THE HOME OF
THE WAKES
A Look Back at BTFC
Formed in 1883, Bourne Town played all its early football in the Peterborough League, winning the Championship for the first time in 1933/34 and then immediately following the second World War in successive seasons 1945/46 and 1946/47.
It was during this period after the war when the nickname 'The Wakes' (from Hereward the Wake) came in, being as a result of a competition organized by the club, offering a prize of £5 for the most suitable nickname for the team.
This success heralded improved status, with the club gaining admission to the United Counties League, but success eluded the Abbey Lawn Club. Finishing in the top half of the table only twice and five times in the bottom two places over a nine year period resulted in a return to the Peterborough League for Two
seasons.
Next stop was the Central Alliance League and in 1959/60 manager Sid Otterwell and his players brought the first non-league Championship to the Abbey Lawn. The next season, the Lincolnshire Senior B' trophy was added to the silverware. In 1961 the club entered the newly re-formed Midland League but after only Four years, returned to the United Counties League for an unbroken 48-year period.
The period between 1968 and 1972 brought unprecedented success under the managership of Terry Bates and chairmanship of Wilf Notley. Three Unitedy Counties Football League Championships, United Counties Football League Knockout Cup, Lincolnshire Senior 'A' Cup, the RAFA Cup (twice), Scarber Cup (twice) as well as cup successes for the Reserves all came to the Abbey Lawn. Player-Manager Mark Mitchell assembled a quality team to bring the United Counties Football League Championship back to the Abbey Lawn in 1990/91 completing the 'double'
winning the United Counties League Benevolent Cup. Runners-up in the Evans Halshaw Floodlit Cup completed a remarkable season.
In January 2004, Thomas Leonard Pick died at the age of 94. Len was a lifelong supporter of Bourne Town Football Club and was President and Patron of the club.
In his Will, Len left a substantial amount of money to the club to be used to enhance the future of his beloved Wakes. The money was not to be used to fund transfers or players' wages, and so the Management Committee decided to rebuild the Clubroom which has stood since 1969 and needed work. This was eventually finished in 2006 and is known as The Len Pick Suite'. The building has no doubt improved the image of the club and it may be hired, together with the club bar for private functions.
In 2022–23 the club finished third in Division One, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, losing 4–2 on penalties to Hucknall Town in the semi-finals after a 1–1 draw. The following season saw us win the Division One title, securing promotion to the Premier Division North, which had been enabled by ground improvements.
