Corsham Print
Wiltshire Senior League
Season 2020-21
Premier Division Round-ups
& General News Updates

AGM - Wednesday 17th June 2020

The league’s AGM took place on Wednesday 17th June 2020, with the first virtual AGM in the league's 44-year history due to the Coronavirus.  The AGM took place using "GotoMeeting" software and was well attended by member clubs across the three divisions. Whilst it was far from an ideal way to hold an AGM, in view of the current restrictions, it was the only way the meeting could be held on the scheduled meeting date.  It is proposed that when restrictions are eventually lifted a physical EGM will be held with all clubs ahead of the new season starting.  By having conducted the virtual AGM, approving the accounts and previous AGM's minutes it means the league can now go ahead with affiliation logistics with the FA for the new season.


The AGM started with a minute's silence in memory of the League Vice President Ray Burroughs and former referee John Manning who had sadly both recently passed away.

The night's business saw two new clubs, Devizes Town Reserves and Odd Down Reserves duly elected into the Premier Division of the league for Season 2020-21 with the league set to run with 17 teams in the division. The increase in the number of teams and the constitution had been approved by both The FA and the Wiltshire County FA ahead of the AGM. 


It is a welcome return to the league after just one season away for one of the League’s founding members, Devizes Town Reserves. At the time of cessation of Season 2019-20 Devizes Town Reserves sat in second place in Division 1 of the Trowbridge & District League, level on points with leaders Marshfield. This would have been an eligible promotion place and in agreement with both the Trowbridge & District League and the Wiltshire County FA, Devizes Town Reserves will be promoted back to the Wiltshire Senior League under the Feeder League arrangements. The other team joining the Premier Division are the reserve side of Western League side Odd Down, who are based just over the border in Somerset.

 

The full confirmed constitution for the Premier Division is listed below:

 
Premier Division
1.   Corsham Town FC Res
2.   Cricklade Town FC
3.   Devizes Town FC Res

4.   Frome Collegians FC

5.   Kintbury Rangers FC
6.   Ludgershall Sports FC
7.   Malmesbury Victoria FC Development
8.   Marlborough Town FC
9.   Melksham Town FC Res
10. Odd Down FC Res

11. Pewsey Vale FC

12. Purton FC
13. Royal Wootton Bassett Town FC Development

14. Shrewton United FC

15. Stratton Juniors FC

16. Trowbridge Town FC
17. Wroughton FC


In accordance with the standard FA rules it was necessary to fix a start and end date for the season, although the actual start date will very much be down to whether the Government consider it safe enough to reduce restrictions allowing grassroots football to restart by the proposed start date. For the Premier Division, the commencement date was set for Saturday 15th August 2020 with a targeted completion date of Saturday 8th May 2021 but, as noted, this is all subject to it being deemed safe to restart playing.


Whilst the Premier Division is bolstered by two new clubs the Under 18 Division is set to operate with the same ten sides that were involved in such a competitive division in the shortened 2019-20 Season. When football is permitted to re-start the League fully expect another close and exciting competition but have capacity for additional teams with floodlights to join the existing teams in the division. It was agreed at the AGM that a deadline of 31 July 2020 would be set for accepting any more teams into the division. 

At that date the proposed constitution of the U18 Division for Season 2020-21 is as follows:

Under 18 Floodlight Division

1.    Calne Town FC

2.    Chippenham Town FC

3.    Downton FC
4.    FC Chippenham Youth FC
5.    Melksham Town FC

6.    New College Swindon FC

7.    Pewsey Vale FC

8.    Radstock Town FC
9.    Royal Wootton Bassett Town FC
10.  Shrivenham FC


The proposal is to operate as one single division unless the number of clubs exceed 12, in which case the divisions are likely to be regionalised. Once again it was necessary to set start and end dates for the U18 Division and these were set as a commencement date of week commencing 7th September 2020 and an end date of Friday 7th May 2021. As with the Premier Division these dates are conditional on Government restrictions being lifted by the intended start date.


After last season’s issues with pitch availability in the Vets Division the League has taken steps to ensure that third party facilities will be available for the Vets teams to utilise, in addition to club’s that have their own facilities. The League has made arrangements to hire New College Swindon on Tuesdays from 8:30 to 9:30pm and the new all-weather pitch at Wiltshire FA Headquarters at Devizes on both Monday and Tuesday nights, both 9:00 to 10:00pm. 

The League hopes to run at least two Veterans’ Divisions during the 2020/21 season, which will be regionalised - a North Wiltshire based division (Swindon) and a second for Mid/South Wiltshire. The latest list of clubs following the AGM for next season is as follows:


Veterans Divisions
1.   AFC Swindon Vets
2.   Defence Academy FC Vets
3.   Devizes Town 1 FC Vets
4.   Devizes Town 2 FC Vets
5.   Chippenham Yard Dogs FC Vets
6.   FC Calne Vets

7.   Marlborough Town FC Vets
8.   Melksham Town FC Vets
9.   Redhouse FC Vets

10. Royal Wootton Bassett Town FC Vets
11. St Andrews

12. Stratton Juniors FC
13. Swindon Rovers FC
14. Trowbridge Tigers FC


There have also been expressions of interest in joining the league from KMLC FC Vets and Devizes Town Youth FC Vets.


As with the Under 18's the League have capacity for additional teams to join the existing teams in the division. It was agreed at the AGM that a deadline of 31 July 2020 would be set for accepting any more teams into the division. 
   

The League will give each Club a set of 8 water bottles plus coloured bibs for substitutes. In addition to the league fixtures, the Wiltshire FA also run a County Cup Competition for Veterans' teams.


In order to help with the administration of referees in both the Under 18 Division and the Vets Division there is a welcome return to the League Management Committee of Rod Wirdnam as Assistant Referees Secretary, this was the only change to the Management Committee on the night.


Finally, with regard to the AGM, with Season 2019-20 having been declared "null and void" by the FA , the AGM did not conclude with the normal AGM awards of the Club Secretary's Award, the EC Mills Sportsmanship Award and the Referees Award. As with the three divisional titles and the Fountain Trophies Cup there are to be no winners of these awards for Season 2019-20.

The individual annual reports of the various league officers presented to the AGM are all included below. Click on the arrow to reveal each officer's report.

  • President's Report - 2019-20

    What a season!  It started so well for me, being appointed President was, as I stated in my letter of acceptance, such an honour.


    By courtesy of John Gingell, Chairman, I have been chauffeured to all the meetings; and have been impressed by the really good feeling throughout those meetings and across the whole administration of the League.  I pick up that everyone is operating for the good of football and for the particular benefit of everyone involved with the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League.  I am sure that hardly anyone appreciates that it is the efficiency and professionalism displayed by the officers that leads to a fine organisation.


    Of the clubs I visited, I was welcomed by both those I knew from days past and those who were new faces to me.


    I certainly intend to visit some more clubs when the new season finally gets underway after the Covid-19 pandemic and will continue to attend meetings.


    Ken Clarke

    League President

  • Chairman's Report - 2019-20

    Again, I would like to thank Chris Perry and David Kilmurray from Corsham Print, our League sponsors, for their continued support.


    Our new President, Ken Clarke, is a great asset to our committee with his knowledge and experience.


    Since March, the 2019/20 came to an abrupt halt due to coronavirus and all football was postponed.  No League Champions and no Senior KO Cup Final, which was very disappointing.


    On a personal level, I would like to thank all the League Officers and Management Committee for all their assistance over the past season and to all Club Secretaries for their hard work and dedication.



    John Gingell

    Chairman

  • League Secretary's Report - 2019-20

    This was the 43rd season of the League and this is my 17th Annual Report as Hon General Secretary.


    In my Annual Report, I would firstly like to extend the League’s sincere thanks to our sponsors: Chris Perry and David Kilmurray of Corsham Print who are the main sponsors of the League; Paul and Denise Sebastianelli of Fountain Trophies, who sponsor the Senior KO Cup and Ken Clarke of Westernsport Trophies who sponsors the Referees Appreciation Award.  Without their continued support, we would struggle to keep fees to a lower level than most other Step 7 Leagues.


    We lost two fine supporters of the League during the season.  John Manning, a Referee from Swindon, who’d been involved with local football for over 40 years, sadly became a victim of the coronavirus pandemic at the beginning of April and, less than a month later, we lost Ray Burroughs, who was a League Vice-President.  Ray would have been well known to many who have played or managed in the league as the person responsible for the media reports in the newspapers across Wiltshire for many years, having taken over the role in 1994.


    The main current topic is of course the coronavirus pandemic, which brought a premature end to the season in mid March.  I won’t go over all the “why’s and wherefore’s” as I’m sure everyone is well aware of the situation and, if you’re like me, getting fed up with it and looking forward to the time when we can start playing football again and return to some sort of normality.  At the time of writing this report, your guess is as good as mine as to quite when (and how) that will be.  When we do have a date to return and, depending on when that date is, we will have to review whether we can complete a full season and, if not, what we do instead.  If this does occur, we’ll obviously share our thoughts and invite comments / suggestions from all Clubs.


    When last season was ended, The FA said that there would be no promotions or relegations at Steps 3 to 7 but, with quite a few teams having folded already, it remains to be seen if Leagues will be allowed to restore their numbers.  It was a particular shame that the season ended when it did as all Divisions were still very competitive and it wasn’t clear cut who any winners might be.  Mark Smedley will cover results, etc in his report, but the Premier Division was still very open when the season was ended.  Wroughton may have been considered favourites, having games in hand on the leaders but, with several fixtures to go and many possibly in mid week, advantage may have been to others who had points on the board already.  The U.18’s Division was possibly the most competitive and open than it’s ever been.  FC Chippenham Youth looked to be favourites, but recent results had shown that most teams were capable of beating most others, so it would’ve been a very interesting run in.


