They Have Played for Your Club….Royston Town

Continuing the series on players who have represented the current clubs in the Southern Football League.

Royston Town were formed in 1875 making them the third-oldest club in Hertfordshire after Hitchin Town and Bishop’s Stortford and when one considers the number of clubs in the county, that is some achievement.

On-field success, however, has come late for the Crows – indeed, their first major honour was promotion to the Herts County Premier Division in 1966/67 and they went on to be champions in 1976/77.

In 1978 Royston re-joined the South Midlands League and won the Division One title at the first time of asking.

Success continued with a final appearance in the Herts Charity Shield for the first time in 1979 and runners-up spot in the South Midlands League Premier Division in 1980.

The Herts Charity Shield was won in 1981/82 and two years later the club joined the Isthmian League Division Two North where it remained for seven seasons before resigning and returning to the South Midlands League in 1994 after three seasons in Division Three.

It was during this season that the club achieved its highest official attendance of 876 with the visit of the `new` Aldershot Town in 1992/93.

The resignation meant a return to the South Midlands League for 1994/95 and with former Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Ireland winger Tony Galvin in charge, not only did the club finish in a creditable fourth place, but they also captured the South Midlands League Floodlight Cup with a 2–1 defeat of Sawbridgeworth Town.

The following season saw a sixth-place finish and the departure of Galvin.

After a period in the doldrums which culminated in relegation from the South Midlands League Premier Division at the end of 2006/07, Paul Attfield was appointed manager with Galvin returning to Garden Walk as coach in November 2007.

Attfield immediately set about building a new squad and a run of 17 games undefeated saw the Crows move from bottom of the table to finish in fifth place in the league.

The foundations had been laid for the 2008/09 season and they took the Spartan South Midlands Division One League title with one of the best set of stats for any Step 6 club in the country, 103 points and 138 goals in 42 matches.

The 2011/12 season will be seen as a watershed in our history with the winning of the South Midlands Premier Division title and promotion to Step 4 in the shape of the Southern League Division One Central.

Now one of the longest-serving managers in the league, Steve Castle was appointed by the Crows in December 2013.

He was an experienced ex-professional who spent 19 years playing at Football League clubs such as Leyton Orient, Birmingham City and Peterborough United before stepping into management at the end of his playing career.

After spending a few years coaching with Peterborough and West Ham United he was appointed as assistant manager at Cambridge United in 2006 before taking up the position of manager at St Albans City in 2008.

He had been manager of Essex Senior League side Takeley from 2011 until taking the Crows` post.

His appointment saw Royston enjoy a terrific run which saw them finish runners-up twice and twice being thwarted in the play-offs.

Castle`s side then went one better by winning the Division One Central title in emphatic fashion in 2016/17 with 102 points and 121 goals in 42 games, almost mirroring their decisive SSML Division One success of eight years earlier.

Royston established themselves as a Premier Division club in their first two seasons before the pandemic halted their progress, although they did win through to the quarter finals of the Buildbase FA Trophy in 2019/20.

One of the real legends of the club is Trevor Glasscock as not only was he a one-club player and still the record goalscorer, but he went on to serve the Crows as secretary and committee man for over 30 years.

He played for Royston from 1968 in their Herts County League days through to the South Midlands League in 1982.

He notched 289 goals in that time and the player affectionately known as `Bamber` finally ended his time with the club in July 2000.

His son Ian went on to also play for the club.

Trevor sadly passed away in July 2017 having suffered from multiple sclerosis since 2002.

Derek Noades is another one of the club’s true legends both as a player and lifelong supporter.

He was one of the Crow’s most prolific goalscorers during the early 1960s, forming a prolific partnership with Trevor Glasscock, and was a great character both on and off the field.

Noades started with Royston as a 15-year-old and went in to play for 21 seasons, apart from a very brief spell with Stevenage Borough when he was 17.

He played in every position, including goalkeeper, and in the club’s promotion-winning year of 1965/66 he scored a total of 34 goals and went on to be recognised for his skills and eye for goal by being included in the League`s representative team.

