Equal growth both on and off the pitch are key to the vision of Coalville Town.
National competition has been kind to the Ravens, who in 2004 travelled to Wycombe Wanderers in their debut Emirates FA Cup campaign before making the final of the Buildbase FA Vase at Wembley Stadium connected by EE in the 2010-11 season, where they were edged out 3-2 by Whitley Bay.
Now the Northern Premier League outfit are looking forward to a Buildbase FA Trophy third round qualifying trip to York City, reigning champions following their dramatic 3-2 win over Macclesfield Town in May.
The financial rewards that come with success in FA competition are always a boon to clubs such as Coalville, who, earlier this month, opened a new hospitality suite and set of changing rooms, with the £320,000 project aided by the Football Foundation and the Ravens’ local council.
“We do try to build off the pitch as much as on the pitch – that’s for sure – and the competitions where you can gain prize money always help,” said Coalville chairman Glyn Rennocks.
“I’m a great believer that you’ve got to build both.
“There’s no point having a massive club house and great facilities but no team on the pitch, but equally, it’s no good having a magnificent team and no facilities around it.
“Competitions like this, they bring recognition to the club. You tend to pick up a few supporters on the way, so it’s great for the club and great for the town.
“The changing rooms we had have served us well over the last 20 years but we had outgrown them and they weren’t meeting current requirements.
“We had to do something and fortunately, we had backing from the Football Foundation and our local council, North West Leicestershire District Council, which enabled us to build them.”
Rennocks is in little doubt that the odds are firmly stacked against his side as they go to Bootham Crescent to take on National League North giants York, who are spearheaded by veteran frontman Jon Parkin.
The Trophy, like other national competitions, is all about pitting unfamiliar teams against each other and Coalville will do their best to pull off a shock.
The Ravens chairman said: “We’re going to such an established club as York, who’ve been there, done it and got the t-shirt.
“It’s a massive tie in the sense that they’re the holders, they’re ex-Football League, they’re such a well-established, well-known club – for us, it’s big but it’s something that we look forward to.
“We normally take handful of people away, that I’m guessing will be up at York on Saturday.
“There’s certainly a supporters’ coach that’s full and a few cars, so it would be nice to have a couple of hundred people – that would be great.”
Buildbase FA Trophy history
Coalville’s best-ever performance in the Buildbase FA Trophy came in the 2013-14 season, when they took Grimsby Town, then of the National League, to a first round proper replay.
Did you know?
First founded as Ravenstone Miners Athletic, playing in the village of Ravenstone, the Ravens moved to Coalville and took up their current name in 1995.
The prize
Third round qualifying winners will progress to the first round proper, netting £5,000 in prize money in the process.
