Post by Dave on Sept 10, 2012 18:05:06 GMT
I asked one of my customers in Bridgwater last week where the football club was located. Today I had to call on a customer that was not far away from the ground, so I decided to go take a look with the hope I might be able to take some pictures.
I got excited when I discovered the gate to the car park was open and so drove in and parked my van. I later found out the reason the gates were open was because the nearby college, pay the club around £8.000 to use the car park as an overflow one for their main car park.
I looked around and there was no way I could get into the ground legally, but as the fence was not to high and there wwas one place where a few bricks had been left beside the fence, I stood on them and with arms stretched high, was just about able to take a few shots.
As I went to get back into my van, a man who must have seen me taking pictures and was inside the ground, opened the gate and after telling him why I wanted to take some pictures, invited me into the ground. We talked for a while and then I went around the ground taking some pictures using my camera on my phone.
When I had finished he was waiting for me by the gate and handed me a photocopy of some pictures of the ground the old club once used to play at. That ground was called Castlefields and they played there from 1947 until 1984. Below my post is a piece about what happened that saw the club fold due to debts taken from their club website.
What the piece does not say is that the club found itself locked out of the Castlefield ground and the fact the club were not able to remove from the ground, all their cups and memorabilia etc. All their history therefore was lost and may well have simply been bulldozed into the ground when the whole ground was knocked down to clear it for development. Also in the piece you will learn a new club was founded the following year and they often put the year 1984 after Bridgwater Town FC. The only thing they were able to save was the old metal goalposts and they were only replaced two years ago.
The ground they play at now they moved to in 1984 and the man told me it was just an open playing field back then and the players had to change in the dressing rooms of the nearby college. The dressing rooms they have now were only meant to be temporary but they have been in use a good few years now. The club will need to do something about them as there are now new regulations about the size they must be and they fall just short of the new measurements.
He also told me the new ground was once the tip site for the nearby cellophane factory that once was the biggest employer in Bridgwater. It closed for good a few years ago and while many lost their jobs, I’m sure some were happy it went as it stunk the whole of Bridgwater out.
The pitch looked in very good condition but I understand it does not have that much top soil on it and while it’s good down the flanks, the middle of the pitch is not as good. On the whole it’s a very tidy ground and I was impressed with it.
The problem for football in Bridgwater is that it’s a rugby town and the rugby ground is right next to the football ground. I was told the club need to find £100.000 each season and with gates around 200 with the adult price for admission just £8, its clear the club needs to find ways to find some other type of income.
I did ask if the newly open Morrison distribution centre had been approached with a view of helping to sponsor the football club, it seems they were not even interested to have an advertising board in the ground itself.
My thanks goes to the kind man who let me and and spend a good time chatting away about the club and football in general
From the clubs website
In 1982 a bold move was made to follow their neighbours and rivals, Taunton Town and Minehead into the Midland Division of the of the Southern League. Financial problems brought about by the expense incurred from extra travelling, lack of revenue because of dwindling support and loans taken out for the refurbishment of The Robins Social Club forced Bridgwater Town AFC into voluntary liquidation in 1983. In 1984 the club disbanded crippled by debts of more than £100,000.
The Present Club was established in 1984 when a meeting held in the Bridgwater College Restaurant it was resolved to try again. Plans to ground share with Minehead and Wellworthy Sports & Social Club were rejected in favour of renting a council owned sports field adjacent to Bridgwater College's newly opened sports hall and dressing room complex.
It was agreed that combined use of facilities would be allowed. The newly formed Bridgwater Town 1984 FC was admitted into the 1st Division of the Somerset Senior League. A young and relatively inexperienced side struggled from the start after managing only six victories were duly relagated.
However, over the next few seasons many players from the Southern League days returned and a succesion of ex-players, Tom Wilson, Alan Hurford, Gordon Baxter and Trevor Kirk have managed the club and guided them to a host of honours.
It marks the return to the Premier Division of the Somerset Senior League. Within two seasons Bridgwater Town 84 was to win the first of their hat-trick of Premier championship mantles and secure the first of their several appearences in both the Somerset Senior Cup and Somerset Senior League Challenge Cup.