When his playing days were over, he was one of the club’s most ardent supporters, rarely missing a home game despite very poor health at times.

Paddy Butcher is another who can be classed as a Royston `legend`, having served them for many years as a striker and manager.

He was originally with Stevenage Borough and didn’t need too much invitation when in front of goal - the forward finding the net regularly during his time playing for Boro.

In all, he scored more than 30 goals after first making his debut for Stevenage during the 1983/84 campaign in the United Counties League.

Butcher topped the scoring charts ahead of Ricky Marshall (13) and Trevor Metcalfe (12).

As Boro stepped up to the Isthmian League in the 1984/85 campaign, Butcher’s took on a deeper role and helped win the 1985/86 Isthmian League Division Two North title.

After two spells with Boro, separated by a spell with Royston, he eventually moved on for good in 1986, joining Ware Town as they were known then.

In 1988 he re-joined Royston and took over as player-manager for a period of time.

Undoubtedly, Tony Galvin is the best-known name to have worn a Royston shirt.

Born in Huddersfield, he is one of a very few footballers who went to University back then where he studied Russian and intended to become a teacher.

He played for Goole Town in the Northern Premier League where he was paid £5 per week, which was a decent amount for a student!

In 1978, legendary former Tottenham Hotspur boss Bill Nicholson saw him play against Buxton.

Despite only bothering to watch the first half, as the weather was appalling, he had seen enough to recommend him to Keith Burkinshaw, who signed him for £5,000.

He started off as a part-timer, as it was considered sensible for him to finish his teacher training course just in case he failed to make it in the game.

He needn`t have worried. Staying eleven years at White Hart Lane, he made just over 200 appearances and scored 20 goals.

He was member of the Spurs team that won the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984, when they beat Anderlecht 4-3 on penalties after the second leg at White Hart Lane.
In 1987 he was sold to Sheffield Wednesday, where he played 36 times, and then to Swindon Town in 1989 where he finished his league career and had a spell as assistant manager.

His international career saw him win the first of 29 full caps for the Republic against Holland in Rotterdam in the 1982 European Championship Qualifier, when a little-known youngster, by the name of Ruud Gullit scored Holland's second goal in a 2-1 win!

He played in all three games in Euro '88 and finished his international career the following year with his final cap against West Germany at Lansdowne Road.

He took up his teaching career after his full-time career ended and also had two spells as manager of Royston, the first as player-manager.

Goalkeeper Simon Dobson was another to remain loyal to Royston throughout his playing career.

He played youth team football for the Crows as a 16-year-old and also turned out for the reserves and A team.

His first senior first-team league appearance was away to Rainham Town in the Isthmian League North in 1987/88.

He remained at Garden Walk until hanging up his gloves as a semi-pro in the late 1990s.

He made a brief comeback in March 2006 when he answered an SOS following an injury to the Crows regular keeper.

And in more recent years, Dobson was still turning out for Royston Vets and was on the club`s Board of Directors as well as being involved in the club`s youth set up.

Winger Phil Driver was another to have been on the management team as assistant boss and also a player with the club for a short period of time.

Despite being born in Huddersfield, his football career started at Luton Town as a youngster.

He didn`t make the senior side at Kenilworth Road and moved to Southern League Bedford Town in the summer of 1978.

The deal was that Luton had first refusal if he left.

But in the end, after 23 appearances and one goal for the Eagles, he moved to Wimbledon around Christmas time 1978 for £4,000 plus £2,000 after 15 appearances.

Bedford just received the extra payment as he played 16 times for the Dons, scoring 3 goals.

That was because Driver was signed by then-Chelsea manager Geoff Hurst for £20,000 early in the 1980/81 campaign.

However, this wasn`t a great era for Chelsea and they struggled in Division Two, coming close to dropping into the Third Division in 1982/83.

Driver made 44 appearances for the Blues, scoring 4 goals before returning to Wimbledon on a free transfer but, ironically, was never able to fully recover from a broken leg suffered in a pre-season clash with Chelsea just a matter of weeks later, eventually managing just 4 appearances in two seasons at Plough Lane prior to announcing his retirement from the full-time game.

