Boston United F.C.
Boston United Football Club is an association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known as ‘the Pilgrims’ in reference to the Pilgrim Fathers, who left England and sailed to North America and settled near, though did not found, Boston, Massachusetts. The club’s crest features the pilgrim fathers’ ship, the Mayflower. The club’s traditional colours are amber and black. They compete in Lincolnshire derby matches with Lincoln City, Scunthorpe United, Gainsborough Trinity and Grimsby Town. They play at The Jakemans Community Stadium.
The club was formed in 1933 as a successor to the short lived Boston Town. They initially competed in the Midland League, before joining the Southern League for a four year spell in 1958. They returned to the Midland League and then joined then United Counties League, winning their first league title in 1965–66. Boston then switched to the West Midlands (Regional) League, winning the Premier Division in 1966–67 and 1967–68, before becoming founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968. United won four Northern Premier League titles in the 1970s (1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77 and 1977–78) and became founder members of Alliance Premier League in 1979. Boston returned to the Northern Premier League in 1993 and moved back to the Southern League Premier Division in 1998.
Boston United won the Southern League in 1999–2000 and the Conference in 2001–02 to secure a place in the Football League for the first time under the stewardship of controversial manager Steve Evans. They spent five years in the fourth tier, but entered administration in 2007 and were relegated down two divisions into the Conference North. Demoted to the Northern Premier League the next year, Boston won the Northern Premier League Premier Division play-offs in 2010 and have since had four unsuccessful play-off campaigns in the Conference / National League North, including a 0-1 play-off final defeat to Altrincham during the last ever game to be held at York Street in August 2020.
