Now more familiar as a pre-season date, Boro’s competitive head-to-head record against Barton Rovers is almost perfect. We opened our account with a pair of 2-1 wins during the 1984-5 Servowarm League Division Two North season; doing the league double over ’em again the following season. It was on our return in 1988 after two seasons in Division One that Rovers finally got something off us; a 1-1 draw spoiling our 100% record forever. We may be left waiting a while to see if we’ll be picking that back up. But you never know…
Barton Rovers played village football for the first chunk of their existence; the club originally forming back in 1898. In fact, it wouldn’t be until after World War Two that horizons would be broadened. For the 1946-7 season, Rovers signed up to the Luton and District League; moving up(?) to the South Midlands League in 1954. In this new competition, they won Division Two at its first attempt – and then repeated the trick in Division One the season after. This placed them in the Premier Division.
A blip in 1963 saw them relegated – but they weren’t away for long. The 1964-5 campaign delivered their second Division One title and a return to the top flight of the South Midlands League. And things became much more stable. Well, that’s an understatement. Between 1971 and 1973, they won three straight titles; taking a break for a year in 1974 and then winning five more back-to-back championships. There was an FA Vase final appearance in 1978 for good measure too. But that didn’t end in success.
Such dominance of the South Midlands League meant Rovers would join the Isthmian League in 1979. It was, admittedly, a bit more of a challenge; the club getting its only promotion in the competition in 1994 to reach Division One. Remaining at that level until 2001, relegation then reared its ugly head and Rovers would only spend another three seasons in the Isthmian League. In 2004, they made the decision to take part in the Southern League.
How to get to Barton Rovers – Travel Information – Distance: 14 miles
By Road
This is a nice simple trip for you here. Make your way across to Hitchin on the A602 and then switch to the A505 towards Luton. Goright at the smaller roundabout onto the B655 for the next 6.4 miles. This will take you to Barton-le-Clay. Turn left onto Luton Road and the ground is on the right.
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