Welton Rovers F.C.

Last updated

Welton Rovers F.C.
Welton Rovers F.C.png
Full nameWelton Rovers Football Club
Nickname(s)Green Army, Rovers
Founded1887
GroundWest Clewes, Midsomer Norton
Capacity2,400 (100 seated)
ChairmanMalcolm Price
ManagerThomas Smith
League Western League Premier Division
2023–24 Western League Premier Division, 17th of 18

Welton Rovers Football Club is an English, Somerset County FA non-league football club in the Western Football League Premier Division. They are currently members of the Western League Premier Division and play at West Clewes. Founded in 1887, Welton Rovers provided the opportunity for the mining community of Midsomer Norton and Radstock to play and watch football. One of a number of long-established clubs in the North Somerset coalfield, their ground is the oldest in the area.

Contents

History timeline

1903–1904: Welton Rovers joined the Western League.

1906–1907: The Somerset Junior Cup was won for the first time, sharing it with fellow finalists Camerton after a replay. [1]

1911–1912: The league title was won for the first time; only losing 2 games and finishing 4 points ahead of Barry District. The Somerset Senior Cup was also won.

1912–1913: Won the Somerset Senior Cup.

1913–1914: Won the Somerset Senior Cup.

1919–1920: Welton Rovers won their 5th Somerset Senior Cup.

1922–1923: Finished as runners up to Weymouth by 2 points. Troubled times lead to the ground at West Clewes being sold to the Miners Welfare, the generosity of local miners’ contributions enabled the club to stay in existence.

1924–1925: Rejoined the Western League and won the Somerset Senior Cup.

1925–1926: Won the Somerset Senior Cup.

1925–1929: Achieved high league placings without adding another championship.

1939: The 150 seat grandstand at West Clewes was built.

1945–1946: Finished bottom of the single division league.

1946–1947: A season notable for the bad weather; with only 2/31 clubs in the League who completed their fixtures. Welton, in Division One, completed only 20/34 games and were relegated.

1959–1960: Finished as champions, 4 points ahead of Stonehouse.

1960–1961: Won the Somerset Senior Cup.

1961–1962: Won the Somerset Senior Cup and played all their home games at nearby Radstock Town pitch whilst West Clewes pitch was levelled.

1962–1963: Won the Somerset Senior Cup.

1964: The arrival of new manager; former Huddersfield Town and Bristol City striker, Arnold Rodgers.

1964–1965: Reached the 1st round proper of the FA Cup, but lost to Weymouth after a replay. The team won the championship 3 points ahead of Bideford.

1965–1966: Unbeaten for the entire league season, Welton Rovers finished 11 points clear of Portland United and won the championship for the second year running. Player, Ian Henderson, scored a club record of 53 goals that season, including six hat-tricks. On 11 September 1965 Welton won 10–0 at Dorchester Town.

1966–1967: Welton Rovers won the championship for the third consecutive time, finishing 5 points ahead of Minehead.

1967–1968: Welton again reached the first round proper of the FA Cup, but lost 3–0 at Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.

1971: With the decline of the local coal industry, the Miners Welfare donated the ground to the local authority for continued use for football. Since then, Welton Rovers have leased West Clewes from the local council. At this time, Manager Arnold Rodgers departed to Bath City and ten players followed him.

1973–1974: After a number of mid table finishes; Manager and former Bristol Rovers player David Stone, won their fifth championship by a single point from Taunton Town.

1981–1982: A long period of decline followed for the team which culminated in its relegation at the end of the season.

1987–1988: Returned to the First Division championship by Manager Steve Coles finishing a single point ahead of Chard Town.

1991–1992: Premier Division status lost at the end of season.

1999–2000: Returned to the Premier Division by manager Adrian Britton, finishing as runners up to unbeaten Devizes Town.

2000–2005: Maintained Premier Division status with new manager Chris Mountford.

2005–2006: The most successful season since the 1970s, ending with a 4th-place finish.

2007: Part of the main stand was damaged by fire in June.

2008: Chris Mountford left the club and was replaced by a new managerial team at the helm of Welton Rovers: Mark Harrington (ex-Bath City and Paulton Rovers) and assistant Graham Colbourne. After rebuilding the squad with the addition of 11 new players Welton finished the season 8th in the league table while reaching the semi-finals of two cup competitions.

2009–2010: Harrington made wholesale changes to the first-team squad with: Gary Banks, Lee Bryant, Timmy Thompson, Danny Maye and Ollie Edwards for Welton's push for improvement. The season saw the first team compete in the top 3 for a large proportion of the season when injuries and suspensions took their toll in early March resulting in a 5th-place finish in the league. In the Les Philips League Cup Welton lost 1–0 to an extra time goal in the semi-finals to the eventual winners Hallen. The pinnacle of the season saw Welton win the Somerset Premier Cup for the first time in club history, overcoming Paulton Rovers, Chard Town, Wellington and Yeovil Town on the way to beating Bridgwater Town in the final. The final, at Yeovil Town's Huish Park on Tuesday 4 May 2010, saw the team win 4–2 on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes and extra time.

2010–2011: Manager Mark Harrington handed in his resignation as first team coach and Mark Leaney was appointed at short notice. Leaney's squad struggled in the Premier Division before he left the club and handed over to Nick Beaverstock. Unfortunately Welton's fate was sealed and relegation followed.

2011–2012: Beaverstock completed one season in the First Division taking the club up to seventh position, but due to work commitments he could not continue. Former Manager, Stuart Minall, continued in his place for the rest of the season.

