Graham Carr

Kettering Town manager from September 1992 to May 1995.

Following the sacking of Dave Cusack the administrators appointed Graham Carr as Kettering Town's new manager. Carr was already fairly well-known to the Poppies supporters, having been successful at Northampton Town in the late 80's, before moving onto Blackpool for a brief spell.

Carr took over the reigns in late September 1992, his first 'official' match in charge saw the visit of Wycombe Wanderers to Rockingham Road and after Kettering's 4-0 thrashing in front of 3,021 Carr was left in no doubt what a difficult task he'd taken on. With the club in administration there was no hope of any cash injection to help boost his weakened playing squad and over the course of the season he'd come to rely heavily on bringing in loan players.

Kettering continued to struggle at the foot of the table and recorded only one league victory during Carr's first seven GMVC fixtures in charge, a 2-0 home win over Stafford Rangers with both goals coming from the Poppies' own prodigal son, Frankie Murphy, re-joining the club for a third spell. Carr's men fared no better in the FA Trophy, crashing out 4-1 to Bromsgrove Rovers after a replay, but a narrow 2-1 victory over local rivals Corby Town setup an FA Cup 1st Round encounter away to Gillingham and a chance for glory.

Kettering's patched up team were comfortably matching the League outfit until an appalling tackle on Poppies keeper Andy Beasley left him lying on the ground as the Gills striker rolled the ball into an empty net. The referee incredibly waved away all the protests and the goal stood, poor Beasley was stretchered off with Ian Docker having to don the gloves as a stand-in. Kettering eventually went down 3-2 with the Poppies goals coming from Richard Hill and Phil Brown.

Back in the Conference, Carr's efforts began to reap rewards and a 5-0 demolition of Slough Town at Rockingham Road sparked a revival with just one reverse in 11 matches through the festive period beginning to ease the club's relegation worries. Among the many loan players to pass through the dressingroom doors at Rockingham Road during that season, two goalkeepers, Fred Barber and Jurgen Sommer were certainly among the more noticeable.

Barber kept the supporters entertained during his brief spell at the club by his strange habit of wearing an 'old man' rubber mask during the warm-up period before matches. While on loan from Luton Town, the USA-born keeper Sommer, played arguably his best game for Poppies in the 2-1 win at (eventual champions) Wycombe Wanderers in front of 4,430 at Adams Park with Phil Brown and David Hodges on the mark for the Poppies in a virtual cup-tie atmosphere.

Another point-gathering run in the final eight league fixtures saw Kettering beaten just once, 2-1 in their final home game by Kidderminster Harriers, but another win in their final away match at Dagenham and Redbridge saw the Poppies finish in a fairly respectable 13th position. A remarkable achievement by boss Graham Carr against a backdrop of probably the most turbulent and darkest period in the club's history and with the help of a grand total of 53 players (including 8 different goalkeepers!) used throughout the course of the season.

Just two clubs were eventually relegated that season, with Welling Utd managing to cling on desperately to their Conference survival, while Farnborough Town and Boston Utd were the unlucky clubs going in the opposite direction to champions Wycombe Wanderers, then managed by Martin O'Neill.

During the summer of 1993 and after lengthy negotiations, the club was eventually purchased by businessman Peter Mallinger, and manager Graham Carr was allowed to focus on the capproaching new season with the heavy cloud of administration finally lifted. Carr added several players to the squad including defender Nick Ashby, son of Poppies legend Roger Ashby, striker Tony Loughlan (son of another former Poppy, John Loughlan), winger Adrian Thorpe, and perhaps the most influential new face at the start of the new season was goalkeeper Russell Hoult, on loan from Leicester City.

Kettering's nine match unbeaten start to the 1993-94 season owed much to the goalkeeping skills of loanee Russell Hoult, allowing just one goal to be conceded in his seven league appearances (a twice taken disputed penalty at Telford that crept into the corner). Unfortunately, Hoult injured a hand in the 0-0 encounter at Macclesfield Town and was recalled back to Leicester City.

