Wootton Bassett Town F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Wootton Bassett Town


fullname = Wootton Bassett Town Football Club
nickname = Bassett
founded = 1882
ground = Gerrard Buxton Sports Ground,
Rylands Way, Wootton Bassett,
Swindon,
Wiltshire
capacity = 2000
chairman = Paul Harrison
manager = Dave Turner
website = http://www.wbtfc.co.uk wbtfc.co.uk
league = Hellenic League Division One West
season = 2007-08
position = Hellenic League Division One West, 15th
pattern_la1 =
pattern_b1 = _thinyellowsides
pattern_ra1 =
leftarm1 = 0000ff
body1 = 0000ff
rightarm1 = 0000ff
shorts1 = 0000ff
socks1 = ffff00
pattern_la2 =
pattern_b2 = _thinyellowsides
pattern_ra2 =
leftarm2 = 800000
body2 = 800000
rightarm2 = 800000
shorts2 = 800000
socks2 = 800000

Wootton Bassett Town Football Club are an English football club based in the town of Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire. The club has three senior sides, four girls teams' and 12 youth and mini sides. The record match attendance was 2,103 versus Swindon Town in July 1991.

Club History

Wootton Bassett Town is a small market town about six miles west of Swindon, in Wiltshire. The town has sported a football club since 1882, which makes it one of the oldest Clubs in the county. It has played all its games, but for a few years, at its present home – the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground at Rylands Way. The ground was donated by local dignitary Gerard Buxton for sporting activities within Wootton Bassett.

In the mid 1930's Wootton Bassett Town were playing in the Wiltshire League. They were playing against now-Hellenic League sides like Purton F.C. and Pewsey Vale F.C., together with now-Western League clubs Warminster Town F.C., Westbury United F.C., Melksham Town F.C. and Devizes Town F.C., but sadly some of the clubs in the Wiltshire League at that time are no longer in existence.

By the '40's and '50's Wootton Bassett Town were one of the stronger sides in the County League. Such was the strength of this competition at that time it included clubs outside the County, namely Paulton Rovers F.C., Radstock Town F.C., Frome Town F.C., Clandown F.C. and Peasedown from Somerset and Stonehouse Town F.C. from Gloucestershire.

In 1976, County football was restructured to include the new Wiltshire Football League. Wootton Bassett made steady progress in the new system and in season 1984&ndash85 became Division Two champions and three seasons later became Division One winners. This took Wootton Bassett Town to the next level and into the Hellenic League.

Throughout their first eleven seasons, Bassett kept a steady mid table position and in the 1999&ndash00 season, they finished third in Division One West – their best season yet. Runners-up Ardley United did not have adequate facilities to be considered for promotion to the Premier Division and so, because they had upgraded their facilities and installed floodlights, Wootton Bassett gained promotion.

In their first season in the Premier Division, Wootton Bassett Town finished a respectable twelfth position, winning also the County Cup. By the next season, Wootton Bassett Town made the first round of the FA Vase but lost to St Blazey A.F.C.. That year they finished fourth from bottom but avoided relegation by a comfortable nine points.

In the 2002–03 season they finished fifteenth after a good season for the whole club, as the Under 18 side performed well enough to finish second in the Wilts Under 18 Floodlit League.

In the 2003–04 season, the First Team had a relegation battle all season but eventually finished sixteenth after a fine run at the end of the season.

Wootton Bassett were relegated at the end of the 2004–05 season after finishing bottom - many defeats by a single goal cost Bassett. Bassett did make their first venture into the FA Cup since the 1950's, but lost a dramatic game to Exmouth Town F.C. in the Preliminary round.

For the 2005–06 season, Paul Burke and Bryan Wood moved up from the Reserve team to take charge of the First Team. For much of the season, Wootton Bassett maintained a mid-table position. However, from the beginning of February to the end of April, Wootton Bassett went unbeaten in the league, giving everyone within the club the belief that promotion was still possible. Unfortunately, Trowbridge dealt a huge blow by scraping a 1-nil victory in Bassett's penultimate game, just three days after Bassett had defeated the champions away from home. This meant that going into the final weekend, Bassett needed to win and hope that two of the top three teams lost to secure promotion. In the final game, Bassett put six goals past Easington Sports F.C. but, with only one of the top teams losing, Bassett missed out on an immediate return to the Premier Division by just one point.

2006&ndash07 was a disappointing one as the team under achieved badly and finished a lowly 11th after much pre-season expectation. Burke remained at the helm for the 2007–08 seasn and the season started well with an extended run in the FA Cup that saw Bassett beat both Highworth Town F.C. from the Hellenic Premier Division and Bracknell Town F.C. from the Southern Football League, but in the Hellenic League it was another disappointing season with Bassett occupying the lower reaches of the table all season and culminating in the resignation of Paul Burke towards the end of the season. During the last few weeks of the season, Chris Jones, the club's Director of Football, took temporary charge and guided the team to a 15th place finish.

Shortly after the end of the season Wootton Bassett Town appointed Dave Turner as their new first team manager following Dave's departure from Hellenic League Division One West rivals Pewsey Vale. Alan Blake, Pewsey's former reserve team manager, also joined the club as Dave's number two in the first team dugout.

Whilst the First Team has struggled on the pitch, off the pitch the Club has made tremendous strides. The Club’s Youth Section has continued to flourish with some 17 teams operating from Under 8 through to Under 18, this also includes 4 Girls teams. The Club has also recently been awarded Charter Development Club status by the FA and received their award before the England v Croatia youth game at the County Ground. The new year also saw the Club announce plans to relocate to a purpose built site on the edge of the Town which would enable the Club to accommodate all its sides on one brand new facility. Exciting times indeed for the Club.

Club Honours

*Ghia Senior Cup Winners – 1983-84
*Ghia Junior Cup Runners-Up – 1984-85 (Reserves), 1988-89 (Reserves)
*Hellenic Division 1 Cup Winners – 1989-90, 1993-94
*Hellenic Division 1 Cup Runners-Up – 1994-95
*Hellenic Reserves Division 1 Champions – 2000-01
*Wiltshire Div 1 Champions – 1987-88
*Wiltshire Div 2 Champions – 1984-85
*Wiltshire Senior Cup Winners – 1998-99, 2000-01
*Wiltshire Senior Cup Runners-Up – 1987-88, 1902-03, 1903-04

External links

* [http://www.wbtfc.co.uk Official website]