Western League - then and now

[Easterfield]

I was at Exmouth Town on Saturday. They’ve come back from dropping from the Western Premier to (briefly) the Devon & Exeter. It’s a taken a while but the Southern League is now looking  a possibility within the next few seasons. It’s a town of 35,000 so, the popularity of rugby in the town notwithstanding, that should be a reasonable expectation.

It got me thinking about the relative strength of the current team compared to the Exmouth teams that did so well in the Western League in the 1980s. In those days there wouldn’t have been too many SW clubs between Exmouth and the Football League. Now there’s a good two dozen.

Apologies if this has been covered before but same, of course, for Falmouth Town in the 1970s. Here are the tables for 1974/75 thanks to Richard Rundle’s marvellous Football Club History Database. I shall leave it to others to put those Falmouth teams into context. I’ll just use it to illustrate how things have changed. Put those Western League clubs on a map; then count the Southern League clubs in the same area (liberally including Poole and Salisbury). 

No Alliance Premier League/Conference/National League until 1979/80. The Southern League was all there was in the SW between the top of the Western and the Football League.          

Western Premier 1974/75 (effectively step 3 although it didn’t quite work like that)

1  Falmouth Town                  40   31    9    0  122   26  102

2  Taunton Town                     40   30    9    1  136   24   99

3  Bridgwater Town                40   27    8    5   92   38   99

4  Mangotsfield United           40   24    6   10   88   44   78

5  Barnstaple Town                40   17   11   12   79   66   62

6  Frome Town                       40   17   10   13   65   59   61

7  Glastonbury                       40   17   10   13   62   57   61

8  Westland-Yeovil                 40   17    7   16   66   60   5

9  Welton Rovers                   40   15   11   14   63   59   56

10  Dawlish                            40   16    7   17   69   72   55

11  Keynsham Town              40   15   10   15   63   67   55

12  Paulton Rovers                40   13   11   16   63   59   50

13  Devizes Town                  40   11   11   18   39   59   44

14  Weston super Mare         40   11   10   19   39   52   43

15  Chippenham Town           40   10   12   18   55   85   42

16  St Luke's College             40   11    7   22   44   83   40

17  Tiverton Town                   40    9   12   19   45   79   39

18  Bridport                             40    9    7   24   51  110   34

19  Melksham Town               40    7   12   21   39   82   33

20  Clevedon                          40    8    8   24   52   94   32

21  Exmouth Town                  40    8    6   26   39   96   30

Southern League Division One South 1974/75 (effectively step 2 with the northern section stretching into the Midlands from Gloucester and Cheltenham upwards)  

1  Gravesend & Northfleet      38   24   12    2   70   30   60

2  Hillingdon Borough              38   22    8    8   87   45   52

3  Minehead                                  38   21    9    8   74   33   51

4  Ramsgate                            38   19   11    8   70   37   49

5  Bexley United                      38   19    7   12   61   44   45

6  Waterlooville                         38   17   11   10   67   49   45

7  Ashford Town (Kent)            38   16   12   10   64   55   44

8  Basingstoke Town                38   16   11   11   64   50   43

9  Canterbury City                    38   16    9   13   54   43   41

10  Hastings United                  38   13   14   11   54   45   40

11  Poole Town                              38   11   13   14   50   60   35

12  Metropolitan Police             38   11   13   14   54   66   35

13  Folkestone & Shepway      38   10   14   14   53   57   34

14  Andover                              38   12    8   18   52   71   32

15  Bognor Regis Town            38   10   11   17   49   64   31

16  Salisbury                                 38    9   11   18   45   66   29

17  Trowbridge Town               38   10    9   19   48   76   29

18  Bideford                                  38   10    8   20   40   71   28

19  Dorchester Town                38    8   10   20   40   63   26

20  Crawley Town                  38    3    5   30   31  102   11

Southern League Premier (effectively one of three step 1 leagues along with the Isthmian and Northern Premier)

