Shepshed Dynamo F.C.

Shepshed Dynamo Football Club is an English football club based in the small town of Shepshed in the north west of Leicestershire, England. Founded as Shepshed Albion towards the end of the 19th Century, the club played for the majority of their early history in the Leicestershire Senior League before a series of league wins and promotions the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they were known as Shepshed Charterhouse, took them within two promotions of The Football League. The club encountered financial difficulties in 1994 and reformed under the new name in recognition of the help provided by local side Loughborough Dynamo. They currently play in the Midland League Premier Division at Step nine of the English football league system.

History

Early years

Football emerged in Shepshed in the late 19th century and records exist of a violent encounter between the Albion club and Loughborough Corinthians in 1899, but it was not until 1907 that the club joined the Leicestershire Senior League (LSL). Albion had almost immediate success, winning the League in 1911 and again in 1921. They remained in the Leicestershire Senior League for the next 60 years, being promoted and relegated between its two divisions numerous times.

Shepshed

Coordinates: 52°46′16″N 1°17′42″W / 52.7711°N 1.2951°W / 52.7711; -1.2951

Shepshed, often known until 1888 as Sheepshed, (also Sheepshead - a name derived from the village being heavily involved in the wool industry) is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of around 14,000 people. It sits within the borough of Charnwood local authority, where Shepshed is the second biggest settlement after the town of Loughborough.

The town is twinned with the Parisian suburb of Domont.

History

Origins

The town originally grew as a centre for the wool trade. However, since the construction of the M1 motorway nearby, it has become a dormitory town for Loughborough, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham. It was officially a village until recently and claimed to be Britain's largest, and also claimed to have the highest number of pubs per head of population in the country. Now, however, it is home to only 10 public houses.

There has been much controversy about the origin of the name of the town. The earliest form is Scepeshefde Regis as mentioned in the Domesday Book, which means "(King's) hill where sheep graze", but since then there have been many changes until the present form, Shepshed, was adopted in 1888. The addition of the suffix 'Regis' signifies that there was once a royal lodge in the area.