    In last year’s report I mentioned that we’d been meeting with the Wiltshire FA with a view to setting up a Veterans’ Division.  This did come to fruition and we initially had 11 teams enter, which we grouped in two regionalised Divisions.  Unfortunately, due mostly to pitch hire problems, we lost some teams, the start of the Veterans’ Divisions was delayed and we reduced to one Division.  The Veterans’ League previously run by the Wiltshire FA, although successful, had been basically a “turn up and play” League, so the teams had to adapt to register players, pay Referees, submit results, etc.  After the expected initial problems, most teams adapted very well and fixtures got underway in October.  The League took it on themselves to hire a 3G pitch at New College, but this was basically the only venue we had regular use of except for one at the Defence Academy Shrivenham, who hosted several away games.  For next season, we have reserved two additional slots at the new Wiltshire FA Headquarters in Devizes, so fixtures should run a lot smoother.  At the time of writing, I’ve had enquiries from six new teams, so the Veterans’ Division is set to almost double in size and I expect it to continue to grow in the coming seasons.


    The FA had completed their review of the National League System structure.  From season 2020/21, they were to create additional Leagues at Step 5 and reduce the number of Leagues at Step 6.  However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this has been delayed until season 2021/22.  Step 7 Leagues such as ourselves are to be renamed as Regional NLS Feeder Leagues.  There is to be a greater involvement with the Wiltshire FA but, unlike some Leagues at our level, we already have a good, close working relationship with our County FA and I envisage little change there.


    The pyramid agreement that we have with the District Leagues in the county allows for the top three Clubs in each of the Swindon and Trowbridge Leagues to apply for promotion to our Premier Division.  At the same time, and providing our constitution is at our capacity, we will relegate up to three Clubs from this League.  Although they were not compelled to do so (because of coronavirus bringing the season to an early conclusion), both Leagues kindly agreed to allow promotions to continue.  There were no clubs in the Swindon & District League that applied / were eligible, but Devizes Town Res will be promoted from the Trowbridge & District League.  We also welcome Odd Down Res from just over the border in Somerset.  I also received enquiries from a further 7 clubs, which I believe is testament to this League being competitive and well run.  You will note that we’re proposing to run with 17 teams next season, which is one more than the FA’s ideal number of 16, but both they and the Wiltshire FA have given approval to this number.


    At present, I’m expecting all of last season’s U.18 Youth Floodlight Division Clubs to re-enter.  I don’t currently know if any new Clubs will be applying to join but, if we do receive more entries, we will have to consider splitting the Clubs into two regionalised Divisions.


    As most of you are aware, we were awarded Charter Standard League status by The FA back in season 2012/13.  It’s imperative that at least 60% of our Clubs are Charter Standard Clubs ….. preferably 100%.  In this League, there are a few Clubs who have yet to submit their applications and I would urge them to do so.  It is a requirement in the League Rules and, with the League being at capacity and new Clubs applying, Charter Standard is one of the factors we will take into consideration when accepting a new Club or considering whether to relegate an existing Club.  To become a Charter Standard Club really isn’t that time consuming or difficult.  I suspect that many of you are probably there without realising it.  If you have any doubts, please speak with either the Wiltshire FA Football Development Officer, or even one of the Clubs who have already been awarded Charter Standard.  Amongst other benefits, being a Charter Standard League gives us access to grants from The FA, which should mean fewer increases in fees for Clubs.  Alongside Charter Standard, the new Safeguarding requirements for Premier Division Clubs (who have players under 18 in their squads) are coming into force.  The Wiltshire FA will be running Safeguarding Courses, but obviously these are all currently on hold.


    We’ve continued to operate our Premier Division with Level 5 Referees as The FA withdrew our Supply League status some 8 years ago.  Due to a lack of Match Officials and with Step 5 and 6 Leagues taking priority, this past season has again been a difficult one for Adie Cripps, trying to ensure that all games were covered.  This was only possible as Adie has developed a good relationship with the District Leagues and was able to move Match Officials around when postponements occurred.  If you have a game called off, it’s imperative that you let Adie know as soon as possible so that this can continue. 


    I mentioned last year that The FA had made the use of “sin bins” mandatory for all Leagues from Step 5 down.  Apart from a few teething problems, this went quite smoothly and, although I’ve yet to see any Wiltshire FA statistics, I’m quite sure that the number of fines for dissent has reduced.


    Last season was our third season of using the Whole Game System (WGS) for player registrations and transfers.  Last season, the requirement for a player’s e-mail address and a photograph was added, which helped reduce the incidents of alleged ineligible players.  Use of The FA Full-Time web site for fixtures, Match Officials’ appointments, results, tables, etc continued last season.  Clubs can use Full-Time for player statistics, match reports, etc.  We’re currently looking to get all the League Forms uploaded so that, Clubs can submit Result Sheets and Referee Reports on-line.  This should enable Clubs to do away with paper forms altogether except for Team Sheets.


    Mark Smedley has continued to develop the www.wiltshireseniorleague.co.uk web site and results, tables, etc have been added to the History Section, which is now extremely comprehensive.  if you have any information, photographs, old programmes, etc I know that Mark would be keen to see them.  Marks match reports are well received and his number of tweets on Twitter and Facebook followers continues to increase.


    You will see from the Election of Officers sheet, that we have a couple of vacancies on our Management Committee.  We will accept nominations at the Annual General Meeting but, if such a post is of interest to you or you have any queries as to what it would entail, please do not hesitate to contact me.  During the season, Kevin Cook of Wroughton FC and Phil Avenell of Calne Town FC U.18’s volunteered to become Club Representatives for the Premier and U.18’s Floodlight Divisions respectively.  I thank them for their time in attending Management Committee meetings so far and hope they will continue next season.  Ideally, I’d like to see a Club Representative for the Veterans’ Division attending our meetings too.  If you’re interested, please contact me.


    During the close season we again had to update our League Development Plan for submission to The FA and a further updated Plan and Report will need to be submitted again this year.  Last season’s Plan was completed, presented to The FA and duly approved.  This season’s initiative requested a grant for substitutes’ bibs for every team.  These have been received and will be distributed to Clubs prior to the season commencing as it will be mandatory for substitutes to wear them.  We also received a grant for additional water bottles, which are for the Veterans teams and for new Clubs.


    You will see that very few Rule Revisions are proposed.  The main one being to make it mandatory for substitutes to wear bibs provided by the League.  Another Rule Revision is to do make it mandatory for Team Managers / Assistant Team Managers to have DBS checks and FA Safeguarding qualifications.  The final Rule change is to bring us in line with the County FA Senior Cup whereby, if a Cup tie is postponed twice by the home Club, it reverts to the ground of the Club drawn away.  This will hopefully prevent Cup ties dragging on for several weeks


    Finally, I thank our Chairman, John Gingell and my fellow League Officers and Management Committee for all their help and assistance over the past season. 


    Best wishes to all Clubs for a good summer break and a successful season in 2020 – 2021, whenever that may be!


    Jim Thorn

    Hon General Secretary


  • Hon. Treasurers Report - 2019-20

    As one might expect at the time of writing the Accounts are yet to be audited.  Accounts will be audited as soon as circumstances allow.


    This is my eighth Annual Report.


    For 2019/20 the League made a loss of just under £2,500 as opposed to a loss last year of just under £500.  It is disappointing that this is the case, however this is mainly due to the cost of supplies; bibs and water bottles that have been paid in the financial year.


    The account balances remain strong and I am aware that many leagues similar to ours do not carry such healthy balances.


    As usual, the majority of the League’s income is mainly due to FA Grants (£5,150).  However subscriptions, registrations and transfers accounted for an additional £4,015.


    Fines accounted for £2,391 this year. This is an increase of £1,200 on the previous year as, with the assistance of the Wiltshire FA’s Debt Recovery System, the League recouped over £700 in fines from a defaulting club and the registered players thereof.  Whilst the Management Committee would prefer not to use such systems it is evidence that the Management Committee will do all it can to protect your interests and pursue those who owe the League money.  On a personal level I would like to see fines reduced.  I believe that clubs could assist themselves greatly by simply consulting the handbook!   


    Expenditure increased by approximately £3,000, due, as mentioned to the purchase of club supplies.  We also have the added expenditure of pitch hire in respect of the Veterans Division.  Otherwise costs have generally increased as one would expect.  However, the Management Committee have endeavoured to reduce costs where possible.    


    The League is in an extremely healthy position with total assets of £37,368.


    With the best endeavours of trying to avoid the “C” word I expect 2020/21 to be a difficult year for the League’s finances not least because of the initiatives the Management Committee are exploring to assist clubs.  It is also not yet known how the League might be affected by the financial support it receives ie: FA Grants etc.  It would not surprise me to see a loss for 2020/21 in excess of £5,000 depending upon what income can be generated.


    Looking forward, the League has now made a loss several years in a row and it may be necessary to investigate ways of reversing this trend for the financial year commencing 2021/22.   


    On a final point, can I please encourage clubs to approach the League if they are experiencing financial difficulty?  No one wishes to see a club “fold” due to financial issues, but the first the League normally hears about it is as after the event!  It is your League and your money and there may be things he League can do to assist clubs through difficult times. 


    I would like to thank the Management Committee for their assistance especially the Registration Secretary and Disciplinary Secretary who assist on the financial side of things and the sponsors for their continued financial support.



    Robert Cook

    Hon Treasurer

  • Hon Registration Secretary’s Report - 2019-20

    I would like to start with passing on my condolences to the families that have lost family members or friends to this virus. Ours thoughts are with you.


    Well, we are not going to forget this season in a hurry.  At the time of writing this we are all still waiting to hear when we can come out of isolation and start enjoying the game again.


    This season has again seen improvements with the WGS for registrations.  The transfer system is still not where it needs to be, but it was a lot better this season.  This season I have only been receiving registrations through the WGS with photo ID and e-mail addresses, which has been highly successful.  


    In the case of the U.18’s the Club Secretary or Team Manager must check proof of date of birth (driving license, birth certificate or passport), then check the box that ID has been seen before submitting it to me.  Photo ID will also apply to the Under 18’s Floodlight Division too.