1  Wimbledon                            42   25    7   10   63   33   57

2  Nuneaton Borough                42   23    8   11   56   37   54

3  Yeovil Town                                42   21    9   12   64   34   51

4  Kettering Town                       42   20   10   12   73   41   50

5  Burton Albion                        42   18   13   11   54   48   49

6  Bath City                                     42   20    8   14   63   50   48

7  Margate                                 42   17   12   13   64   64   46

8  Wealdstone                           42   17   11   14   62   61   45

9   Telford United                       42   16   13   13   55   56   45

10  Chelmsford City                  42   16   12   14   62   51   44

11  Grantham                             42   16   11   15   70   62   43

12  Dover                                   42   15   13   14   43   53   43

13  Maidstone United                42   15   12   15   52   50   42

14  Atherstone Town                 42   14   14   14   48   53   42

15  Weymouth                                 42   13   13   16   66   58   39

16  Stourbridge                          42   13   12   17   56   70   38

17  Cambridge City                    42   11   14   17   51   56   36

18  Tonbridge                              42   11   12   19   44   66   34

19  Romford                               42   10   13   19   46   62   33

20  Dartford                                42    9   13   20   52   70   31

21  Barnet                                   42   10    9   23   44   76   29

22  Guildford & Dorking United  42   10    5   27   45   82   25

 

Football Club History Database: https://fchd.info/

                   

[Ian Pethick]

Always love looking at these old tables, especially to see how the fortunes of some of these clubs have varied since (several don't even exist any more).

For the likes of Bideford and Falmouth, they must have felt like they were the frontiersman of the old wild west. No M5, no mobile phones or internet and the coaches and cars of those days were nowhere near as fast, comfortable or reliable. For Bideford especially (North Devon is still not the best connected), can only imagine the journey to the clubs on the Kent and Sussex coast. No surprise that Bideford called it a day after three seasons and Falmouth in 1982/83 (although I believe that joining the Southern League was briefly considered by Town in the seventies).

Regarding Exmouth, sure I read somewhere that in the mid '80's they were the recipient of external financial backing, and had the stated ambition of aiming towards Conference football. They certainly fell a long way before their revival under Kevin Hill in recent seasons, they also have a decent sized and vocal supporter contingent to rival Falmouth's F-Troop.

[Easterfield]

I wasn't on hand for local non-league until the late 1980s. I'd grown up in South Devon, moved away and then ended up in Somerset. Before 1988 it was strictly Football League for me.

But I always had the Sunday Independent  sent wherever I lived and recall that Exmouth were a force in those days. They had players of whom even I had heard. Checking Football Club History Database the best days at Exmouth were between 1983 and 1990. I first saw them when they comfortably beat Weymouth in the FA Cup.

Looking at the detail, Exmouth's best times finished just as Tiverton's started. I'm sure there's a link there. The name Kevin Smirh certainly comes to mind.

Having seen many of Kevin Hill's 470-odd games for Torquay United I'd say that becoming manager of a club like Exmouth Town was exactly what I expected he may do (having been at Budleigh Salterton first of course!). Good luck to him.

Two of the saddest cases amongst those clubs are Glastonbury and Minehead. As a kid I saw Glastonbury - league winners around then - come to Plainmoor and put six past Torquay United reserves who had Paddy Roche (later Manchester United and Ireland) in goal.

After 1974/75 Minehead went on to finish runners-up to Wimbledon in the Southern Premier and beat Falmouth Town and Swansea City in the same FA Cup run. Mind you, the fall from grace was pretty quick. Minehead were poor by the late 1980s. 

Now, in recent years, I've been to both Glastonbury and Minehead to see each in the second tier of Somerset county football. All rather sorry but still decent numbers of people watching and enjoying the social club.

[Ian Pethick]

Not sure if you use Facebook, but have a look at the Devon & Exeter Past Football Teams site. There has been a lot of stuff on the Exmouth Town side of the eighties posted. 

[Dave Deacon]

18 minutes ago, Easterfield said:

Now, in recent years, I've been to both Glastonbury and Minehead to see each in the second tier of Somerset county football. All rather sorry but still decent numbers of people watching and enjoying the social club.

Interesting to read. Could this be that actually, apart from a fanatical few, the long term supporters aren’t that fussed which league their team plays in?

[Easterfield]

1 hour ago, Way Of The Park said:

Not sure if you use Facebook, but have a look at the Devon & Exeter Past Football Teams site. There has been a lot of stuff on the Exmouth Town side of the eighties posted. 

Thanks for this. I'd glanced at it before without realising the breadth of its coverage and the frequency of the posts. Amazing really with surprising coverage given to teams and players from between the Dart and Teign. Also a reminder that, should you grow up supporting one of Devon's three professional clubs, you can't help following the affairs of the other two. 

And, of course, plenty of players who appeared for Cornish clubs.

Two of Exmouth's players in the 1980s were Mark Gennard and Andy Rowland. I knew of them because they were star players at the secondary school I attended albeit eight or nine years after I left. Mark Gennard died at the age of forty-two; Andy Rowland was fifty-one when he died.   

