Review of Season 2025-26

 U18 Floodlight Division

At the December Management Committee meeting it was reported to the Management Committee that the U18 Division was going well with 16 more games having been played than at the same stage last season. These positive statistics were despite Wims 11 starting the season without a pitch to play on in the first month of the season and the pitch at Trowbridge not being available in the early months of the season.

The weather then proceeded to have a major impact with just 21 games played over the three-month period from December through to the end of February with 37 games postponed due to the weather as the division fell behind with its league fixtures.  At the March Management Committee meeting it was reported that due to another month of multiple postponements, we had now played nine games less than the previous season, with a bigger division this season. Consideration was given to possibly deferring or cancelling the cup, but at the time very little was gained in terms of freeing dates. Thankfully all four games in the First Round were played but with hindsight it would have been better to not have started the cup.

At that March meeting the division was only 63.6% complete with the rate of postponements running at 45.8%, 84 games had been played, 71 games postponed, with 48 games still to play. This was the worst set of statistics across any of the seven divisions. At the time just two sides, Devizes Town and Swindon Supermarine, had completed 75% of their fixtures. This meant a lot of teams would now be playing two games a week until the end of the season, one on a Monday and one on a Thursday to be able to complete the season. To their credit the clubs accepted this and generally just got on and played the games, although the season did eventually have to go on beyond the agreed date at the AGM. An added complication arose when Kintbury Rangers were suspended due to incidents at their cup semi-final and their final four games have not taken place and are now unlikely to be played as we await the outcome of FA investigations. In addition, the fixture between Wims 11 and Westbury United also did not get played.

On the pitch the title race in the Under 18 Division has once again been an exciting one that went right down to the closing games of the season, with Swindon Supermarine, Calne Town and Bishops Cannings battling it out for honours at the top end of the table. With Swindon Supermarine playing on a 3G pitch they, along with Devizes Town, found themselves ahead of other teams in terms of fixtures played. Consequently, Supermarine spent much of the season at the top of the table. However, they would eventually be caught and overtaken by Calne Town in the closing weeks of the season.

Calne had opened the season with a defeat at the hands of Kintbury Rangers and then also lost to Swindon Supermarine in the first meeting back in October but then went on an excellent run which saw them unbeaten in the league ahead of the return fixture with Swindon Supermarine in mid-March.  The two sides drew that game 1-1 which meant Supermarine sat eight points clear of Calne at the top of the table, but Calne had four games in hand.  After two big wins over Westbury United and Gillingham Town the gap was reduced to just two points with Calne still having two games in hand.  Calne Town then suffered a surprise 7-1 loss at the hands of a much-improved Wims 11 side to reduce the number of games in hand to just one. Supermarine then won their penultimate game to open the gap up to five points but two wins in the final week of April over Radstock Town and Melksham Town saw Calne move one point above Supermarine. The win over Melksham came courtesy of a very late winner.  Calne then entertained bottom side Trowbridge Town in their final game of the season knowing that victory would see them crowned as champions. It was to prove a comfortable evening for the home side as they scored ten goals without reply to make sure of the league title. Congratulations to Calne Town on their title success.

Both Swindon Supermarine and Bishops Cannings still had one game to play against Kintbury Rangers, with Swindon Supermarine sat in the runners-up position, two points ahead of Bishops Cannings. At the time of writing it looks unlikely that the games will now be played, and the expectation is that Swindon Supermarine will be confirmed as runners-up in due course.

Wims 11 improved as the season went on and ended the season in fourth spot and had also reached the final of the League Cup where their opponents were scheduled to be Kintbury Rangers. With Kintbury currently suspended by the League due to alleged incidents at their cup semi-final the final has also not yet taken place. The desire is that the cup final will go ahead but is subject to whatever comes out of the FA investigations.

Melksham Town Reserves finished the season in fifth place in the table, picking up 34 of their points against the sides below them in the table but just the one point against the top four sides.  Devizes Town secured a top half of the table finish but again struggled against the top sides with just the one point to show from their ten games against the top five sides, that coming in a 2-2 home draw with Wims 11. Amesbury Town were one point behind Devizes again falling to defeat against the top three sides, but they did secure wins against top five sides Wims 11 and Melksham Town.

Gillingham Town in their first season in the league finished in eighth place but would have finished two places higher but for a points deduction incurred for a postponed game. Kintbury Rangers currently sit in ninth place, eight points behind Gillingham but with those four unplayed games. As noted above they have made the cup final which may yet take place over the summer.

The bottom three were Westbury United, Radstock Town and Trowbridge Town with the latter two both suffering points deductions for postponed games. Credit to Trowbridge for battling on after some difficult results that saw them on the wrong end of some big scores. They were rewarded with victories over both Kintbury Rangers and Westbury United and are expected to be a much stronger proposition next season.

1 June 2026