    This season we started the Veterans Division, which had quite a few problems at the beginning of the season; mainly due to clubs not submitting the match paperwork but this has improved during the season.


    We will be continuing the system of sending statements out at the end of September, December, and March for Registration and Transfer fees.


    Although registrations and transfers finished a couple of weeks early, a total of 1,333 players were registered last season: 845 in the Premier Division (down 133), 297 in the U.18’s Division (up by 137) and 191 in the Veterans’ Division.  A total of 39 transfers were approved.


    I would like to thank the Club Secretaries and Team Managers for their help and support this season.  Most teams now submit the Result Sheets and Referee Reports via email as a scanned attachment or enter the information into Full-Time themselves.  Next season we hope to have all match paperwork done through Full-Time, which should make things a lot easier for clubs and of course myself.

     

    I would normally now say the season has ended its time to relax and recharge the batteries ready for the start of next season, but this season I have had far too much time relaxing and just want football to start up again.


    Brian Busson

    Hon Registration Secretary


  • Hon Referees’ Appointments Secretary’s Report - 2019-20

    It is unfortunate that this season has had to end in such difficult circumstances.  The weather had been good to us most of the season, but we also had a challenging period of wet weather in the New Year, which saw a number of games cancelled over a period of several weeks.  Running three Divisions is challenging, with the evening games which include both the Veterans and U.18 Floodlight Divisions.  Match Officials are hard to find sometimes, but overall, most games had the required amount of Officials.  Saturdays are difficult to cover with Officials at times because of various other cup competitions being played.  Unfortunately, the leagues higher up the pyramid take Officials from me, leaving me short on numbers.  I think, compared to other leagues, we do well with Officials covering games.  Hopefully, the Officials who have applied for promotion from Level 5 to Level 4 will receive good news from the FA in their quest to officiate at a higher level.  We wish them well.  Not forgetting the other promotion candidates who have applied for promotion, who also serve on this league. 


    Although we all now have an extended break from football, I wish all of you a happy summer and please keep safe during this difficult time and I look forward to the 20/21 Football season.  



    Adie Cripps

    Hon Referees’ Appointments Secretary


  • Discipline Report - 2019-20

    The number of cases dealt with by the Discipline Sub-Committee reduced again last season, though mainly due to the early end.  The increased use of technology, eg: texting of scores, e-mailing of Result Sheets and Registration Forms, being able to make on-line payments, etc has hopefully reduced the workload for Club Secretaries.  We’re currently working with The FA so as Clubs can complete Result Sheets and Referee Reports within Full-Time and hope this will be up and running when the season starts.  This will mean that the only paperwork will be Team Sheets.


    The most common offence involves Clubs who fail to notify the League (Fixtures Secretary and Referees’ Appointments Secretary) that a game is postponed.  We’re sure you phone / text your players if a game is off, so please avoid fines by making those two extra calls to the League.  If we get sufficient notice, Phil Cook may be able to rearrange a game for your opponents or Adie Cripps may be able to send the Match Official(s) to a fixture that is short.  Some Clubs also fail to notify Match Officials about postponements, which resulted in them turning up, us having to chase you for payment, then you having to pay them again when the match is rearranged.  When you tell your players and the opposition that a game is off, please remember the third team and save your hard earned money.


    The number of offences involving ineligible players reduced yet again.  It is very easy for Clubs to check a player’s eligibility.  Access to the County FA web site is available to all Clubs whereat you can see lists of players under suspension.  This also applies when you register a new player.  It isn’t the League’s responsibility to inform Clubs if a player is suspended, so please check the County FA web site at least weekly.


    A few Clubs still incur additional charges for late payment of fees / fines.  All fines have been sent out by e-mail, which has reduced League expenditure on postage.  All fees / fines can be paid by Bank Transfer.  Again, some Clubs already use this method and it does save you the cost of postage and the risk of things going astray in the post.

  • Hon. Media Officer Report - 2019-20

    As Media Officer I am responsible for the league’s website and the social media feed.  I would like to start by thanking all the other officers for their support and encouragement over the season, in particular Jim for his wise advice and guidance.


    With regard to the website, most of you will be familiar with the weekly roundups on the website but do not forget there is also a lot of other useful content to be found on the website. For example, all of the league rules can be easily accessed from the site, FA Full Time league tables, results and fixtures are pulled into the website, referee contact details are contained under the “League Rules and Advice” tab, as our details of FA ground grading rules etc. The site is mobile friendly so content can be viewed on your phone easily as well as on the laptop.


    The most extensive information on the website is in the History Section which I have continued to build up over the season. It now includes final league tables for all seasons, together with results and cup details of both the league cup competitions and the outside cup competitions run by the Wiltshire FA. The History Section continues to be work-in-progress, but I would recommend a nostalgia trip during the lockdown and summer months whilst you are waiting for the new season to start, whenever that may be. If any clubs have historic photos of championship winning sides from the past to include in the website these would be greatly appreciated. Just a reminder that the website can be found at www.wiltshireseniorleague.co.uk


    Regarding social media feeds, this season I have been able to Tweet a preview of every single game played in the Premier, U.18’s and Veterans’ Divisions, as well as the weekly fixtures.  The new innovation for this season was to produce a mini programme for The Premier and U18 Divisions that could be downloaded by a link on the Tweet from the website for a period.  I know a couple clubs, Cricklade Town and Radstock Town U.18’s printed these off for some of their games to hand out as  a match day programme.  As the season ended the number of followers of our Twitter feed passed through the 900 mark, up by over 300 for the season helped by the new teams in the U.18’s and Veterans Divisions. Our Facebook Group currently has 216 members, up by 70 from last season, and is also used as a source of disseminating information about updates and new information that appears on the website.


    Once again, we are indebted to the fantastic support of a number of regular photographers across the county who have provided pictures in support of the league over the season.  A big thank you to Martin Pearce, Estelle Bowden at Starsphinx Photography, Steve Green, Mike Wray and Corsham Town’s Jacob Price and John Cuthbertson for the use of their photos over this last season.  In addition, Season 2019-20 also saw League President Ken Clarke and Registration Secretary Brian Busson take their cameras to a number of games and send pictures that were included on the website.  All of the photographers provide us with photos free of charge for which we are immensely grateful.


    Last season I specifically thanked the various newspapers for their excellent coverage of the league and whose back catalogue of coverage dating back to the late 1970’s contained in the libraries in Swindon and Chippenham provides the source of the content included in our history pages.  It is disappointing to report this time that at the start of the calendar year the local newspapers made a policy decision to only cover football across the county at Step 6 and above.  This followed yet another round of redundancies and cost cutting as the papers struggled with reduced circulation.  My understanding for all the Wiltshire based publications is that there is now just two people covering all sports across the various titles (Swindon Town, local football, local rugby, Swindon speedway, ice-hockey and cricket) compared to a team of 5-6 that they used to have not that long ago.  With all the results now being instantaneously on FA Full-Time, Twitter etc, reports, roundups coming out on the day of games, they are taking the view that their coverage needs to be something different and focusing on manager interviews.  For two people they can only get round a limited number of managers.  Even at Step 5 in the Advertiser, it only seems to be one local football manager each week whose team is featured (either Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Fairford or Shrivenham), the other two clubs then get about a line.  Step 6 sides get virtually no coverage.  It is too early to predict what is going to happen with the football pyramid and the various leagues when the Covid-19 situation allows football to re-commence but it could be that travel distances will be restricted meaning that teams at Step 5 and Step 6 may have to come back within the gambit of county league football.  If that were to happen perhaps, we might see a re-emergence of the excellent coverage that these local newspapers used to provide on our league.


    On a more positive note Your Sport Swindon extended their already superb coverage of our games last season, partly as a result of Shrivenham joining our U18 Division.  Mike Wray from Shrivenham videos their U.18 games for Your Sport Swindon and he also covered some of our Premier League games, with matches at Purton quite often being featured.  I have now added a separate page on the website that contains links to all the games that they have covered for the league.  A big thank you to Steve Butt and his Your Sport Swindon team for this continued brilliant coverage.


    I would also like to personally thank all the clubs for their twitter feeds this season which provide invaluable information to allow the roundups to be completed.  With football being an emotional game, it can sometimes lead to a few post-match tweets that we have to ask to be taken down, which pleasingly all clubs do straight away, avoiding further issues.  With many on the committee being former players and managers we understand that emotions can be running high after a game and our policy is to asks inappropriate tweets to be taken down rather than raising charges against clubs straight away.  Clubs are warned that there are some referee support groups out there who pick up, what can seem to you to be a mild comment about a referee and make it into a major issue.  My advice is that all clubs should limit any views and comments about referees to their referee report and avoid saying anything about referees on Twitter.


    A big thank you also to all the managers and club Twitter feed owners for dealing with all the messages from me where I am chasing any missing information on a Saturday evening or late night for midweek games.  I know some league’s make it a rule that clubs have to provide goalscoring information within a set time to their leagues, but I much prefer to keep it informal as it is currently is without clubs having to worry about another rule and most weeks I have all the scorers in good time.


    Finally, whilst the official line is that Season 2019-20 is “null and void”, I will be including the results during the 2019-20 season and the league tables at the time of suspension in all three divisions in the History Section of the website.  This is the first time since 1939 that football season has not completed and is a unique situation.  The games did happen, and I strongly believe a record should be kept of this historic season, albeit one where there were no winners or runners-up, but games were certainly played up to a point in time.  I will also include the team record for Season 2019-20 in the summaries on each team’s directory entry with a note saying the season was not completed but the entry represents the team’s record at the time of the suspension.  Hopefully there will soon be an end in sight to this terrible virus within our midst and we can all get back to the great game that is football in a safe and secure environment.


    Mark Smedley

    Hon Media Officer

  • Fixtures / Results Report - 2019-20

    This season saw 136 fixtures postponed for various reasons, an increase of 38 on last season.  This is mainly due to the increase in the number of teams plus the extremely wet start to the year.  The Premier Division runs with a policy of deducting points from Clubs found guilty of postponing games without a satisfactory explanation and this has continued this past season.