59 minutes ago, Dave Deacon said:

Interesting to read. Could this be that actually, apart from a fanatical few, the long term supporters aren’t that fussed which league their team plays in?

Yes, I think so and it's something I've grown increasingly more aware of the more I've watched non-league football. It's something a lot of people, accustomed to professional football, don't quite get. It's probably around the Southern Premier where it becomes more result- and status-driven with an intenser spectator culture.

Moving up from the Western to the Southern is an interesting one. Not sure if it always captures the imaginaton. 

[The Town Man]

Interesting story about Minehead.  Population in 2011 (Assume last census) was 11,980!

How did they manage to get so close to the Football League?  It can't have been funded by gate receipts surely.  Did they have a big financial backer?  The obvious one would be Billy Butlin I suppose.  Could look it up, but more fun to get the story on here!

[Mike Odgers]

Rushden & Diamonds (Amalgamation of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough  Diamonds) played in the Football League 2001-2006.

Playing at Nene Park Irthlingborough it is considered the smallest Town to host a League club.

Population  of  Irthlingborough 8900 ground capacity 6441

[Easterfield]

Well Town Fan, there is a lot of good stuff online about Minehead.

This takes you through some of the players, managers and matches. There's even mention of the time Minehead played in an Anglo-Italian tournament (although not quite the one people of my age will most remember):

https://southern-football-league.co.uk/news/127608/Whatever-Happened-Toand8230;Minehead

This is brilliant with some great pictures:

https://dbauckham.exposure.co/past-glories

I've always suspected a wealthy benefactor or two but have never got to the root of that. Pretty sure it wasn't Butlins but, if other seaside clubs are anything to go by, it could have been local hoteliers. There were more hotels in those days and the owners often lived locally. At Torquay United, for instance, there were directors in the holiday trade with Midlands connections which explained the close links with Birmingham City. This is guess work on my behalf. I'm now thinking of the pay kiosk at Bickland Park presented by the owner of (was it?) the St Michael's Hotel!

But Minehead did have 'foundations' and had been a pretty decent Western League club for twenty years before joining (as you did in those pre-pyramid days) the Southern League. They also had the happy knack of appointing the right managers who brought down the right players from Bristol.

I also suspect Minehead had a better-than-average social club revenue which, with the ground being in the centre of town surrounded by guesthouses, would have pulled in the holidaymakers. The stand, and social club, went up in 1969 just before the golden times started.

1 hour ago, Mike Odgers said:

Rushden & Diamonds (Amalgamation of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough  Diamonds) played in the Football League 2001-2006.

Playing at Nene Park Irthlingborough it is considered the smallest Town to host a League club.

Population  of  Irthlingborough 8900 ground capacity 6441

I once went to a midweek game at Rushden & Diamonds. Nowhere to stay; no evening public transport; no taxi rank. Had to book a taxi in advance to what was probably Wellingborough's only bed and breakfast. None of this would be an issue in Falmouth of course!

[Mike Odgers]

On 21/02/2022 at 15:46, Way Of The Park said:

Always love looking at these old tables, especially to see how the fortunes of some of these clubs have varied since (several don't even exist any more).

For the likes of Bideford and Falmouth, they must have felt like they were the frontiersman of the old wild west. No M5, no mobile phones or internet and the coaches and cars of those days were nowhere near as fast, comfortable or reliable. For Bideford especially (North Devon is still not the best connected), can only imagine the journey to the clubs on the Kent and Sussex coast. No surprise that Bideford called it a day after three seasons and Falmouth in 1982/83 (although I believe that joining the Southern League was briefly considered by Town in the seventies).

Regarding Exmouth, sure I read somewhere that in the mid '80's they were the recipient of external financial backing, and had the stated ambition of aiming towards Conference football. They certainly fell a long way before their revival under Kevin Hill in recent seasons, they also have a decent sized and vocal supporter contingent to rival Falmouth's F-Troop.

I remember talking to Len Ellery who in 1975 missed his pick up point with Falmouth who were on their way to Frome and missed the Western League Cup Final -communication had to be precise and accurate in those days 

[Ian Pethick]

5 hours ago, Mike Odgers said:

Rushden & Diamonds (Amalgamation of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough  Diamonds) played in the Football League 2001-2006.

Playing at Nene Park Irthlingborough it is considered the smallest Town to host a League club.

Population  of  Irthlingborough 8900 ground capacity 6441

Think Forest Green Rovers may have claimed that honour Mike. They play in the village of Nailsworth in Gloucestershire which, at the 2011 census, had a population of 5794.