A short spell with Maidstone United preceded joining Stevenage Borough where he was part of a side that won the 1985/86 Isthmian League Division Two North title.

He left Broadhall Way halfway through the 1986/87 season for St Albans City.

He joined Royston in 1989 as player/assistant manager.

Yet another who can be classed as a Royston `legend` is midfielder Duncan Easley, who spent over ten years as a player with the Crows and a further six on the management team.

Easley was such a naturally-gifted sportsman – he was a very good cricketer as well as a footballer.

He was a player that always seemed to be in the right place and he always seemed to have time and could also look after himself and scored some spectacular goals.

As well as Royston, Easley had spells as a player with Saffron Walden Town and Ware but was part of one of the most successful teams in the Crow’s history and then repeated that in his management role.

After a coaching role with Herts County League side Buntingford Town, he played a key role alongside manager Paul Attfield during Royston’s most successful time in its history, winning two promotions and six further trophies.

Following Attfield’s departure, Easley stayed at the club, initially as caretaker manager and then to help with the smooth integration of the new manager Steve Castle until he settled in.

After stepping down from his role with Royston in 2014, he took up the management post at Essex Senior League side Takeley until January 2016.

Big Stuart Brown is yet another one-club man, which just shows what a good outfit Royston are with so many spending either all of, or most of, their playing careers at Garden Walk.

Like several other former Crows, Brown came through the club`s youth, reserve, and then A sides.

He was a 6’5” defender but possessed pace and never seemed to get beaten in the air or on a race for the ball.

He was a really intelligent footballer during a time when it was very physical and had the ability to read the game well and always covered his other centre-half.

He didn`t play for any other clubs at that standard, although he turned out in local football after leaving Royston in the 1990s.

Striker Martin Westcott also started his playing days with Royston.

Manager Tony Galvin put him straight into the first team from the under-16s and he stuck with him even though he failed to score straight away.

He became a regular at Garden Walk before locating to the Cambridgeshire area where he had spells with Ely City, Mildenhall Town and Haverhill Rovers, where he was part of the squad from the mid to late 2010s, while he later played for Long Melford and Newmarket Town where he was player/assistant manager.

He was the player-manager of neighbours Haverhill Borough until the summer of 2017, when he stepped down due to work commitments.

He had provided the club with its first silverware at the end of the 2016 season after beating Stowmarket Town in the First Division Knockout Cup and then topped this with promotion into the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division at the end of the 2016/17 season.

Despite stepping down as manager, he stayed on as a player with Boro into his 40th year.

Goalkeeper Will Norris began his career at Spartan South Midlands League Division One side Hatfield Town, before joining Royston in the SSML Premier Division in the summer of 2011, going onto make 41 appearances in an impressive season.

The then-18-year-old keeper helped the Crows to win the title, conceding only 44 goals in 42 games.

His form attracted attention and he joined then-Conference Premier side Cambridge United in the summer of 2012, before returning back to Royston for the 2012/13 season, on loan in the Southern League Division One Central.

After helping Cambridge achieve promotion back to the Football League in 2014, Norris made his Football League debut in April 2015 in a 2-2 draw at home to Accrington Stanley.

He then cemented his spot in the side and helped them finish ninth in League Two in 2015/16 season, before making a club record of five penalty saves in the 2016/17 campaign, including two in one game, against Accrington.

Norris joined then-Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2017 on a three-year deal and made his debut in August 2017, against Yeovil Town in the Carabao Cup.

He made his debut in the league for Wolves against Sunderland in May 2018, before they were crowned champions and promoted to the Premier League, where Norris went on to make his top-flight debut against Fulham in May 2019 and kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win against Fulham at Molineux.

He spent the 2019/20 season on loan at League One Ipswich Town, where he made a further 20 appearances for the Tractor Boys before the season was curtailed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After making 8 first-team appearances for Wolves, he became Premier League Burnley`s first signing of the summer in 2020, penning a three-year deal.

Royston Town Web Site