Born: Kirton
Now lives: Boston
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JOHN BLACKWELL General Manager
Born: Kirton |
| John Blackwell has been involved with the club for many years, helping with the coaching and running the reserve team in the seventies, as Club Secretary from 1978 onwards and as General Manager since 1998. He has even been on the substitute's bench three time for the Pilgrims. He was a member of the Vauxhall Conference Management Committee for nine years and the Unibond League Management Commitee for five years. As a youngster he started off as a goalkeeper with Tower Road School and Kitwood Boys School. He played in successive Pitcher Cup final victories for Kitwood, the first as a keeper against George Farmer, the second as a striker against Sleaford. His prowess at junior level won him a trial with Peterborough United, but he decided to play locally, first with Boston Athletic, then Real Towell. His biggest disappointment is that he was not good enough to play football at a top level. The match he most remembers is the FA Trophy semi-final against Altrincham at York Street back in 1985. In his leisure time he enjoys watching sport on TV, reading the Saturday evening football papers and being with his family. | |
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JASON LEE b. 9/5/1971 Joint Manager
Born: Forest Gate |
| Former Nottingham Forest striker Jason Lee was signed up by the Pilgrims in July 2004 after impressing in pre-season training. Jason started his footballing career as a trainee with Charlton Athletic. After a loan spell with Stockport County he moved on to Lincoln City. A transfer to Southend United followed, but he was soon spotted by Nottingham Forest who snapped him up. In four seasons with Forest he scored 14 goals in 76 League appearances. He then went on to play for Charlton Athletic, Grimsby Town, Watford, Chesterfield, Peterborough United and Falkirk. | |
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LEE CANOVILLE b. 14/3/1981 Joint Manager
Born: Ealing
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| Boston United originally signed up Lee Canoville on a two year contract in June 2005 after he was released by Torquay United. He began his footballing career as a trainee with Millwall. He then joined Arsenal in 1997, making a single appearance from the substitutes' bench before moving on to Northampton Town. He had four seasons with Torquay, seeing them both promoted to Division Two in 2004 and relegated back to Coca Cola League Two in 2005. He left Boston to join Shrewsbury Town and later played for Notts County. He dropped into non-league with Halesowen Town and had a loan spell with Gainsborough Trinity before rejoining the Pilgrims in July 2009. | |
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PAUL BASTOCK b. 19/5/1970 Goalkeeper
Born: Leamington Spa Paul is a highly regarded goalkeeper and is now in his thirteenth season with the club after joining United from Kettering Town in 92-3. |
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First choice keeper for Boston United, "Bazza" was voted "Player of the Year"
for the second time after finishing the 2002/3 season by equalling the
all-time appearances record for the club - turning out for the 572nd time.
Always popular with both home and away supporters, he is still making
many spectacular saves, often at crucial moments.
As he used to live a few miles down the road from Birmingham it is no surprise that he supports Birmingham City. Paul believes that you should support your local team. "Bazza" enjoyed his schooldays although he came away with no qualifications, as he spent most of his final year training with Coventry City. Paul is one of the few United players to have settled locally, living in the town with wife Ann (a Bostonian), and children Laura and Callum. He said "becoming a father has changed me because I have grown up and steadied down and it has taught me a lot about myself." Away from football his main priority is his family but he also likes to play golf and snooker. One of the sporting events outside football Paul would like to go and see is the Ryder Cup. It is not surprising that when he was younger he admired Peter Shilton and Neville Southall and nowadays one of his favourite players is Chris Woods, all great international goalkeepers in their time. During the earlier part of his career Paul spent six months playing football in Malaysia, which he enjoyed considerably. He said it was a fantastic experience, but the standard was only about Vauxhall Conference level. Paul's advice to any youngsters who want to make a career in football is to get an education and prepare for the high points when they come because you can suffer a lot more low points. After "Bazza" has finished playing football he would like to coach boys football teams. He says that an advantage of being a footballer is that you become a bit of a personality and you get a lot of free time, but a disadvantage is that you never get to celebrate at Christmas and the New Year. Paul does have a superstition, which is that he does everything three times, for example if the ball is coming towards him in a game he will touch his gloves three times. When asked what he thought about the Boston fans he said: "The majority are critical, but the youth element of the crowd are the supportive ones. They all pay their money so they are entitled to have their say." Paul also said he would like to hear the fans get behind the team more. He would like to be remembered as a steady goalkeeper who was always committed to the team. | |