His replacement between the posts, Graham Benstead, also proved to be a formidable obstacle for opposing strikers and the addition of central defender Steve Holden shortly afterwards added to the solidity of the Poppies already formidable defence. Kettering's first league defeat of the season came in the 10th match, a narrow 1-0 reverse away to old rivals Stafford Rangers, but it proved a minor hiccup as Carr rallied his players and lost just one further league match upto the end of the year.

In contrast Kettering's main rivals, Kidderminster Harriers, had gotten off to a poor start, losing five of their first seven league matches, including a 2-0 defeat by Kettering in their first home fixture, with Robin Taylor and Tony Loughlan providing the goals for the Poppies. However, Kidderminster then won their next eight in-a-row to storm their way up the table during a run that saw them beaten just once more before the start of the New Year.

Kettering's fortunes in the cup competitions didn't fare as well as their league form. After managing to overcome Stevenage Borough in the FA Trophy 1st Round, they fell fowl of Billingham Synthonia, going down 3-1 away after a 2nd Round replay. Ironically, after overcoming Canvey Island 3-1 in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, Stevenage then gained their revenge by beating Kettering 3-0 at Broadhall Way in the 1st Round proper.

Graham Carr's men started off the New Year poorly, with just two wins in the first seven matches, but goals by Dean Martin, Jon Graham and Phil Brown saw a 3-0 home win over title rivals Woking and sparked another 15 run with just one defeat in the next 15 matches, a 1-0 reverse at home to Macclesfield Town.

Kidderminster Harriers meanwhile, after having been beaten just once in 16 matches since the turn of the year, suddenly began to stumble and Kettering had an outside chance of catching them going into the final run-in. With three games left each, Kidderminster suffered three 1-0 defeats and although Kettering's two draws saw them within 3pts of the top going into the final match, they had to win by a hatful to catch the leaders.

As it turned out, Kidderminster's local rivals, Bromsgrove Rovers ensured their own survival at the expense of Kettering's title challenge and in a disappointing finish to the season, Carr's men went down 1-0 at Rockingham Road to allow Harriers the luxury of losing their final game also. A runner's up spot was still a remarkable achievement for Carr's side after the traumatic events just two seasons earlier and should have boded well for the future of both Carr and the club as a whole.

One area which had been a cause for concern for the Poppies, and which some say arguably cost them the title and a place in the Football League, was in their goalscoring department. Carr's defence had been particularly solid and had conceded just 10 league goals away from home all season, a Conference record, however Kettering had scored just 46 goals in their 42 league matches and Phil Brown had been the club's top scorer with 8 goals.

The proposed solution to the problem was put into action in the summer of 1994, a club record transfer fee of £25,000 was paid to Macclesfield Town allowing Graham Carr to sign a goalscorer, and striker Carl Alford arrived at Rockingham Road. He was joined by other new arrivals in the shape of Bobby Barnes from Partick Thistle, ex-Cobblers player-manager Phil Chard and striker Anton Thomas from nearby Corby Town.

Kettering's new season got off to a good start, six league matches unbeaten and striker Carl Alford got off the mark scoring the winner in the Poppies 1-0 home victory over Southport with 2005 supporters in attendance at Rockingham Road. Another single goal win courtesy of Alford in the Poppies next home match certainly helped Carr's new signing gain immediate favour with the Kettering faithful.

A 1-0 away reverse, ironically at Macclesfield Town, was treated as a minor hiccup as Kettering bounced back quickly to beat Stafford Rangers at Marston Road 3-2, with Stringfellow, Brown and Alford providing the goals. Two draws and a 4-1 hammering of Merthyr Tydfil at Rockingham Road again saw Alford, ably assisted by another terrace favourite Phil Brown, providing the goals that had been conspicuously absent during the previous season.

