Welcome to the latest chapter of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
For this installment, we headed to South Gloucestershire for some more Hellenic League Premier Division action as Thornbury Town took on Roman Glass St George at Mundy Playing Fields.
It's All In The Name
The first documentary evidence of a village at "Thornbyrig" originates from the late ninth century. The manor of "Turneberie" belonged to William the Conqueror's spouse, Matilda of Flanders, and had 104 inhabitants, according to the Domesday Book.
Some Notable People From Thornbury:
Matthew Kane- Actor
John Robins- Comedian
Emily Webley-Smith- Tennis Player
Norman Grace- Cricketer
Handel Cossham- Politician
A History Lesson With The Gloucester Groundhopper
The actual date of the club's creation is unknown, but there are evidence of football being played in the late 1800s, with the name "Thornbury Town" first appearing in 1898. Thornbury played in the Dursley & Wotton League before to the commencement of World War I, with records of games versus Chipping Sodbury Town, Wickwar, and Westbury Park. Dr. E. M. Grace, W G Grace's elder brother, was a member of the team at the time.
The club reformed after the war and joined the Bristol and Suburban League. The club played on a pitch encircled by an iron fence in what is now the upper part of The Castle School Sixth Form Playing Field. They used the changing rooms at the Thornbury branch of HSBC, which is now a social club on the High Street.
Multiple clubs in the area combined in 1933 to become Thornbury Sports, which later became Thornbury A.F.C. and, later, Thornbury Town A.F.C.
The club relocated to its current location at the Mundy Playing Fields near the end of WWII. Following the use of several establishments for changing rooms, a pavilion at the playing fields was built in 1964. After playing in the Bristol and District title, they joined the Bristol Premier Combination, winning the title in 1956-57.
The team became a founder member of the Gloucestershire County League in 1968-69, and the following season had attendances in excess of 500 spectators.
After placing third in the County League, the club was allowed into the Western Football League in 1971. However, the Mundy Playing Fields did not match the requirements, therefore the team stayed in the County until 1977, when they were relegated to the Bristol Premier Combination.
After many consistent but unsuccessful seasons in the Bristol Premier Combination, the team returned to the Gloucestershire County League in 2002, eventually winning the title by 13 points. The team finally won their first County League title in 2009-10, but history repeated itself when the club was unable to advance to the next level due to a lack of facilities at the Mundys. That summer, Thornbury Falcons, a local youth football team, merged with Thornbury Town in an effort to continue the long-standing history of developing local junior talent.
Thornbury Town struggled to replicate their title-winning season in 2009-10 and suffered through many managerial changes in the following seasons. The club won the Les James League Cup for the first time under Andy Davies, defeating league winners Cheltenham Civil Service 1-0. The club also finished fourth that season, a position they held for the next two seasons.
In 2017-18, the team won the league for the second time after three straight fourth-place results. In addition, the team won the Les James League Cup for the second time, defeating Frampton United 1-0. Following the receipt of planning approval for a 50-seater stand, floodlights, and perimeter fencing, the club was also in a position to seek for promotion to Step 6 of the Non-League System. The club's application was approved, and they were assigned to Hellenic Football League Division One West for the 2018-19 season.
The Mundy Playing Fields upgrades were officially inaugurated by Thornbury Mayor Shirley Holloway on Tuesday 23 October 2018, prior to Thornbury Town's Hellenic League Subsidiary Cup game against local rivals Tytherington Rocks, which they won 6-0. After remaining in contention for first place until the final weeks, the club finished third, behind Easington Sports and Cheltenham Saracens. Thornbury also won the league's Supplementary Cup, defeating Wallingford Town 2-1 at the ASM Stadium in Thame.
Manager Andy Davies announced his resignation as first team manager before of the 2019-20 season to take a break from football management, bringing Thornbury Town's most successful era to an end. Former player Jason Rees and ex-Gloucester City player Gary Kemp have been named the club's new managerial team.
On 12 July 2019, the club announced that it would compete in the FA Cup and FA Vase for the first time in its existence, losing at the first hurdle against Leighton Town in the FA Cup and reaching the second round in the FA Vase.
After finishing second, the club successfully filed for promotion to the Hellenic League Premier Division as part of a reorganisation of the Hellenic League in Summer 2021.
Manager Jason Rees and deputy Gary Kemp will leave their posts in June 2022.Andy Parry and Richard Joyce took over as joint-managers.During the season, however, Andy Parry stepped down, leaving Joyce as Manager, with previous assistant manager Gary Kemp returning to the club.