2012–2013: A hard season with Welton finishing sixteenth.

2014–2015: The club regains Premier Division status.

2019–2020 Stuart James makes his debut and Rovers claim a scintillating 4–0 win over Cheddar.

2020–2021 Tom Smith starts his first season in charge with the best start to a Welton Rovers first team campaign for half a decade

2021–2022 Rovers win promotion to the Western League Premier Division via the playoffs.

Current squad

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of England.svg  ENG Alfie Hamblin
2 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Max Dyer
3 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Caleb Summerfield
4 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Joe Paradise
5 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Jacob Shore
6 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Lewis Ewins
7 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Ben Gundle
8 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Lenny Gale
9 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Brandon Oputeri
10 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG joe cattermole
11 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Lee Hicks
No.Pos.NationPlayer
12 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Mason Alden
13 GK Flag of England.svg  ENG Cameron Pike
14 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Chris Pile
15 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Harry Banks
16 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Miguel Alves

Honours

Related Research Articles

John Allen King was an English football player and manager. He is widely regarded as being the most successful manager in the history of Tranmere Rovers and had a stand at Prenton Park named in his honour in 2002. In November 2014, a statue of King was unveiled outside the ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clevedon Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Clevedon Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club representing Clevedon, Somerset, England. Affiliated to the Somerset County FA, they are currently members of the Western League Premier Division and play at the Hand Stadium in Kenn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corsham Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Corsham Town Football Club is a football club based in Corsham, Wiltshire, England. The first team plays in the Hellenic League Premier Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frome Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Frome Town Football Club is an English football club based in Frome, a town in the county of Somerset. They play in the Southern League Premier Division South. The club's nickname is the Robins and they play in a predominantly red kit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radstock Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Radstock Town Football Club is a football club based in Radstock, Somerset, England. It is a member of the Western League Division One and plays at the Southfields Recreation Ground. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bideford A.F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Bideford Association Football Club is a football club based in Bideford, Devon, England. They are currently members of the Southern League Division One South and play at the Sports Ground. The club are nicknamed "The Robins" due to their all-red strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brislington F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Brislington Football Club is a football club based in Brislington, in Bristol, England. Nicknamed "The Foxes", they are currently members of the Western League Premier Division and play at Ironmould Lane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yate Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Yate Town Football Club is a football club based in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. They are currently members of the Southern League Division One South and play at Lodge Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston-super-Mare A.F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Weston-super-Mare Association Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. Nicknamed "The Seagulls", the club is affiliated to the Somerset County Football Association and are competing in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glastonbury F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Glastonbury F.C. is a football club based in Glastonbury, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA. The club are currently members of the Somerset County League Division One and play at the Abbey Moor Stadium.

Wells City F.C. are a football club based in Wells, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA. They are currently members of the Western League Division One and play at the Athletic Ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chard Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Chard Town Football Club is a football club based in Chard, Somerset, England. Affiliated to the Somerset County FA, they are currently members of the Somerset County League Premier Division and play at Dening Sports Fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Street Football Club are a football club based in Street in Somerset, England. They are currently members of the Western League Premier Division and play at the Tannery. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portishead Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Portishead Town Football Club, formerly Portishead A.F.C., are a football club based in Portishead, North Somerset, England founded in 1912. The men's first team are currently members of the Western League Premier Division and the Ladies first team are members of the FA Women's National League South West Division 1. The club is also home to nearly 900 Junior players aged between 5–16 as part of a merger between other Portishead junior football teams. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA. They have recently gone onto win the Western League Division One title, securing promotion to the Premier Division for the 2024/25 season.

Westland Sports Football Club is a football club based in Yeovil, Somerset England. They currently play in the Dorset Premier League at their home ground of Alvington Lane. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Blazey A.F.C.</span> Association football club in St Blazey, England

St Blazey Association Football Club is an English football club based in St Blazey, Cornwall. They compete in the Western League Premier Division. The club was formed in 1896 as a Junior side, attaining Senior status in 1910. St Blazey were a founding member of the South Western League in 1951, which they competed in until 2007 when the league merged with its Devon equivalent, the Devon County League, to form the South West Peninsula League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gresley Rovers F.C.</span> Association football club in Church Gresley, England

Gresley Rovers Football Club is an English football club from Church Gresley, South Derbyshire. Gresley is a member of the United Counties League Premier Division North and plays home games at the Moat Ground. They were known as Gresley Rovers until 2009, when they were reformed under the name of Gresley F.C. In July 2020 the club readopted their original name, Gresley Rovers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangotsfield United F.C.</span> Football club based in Bristol, England

Mangotsfield United Football Club is a football club based in Mangotsfield, Bristol, England. They are currently members of the Hellenic League Premier Division and play at Cossham Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulton Rovers F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Paulton Rovers Football Club is an English football club based on Winterfield Road in the growing village of Paulton near Bristol. They were established in 1881 and currently play in the Southern Football League Division One West, the eighth tier of English Football. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA.

Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who were previously known as Yetminster Ladies, Sherborne Ladies, Yeovil Town Ladies and Yeovil United. Founded in 1990, they now play in the FA Women's National League Division One South West.

References

  1. 1 2 December 2007 County Magazine Archived 26 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine Somerset FA
  2. "History | Weston-super-Mare Football Club". Weston-s-mareafc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 August 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  3. "Senior Cup". SomersetFA. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  4. "Intermediate Cup". SomersetFA. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Award Winners". Toolstation Western League. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.

51°17′22″N2°28′52″W / 51.28944°N 2.48111°W / 51.28944; -2.48111