A 4-2 victory against Solihull Borough in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup set the Poppies up nicely for a 1st Round proper clash at home to Plymouth Argyle. Sky TV decided a giantkilling was on the cards and so Kettering became the first Nothants club to have a match nationally televised from their home ground. Sadly, the pundits at Sky TV were wide of the mark in their expectations and a poor performance by the Poppies allowed an average display by (then manager) Peter Shilton's outfit to win the match by a single goal.

Kettering then turned back to the Conference but found the going suddenly got a lot tougher. Defeats became more prevalent than victories and a further crushing blow was dealt when goalkeeper Graham Benstead injured his knee in a League Cup QF victory over Woking.

Despite the additional boost to Alford's scoring talents with the signing of fellow striker Ian Arnold from Carlisle Utd for £10,000, the Poppies continued to struggle to reproduce their early-season league form and a solitary 1-0 win over Dover Athletic in early December was the only league victory throughout the whole of the festive period.

The New Year brought the dismal run to an end with three victories in-a-row and more goals from the 'A' team, Alford and Arnold, but again the defensive frailties saw Kettering beaten at Bath City and Northwich Victoria, sandwiching a narrow 4-3 win over Welling Utd at Rockingham Road. Kettering's progress in the League Cup continued as they remarkably came back from a 2-0 defeat at home to Dagenham & Redbridge and were at one time 3-0 down on aggregate before a 4-2 victory in the rain-soaked away leg of the Semi-final carried them triumphantly through on the away goals rule.

Mid-March saw Kettering hand out a 5-1 thrashing to Halifax Town at Rockingham Road as Ian Arnold scored a hat-trick (three years since the last Kettering player, Jon Graham managed the feat) and in a strange twist of fate, the Poppies signed on-loan the very same goalkeeper they'd put five goals past a few days earlier. Paul Pettinger (on loan from Leeds Utd) ran out onto the pitch at Altrincham's Moss Lane and was warmly greeted by the tongue in cheek chant of 'Dodgy keeper, dodgy keeper' from the Kettering traveling faithful.

Kettering ran out 4-2 winners with goals from strikers Brown, Thomas, Alford and central defender Steve Holden and during the 5 match loan period of goalkeeper Pettinger, the Poppies remained unbeaten, including a highly-charged 1-0 victory at Rockingham Road over champions elect Macclesfield Town with the goal naturally coming from their ex-striker and by now the Poppies terrace hero, Carl Alford.

The loan period over, Pettinger's departure preceded two successive defeats for Kettering, the latter a poor 2-1 reverse at Welling Utd saw manager Graham Carr coming under increasing criticism from the Poppies supporters. Matters hardly improved following a 4-1 thumping Kettering received in the first leg of the League Cup Final away to Bromsgrove Rovers. Worse was to come in the second leg at Rockingham Road as the home supporters watched in horror while their team were taken apart and suffered the humiliation of a 6-1 hammering, making it 10-2 on aggregate. Very few home fans were left in the ground by the time the jubilant Rovers were presented with the Bob Lord Trophy.

Kettering at least finished out their league programme with three successive victories. Wins at home over Yeovil Town and away over Kidderminster Harriers, setting up their final league match, ironically away to their BLT conquerors Bromsgrove Rovers, where the Poppies gained a small token of revenge with a 4-2 victory, courtesy of a Carl Alford hat-trick and a Phil Brown strike.

Despite winning just two matches from their final 11 league fixtures, the mid-season form carried Macclesfield Town to the Conference title. However, they were denied promotion to the Football League, failing to make the criteria set for entry; while at the other end of the table, Yeovil Town, Stafford Rangers and Merthyr Tydfil were relegated.

Kettering's final Conference position was a creditable 6th place, but the season had not been a successful one as far as the club's supporters were concerned and the humiliation in the League Cup Final had been a bitter pill to swallow. Poppies' Manager Graham Carr had somehow turned from hero to villain within 18 months and as the curtain came down on the 1994-95 season, Carr swiftly departed Rockingham Road.