Here’s another Boro’ – but not one we reckon many of you know too well; Desborough Town being one of the teams we faced during our early days. So, this is a tale that’s going to take us right back to where it all started. It’s 1981. Aston Villa are the best club in the country. Bucks Fizz win Eurovision. And Boro’ (that’s us) win the first of many promotions to step up into the United Counties League Premier Division. There, Ar Tarn are a side who are more familiar with the UCL than most. After all, they first joined the competition in 1934 and still competing in it to this very day.
Desborough Town: The Facts
Waterworks Field
Braybrooke Road, Desborough, Northamptonshire, NN14 2LJ
First, don’t worry about this being a Boro’-on-Boro’ situation. They don’t ever call themselves Boro’. Some people might. The nickname thing, going by the United Counties League site, is a bit of a strange one. It looks as if their nickname is Ar Tarn, which is how you say “our town” in that part of the world. But it also says they went by The Buckets or even Dirty Desborough.
We’ll stick with Ar Tarn.
Ar Tarn’s long story goes back deep into Victorian times. And, by deep, we mean five years. In 1896, the club was born; joining the Northamptonshire League straight off the bat. In the first decade of the 20th century, success wasn’t too far away either. This was a level they were happy at, however. Well, that’s what we know. There’s no evidence they’d ever went up, down, left or right during the 1910s or 1920s. From what we can see, anyway.
In 1934, the Northamptonshire League changed name to the United Counties League. And the rest is history. Except it’s not. Because the point of this is to talk about us and them…
Why do we know Desborough Town?
As 1980-1 United Counties League Division One, the next step for a fledgling Boro’ side was the Premier Division. By this point, Ar Tarn were now part of the furniture. But a pair of titles (1949 and 1967) and a runners-up medal (1980) were all they had to show for their efforts in the years since rejoining the competition a season late after the Second World War. Still, did their experience of the competition count against us?
How to get to Desborough Town – Travel Information – Distance: 62 miles
By Road
Heading to Desborough? Take the A1(M)/A1 north as far north as the interchange with the A14. Join the westbound A14 towards the Midlands for around 26 miles. Leave at Junction 3, however, for the A6 towards Leicester and Market Harborough. After leaving the A14, at the roundabouts at the top of the slip road, take the fourth and second exits respectively.
In around 2.5 miles, you get to yet another roundabout. Take the third exit for Braybrooke Road. The football ground is down this road on the left in about three quarters of a mile.
The car park at Desborough Town should be more than adequate. But you’ll find street parking nearby if needs be.
By Rail
A railway line runs more or less behind the stadium, but finding a station is a whole different matter. It looks as if Kettering is the nearest, and this is quite some distance.
We use cookies. Who doesn't? But we have to be boring and make sure you're fine and dandy with it. Cookie SettingsGo On Then
Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
6 months
YouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
Youtube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
