Greatest Robins achievements

GL Rob · 24 Apr 2019, 16:15

To mark the 20-year anniversary this week of Cheltenham Town's first promotion to the Football League, Gloucestershire Live are putting together a list of the greatest achievements in the club's history. What would be in your top 10?

Round Robin · 24 Apr 2019, 19:40

A few to start

1) Trophy win
2) Promotion to the league
3) First time promotion under GJ from the vanarama
4) Ground improvements
5) Genuine family club
6) Consistently punching above our weight

Artemis · 24 Apr 2019, 19:53

Playoff wins
FA Cup 5th round
Survival in League 1

Fuller · 25 Apr 2019, 09:43

Greatest achievement since promotion in 1999 is probably getting promoted straight back in to the FL in 2016 when we had the 8th (?) biggest budget in the division.

If we hadn't got promoted that season the consequences were not good and we would probably not be having this conversation now.

Shade · 25 Apr 2019, 12:21

I think I agree. I think the biggest achievement was to turn around from such a shitshow in 2014/15, 11 debuts on opening day, and win the National League by 12 points. First team to go straight back up in 25 years (or however long it was), score over 100 goals, over 100 points...nobody yet has bettered our tallies that season in the National League. Not sure about previous seasons. Not only was it a huge achievement in that sense, but it could well have saved the club from ending up like Kidderminster or Hereford, languishing back down in the 6th tier - or worse.

The others were all massive achievements, but they all had momentum behind them, things had been building for a couple of seasons.

25 Apr 2019, 12:47

It's easy to pick playing events for this list - but as RR said, the ongoing redevelopment of the ground has to go down as a seriously major achievement, too. Remember the state of the place before 1999?

Si Robin · 25 Apr 2019, 18:50

Shade wrote:I think I agree. I think the biggest achievement was to turn around from such a shitshow in 2014/15, 11 debuts on opening day, and win the National League by 12 points. First team to go straight back up in 25 years (or however long it was), score over 100 goals, over 100 points...nobody yet has bettered our tallies that season in the National League. Not sure about previous seasons. Not only was it a huge achievement in that sense, but it could well have saved the club from ending up like Kidderminster or Hereford, languishing back down in the 6th tier - or worse.

The others were all massive achievements, but they all had momentum behind them, things had been building for a couple of seasons.

I'm not so sure about things building for a couple of seasons - whilst promotion to the Conference had been, you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who expected us to be runners-up in 98 and also win the FA Trophy. The Conference win in 99 I would agree rode the crest of the 97/98 season, and you could argue that the following promotion in 02 was momentum.

2006 however was completely unexpected - we'd finished 14th two years in a row and hadn't looked like troubling the playoffs in either of those seasons. I'm quite sure we were bookies favourites for relegation in the summer of 2005, so to go on and then win promotion was a little bit out of the blue.

I think because it's fresher in the memories that 15/16 is seen as the top achievement, but let's not forget that GJ was well backed. He was also an experienced manager who'd been there and done it before. In 1999 Cotts was still a bit green, the club was still part-time and Rushden were a much better team than FGR (in relative terms) as a rival for promotion.

For me 1999 will always be the biggest achievement, followed by John Ward keeping us in League One (reaching our highest ever finishing position) then 15/16.

Cheltenhamshire10 · 25 Apr 2019, 20:22

top 10;
1) 1998/199 1st Conference promotion
2) FA Trophy
3) Stadium improvements
4) staying up in league 1 2007/2008
5) 2015/2016 GJ Conference promotion -from a new 11 at the start this was a fantastic achievement
6) 2005/2006 promotion -didn't expect this one at the start of the season so rank it higher
7) FA Cup 5th round run
8) 2001/2002 promotion
9) Mid 70s Dave Lewis getting 53 goals in a season
10) 1999? FA Cup run to Gillingham. 1st round proper seemed like a big achievement back then!

Feel like an older memory needs to be included to prove we existed before the late 90's hence the Dave Lewis

26 Apr 2019, 06:45

Finishing 2nd and winning the trophy was a massive achievement because it was so unexpected. Most people that season were only hopeful of avoiding a relegation battle yet we finished second, reached the third round of the cup and won the trophy (we were second favourites for that as we were doing so well in the league).

Second best achievement the first promotion to league one and reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup, we could and should have gone up automatically that season and we had a terrible start too.

Third would be the GJ promotion season where we absolutely battered everyone, albeit we had a decent budget.

Shade · 26 Apr 2019, 12:42

Robin wrote:Finishing 2nd and winning the trophy was a massive achievement because it was so unexpected. Most people that season were only hopeful of avoiding a relegation battle yet we finished second, reached the third round of the cup and won the trophy (we were second favourites for that as we were doing so well in the league).

Second best achievement the first promotion to league one and reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup, we could and should have gone up automatically that season and we had a terrible start too.

Third would be the GJ promotion season where we absolutely battered everyone, albeit we had a decent budget.

Only the 8th best budget, apparently. And a completely new squad.

Nesty · 26 Apr 2019, 15:43

Cheltenhamshire10 wrote:top 10;
1) 1998/199 1st Conference promotion
2) FA Trophy
3) Stadium improvements
4) staying up in league 1 2007/2008
5) 2015/2016 GJ Conference promotion -from a new 11 at the start this was a fantastic achievement
6) 2005/2006 promotion -didn't expect this one at the start of the season so rank it higher
7) FA Cup 5th round run
8) 2001/2002 promotion
9) Mid 70s Dave Lewis getting 53 goals in a season
10) 1999? FA Cup run to Gillingham. 1st round proper seemed like a big achievement back then!

Feel like an older memory needs to be included to prove we existed before the late 90's hence the Dave Lewis

I agree with your list, and as one of the old brigade it is hard to come up with anything prior to the late 90s worthy of note

plymrob · 26 Apr 2019, 17:19

Now we are talking pre-history - there was a big and memorable away FA Cup win against Bath City in the late 1970s - and, for me, a few notable Cup games against league opposition too (Brett Angel's goal -v Wolves anyone?). We (or I) should maybe give name checks too to Roger Thorndale, Alan Jefferies and - I always rated John Murphy, both as a player and manager.

My late brother would want mention of Joe Gadston and Gerald Horlick... I seem to still recall a bit of a terrace song about them, and a few more of that 1960s side (including a certain Ronnie Radford)...

I myself enjoyed watching the Robins in the mid 1970s. Some good memories.