    Season 2019-20 became the first football season since 1939-40 to be stopped early, not completed and the first incomplete season in the 44-year history of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League.  Back in 1939 the cause of the cessation had been the beginning of the Second World War.  This time round it was the awful Coronavirus that had spread across the globe having first emerged in China at the start of the calendar year. Initially, the season was suspended whilst the FA considered the options, eventually decreeing that all football at Steps 3 to 7 would be ended with immediate effect and the season deemed to be “null and void”. The league was not involved in the decision making in any way shape of form and, whilst our Feeder Leagues were able to consider other options to decide matters, such as points per game at the time of cessation, no such opportunity was afforded our league.  Whilst the decision to end the season is perfectly understandable, the “null and void” decision left a lot of clubs and leagues disappointed, although in reality there was no solution that would have kept everyone happy.  Given the uniqueness of the situation, rather than deeming the season “null and void” why could the season not just be deemed unfinished, with no honours awarded?  I suspect a lot of leagues will document the season in this way and I am sure historians in say, 30 or 40, years will fully understand.  Players who took part in those games, scored goals or saved penalties, picked up the odd booking or even went in a sin-bin for the first time, will all remember that the games did take place.


    At the time of cessation, the Premier Division was led by Corsham Town Res who, like four other sides had played 22 of their scheduled 28 league fixtures.  Corsham were two points ahead of Shrewton United but Shrewton had two games in hand.  Kintbury Rangers were one point further behind having also played 20 games.  Defending champions Wroughton were back in fourth place, but had been the league leaders for much of the season and had seven games in hand over Corsham Town Reserves at the point the season was ended.  Their defence of the title had started with a bizarre opening day postponement due to a waterlogged pitch in August, but they had then won their opening 12 league games played to head the table. They also did extremely well in the Wiltshire Senior Cup, wins over Stratton Juniors and Laverstock & Ford seeing them become the first side from the league to reach the semi-finals of this prestigious competition since Season 2003-04.  They eventually went out at the semi-final stage having taken Western League Division One leaders Calne Town to extra-time.  However, the knock-on impact of their cup run, coupled with the awful wet weather that was a key feature of the season, meant they got behind with their league fixtures and slipped out of the top three. It will forever remain an unknown as to whether they would have gone on and joined the exclusive group of six clubs who have previously defended the top division title on at least one occasion in the leagues 44-year history.  On the one hand they had yet to lose a league game at the time of cessation but, on the other hand, had drawn their last three league games and crashed out of the Fountain Trophies Cup.  They had also lost one of their top players to Highworth Town but had also made an astute signing to replace him.  All conjecture now and no-one will ever know how the Premier Division season would have played out.  In the overall scheme of things, in the end, football is secondary to ensuring that all involved in the league as players, managers, coaches, committee members remain safe and can get back involved with the league when it once again becomes possible to play the game that we all love.


    The Fountain Trophies Senior Cup had just about reached the semi-final stage when the season was brought to an abrupt halt.  There was one outstanding quarter final tie to be played between Cricklade Town and Trowbridge Town.  The three sides that had made it through to the semi-final were Corsham Town Res, Melksham Town Res and Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development.  The highlight of the cup competition that did take place was the First Round game at the Red House between Purton and Wroughton which ended 3-3 at the end of extra time and then required a penalty shoot out to settle matters.  In the end the then league leaders Wroughton prevailed but only just, winning the shootout 7-6.  The other leading sides in the division all won through to the last eight.  Melksham Town Res demolished Malmesbury Vics Dev 8-0, Kintbury Rangers were 3-0 home winners over Holt, Shrewton United were 4-2 home winners against Frome Collegians, whilst Corsham Town Res put five past Pewsey Vale without reply.  Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev were comfortable 5-0 winners over bottom side Ludgershall Sports whilst penalties were needed by Trowbridge Town to see off Stratton Juniors.  Cricklade Town made it through to the last eight without kicking a ball when Marlborough Town were unable to raise a side and their tie was awarded.  The three quarter final ties that were played saw Melksham Town Res inflict the first defeat of the season on Wroughton, the young Melksham side winning 4-2 at the InfiLED Stadium to knock out one last season’s finalists.  Kintbury Rangers, last season’s winners, also crashed out at this stage, losing 4-0 away to Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev on the 3G pitch at the Gerard Buxton Ground.  The other quarter-final saw two of the sides from the top of the table battle it out with Corsham Town Res making it through to the last four courtesy of a 3-1 win over Shrewton United.  In the end neither of the semi final ties were played which was no doubt a major disappointment for the sides still left in the competition.


    The U.18 Division was shaping up to be the most exciting since the competition transitioned to the league from the Wiltshire FA.  In the most competitive season for many a year, five teams remained in contention for honours when the season was brought to an abrupt holt. Last season’s runners-up FC Chippenham, with just one defeat in their opening ten fixtures, were clearly in pole position for the title, but still had three of the other top sides, Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Chippenham Town and Radstock Town to play.  At the time of cessation Shrivenham sat in second place having, along with Melksham Town, played the most games in the division.  Royal Wootton Bassett Town were four points behind in third spot with two games in hand, whilst Chippenham Town were five points further back, but all their remaining nine games were scheduled to be at home.  The other side in the mix Radstock Town were the form team in the division at the point of cessation with five straight wins including inflicting the only defeat of the season on FC Chippenham. Unfortunately, we will never know how it would have finally concluded. With hindsight it is a shame that the division suffered so many postponements due to the wet weather and other reasons, as the season would otherwise have probably been finished by the time the Coronavirus materialised.


    A new venture for the 2019-20 Season was the Veterans’ Division, which the league took over running from the Wiltshire FA.  The competition initially stalled with a lack of venues and impetus from sides to register players.  Sides pulling out of the South Division also then led to a decision to combine the two divisions at a time when the North Division had already played a number of games, whilst the South division had yet to see a game played.  Unfortunately, by the time games started to be played the horrendous wet weather kicked in meaning that multiple games were postponed at clubs where the intention had been to use grass pitches.  At the time of cessation there was a big difference in the number of games played by the respective sides with AFC Swindon, for example, having played ten games whilst Royal Wootton Bassett Town Blues had played just three games.  Marlborough Town who had won all seven of their games were looking odds on favourites to win the inaugural title, having also been the champions in the last Wilts FA Flexi-League season.  The Defence Academy Shrivenham were in second spot five points behind Marlborough having played one game more.  With artificial pitches already reserved at the new Wiltshire FA headquarters in Devizes and  New College Swindon for whenever football is finally allowed to restart hopefully the problems that have dogged Season 2019-20 will be avoided when the next Veteran’s Division starts.

  • Hon Welfare Officer’s Report - 2019-20

    No welfare issues in relation to U.18’s have been reported to the League this year and therefore I have nothing to report.  Long may this continue!


    Robert Cook

    Hon Welfare Officer

Your Sport Swindon
Team Manager Interviews

An interview with Cricklade Town manager Craig Kent ahead of the season by Your Sport Swindon's Mike Wray, the link to the interview has been added to our Your Sport Swindon page on our website (link to page is on the main menu). The Your Sport Swindon page also contains all the links to the excellent coverage Your Sport Swindon have provided of games in the league in recent seasons.


The link to Craig's interview is also included above. Watch out for interviews in the coming weeks with members of the management teams at Wroughton , Marlborough Town and Purton , with an interview with the new Stratton Juniors manager to follow once an appointment has been made.

Grassroots Football Award
League of the Year

The Wiltshire FA announced their annual FA & McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards this morning and there was fantastic news for the league itself, one of the clubs within the league and also one of the young referees who officiate on the league.


The Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League itself is proud to have won the League of the Year Award for the first time. League Secretary Jim Thorn commented following the announcement of the award by the Wiltshire FA,


“It is a deserved reward for all of the League Officers and Management Committee, who put so much time and effort into running a league how I believe clubs want it to be run. Last season, we started a Veterans Division, which provided additional work for the Fixtures, Registrations, Referees and Media Secretaries.  In the initial stages, it may have been easier to dispense with the idea, but they stuck at it and our reward is a doubling of numbers in the Veterans section in our second season.  Thanks also go to Lyndon Taylor at the Wiltshire FA for his support in getting the Veterans Division up and running.”


There was also good news for one of the up and coming young referees officiating on the league, with Ella Broad winning the Match Official of the Year Award, the third year in a row that Ella has won the award. Last season Ella refereed games in the Under 18 Division and was a refreees assistant in the Premier Division but with Ella also gaining a promotion to Level 5 at the end of Season 2019-20, she is now eligible to referee games in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League.


There was also a “double” for Stratton Juniors in the awards as the club was awarded the Club of the Year award and Chairman Magnus Painter won the Volunteer of the Year Award. Both awards reflect not only the well-run football operations of the club but also the excellent work that Stratton did for their local community when the Coronavirus struck, raising over £3,000 £3,000 to fund the supply of free meals to elderly and vulnerable residents of Stratton and surrounding areas of Swindon.


Well done to Ella, Magnus and Stratton Juniors on their respective awards and well done to all involved in the league, in whatever capacity, who have all contributed to the league winning the League of the Year award.

Season Start Dates and Constitution Updates

Following the announcement last weekend about the re-start of Grassroots football, the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League  are now aiming for a start date of 5th September for the Premer Division.  Having lost a number of Saturdays and the normal midweek dates at the start of the season, the league is proposing to schedule a number of fixtures in midweek at those clubs with floodlights in order to compensate for the lost dates and give the league a better chance of completing the season by the proposed end date. The proposal is also to concentrate on league fixtures and if fixtures progress well and, if we have a reasonably mild winter, we will look to play the Fountain Trophies Senior KO Cup in March / April.  The early season fixtures will be issued in due course.


The Under 18 Division will start week commencing 14th September .