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KEVIN AUSTIN b. 12/2/1973 Defender
Born: Hackney |
| Experienced defender Kevin Austin joined the Pilgrims on-loan from Darlington in February 2011 before making the move permanent at the end of the season. A Trinidad & Tobago international, he had started his footballing career with Leyton Orient where he made more than 100 appearances before joining Lincoln Cty for £30,000. He later played for Bristol Rovers, Swansea City and Chesterfield. | |
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TOM WARD b.30/8/1990 Defender
Born: Sleaford |
| Talented young defender Tom Ward made the step up from the reserve side for the start of the 2011/12 season. | |
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GARETH JELLEYMAN b. 14/11/1980 Defender
Born: Holywell |
| Former Welsh Under 21 international Gareth Jelleyman, who had a loan spell with the club back in December 1998, returned on a month's loan from Peterborough United in August 2004. Gareth is a left sided wingback. In his six seasons with the Posh, he made 125 first team appearances. He left Peterborough to join Mansfield Town in January 2005 and later played for Rushden & Diamonds and Barrow before returning to Boston in the summer of 2010. | |
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LIAM PARKER b. 22/2/1986 Defender
Born: Skegness |
| Liam Parker signed for the Pilgrims from neighbours Boston Town in June 2008 shortly after his brother Wes had also joined the club. He had started his footballing career as a schoolboy with Grimsby Town. | |
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JORDAN FAIRCLOUGH b. 8/5/1991 Defender
Born: Leeds |
| Full back Jordan Fairclough joined Boston United in June 2011 after turning down a deal with former club Corby Town. He had started his footballing career with Nottingham Forest, but never made the first team. He is the son of former Nottingham Forest and Leeds United defender Chris Fairclough. | |
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NATHAN STAINFIELD b. 9/10/1988 Defender
Born: Swineshead |
| Nathan Stainfield signed up with Boston United in September 2011 from neighbours Boston Town. He scored on his debut against Hinckley United. He had a three month coaching spell in the USA in the summer of 2011. | |
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DANNY SLEATH b. 14/12/1986 Midfield
Born: Matlock |
| Danny Sleath joined the Pilgrims from Ilkeston Town in July 2009. He had started his footballing career as a trainee with Mansfield Town and had made 17 first team appearances for the Stags before moving on to Ilkeston after having short loan spells with Gainsborough Trinity and Boston United. He was selected to represent Great Britain at the World Student Games in China in 2011. | |
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RYAN SEMPLE b. 4/7/1985 Midfield
Born: Belfast |
| Ryan Semple joined the Pilgrims from Gainsborough Trinity in March 2010 and he scored on his debut against Durham City. He had started his footballing at Peterborough United and had made 55 first team appearances for the Posh before moving on to Lincoln City. After loan spells with Chester, Rushden & Diamonds and Oxford United he was signed by Gainsborough Trinity. | |
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CHRIS HALL b. 3/3/1983 Midfield
Born: Lincoln |
| Chris Hall joined the Pilgrims in the summer of 2011 from newly promoted Alfreton Town. He had begun his footballing career with Lincoln United before moving to Burton Albion in 2004. He later had loan spells with Gainsborough Trinity, York City and Stocksbridge Park Steels before joining Alfreton and helping them to their Conference North title in 2011. | |
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BEN MILNES b. 12/9/1991 Midfield
Born: ? |
| Ben Milnes signed up with Boston United in July 2011 from Leicester City's youth side. | |
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IAN ROSS b. 13/1/1986 Midfield
Born: Sheffield
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| Midfielder Ian Ross rejoined Boston United in November 2011 from Harrogate Town. Ross had previously played for the Pilgrims in a loan spell from Sheffield United at the end of August 2005. Ross had scored the goal that knocked the Pilgrims out of the Carling Cup a few days earlier. The Carling Cup match against Boston was his first team debut. He joined the Blades at the age of 12 and went through their Academy. He signed up as a trainee with them in July 2003. After returning to the Blades he had further loan spells with Bury, Notts County and Rotherham United before dropping into non-league football with Gainsborough Trinity and Alfreton Town. | |
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TYRONE KIRK b. 2/1/1986 Midfield
Born: Scunthorpe |
| Winger Tyrone Kirk made his second debut for Boston United in November 2011 after originally joining the club in 2009 but moving on to Macclesfield Town after playing just one game for the Pilgrims. After failing to establish himself at Macclesfield he joined Welsh Premier League side Rhyl for a season to gain first team experience. | |
