mansfield Town "A". They then moved into the Midland Counties League three years later.

Belper FC are known as the Nailers. John of Gaunt's hunting lodge was nearby where the club originated and needless to say the punters (or hunters) needed nails for their horses, which were forged nearby. With industrialisation, the demand for nails was soon solved by mechanisation and so the local "production line" collapsed.

Recently the club has had its ups and down getting to the league play offs in 2013-14 only to be relegated the following season. To cheer themselves up they posted a "Special" match for the club against Real Madrid last April only to be found out that this was an April Fools' prank. What lads they are in Belper, eh? Good beer though. The beer in the Brunswick was a bit more interesting than Marstons!