It is disappointing to report that since the AGM the league has lost a couple of teams ahead of the 20-21 Season, one from the Premier Division and one from the Under 18 Division.


Leaving the Premier Division after three successful seasons are Kintbury Rangers (pictured below). Kintbury notified the league last weekend that the decision had been made directly as a result of losing almost all of their first team players to other clubs, with most joining a newly formed team near to Kintbury and therefore the clubs' management believed they could not produce a team that could compete at the level required in the Wiltshire Senior League. We hope Kintbury can re-group in lower level leagues and that one day they will return to the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. The Premier Division will now run with 16 teams.

The Under 18 Division has also lost a team with South Wiltshire side Downton withdrawing ahead of the new season. Again we hope to see Downton back in the Under 18 Division in future seasons. The Under 18 Division will now run with 9 teams. A start date for the Veteran's Divisions, along with the final constitution, will be notified in due course.

Your Sport Swindon
Wroughton Chairman Interview

The latest in the series of excellent pre-season interviews by Your Sport Swindon's Mike Wray, features Wroughton Chairman Kevin Cook. A link to the Your Sport Swindon website and this interview has been added to the Your Sport Swindon page on our own website (link to the YSS page is on the main menu), where you can also find links to the earlier interviews with the managers of Cricklade Town and Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development .


The Your Sport Swindon page also contains all the links to the excellent coverage Your Sport Swindon have provided of games in the league in recent seasons.


The access Kevin's interview click on the Your Sport Swindon logo above. Watch out for more Premier Division interviews in the coming weeks with members of the management teams at Marlborough Town, Purton and Stratton Juniors.

Important FA Letter re Spectators

Impacting Pre-Season Games

The FA have written to all clubs in the National League System and all clubs in Regional NLS Feeder Leagues (previously known as Step 7), of which our league is one, advising that at the present moment in time, all games, including pre-season friendlies, should be played behind closed doors .


A copy of the letter which has been sent to all our Premier Division clubs is shown below:

Your Sport Swindon
Purton Managers Interview

The latest in the series of excellent pre-season interviews by Your Sport Swindon's Mike Wray, features Purton joint managers Wayne Petrie and Dave Terry. A link to the Your Sport Swindon website and this interview has been added to the Your Sport Swindon page on our own website (link to the YSS page is on the main menu), where you can also find links to the earlier interviews with the managers of Cricklade Town and the Wroughton Chairman Kevin Cook. Click on the Your Sport Swindon logo to access  Wayne and Dave's interview.

Your Sport Swindon
Marlborough Town Manager Interview

The latest in the series of excellent pre-season interviews by Your Sport Swindon's Mike Wray, features Marlborough Town managers Andy Ealey. A link to the Your Sport Swindon website and this interview has been added to the Your Sport Swindon page on our own website (link to the YSS page is on the main menu), where you can also find links to the earlier interviews with the managers of Cricklade Town, Purton and the Wroughton Chairman Kevin Cook. The Your Sport Swindon page also contains all the links to the excellent coverage Your Sport Swindon have provided of games in the league in recent seasons. To access Andy's interview click on the Your Sport Swindon logo above.

Pre-Season  Results

Saturday 1 August 2020


Saturday saw the first pre-season friendlies take place involving sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, with many of the games taking place behind closed doors, as football made a careful re-start in accordance with FA and Government guidelines.


Corsham Town and Trowbridge Town played a couple of games between the club’s sides and it was Corsham Town who had the better of things winning both games comfortably, but at this stage of the season results are not important as players build up fitness. 


There was an in-house friendly on the AGP at Royal Wootton Bassett Town ’s Gerard Buxton Ground and the game went to form with the Hellenic League Premier Division first team coming out on top in a useful work-out from both a playing front and Covid-19 organisational perspective.


A young Odd Down Reserves side came out on top in their game with Somerset County League side Chew Magna in a game that was close until the final stages when Odd Down hit five unanswered goals to win 8-3.


Stratton Juniors had a good first work out away at Hellenic League Division Two side Letcombe, edging it by the odd goal in three, Ryan Major and Lewis Taylor with their goals.


Shrewton United also got their pre-season programme off to a winning start with a 3-2 win away at Alderbury, who play in the Southampton Saturday Football League.


Marlborough Town met Swindon & District League Premier Division side Redhouse, who are expected to be challenging for honours this season in one of our feeder leagues, and it was the Swindon side who came out on top, winning 4-1 in a useful run out for both sides. 


Results - Saturday 1 August 2020
Alderbury 2 Shrewton United 3
Corsham Town 7 Trowbridge Town 0
Letcombe 1 Stratton Juniors 2
Odd Down Res 8 Chew Magna 3
Redhouse 4 Marlborough Town 1
RWB Town Dev 0 RWB Town 5
Trowbridge Town 1 Corsham Town 8

Monday 3 August 2020


Pewsey Vale got their pre-season off to a winning start with a 4-0 victory over a Redhouse side who had defeated Marlborough Town on Saturday. Two goals for Harry Hoareau plus one each for James Guthrie and Dan Reynolds secured the win for Pewsey who are expected to be amongst the leading sides this season.


Results - Monday 3 August 2020

Pewsey Vale 4 Redhouse 0 


Tuesday 4 August 2020


Cricklade Town started their extensive pre-season programme with a short trip to Cirencester on Tuesday evening when they took on Step 6 side Cirencester Town Development from the Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One West. They found themselves 3-1 down at the interval, Max Scholefield with the Cricklade goal, and that is how the game ended with a much improved second half performance from the Cricklade side against higher league opposition.


Marlborough Town played Swindon & District League opposition for the second time in a week and it was a much better outcome this time as they ran out 5-1 winners against Swindon AFC. On target for Marlborough were last season's top scorer Jake Farrell, Aaron Presley, new signing Chris Avery and Jordan Ball with two.


Results - Tuesday 4 August 2020

Cirencester Town Dev 3 Cricklade Town 1

Swindon AFC 1 Marlborough Town 5

Wednesday 5 August 2020


The first friendly for a Vets side saw Redhouse Vets visit Swindon & District side Ramsbury. Ramsbury were 4-1 winners but it was a good showing from Redhouse in their first ever Vets game.


Results - Wednesday 5 August 2020

Ramsbury 4 Redhouse Vets 1

Thursday 6 August 2020



Goals from Sam Jenner, Jordan Tarrant and Joe Tranter gave Malmesbury Vics Dev a 3-2 win in their opening pre-season friendly at the Flying Monk against Swindon & District League Premier Division side Blunsdon United.


Shrivenham Under 18's also played their first pre-season game winning 1-0 away at Faringdon Town A with a goal from Tyger Hall.


Results - Thursday 6 August 2020

Malmesbury Vics Dev 3 Blunsdon Utd 2

Faringdon Town A 0 Shrivenham U18's 1

Saturday 8 August 2020


On a sweltering hot afternoon, a number of Premier Division sides continued their pre-season preparation. Pewsey Vale made it two wins from two games with a 2-1 win over Gloucestershire Northern Senior League side Andoversford. On target for Pewsey were last season’s top scorer Connor Marsden and Ollie England.


Shrewton United played higher league opposition when they travelled to play Sydenhams Wessex League side Bemerton Heath Harlequins and went down to a 5-1 defeat, Luke Greenway with their consolation goal.


Another side playing higher level opposition were Trowbridge Town who made the short journey to play Step 4 side Bradford Town, a solitary goal from George Box giving the Toolstation Western League side the win but credit to Trowbridge who bounced back from last week’s heavy defeats to give Bradford a close game.


Frome Collegians opened their pre-season campaign with a home game against Somerset County League side Uphill Castle. It was the visitors who edged it by the odd goal in three, Max Pollock with the goal for the Collegians.


Marlborough Town were playing their third pre-season game when they travelled to North Berks League side Lambourn Sports. Goals from Josh Gregory, Jordan Ball, and Kieran Maidment made it two wins on the bounce for Marlborough.


Cricklade Town fell to lower league opposition when they went down to a second half penalty against Hellenic League Division 2 side Letcombe who Stratton Juniors had defeated the previous week.


Ludgershall Sports entertained Wroughton Reserves from the Swindon & District League and it was the young Wroughton side who ran out 4-0 winners.


Corsham Town Reserves lost narrowly away at Melksham Town A, 2-1 the final score in this one, Connor McKay scoring for Corsham after his penalty was initially saved.


Results - Saturday 8 August 2020

Bemerton Heath Harl 5 Shrewton Utd 1
Bradford Town  1 Trowbridge Town 0
Frome Collegians  1 Uphill Castle 2
Lambourn Sports 1 Marlborough Town 3
Letcombe 1 Cricklade Town 0
Ludgershall Sports 0 Wroughton Res 4
Melksham Town A 2 Corsham Town Res 1
Pewsey Vale 2 Andoversford 1

Tuesday 11 August 2020


Three Premier Division sides were in action on another hot evening as they looked to build up match fitness ahead of the new season. Pewsey Vale visited former Premier Division champions Kintbury Rangers, who are now playing in one of the Hellenic League Division 2's, and came from behind to draw 1-1, Gareth Robb with the Pewsey goal.


Cricklade Town were also up against Hellenic League Division 2 opponents when they visited Faringdon Town and took the opportunity to give game time to all of their squad. A failure to take their chances and the impact of multiple changes saw them eventually go down 4-2, but it was a useful work out in the difficult conditions. The Cricklade goals were scored by Alex Baker and Reece Gilliver.


Frome Collegians were the other Premier Division side in action and a brace from Jake Wright and one each for Sam Wright and Lewis Perrett secured a 4-0 win for Frome over Mid-Somerset League Premier Division side Coleford Athletic.


