The Silkmen are in FA Trophy Quarter-Final action this Saturday as Coalville Town travel to the Leasing.com Stadium.
Michael Clegg’s side come into the game off the back of Saturday’s home victory against Marine thanks to goals from Tunde Owolabi and John Rooney.
We take a closer look at our opponents from Leicestershire.
HISTORY
The club was established as Ravenstone Miners Athletic in 1926, and were originally based in the village of Ravenstone. They joined the Coalville & District League and were Division Two champions in 1933–34. The club were renamed Ravenstone Swifts in 1947 and then Ravenstone Miners Athletic in 1951. They won the Division One title five times, including in 1952–53. In 1958 the club were renamed Ravenstone. They joined the Premier Division of the North Leicestershire League in 1974 and were runners-up in 1976–77. The club were relegated to Division One at the end of the 1978–79 season, but returned to the Premier Division after being promoted in 1980–81. After finishing as runners-up in 1985–86 and 1986–87, they went on to win the Premier Division in 1988–89 and 1989–90, and moved up to Division One of the Leicestershire Senior League in 1991.
In 1995 the club moved to nearby Coalville after being unable to upgrade their Ravenslea ground, and were renamed Coalville Football Club. In 1996–97 they finished second in Division One and were promoted to the Premier Division. The club adopted their current name in 1998, and won the Leicestershire and Rutland Senior Cup in 1999–2000. They were Premier Division champions in 2001–02 and 2002–03, after which they were promoted to the Midland Alliance. In 2004–05 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, and reached the first round, eventually losing 1–0 at Second Division Wycombe Wanderers. They were league runners-up in 2009–10, and the following season saw them reach the final of the FA Vase, losing 3–2 to Whitley Bay at Wembley Stadium. They also won the Midland Alliance, scoring 153 goals in the process and earning promotion to Division One South of the Northern Premier League.
In 2012–13 Coalville won the Westerby Cup, beating Loughborough Dynamo 2–1 in the final at the King Power Stadium. They were also Division One South runners-up and qualified for the promotion play-offs. However, they lost 2–1 to Chasetown in the semi-finals. The following season saw them finish as runners-up again. However, they lost the play-off semi-final against Mickleover Sports. In 2015–16 they qualified for the play-offs again. After beating Basford United 5–0 in the semi-finals, they defeated Shaw Lane 3–1 to earn promotion to the Premier Division.
The 2017–18 season saw Coalville win the Leicestershire & Rutland Challenge Cup with a 7–6 victory on penalties against Loughborough Dynamo. At the end of the season they were transferred to the Premier Central division of the Southern League as part of the restructuring of the non-League pyramid. The club retained the Leicestershire & Rutland Challenge Cup the following season, beating Loughborough University 4–1 in the final. In 2022–23 they reached the first round of the FA Cup again, losing 4–1 at Charlton Athletic.
CURRENT FORM
The Ravens come into the game in strong form having won three out of their last five in the League and Trophy. On Monday night, Coalville travelled to St Ives Town and picked up a 2-1 victory in Cambridgeshire. Before this, The Ravens drew consecutive games against two sides in the relegation places in Long Eaton United and Berkhamsted.
Coalville Town booked their spot at this stage of the FA Trophy after a 3-0 victory against National League North side Bishop’s Stortford despite the game being called off twice in advance. This sandwiched between a victory over Hitchin Town sees our opponents in strong form.
ONE TO WATCH
TOM McGLINCHEY
Tom McGlinchey is one to watch for The Ravens.
The midfielder has made 25 appearances in the league this season scoring 10 times.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
The sides have met before in the Emirates FA Cup early last season. Danny Whitaker’s side at the time were denied late at the death in Leicestershire as Coalville snatched a late winner to progress to the next round of the competition.
