Manager Jimmy Dean has overseen a staggering amount of success at Peterborough Sports

Jimmy Dean became manager of Peterborough Sports for the start of the 2015-16 season and immediately won four trophies - UCL Division One, UCL League Cup, the Northants Junior Cup and the Hinchingbrooke Cup - but it was just a sign of the times to come for the city side.
By Alan Swann
Published 3rd Feb 2021, 11:21 BST
Peterborough Sports after beating Netherton United in the final of the 2016 Northants Junior Cup. Jimmy Dean has the trophy on his head.Peterborough Sports after beating Netherton United in the final of the 2016 Northants Junior Cup. Jimmy Dean has the trophy on his head.
Peterborough Sports after beating Netherton United in the final of the 2016 Northants Junior Cup. Jimmy Dean has the trophy on his head.

Dean will lead Sports into an historic last-16 FA Trophy tie at Oxford City on Saturday after a stunning rise up the English football pyramid.

Former Sports chairman and current historian Stephen ‘Tommy’ Cooper recalled: “The club were determined to make a proper challenge for a move up to the UCL Premier.

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“The first marquee signing was striker Avelino Vieira and from there a number of leading local players and former team mates of Dean started to follow.

Olly Medwynter scores the penalty that sealed victory in the 2016 UCL Cup Final for Sports against Holbeach.Olly Medwynter scores the penalty that sealed victory in the 2016 UCL Cup Final for Sports against Holbeach.
Olly Medwynter scores the penalty that sealed victory in the 2016 UCL Cup Final for Sports against Holbeach.

“Vieira went on to make 230 appearances for us, scoring 140 goals, both are club records.

“It was a season that would yield four trophies and a host of records for the side dubbed ‘The Fourmidables’.

“We also entered the FA Cup for the first time.

“We won the league by 21 points and we are still the only Division One club to lift the UCL Cup, a great achievement secured by Olly Medwynter with the last kick of a penalty shootout.

Mark Jones scores the goal at Kidlington which secured the Southern League Central Division One title in 2019.Mark Jones scores the goal at Kidlington which secured the Southern League Central Division One title in 2019.
Mark Jones scores the goal at Kidlington which secured the Southern League Central Division One title in 2019.
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“We won the Premier Division the following season with a record points tally of 112 and we were the top scorers in the top 11 levels of English football with 150 in the league and 205 in all competitions!

“The club then took the jump into step 4 football in the Northern Premier League Division 1 South for the 2017/18 season.

“But a bright start soon gave way to a real struggle with a heavy long term injury list contributing to the side sitting bottom of the league as late as January 27th, before a storming finish, with five wins in the last seven games, saw us rise to 12th in a 22-club division.

“The following season saw us once again secure a promotion, thanks to three notable events.

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“With an additional step 4 league implemented for 2018/19 Sports were moved to the Southern League to play in the Division One Central section and this was a far softer division than the tough Northern Premier League, Grant Biddle came in as chairman and shared the financial support of the club with me and we signed Dion Sembie-Ferris.

“The title race was a three-way tussle between Sports, Bromsgrove Sporting & Corby Town.

“These were two massive clubs, with huge crowds allowing them to enjoy healthy budgets.

“It was the sheer relentless consistency that took us to the title and with a bit to spare in the end.”

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Sports were now a step three club having started the decade in step seven.

Covid ruined a strong promotion bid last season and looks set to do the same this season, but glory still awaits in the FA Trophy on Saturday with Sports just three wins from a trip to Wembley.

Related: The early days

Related topics:Peterborough SportsFA Trophy