Results - Tuesday 11 August 2020

Faringdon Town 4 Cricklade Town 2
Frome Collegians 4 Coleford Ath 0
Kintbury Rangers 1 Pewsey Vale 1

Wednesday 12 August 2020


Four Premier Division sides were in action on Wednesday night in the latest round of pre-season friendlies. The new management team at Purton took on their former side Shrivenham Development in their first pre-season game and it was the young Development side, who play in the Hellenic League Division 2, who had the better of things as they ran out 4-2 winners. On target for Purton were Lewis Petrie and Danny Hale. Highlights of game can be seen on Your Sport Swindon.


Shrewton United met Hampshire Premier League Division 1 side Clarendon in their third pre-season game of the season. In a high-scoring match the hosts Clarendon edged it by the odd goal in nine. Craig Lewis, Shrewton’s nominated sponsored scorer in the Epilepsy Research UK Goal Challenge, scored twice and there were further Shrewton goals from Ben Parfitt and Tyler Pavey.


There was a local derby between two old friends and rivals when Malmesbury Vics Development hosted Minety, who this season will be playing in the Stroud League. It was the visitors Minety who had the better of things, going 3-0 up before James Archer pulled one back for hosts Malmesbury.


Ludgershall Sports entertained Netheravon and trailed 2-1 at the break. A much improved second half saw them overcome their visitors to win 5-3.


There was also Under 18 action last night between two of the league’s Under 18 sides when Colby Cain’s Melksham Town visited Royal Wootton Bassett Town .  Billy Hawkins gave Melksham a 1-0 half time lead but two second half goals from Isaac Wain and one from Lyndon Banfield completed a 4-0 win for visitors Melksham.


Results - Wednesday 12 August 2020

Clarendon 5 Shrewton Utd 4

Ludgershall Sports 5 Netheravon 3

Malmesbury Vics Dev 1 Minety 3
Purton 2 Shrivenham Dev 4


U18 - RWB Town 0 Melksham Town 4


Highlights of the game between Purton and Shrivenham Development can be seen on the Your Sport Swindon website using the link below.

Thursday 13 August 2020


Just the one game to mention as a very busy Marlborough Town played their fourth pre-season game. After two successive wins Marlborough were involved in a close contest with Cricklade Town Reserves who will be playing in Hellenic League Division 2 this season.  It was Cricklade who eventually edged it 2-1, Jamie Conway with the Marlborough goal. Highlights of the game can be seen on the Your Sport Swindon website.


Results - Thursday 13 August 2020

Marlborough Town 1 Cricklade Town Res 2

Saturday 15 August 2020


Eleven Premier Division sides were in action in pre-season friendlies. Wroughton got their pre-season campaign off to a winning start in a high-scoring game against Wantage Town Development from Hellenic League Division 2, hitting seven goals with the visitors scoring three in reply. Wroughton's scorers were Devan Bryan (2), Matt Bennett, Tyler Wilkinson, Aaron Maximen, Jamie McLaughlin and Shane Hibbert.


Shrewton United picked up their second win of their pre-season programme with a 4-0 win over Trowbridge & District League side Melksham Town A. Two goals for James Dolman plus one apiece for Lee Weeks and Charlie Jackson.


Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development met last season’s leading side from the Toolstation Western League Division One, Calne Town, at the Gerard Buxton Ground with the game played on their AGP. It was goalless at half time but three unanswered second half goals gave Calne Town a 3-0 win. Highlights of the game can be seen on the Your Sport Swindon website.


Marlborough Town ’s busy pre-season schedule continued with their fifth warm-up game and it was a return to winning ways with a comfortable 4-1 win over Bibury from the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 2. Jamie Conway continued his goal scoring form with a hat-trick, Kieran Maidment with the other Marlborough goal.


Cricklade Town travelled to Laverstock & Ford for a repeat of last season’s pre-season game which had seen Kris Redford suffer a broken leg. Cricklade Town and Kris took the opportunity to thank Laverstock & Ford physio Rachel Adkin for the help she gave Kris at last season’s game. It ended up being something of a one-sided affair as a strong Laverstock & Ford side hit seven unanswered goals as it finished 7-0 to the Sydenhams Wessex League side.


Odd Down Reserves , after winning 8-3 in their opening pre-season game, were involved in another high-scoring warm-up match, this time sharing six goals with Burnham United from the Somerset County League Division One.


Another side to draw their latest pre-season game were Ludgershall Sports who drew 1-1 with Salisbury FC Development.


After defeating Purton in midweek, Shrivenham Development from Hellenic League Division 2 picked up a second win over a Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side, with a 3-2 away victory at Stratton Juniors . Stratton took the lead but Shrivenham equalised and then went in front from the penalty spot. Stratton levelled the scores with a penalty of their own but a fine volley from Tyger Hall gave Shrivenham the win. Highlights of the game can be seen on the Your Sport Swindon website using the link below today’s results.


Frome Collegians lost 4-0 away against Somerset County League Division One side Wells City Reserves.


Melksham Town Reserves opened their pre-season campaign with a game against higher league opposition when they travelled to take on Step 5 opposition in Odd Down, Odd Down winning 4-1.


Trowbridge Town also took on higher league opposition with Step 6 side Devizes Town the visitors to Woodmarsh.  In a close game, Devizes edged it 2-1, Kieran Hard with the Trowbridge goal.

Results - Saturday 15 August 2020

Bibury 1 Marlborough Town 4
Burnham Utd 3 Odd Down Res 3
Laverstock & Ford 7 Cricklade Town 0
Ludgershall Sports 1 Salisbury FC Dev 1
Melksham Town A 0 Shrewton Utd 4
Odd Down 4 Melksham Town Res 1
RWB Town Dev 0 Calne Town 3
Stratton Juniors 2 Shrivenham Dev 3
Trowbridge Town 1 Devizes Town 2
Wells City Res 4 Frome Collegians 0
Wroughton 7 Wantage Town Dev 3


Tuesday 18 August 2020


Corsham Town Reserves fell to a late winner in their friendly against Hellenic League Division Two side Highworth Town Reserves, 3-2 the final score. The game between Stratton Juniors and Priory Vale was abandoned due to an injury suffered by the Priory Vale keeper who hopefully will make a speedy recovery from his injuries.


Results - Tuesday 18 August 2020

Corsham Town Res 2 Highworth T Res 3
Stratton Juniors v Priory Vale - Aban. due to injury

Wednesday 19 August 2020


Purton got their first win in pre-season in a close game against Cricklade Town Reserves from the Hellenic League Division Two. Goals from Eddie Herbert, Jack Duckers and Danny Hale did the damage in their 3-2 win.


It was the same score line at Ludgershall Sports but on this occasion it was the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side who were on the wrong end of the 3-2 result against Hampshire Premier Football League Division 1 side Andover New Street Swifts. Ludgershall certainly looked to have strengthened over the summer and a much better season is expected this time round in 2020-21.


Results - Wednesday 19 August 2020

Ludgershall Spts 2 Andover N. St Swifts 3
Purton 3 Cricklade Town Res 2


Thursday 20 August 2020


Cricklade Town 's pre-season programme has seen them play a couple of Step 6 sides, the latest being Calne Town and it resulted in a comfortable 8-2 win for the Toolstation Western League side.


Chippenham Town Academy had a comfortable 5-0 win over touring side IDA Valencia.


Results - Thursday 20 August 2020

Calne Town 8 Cricklade Town 2
U18- Chippenham Town 5 IDA Valencia 0    

Friday 21 August 2020


Melksham Town Reserves picked up their first win in pre-season with a comfortable 7-0 away win at Warminster Town Reserves. Dan Sibley led the way with a hat-trick for the visitors, Joseph Moloney bagged a brace and there were further goals from Rory Collins and Mead.


Results - Friday 21 August 2020

Warminster Town Res 0 Melksham T Res 7


Saturday 22 August 2020


All but four of the Premier Division sides were in pre-season action a fortnight ahead of the opening league games.


Biggest winners on the day were Pewsey Vale who put eight goals past Trowbridge & District League side Hilperton United. The goals were shared around, Harvey Rutherford and Craig Simmons both bagged a brace, Liam Edmondson, Ryan Thomas, Ryan Banks and Connor Marsden were also on target.


2018-19 league champions Wroughton travelled to take on Step 6 Hellenic League side Malmesbury Victoria and were beaten 3-0, with Josh Hughes scoring a hat-trick for the Vics.


Stratton Juniors made the long journey to take on Andover Town to also take on Step 6 opposition and put up a good performance, doing down to solitary first half goal.


Shrewton United were also playing opponents from Andover, going down 4-1 away at Andover New Street Swifts, Craig Lewis with the Shrewton goal.


Cricklade Town , after some tough pre-season games against higher league opponents, picked up their first win in pre-season with a 5-1 win over Swindon & District League side Redhouse. Two goals for Jason Tatum will have pleased Chris Dunn-Veale and his Epilepsy Goal Scoring challenge, with the other Cricklade goals coming courtesy of Ryan Lovitt, Jonathan Peachey-Score and Rhys Armstrong. Highlights of the game are on Your Sport Swindon.


In a local derby between two sides from the league, it was Marlborough Town who had the better of things picking up a 5-0 away win at Ludgershall Sports. Two goals for Jamie Conway and one apiece for Chris Avery, Jordan Ball and Jake Farrell.


Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development were 3-0 home winners against Swindon Supermarine Development from the Hellenic League, two goals for Bailey Gallagher and one from Charlie McCuish. Highlights of the game are on Your Sport Swindon.


After their win the previous night, a busy Melksham Town Reserves were in action again with a trip to Dorset Senior League side Tisbury United, but were unable to repeat the previous night’s success going down 4-2.


Trowbridge Town lost 1-0 at home to Warminster United from the Trowbridge & District League.


Odd Down Reserves continue to look in good form in pre-season, their latest result was a 2-1 win over Staverton United from the Trowbridge & District League.


Finally, Frome Collegians picked up their second win in pre-season with a 2-0 home win over Castle Carey, Jake Wright and Theo Sing with the goals.


