The Somerset derby refers to all local derbyfootball matches between teams in Somerset, England. Most notably between Yeovil Town, Bath City, Taunton Town and Weston-super-Mare. During the 2023-24 season all four teams competed in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. Yeovil Town are by far the most successful, being the only Somerset side to ever play in the Football League.[2] Bath and Yeovil have played each other most out of the four clubs, playing 274 matches.
The oldest of the four clubs, Bath City, were formed in 1889 as Bath AFC, six years later Yeovil were formed as Yeovil Casuals. The earliest Somerset derby match was recorded in 1901,[3] when Yeovil beat Bath 4–2.[4][5] From the 1910s to the late 1990s Bath and Yeovil consistently played in the Southern League against each other.[6]
Weston Super Mare, formed in 1947, played Yeovil for the first time in 1951, in which "The Glovers" won 7–0 in the Somerset Cup.[7] The first game the grandstand at Twerton Park opened was an FA Cup-tie in 1932. Yeovil, at the time, were said to be much “much reviled” in Bath. 5,345 watched Yeovil beat Bath 4–2. Bath City fans stated “Losing to Yeovil always hurt”.[8] In 1947, Taunton Town were formed as Taunton FC.[9] Neither Taunton or Weston ever reached the non-League heights of Bath or Yeovil in the Southern League or Alliance Premier League,[10] with Taunton and Weston Super Mare playing Western League football from the 1950s to 1990s.[11][12]
Weston Super Mare vs Bath City at The Woodsrping Stadium in 2018
However, since the turn of the century, Yeovil and Bath moved in opposite directions across the English football pyramid, with the two clubs being as many as five divisions apart from one another during the 2013–14 season. Thus, any remaining local animosity between Bath City and Yeovil Town dissipated.[13] In the 2023-24 season Yeovil and Taunton competed in the same league for the first time, and on 26 December 2023, Yeovil played Taunton at Huish Park in front of 6,303, beating the National League South record gate at the time.[14]
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