Bridport F.C.

Infobox Football club
clubname = Bridport


fullname = Bridport Football Club
nickname = The Bees
founded = 1885
ground = St. Mary's Field, Bridport
capacity =
chairman = Adrian Scadding
manager = Ian Hutchinson
league = Western League Division One
season = 2007-08
position = Western League Division One, 18th
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Bridport Football Club is a football club based in Bridport, Dorset, England. They currently play in the Western League Division One.

History

Bridport FC was established on 7 October 1885 and, in their early years, played in a variety of leagues, including the Dorset League, South Dorset League, West Dorset League, and Perry Street League.

They were among the founding members of the Dorset Combination in 1957. They joined the Western Football League in 1961 where they played until the 1983-84 season when they resigned and their record was expunged. Taking their reserve side's place in the Dorset Combination, the club finished 3rd in 1984-85 and then went on to win the league three times in a row. Following the third title, Bridport was accepted back into the Western League, this time playing in Division One. A runners-up performance in 1993-94 allowed the club to return to the Premier Division, but an 11 year run in the top flight came to an end with relegation following the 2004-05 season. For the 2007-08 season, they are once again playing in Division One. Former Crystal Palace player Paul Hammond took over as manager from Kevin Donovan in the Summer of 2006 and led the club to a respectable mid table position. Boosted by a cash injection of nearly £250,000 in June 2007 from the Football Partnership which meant Bridport Football Club were able to plan major development of the dressing rooms and club house. All seemed set for the club to set about a real promotion push. However, on 22 June 2007, manager Paul Hammond resigned. Former reserve team manager Royston Davies, who Hammond sacked in October 2006, was appointed as first team manager on 30 June 2007. After a poor run of results, Royston Davies resigned as manager on 20 March 2008, citing health reasons for his departure. Davies' assistant and long time Bridport player Mark Lock took over as caretaker manager - his first game in charge was the Good Friday game against Sherborne.In May 2008 ex Weymouth player Ian Hutchinson was named as the new manager. With work commencing on the new dressing rooms, there is an air of quiet confidence for the future of the club.One of the negatives of the new dressing rooms is that The Bees must play the first six league games of the 2008/2009 away from home,and they have had to forfeit home advantage in both the FA Cup and FA Vase.Son of ex player and caretaker manager Mark Lock, Darren Lock has been appointed club captain for 2008/2009. The philosophy of the club is to play young, local talent, yet, being unable to pay their players appearance money, the Bees are finding life difficult.

They have reached the Fourth Round of the FA Vase twice and the Fifth Round once in their history. All three Vase runs came within a four year period from the 1987-88 season to the 1990-91 season. In FA Cup, they reached the Third Qualifying Round in season 1957-58.

External links

* [http://www.web-teams.co.uk/Home.asp?team=bridportfc Web-teams site]
*fchd|name=Bridport Town|id=BRIDPORT