Results - Saturday 22 August 2020

Andover New Street Swifts 4 Shrewton United 1
Andover Town 1 Stratton Juniors 0
Frome Collegians 2 Castle Carey 0
Hilperton United 1 Pewsey Vale 8
Ludgershall Sports 0 Marlborough Town 5
Malmesbury Vics 3 Wroughton 0
Odd Down Res 2 Staverton  Utd 1
Redhouse 1 Cricklade Town 5
Royal W.Bassett Town Dev 3 Swindon Supermarine Dev 0
Tisbury United 4 Melksham Town Res 2
Trowbridge Town 0 Warminster United 1

Tuesday 25 August 2020


T wo goals from James Hounsell and one from Theo Sing gave Frome Collegians a 3-1 home win over Trowbridge & District League side Melksham Town A.  Trowbridge Town were also in action against T&DFL opposition with Kew PR the visitors to Woodmarsh, two goals for Adam Mitchell with Jake Sainsbury and Steve White also amongst the goals.


Results - Tuesday 25 August 2020

Frome Collegians 3 Melksham Town A 1

Trowbridge Town 5 Kew PR 1


Wednesday 26 August 2020


Malmesbury Vics Development took on last season's top team in the Trowbridge & District League in their latest pre-season friendly with it finishing honours even at 1-1. Aaron Sanghera with the Malmesbury goal.


Two Vets sides from the North Wilts Division met in a pre-season fixture with Redhouse securing a comfortable 6-1 win over Stratton Juniors with goals coming from Rendle (2), Hughes (2), Connors and Lee.


Results - Wednesday 26 August 2020

Malmesbury Vics Dev 1 Marshfield 1

Stratton Juniors Vets 1 Redhouse Vets 6

Thursday 27 August 2020


Pewsey Vale sent a strong message to the rest of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with an impressive 2-0 win over Sydenhams Wessex League side Laverstock & Ford. Two goals from Harvey Rutherford  gave Pewsey their fourth pre-season win in five games,  their other game being drawn in an unbeaten series of friendly games as part of their new season preparations.


Purton picked up a second win on the bounce with a 3-1 away success at Fairford Town Reserves, on target for Purton were Jack Duckers, Adam Bright and Josh Morse.


Melksham Town Reserves were also in action beating Trowbridge & District League side Staverton United in their latest pre-season game. Two goals for Josh Brigham and one apiece for Lee Fielding and Matthew Mead.


The other scheduled fixture at Trowbridge Town , where Calne Town were to be the visitors, was postponed due to the heavy rain during the afternoon.


Results - Thursday 27 August 2020

Melksham Town Res 4 Staverton United 1

Pewsey Vale 2 Laverstock & Ford 0
Purton 3 Fairford Town Res 1


Friday 28 August 2020


Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development had a comfortable win over their own Veterans side. Two goals from last season's leading scorer Charlie McCuish, with further goals from Dale Richards, Tyler Sheppard, George Drewitt and Ben Paul secured a 6-0 win. It could have been a lot more but for an impressive performance from Paul Boys-Stones in the Veteran sides goal.


Results - Friday 28 August 2020

Royal W. Bassett Dev 6 Royal W.B. Vets 0

Saturday 29 August 2020


There was a mixed set of results in the pre-season games involving sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League in the final Saturday before the commencement of the league season.


Season 2018-19 champions Wroughton took on higher league opposition in the shape of Uhlsport Hellenic League outfit Shrivenham. Wroughton pushed a side who play two steps above them in the National League System all the way eventually going down by the odd goal in five. Shrivenham went two up but a well struck free kick from Craig Bowden got Wroughton back into the game. Shrivenham restored their two-goal advantage with a shot from the edge of the box. Whilst Devan Bryan pulled another one back for Wroughton that was the end of the scoring. Highlights of the game were captured by Your Sport Swindon.


Marlborough Town have been the busiest side in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League and played their seventh pre-season game with a visit to Step 6 side Devizes Town. It was their higher-level opponents who had the better of things running out 4-0 winners.


Odd Down Reserves , like Pewsey Vale, have had a good pre-season to date. In a hastily arranged friendly after the intended fixture was called-off Odd Down defeated Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 2 side Abbeymead Rovers 3-1. Goals from Dan Taylor, Josh Riccio and a rare strike from assistant manager Terry Wade gave Odd Down the win.


Purton seem to have hit form at the right time, and they made it three wins on the bounce with an emphatic 10-1 win over Swindon & District Premier League side Nalgo Sports. Charity sponsored Lewis Petrie fired a hat-trick with the other 7 goals being shared around the team with one each for Josh Morse, Jack Duckers, Danny Hale, Liam Crabbe, Aaron Dainton, Joe English and Mitchell Petrie.


Frome Collegians went into their game at Somerset County League Division One side Somerton Town on the back of two encouraging wins. With the game evenly poised at half time, Frome had one of those second half performances to forget as they shipped six goals and only managed one in reply, Sam Wright with the Frome goal.


Malmesbury Vics Development were involved in an ill-disciplined game against Swindon & District League Premier Division side Ruby Removals. Trailing 3-0 to their visitors, Malmesbury staged a fight back, Joe Tranter and Josh Hughes both getting a brace to give Malmesbury a 4-3 win in the end.


Corsham Town Reserves took a trip across the border to take on Somerset County League Premier Division side Clevedon United and in a high-scoring game went down by the odd goal as the home side won 4-3. On target for Corsham were Emilio Mudrak, Jamie Cunning and Ryan Withers.


Melksham Town Reserves entertained Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One side Malmesbury Victoria and went in front against their higher level opponents but Malmesbury equalised on the half hour mark and then scored the winner early in the second half, 2-1 the final score.


Shrewton United have taken on some tough opposition in their pre-season games, the latest one being Hampshire Premier League side Colden Common. A 6-1 reverse for one of our leading sides shows there is still work to do ahead of the new season


Results - Saturday 29 August 2020

Clevedon Utd 4 Corsham Town Res 3

Colden Common 6 Shrewton United 1
Devizes Town 4 Marlborough Town 0
Malmesbury Vics Dev 4 Ruby Removals 3

Melksham Town Res 1 Malmesbury Vics 2

Odd Down Res 3 Abbeymead Rovers 1
Purton 10 NALGO Sports 1

Shrivenham 3 Wroughton 2

Somerton Town 6 Frome Collegians 1


Tuesday 1 September 2020


Marlborough Town rounded off their extensive pre-season campaign by lifting a trophy in winning the 2019-20 Cricklade Challenge Cup, an invitation cup competition held over from last season. Marlborough met Swindon & District League side the Globe in the final played at Hatherop. Marlborough had made it to the final with wins over Nalgo Sports, Cricklade Town Reserves and Openwork United. The game finished 2-2 after 90 minutes, with Marlborough's goals coming courtesy of Dale Johnstone and last season's leading scorer Jake Farrell. The match went to penalties with Marlborough winning the shootout 5-4 to take the cup and round-off what has been a good pre-season for Andrew Ealey's side.


Pewsey Vale had a comfortable 8-0 win over Trowbridge & District League side Melksham Town A to finish off their pre-season programme that has seen them unbeaten in their six games, winning five of them. James Guthrie and Craig Simmons both scored twice and there were further goals from Liam Edmondson, Harvey Rutherford, Ryan Thomas and Harry Hoareau.


Odd Down Reserves , like Pewsey Vale, have had a good pre-season. There final run out before their first league game at Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development on Saturday saw them secure a 1-0 away win at Fry's Club to complete an unbeaten five game schedule, four of which were won.


A young Malmesbury Vics Development side fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat in their final pre-season game against Swindon & District League Premier Division side Redhouse. On target for the Vics were James Archer and Jake Fortune.


Results - Tuesday 1 September 2020

Cricklade Challenge Cup Final

Marlborough Town 2 The Globe 2 (5-4 on pens)


Friendlies

Frys Club 0 Odd Down Res 1

Pewsey Vale 8 Melksham Town A 0
Redhouse 3 Malmesbury Vics Devs 2


Wednesday 2 September 2020


Purton fell to a 2-1 defeat in their latest pre-season game against Hellenic League Division 2 side Swindon Supermarine Development, Lewis Petrie with the Purton goal.


Shrewton United picked up a win in their final pre-season game against Trowbridge & District League side Three Daggers. Jake Watson and Luke Holen amongst the goals for Shrewton.


Shrivenham Under 18's picked up another good win in pre-season defeating Newent Town 3-0


Result - Wednesday 2 September 2020

Purton 1 Swindon Supermarine Dev 2

Shrewton Utd 3 Three Daggers 1


U18 - Newent Town 0 Shrivenham 3

Thursday 3 September 2020


Redhouse Vets had a convincing win over fellow North Division side AFC Swindon in their latest pre-season game. Dave Rendle led the way with a hat-trick and both James Aghabi and Chris Hughes bagged a brace in their 10-1 win.


Results - Thursday 3 September 2020

Redhouse Vets 10 AFC Swindon Vets 1


Saturday 5th September 2020

Opening day wins for Wroughton & Pewsey but heartbreak for Odd Down

Brad Evans heading in a first half equaliser for Odd Down at Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development

The 45th season of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League finally got under way on a sunny September afternoon, the latest the season has ever started due to Covid-19, but at least football is finally back.



Wroughton were unbeaten in the league last season but due to their extended run in the County Cup had been behind with their fixtures and had been back in fourth place when the season was brought to a premature end.  They were most peoples favourites to have gone on and defended the title they won in Season 2018-19 but Corsham Town Reserves and Shewton United had also been going well. Wroughton certainly carried on where they left off last season with a convincing opening day win over Ludgershall Sports . An quick goal four minutes in from the joint top scorer in the division last season, Shane Hibbert, set Wroughton on their way.  His new strike partner Devan Bryan then opened his account for his new club with Wroughton’s second and then made it 3-0 with his second of the game. Matty Bennett, who joined Wroughton at the back end of last season, then made it 4-0 before Bryan completed a first half hat-trick to make it 5-0 at the break. There was no let up after the interval, as Bennett notched his second of the game and Bryan then made it 7-0 with his fourth goal. Further goals from veteran Tom Dingle and Tyler Wilkinson made it 9-0 before Louis O’Shea got in on the act scoring a tenth after fine work from Dingle. A big win for Wroughton and for Ludgershall it is a case of dusting themselves down and going again on Tuesday night but the fixture scheduling has not been kind as next up it is Shrewton United, another of the sides expected to do well again this season.

