Bridgwater Town F.C.

Bridgwater Town

Full name

Bridgwater Town 1984 Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Robins

Founded

1898 (reformed 1984)

Ground

Fairfax Park, Bridgwater

Capacity

2,500 (310 seated)

Chairman

Richard Johnson, Vice Chairman Colin Andrews

manager = Richard Fey

League

Southern League
Division One South & West

2014–15

Southern League
Division One South and West, 12th

Home colours

Bridgwater Town Football Club are a football club from Bridgwater, Somerset, England. The original version of the club was founded in 1898.^[1] They currently play in the Southern League Division One South and West. The club plays their home games at Fairfax Park. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA.

History

Early years

They originally played in the Somerset County League, but dropped out after only four years. Re-establishing itself as Bridgwater AFC in 1903, the club played one year in the Clevedon & District League in 1905 before joining the Weston & District League the next year. After some initial success, financial problems and World War I forced the club to once again disband.^[1]

In 1921, the club was again reformed, this time as Bridgwater Town F.C., and joined the Highbridge & District League for a few years, but ended up bouncing around several local leagues in this period. Eventually the club dropped down into junior football and eventually faded away.^[1]

A new town club

In 1948, Bridgwater Town AFC was formed and finished runners-up in the Somerset County League.^[1] They successfully applied for promotion to the Western Football League and reached the top level after three seasons. They remained at that level for many years, winning the title in 1968 and 1981. After a 3rd place finish in 1982, they were accepted into the Southern League, but increased costs forced the club into liquidation after only two years in the SL.^[1]

Re-formed once again

In 1984 Bridgwater Town 1984 FC was formed and joined the Somerset County League. The club advanced to the Premier Division and finished in the top three for six years in a row from 1988–94, culminating in a promotion back to the Western League. A second-place finish in the Western League Premier in 2006–07 was enough to see the club promoted back to the Southern League after a 23-year absence, and they finished 6th in their first season.

In the 2009–10 season Bridgwater recorded the most successful season in the club's history, reaching 3rd place and runners up in the Southern League Division 1 South and West Play offs and also a runners-up position in the Somerset Premier Cup. During the close season, manager Craig Laird left his post to take up the job as manager of Weston-Super-Mare, taking the majority of the Bridgwater squad with him. Rob Dray took the helm in July 2010 and has worked on rebuilding the side since then.^[1]

Ground

Bridgwater Town play their home games at Fairfax Park, College Way, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 4YQ.

Cup exploits

Bridgwater Town has reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup twice, in 1960–61 and 1961–62, losing 2–1 to Oxford United and 3–0 to Crystal Palace respectively. They also reached the first round in 1963–64 and in 1971–72. In the FA Vase, the club reached the 5th round in 2004–05, eventually falling at home to AFC Sudbury.^[2]

Honours

Western Football League Cup:^[3]^[4]
- Winners (4): 1957–58, 1981–82, 2002–03, 2004–05
Western Football League Alan Young Cup:^[5]
- Winners (2): 1968–69 (Shared with Glastonbury Town), 1971–72
Somerset Senior Cup^[6]
- Winners (3): 1898–99, 1993–94, 1995–96

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Ben John
		DF	Alex Grimshaw
		DF	Jack Allwood
			Scott Thomas
			Nathan Rudge
			Andy Robertson
			Craig Allan
			James Byrne
			David O'Hare
			Tom Knighton
			Kyle Tooze
			Ollie Chamberlain
			Joe Bushin
			Tyne Govier
			Harry Horton
			Mat Hurley

Notable former players

Bobby Black

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Club History". Bridgwater Town FC. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
↑ "Bridgwater Town". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
↑ "Western Football League Cup 1955–1988" (PDF). Western Football League. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
↑ "Western Football League Cup – Les Phillips cup 1989–present" (PDF). Western Football League. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
↑ "Western Football League Alan Young Cup Winners" (PDF). Western Football League. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
↑ "Senior Cup". SomersetFA. 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2013-04-04.

Club History

External links

(Not currently Available)

Southern League

Premier Division	Arlesey Town Banbury United Bideford Biggleswade Town Burnham Cambridge City Chesham United Chippenham Town Cirencester Town Corby Town Dorchester Town Dunstable Town Frome Town Histon Hitchin Town Hungerford Town Paulton Rovers Poole Town Redditch United Slough Town St Neots Town Truro City Weymouth

Division One Central	AFC Hayes Aylesbury Aylesbury United Barton Rovers Beaconsfield SYCOB Bedford Town Bedworth United Chalfont St. Peter Daventry Town Egham Town Godalming Town Hanwell Town Kettering Town Leighton Town Marlow North Greenford United Northwood Potters Bar Town Royston Town Rugby Town St Ives Town Uxbridge

Division One South & West	AFC Totton Bashley Bishop's Cleeve Bridgwater Town Cinderford Town Clevedon Town Didcot Town Evesham United Fleet Town Larkhall Athletic Mangotsfield United Merthyr Town North Leigh Sholing Shortwood United Stratford Town Swindon Supermarine Taunton Town Tiverton Town Wantage Town Wimborne Town Yate Town

Seasons	1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15