By 1994 the club had made a return to the Great Mills Western League and by 1996 the Western League Division 1 title had been won. Similar progress has been made off the field and Fairfax Park, as the ground is now known has steadily improved and as such met the standards for the Western League membership.
A return to this competition was gained via the pyramid system in 1994. After a season to acclimatise, and with the astute appointment (at that time) of Alan Hooker and Matt Lazenby as management duo, the division one title was won. Off the field the club went from strength to strength with the construction of The "Robins Club" house and other improvements at the ground. In 1999 - 2000 season, saw the departure of Alan Hooker and Jon Bowering taking over as player manager.
After only a short time of the 2001 - 2002 season and losing many of the opening games saw the departure of Jon Bowering. This led to the appoinment of Ex-Reading striker Trevor Senior. Under his guidance the club achieved three successive 6th place finishes in the Western League Premier Division as well as two Les Philips Cup Triumphs - not forgetting the clubs superb run in the FA Vase in the 2004-05 season.
The start of the 2005-06 was a traumatic time at Fairfax Park. After losing three of the club's best players to American Universities, and with a poor opening run of results, Trevor Senior departed and was replaced at the helm by Craig Laird and Paul Rich, both former "Town" players who had been successful during their time in charge of the reserve side. A very difficult transitional season ended with the team finishing in the bottom half of the Premier Division table.
However disappointing the final league position was in 2005-06, lessons had been learnt and season 2006-07 was to be completely different - although you would not of thought so after an indifferent set of pre-season results and the loss of the first league game of the season
By Christmas the team had found their feet and were flying high at the top of the table, closely followed by Corsham and Frome. With bad weather interrupting much of the middle third of the season, results became a bit patchy. A couple of silly games lost gave Corsham the chance to gain top spot and the final third of the season was a nip and tuck affair with the Wiltshire side eventually winning the title by two points.
With Corsham not being in a position to apply for promotion Ton's Runners-up spot was good enough to gain a place in the British Gas Business Football League 23 years after the sad demise of the old 'Town' club.
The old ground
The new ground
I got excited when I discovered the gate to the car park was open and so drove in and parked my van. I later found out the reason the gates were open was because the nearby college, pay the club around £8.000 to use the car park as an overflow one for their main car park.
I looked around and there was no way I could get into the ground legally, but as the fence was not to high and there wwas one place where a few bricks had been left beside the fence, I stood on them and with arms stretched high, was just about able to take a few shots.
As I went to get back into my van, a man who must have seen me taking pictures and was inside the ground, opened the gate and after telling him why I wanted to take some pictures, invited me into the ground. We talked for a while and then I went around the ground taking some pictures using my camera on my phone.
When I had finished he was waiting for me by the gate and handed me a photocopy of some pictures of the ground the old club once used to play at. That ground was called Castlefields and they played there from 1947 until 1984. Below my post is a piece about what happened that saw the club fold due to debts taken from their club website.
What the piece does not say is that the club found itself locked out of the Castlefield ground and the fact the club were not able to remove from the ground, all their cups and memorabilia etc. All their history therefore was lost and may well have simply been bulldozed into the ground when the whole ground was knocked down to clear it for development. Also in the piece you will learn a new club was founded the following year and they often put the year 1984 after Bridgwater Town FC. The only thing they were able to save was the old metal goalposts and they were only replaced two years ago.
The ground they play at now they moved to in 1984 and the man told me it was just an open playing field back then and the players had to change in the dressing rooms of the nearby college. The dressing rooms they have now were only meant to be temporary but they have been in use a good few years now. The club will need to do something about them as there are now new regulations about the size they must be and they fall just short of the new measurements.
He also told me the new ground was once the tip site for the nearby cellophane factory that once was the biggest employer in Bridgwater. It closed for good a few years ago and while many lost their jobs, I’m sure some were happy it went as it stunk the whole of Bridgwater out.