Pewsey Vale have had an impressive pre-season campaign and brought that form into the new season. Last season they had lost twice to opponents Stratton Juniors but there was to be no third win on the bounce for Stratton as they fell to a 5-0 defeat. Two goals for James Guthrie and one apiece for Liam Edmondson, Ryan Thomas and Harry Hoareau did the damage for Pewsey who are expected by many to challenge for honours this season.


Cricklade Town made the journey to Trowbridge Town just a week short of the anniversary of their last visit to Woodmarsh. Last season a solitary goal from Max Scholefield had been the difference between the sides but on their return for the 2020-21 Season Scholefield had reverted to his old position in goal and was to play a big part again in securing the three points for his side. It was another tight affair between two sides who are both expected to do well this season. A goal from Adam Mitchell for Trowbridge was all that separated the sides at the break with both keepers pulling off some good saves to deny their opponents. Cricklade stepped it up second half and goals from two of the players who started at Purton last season, Will Backhouse and Joe Dorey, secured all three points. Cricklade manager Craig Kent commenting after the game said,


“It was a tough test, but I knew at half time we had goals in us second half and we thoroughly deserved the win in the end. It was a good game of football; I am happy with the result against a side who will win more than they lose this season.”

Malmesbury Victoria Development ’s trips to Melksham Town Reserves rarely have happy endings with the young Vics side having suffered defeat on their last six visits to Meksham, with their last four visits seeing them concede 30 goals in total. Joint manager Troy Prentice must have felt it was groundhog day as his side found themselves 1-0 down after just a minute to a George Bendle goal. However, Connor Laidlaw got them back into the game with an equaliser just after the half hour mark. Malmesbury worked hard throughout and were duly rewarding for their endeavours when Dan Scull put them in front with a lob over the keeper from outside the area. Malmesbury continued to apply the same work rate and finally put the game beyond their hosts when Aaron Sanghera scored in the 90th minute to make the final score 3-1 to Malmesbury. Joint manager Troy Prentice was delighted with the result given Malmesbury’s previous poor record at Melksham, he commented, 


 “We played really well. When we went one down after a minute I thought here we go again but we worked really hard, chiselled away and it was a really pleasing performance. To a man the whole team played their part and it was a great team performance.”

There was a high scoring contest at the Gerard Buxton Ground where Odd Down Reserves were playing their first game in the league against Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development . They fell behind on eight minutes when Sam Ockwell headed in powerfully from a corner. Odd Down got themselves back into the game on 21 minutes when Brad Evans got on the end of a free kick to head past Adam House in the Royal Wootton Bassett goal. In an even contest, with both sides playing some good football, it was the home side who went in front when Dale Richards stretched to get on the end of an Ockwell free kick to slide the ball past Seb McKie in the Odd Down goal. Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development just about deserved the lead at the break having had the best chances, with McKie pulling off a couple of good saves to deny them more goals. Second half it was a different story as the visitors came more into the game. Two goals in a minute through Jacob Bird and Brad Evans, the latter with his second of the game, put them in the ascendancy. However, they did not help themselves when their left back was sent off for a second yellow after kicking the ball away when a free kick was given against him. They then had a player sin-binned for dissent and went temporarily down to eight men when goal scorer Bird was sent off for what appeared to be something that was said to the referee. Despite the numerical advantage Royal Wootton Bassett could not make it count, on three or four occasions they were through only to be denied by some excellent saves from McKie.  With their number increased back up to nine and with the game deep into injury time it looked like it would be a winning start for Odd Down Reserves in the Wiltshire League. However, an equaliser from Dale Richards made it 3-3 and it looked like the points would be shared. Frustrated by the late equaliser Odd Down captain Dan Taylor then took an audacious shot straight from the kick-off and only an acrobatic save from Adam House denied Odd Down from regaining the lead. There was still time for more drama as the home side when, even deeper into added time, Bailey Gallagher got behind the Odd Down defence from a ball over the top, for once keeper McKie was slow to react and Gallagher bundled the ball over the line to give the home side all three points. Very tough on the young Odd Down side who had played so well in the second half. Commenting after the game, Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development manager Stephen Yeardley knew his side had got out of jail after falling behind,


“We were lucky today. Second half they were the better side, more organised, fitter and caused us all kinds of problems. In the end it was ill discipline that cost them. They will do well in this league and will take points off a lot of sides.”


Your Sport Swindon's excellent coverage of our league continues with highlights from the game being accessible on the Your Sport Swindon website.

Odd Down Reserves ahead of their first ever game in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League

The scheduled games between Corsham Town Reserves and Devizes Town Reserves and Marlborough Town and Frome Collegians were postponed due to concerns regarding Covid-19 in the Devizes camp with Marlborough having recently played Devizes in a friendly. However, some good news tonight in that Public Health England have now advised, after further information provided by Devizes Town, that Marlborough Town are now clear to resume playing their fixtures . All from the league wish the players at Devizes who have tested positive for the virus a speedy recovery and look forward to also seeing Devizes resuming their fixtures in a couple of weeks.

Premier Division Results

Saturday 5 September

Ludgershall Sports 0 Wroughton 10

Melksham T Res 1 Malmesbury Vics Dev 3

Royal W. Bassett T Dev 4 Odd Down Res 3

Stratton Juniors 0 Pewsey Vale 5

Trowbridge Town 1 Cricklade Town 2

Shrewton open with a win as Ludgershall 

make them work hard for the 3 points

Ludgershall Sports before tonight's game against Shrewton United

Shrewton United started their season on Tuesday night when they hosted a Ludgershall Sports side looking to bounce back from a heavy opening day defeat at Wroughton. Both sides created half chances early on and the deadlock was broken after just 10 minutes when Jake Watson fired in a powerful low shot from outside the box to beat Ludgershall keeper Jeff Bannister. Ludgershall then went close themselves when Stuart Evans took on a couple of Shrewton defenders but his shot at the end of his run went just past the far post. Whilst that one went wide of the post Ludgershall were back on level terms before the half hour mark, James Massiah set up Ryan Howard who beat Shrewton keeper Dave Cardus with a powerful shot from just inside the area to make it 1-1.


Shrewton went close to regaining the lead when Ben Jenks fired in a shot, but Bannister did well to save and steer the ball away from goal. However, Shrewton did restore their lead four minutes before the interval when Jake Watson headed in unchallenged from a corner for his second of the game and give Shrewton a 2-1 lead. Ludgershall almost struck back immediately, Nathan Strong did well down the right hand side getting behind the Shrewton defence but instead of squaring to an unmarked team mate on the edge of the six yard box for a simple tap in he fired in a shot at the near post which Cardus to saved with his feet and the chance to get back on level terms was lost. There was still time for another chance for the visitors a ball from the left fell to Kiefer Roper, but his shot sailed over the bar and it remained 2-1 to Shrewton at the break.


It remained a tight contest for the first ten minutes of the second half with the best chance falling to Jake Watson who went close to getting his hat-trick for Shrewton with another header which appeared to be goal bound until striking one of his team mates allowing Ludgershall to clear. Shrewton were not to be denied for long though as a couple of minutes later they went 3-1 in front with a solo goal from Ben Jenks who went on a run through the midfield from just inside his own half and then fired in a powerful shot from outside the box which gave Bannister no chance. Ludgershall continued to battle away but just could not open up the Shrewton defence which was well marshalled by Watson and Marcus Roper. The game was finally put beyond Ludgershall on 72 minutes, a mix up in the Ludgershall defence saw Tyren Harrington punish the Ludgershall defenders when they failed to clear the ball from the edge of their six-yard box, Harrington reacted quickly as the defenders hesitated firing in a powerful shot past Bannister in the Ludgershall goal. The ball could and should have been cleared and at 4-1 to the home side it was game over. That was not the end of the scoring though as ten minutes from time Harrington got his second of the game firing in a low shot into the far bottom right corner to make the final score 5-1 to Shrewton on the night and no doubt stand-in managers Geoff Jenks and Craig Lewis were very pleased with the nights effort from their side.



On a final note the three officials in charge of the game were excellent on a night when the new improved lights at Shrewton shone brightly for the home side, who once again look like they will be a force this season. 

Premier Division Results

Tuesday 8 September

Shrewton United 5 Ludgershall Sports 1

Odd Down pick up first win

of the Season

Odd Down Reserves picked up their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory away to Melksham Town Reserves. In a tight contest there was little between the two sides for 70 minutes with both keepers ensuring that the game remained goalless until 20 minutes from time. The decisive moment saw Odd Down centre forward Jacob Bird got on the end of a through ball and he placed the ball past the Melksham keeper to put his side in front. Melksham pushed for an equaliser without success and frustration crept into their game. Ten minutes from time Odd Down had forward Brad Evans sent off, their third player to see red in their first two games. However, the numerical advantage for Melksham did not last long as they had a player sin binned for dissent and then had a player go off injured having used all their substitutes, before then having a player sent off  themselves. More sin bin offences followed in the closing minutes which saw Melksham Town Reserves finish the game with just 7 players as Odd Down saw out the final moments to secure an impressive away win and their first points in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. For Melksham that is now two defeats in a row ahead of Saturday's trip to the Gerard Buxton Ground for a game that last season saw the two sides share six points. Odd Down will be home to Pewsey Vale.

Results

Thursday 10 September

Premier Division

Melksham Town Res 0  Odd Down Res 1

 

Saturday 12th September 2020

Wroughton win the big game of the day

Pewsey & KMLC move top
Pewsey go six points clear
League Suspended
All Non-Elite Football Suspended
4 January 2021