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MARC NEWSHAM b. 24/3/1987 Forward
Born: ? |
| Marc Newsham joined Boston United in June 2009 after helping Ilkeston Town achieve promotion to the Blue Square North. He started his footballing career with Rotherham United playing alongside current fellow Boston United striker Jamie Yates and manager Paul Hurst. He had loan spells with Sheffield FC and Gainsborough Trinity whilst at Rotherham. | |
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BEN FAIRCLOUGH b. 18/4/1989 Forward
Born: Nottingham |
| Striker Ben Fairclough joined Boston United in September 2011 from Eastwood Town. He had started his footballing career with Nottingham Forest, but never made the first team before tranferring to Notts County. He had a brief loan spell with Ilkeston Town before joining Hinckley United in 2010. He is the cousin of Boston United defender Jordan Fairclough. | |
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MICKEY STONES b. 8/8/1984 Forward
Born: Horncastle |
| Mickey Stones was promoted to the first team squad after topping the scoring charts for the reserves in 2011/12 with 27 goals. | |
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JULIAN JOACHIM b. 20/9/1974 Forward Released
Born: Peterborough |
| Julian Joachim agreed to join Boston United from Leeds United in July 2005 on a two year contract. After finishing the 2004/5 season with a highly successful loan period with Coca-Cola League One side Walsall - where he found the net six times in eight appearances, Joachim expressed a desire for regular first team football. It was that desire that led him to agree to sign up for the club in the town where he spent his schooldays. He began his footballing career in the youth team of Boston FC, but was soon spotted by Leicester City where he signed up as a trainee. After scoring 31 goals in 92 starts for Leicester a £1.5 million transfer to Aston Villa beckoned in February 1996. In the summer of 2001 he joined Coventry City in a swap deal that saw African Player of the Year Mustapha Hadji heading for Villa Park. After three seasons with Coventry he joined Leeds United on a free transfer. Overall he has scored 83 goals in 331 League appearances. | |
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MIKEL SUAREZ b. 28/9/1988 Forward Released
Born: Bilbao |
| Mikel Suarez became Boston United's first Spanish player when he joined the club in July 2009 following a successful pre-season trial. He had previously been playing for Loughborough University in the Midland Combination. | |
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SAM MULREADY b. 6/5/1993 Forward Loan period ended
Born: King's Lynn |
| Young striker Sam Mulready joined Boston United on a month's loan from Grimsby Town in October 2011. | |
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JORDAN BURROW b. 12/9/1992 Forward Loan period ended
Born: ? |
| Young striker Jordan Burrow joined Boston United on loan from Chesterfield in September 2011. He was top scorer with Chesterfield's youth side in 2010/11. He scored on his debut for the Pilgrims after coming on as a substitute. | |
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KEVIN HOLSGROVE b. 9/1/1988 Forward Left by mutual agreement
Born: ? |
| Striker Kevin Holsgrove joined Boston United in July 2011. He began his footballing career with the youth team at Everton but after failing to make the first team he was snapped up by Welsh side NEWI Cefn Druids. He later played for Colwyn Bay, Altrincham and Hyde before moving to Boston. | |
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BEN WILKINSON b. 25/4/1987 Midfield Released
Born: Sheffield |
| Midfielder Ben Wlkinson joined Boston United in July 2011 after a trial with the club. He began his footballing career with the youth teams at Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County and Hull City. He signed up as a professional with Hull City in the summer of 2006. A loan spell with Harrogate Town followed and a trial with York City. He later joined Scottish Premier League side Gretna on-loan. He moved to York City in 2008 and had a loan period with Altrincham in 2009. He signed up with Chester City at the start of the 2009/10 season but left the club following their liquidation in March 2010. He then had a season with Tamworth before joining Boston United. He is the son of former Boston United player-manager Howard Wilkinson. | |
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ALAN WHITE b. 22/3/1976 Defender Left the club
Born: Darlington |
| Experienced central defender Alan White rejoined Boston United in August 2011 after five years away from the club. He started his footballing career on schoolboy terms with Derby County before joining Middlesbrough as a trainee in 1995. After making one first team appearance for Middlesbrough he was transferred to Luton Town for £40,000 in 1997. After two seasons with the Hatters he joined Colchester United where he was very popular, being made Player of the Year three times and captaining the side. He joined Leyton Orient in June 2004. He was Boston's Player of the Year in 2006. He left Boston to play for Notts County and later turned out for Peterborough United, Darlington, Luton Town, Stalybridge Celtic, Gateshead and Blyth Spartans. | |
Photographs copyright © Ken Fox.
Boston United Database copyright © Ken Fox 2011.
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