The pitch looked in very good condition but I understand it does not have that much top soil on it and while it’s good down the flanks, the middle of the pitch is not as good. On the whole it’s a very tidy ground and I was impressed with it.
The problem for football in Bridgwater is that it’s a rugby town and the rugby ground is right next to the football ground. I was told the club need to find £100.000 each season and with gates around 200 with the adult price for admission just £8, its clear the club needs to find ways to find some other type of income.
I did ask if the newly open Morrison distribution centre had been approached with a view of helping to sponsor the football club, it seems they were not even interested to have an advertising board in the ground itself.
My thanks goes to the kind man who let me and and spend a good time chatting away about the club and football in general
From the clubs website
In 1982 a bold move was made to follow their neighbours and rivals, Taunton Town and Minehead into the Midland Division of the of the Southern League. Financial problems brought about by the expense incurred from extra travelling, lack of revenue because of dwindling support and loans taken out for the refurbishment of The Robins Social Club forced Bridgwater Town AFC into voluntary liquidation in 1983. In 1984 the club disbanded crippled by debts of more than £100,000.
The Present Club was established in 1984 when a meeting held in the Bridgwater College Restaurant it was resolved to try again. Plans to ground share with Minehead and Wellworthy Sports & Social Club were rejected in favour of renting a council owned sports field adjacent to Bridgwater College's newly opened sports hall and dressing room complex.
It was agreed that combined use of facilities would be allowed. The newly formed Bridgwater Town 1984 FC was admitted into the 1st Division of the Somerset Senior League. A young and relatively inexperienced side struggled from the start after managing only six victories were duly relagated.
However, over the next few seasons many players from the Southern League days returned and a succesion of ex-players, Tom Wilson, Alan Hurford, Gordon Baxter and Trevor Kirk have managed the club and guided them to a host of honours.
It marks the return to the Premier Division of the Somerset Senior League. Within two seasons Bridgwater Town 84 was to win the first of their hat-trick of Premier championship mantles and secure the first of their several appearences in both the Somerset Senior Cup and Somerset Senior League Challenge Cup.
By 1994 the club had made a return to the Great Mills Western League and by 1996 the Western League Division 1 title had been won. Similar progress has been made off the field and Fairfax Park, as the ground is now known has steadily improved and as such met the standards for the Western League membership.
A return to this competition was gained via the pyramid system in 1994. After a season to acclimatise, and with the astute appointment (at that time) of Alan Hooker and Matt Lazenby as management duo, the division one title was won. Off the field the club went from strength to strength with the construction of The "Robins Club" house and other improvements at the ground. In 1999 - 2000 season, saw the departure of Alan Hooker and Jon Bowering taking over as player manager.
After only a short time of the 2001 - 2002 season and losing many of the opening games saw the departure of Jon Bowering. This led to the appoinment of Ex-Reading striker Trevor Senior. Under his guidance the club achieved three successive 6th place finishes in the Western League Premier Division as well as two Les Philips Cup Triumphs - not forgetting the clubs superb run in the FA Vase in the 2004-05 season.
The start of the 2005-06 was a traumatic time at Fairfax Park. After losing three of the club's best players to American Universities, and with a poor opening run of results, Trevor Senior departed and was replaced at the helm by Craig Laird and Paul Rich, both former "Town" players who had been successful during their time in charge of the reserve side. A very difficult transitional season ended with the team finishing in the bottom half of the Premier Division table.
However disappointing the final league position was in 2005-06, lessons had been learnt and season 2006-07 was to be completely different - although you would not of thought so after an indifferent set of pre-season results and the loss of the first league game of the season
By Christmas the team had found their feet and were flying high at the top of the table, closely followed by Corsham and Frome. With bad weather interrupting much of the middle third of the season, results became a bit patchy. A couple of silly games lost gave Corsham the chance to gain top spot and the final third of the season was a nip and tuck affair with the Wiltshire side eventually winning the title by two points.
With Corsham not being in a position to apply for promotion Ton's Runners-up spot was good enough to gain a place in the British Gas Business Football League 23 years after the sad demise of the old 'Town' club.
The old ground
The new ground