Honours
🏆 Hellenic League Supplementary Cup (Winners: 2018–19)
🏆 Gloucestershire County League (Champions: 2009–10, 2017–18)
🏆 Les James League Cup (Winners: 2014–15, 2017–18)
🏆 Bristol Premier Combination Premier Division (Champions: 1956–57, 2001–02)
🏆 Bristol Premier Combination Division Two (Champions: 1965–66)
🏆 Bristol & District League Division Three (Champions: 1949–50)
🏆 Harry Greening Memorial Trophy (Winners: 2003–04)
Matchday: Thornbury Town 3-1 Roman Glass St George
We travelled to Thornbury on a cold Tuesday night as we sought another game feasted with goals. The build up to the game was a bit questionable to say the least. When you're at the level that Thornbury are at, you are reliant on ground hoppers to keep your finances going. So there's a lot of little details that the club are missing to entice ground hoppers.
There was no indication of how much the admission was going to be until the morning of the game. A lot of ground hoppers will plan their fixtures days/weeks in advance. As a result, it is key to give them the basic information prior to the game with plenty of time. In the later mentioned preview it is mentioned that the admission is £7, but again this is only at the bottom of the article and there's no indication that this information is in the article in the first place.
There was no indication of whether the club take card or not. As it transpired, the club took both card and cash, but this lack of communication from multiple Hellenic League clubs is becoming frustrating. Most people do not carry cash these days, so just a simple 'card and cash accepted on the turnstile' would save the supporters the nuisance of having to find a cash point (which would have been futile for this game anyway).
There was no information on parking. There is limited parking at the ground, which means you would need to get there early to even be able to park. This information would also be useful.
The club do release a preview to the game beforehand, however the information that is included is mainly an overview of their opposition.
There is food available at the ground, however it is very limited. They do hot dogs for £2, a selection of rolls for a £1 each (more on this later), and a selection of cakes. I originally asked for a hotdog, but with 30 minutes until kickoff, they hadn't even turned the oven on. As a result, I chose to purchase two cheese rolls for a £1. The guy at the bar said that it's two for £3, which at the time I didn't question as my brain didn't compute. However, as I left, I had this sudden realisation that the person had upped the price as he knew I would pay it.
Saying that, the people that we met were lovely. We sat in one of the stands and the people in there were chatty and really lovely. Even the young lad who tried to head the ball and missed it completely.
The stadium is very basic but it's not awful. There are a couple of stands that house around 100 people which with a bit of research I found out we're put up so that the club could enter the Hellenic League. There are some public toilets and a clubhouse that was being renovated during our visit.
Overall, the people were generally nice at Thornbury. It was just the mass disorganisation that made it a bit of a nuisance. The lack of information, pin badges, and even food just made it feel a bit uneasy. I have since read that the chairman hopes to be promoted from the Hellenic League one day, and in order to achieve this, the organisation would need to be a lot better. I appreciate that a lot of the people there were volunteers, but there are always standards that need to be met.
Teamsheet
Thornbury Town
Manager: Richard Joyce
Mackenzie Walsh
Dan Parry
Tom Webb
Luke Garrett
Nathan Sage
Fraser Moss
Stanley Wyatt
Luke Franklin ⚽️
Will Fowler
Harry Brock ⚽️
Marcus Wormwell ⚽️
Substitutes
Matt Toghill
Jim Brock
Joe McLaughlin
Rich Lee
Ollie Rawnsley
Roman Glass St George
Manager: Andy Gurney
Josh Dempsey
Harvey Tierney
Tom Anthony
Joe Cattermole
Jack Spark
Mike Bryant
Bevan Cross
Rhys Sarson
Lewis Gilchrist (c)
Laurent Davis Wilson ⚽️
Substitutes
Andy Gurney
Harry Walker
Josh Jenkins
Aidan Sanfelice
Jarmani Langlais
The game began heavily in favour of Roman Glass St George, who had the most of possession and were easily passing it around the Thornbury players. Roman Glass had several chances to take the lead, the most notable of which came when Lauren Davis Wilson got the ball around the keeper with the goal gaping and could only shoot straight at the defender on the line.
Thornbury Town took the lead against the run of play thanks to Harry Brock. With all of the Roman Glass players pushing forward, one ball over the top found Harry Brock in on goal, and he slid the ball in into the bottom right hand corner to give Thornbury the lead at half time.
The game became much more level in the second half, but it took an hour for Roman Glass to get the goal they deserved. Laurent Davis Wilson finished well past the Thornbury custodian after a pass into the box sparked mayhem.
Thornbury retook the lead in spectacular fashion. The speed of Harry Brock was too much for the Roman Glass defence, and he played the ball over the edge of the 18-yard box for Luke Franklin, who rifled the ball into the top right hand corner.
Thornbury quickly wrapped up the points. Marcus Wormwell received a short corner and went past three players before firing low into the bottom left hand corner to seal the three points.
Scores On The Doors
Atmosphere: 2.5/10
Food and Drink: 3/10
Stadium: 3.5/10
Welcome: 8/10
Overall Experience: 5.5/10
GG
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