Nickname(s) The Knights Founded 1948 | Chairman Stuart Bonser | |
 | ||
Full name Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club 2015–16 East Midlands Counties League, 3rd | ||
Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club are a football club based in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the East Midlands Counties League and play at the NFU Sports Ground.
Contents
History
Established in 1948, the club joined the North Leicestershire League. They won the Premier Division for the first time in 1994–95, and after winning the Chairman's Shield the following season, the 1996–97 season saw them win the treble of the Premier Division, the Cobbin Trophy and the Chairman's Shield, whilst the reserve team won Division One of the league. They went on to win the Premier Division again in 1998–99 and 2002–03.
In 2005 the club moved up to Division One of the Leicestershire Senior League. After finishing third in 2005–06 and seventh in 2006–07, the 2007–08 season saw the club claim the runners-up spot, earning promotion to the Premier Division. After two seasons in which they finished third and fifth, they won the Premier Division in 2010–11. In 2013–14 they finished third, losing the title to Allexton & New Park on goal difference.
In 2014 the club switched to the East Midlands County League.
Ground
The club initially played at Hood Park in Ashby-de-la-Zouch town centre. However, after the council refused the club permission to built a new stand, the club opted to move to the NFU Sports Ground, former home of Old Ashbeians rugby club, in 2012. Hood Park remains in use for the club's under-18 and Sunday teams, although the floodlights were taken to the NFU Sports Ground.
A wooden seated stand is located behind one goal, with a modern stand on the side of the pitch where the dugouts are located; the other end and side of the pitch are both out-of-bounds. The ground's record attendance was broken twice during the club's 2016–17 FA Cup run, their first entry to the competition. The extra-preliminary round match against Quorn on 6 August 2016 saw a record attendance of 252, which was bettered by the crowd of 693 against Ilkeston in a first qualifying round match on 3 September.