Welcome to the latest installment of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
In this chapter, we travelled to North Somerset for yet another pre season friendly, as Western League Premier Division side Clevedon Town took on Southern League Premier Division Central side Stourbridge at the Hand Stadium.
It's All In The Name
The name is derived from the Old English words cleve, which means "cleave" or "cleft," and don, which means "hill." Wain's Hill is a univallate Iron Age hill fort about a mile south-west of Clevedon. Because of its proximity to the seaside, the club is known as The Seasiders.
Some Notable Former Players:
Alex Russell
Mickey Bell
Lee Howells
Peter Beadle
Jonathan Gould
Saikou Janneh
Joe Wollacott
Some Notable People From Clevedon:
George Shelley- Singer from Union J
Mark Buckingham- Comic Book Artist
Bob Anderson- Darts Player
Tuppence Middleton- Actress
Jerry Gill- Footballer
A History Lesson With The Gloucester Groundhopper
The club began in 1880 as Clevedon Football Club. They joined the Bristol & District League in 1892, but left after finishing last in the league in 1894-95. Following that, the club joined Division One of the South Bristol & District League, which was renamed the Bristol & District Alliance and then the East Bristol & District League before becoming the new Bristol & District League in the late 1890s after the original one was renamed the Western League. After rejoining the Western League in 1910, they finished last in the league in 1911-12 and 1912-13. The club was back in the Bristol & District League when football restarted following World War I.
Clevedon joined the Bristol & Suburban League in 1925 and won the new league on the first try. They won the title again in 1927-28 and 1928-29. The club joined the Somerset County championship in the early 1930s and won the championship in 1936-37. They won the Weston-super-Mare & District League three times during WWII, in 1939-40, 1943-44, and 1944-45.After the war, the team rejoined the Western League and was promoted to Division One when the league added a second division in 1946. However, following a second-from-bottom result in Division One in 1948-49, the team was demoted to Division Two.
Clevedon remained in Division Two until the end of the 1957-58 season, when they resigned from the league for financial concerns. They were relegated to Division Two of the Bristol Premier Combination and promoted to Division One after finishing runners-up in Division Two their first season in the league. In 1974, the team absorbed Western League club Ashtonians, assuming their league position. When the league was restructured in 1976, they were promoted to the Premier Division and renamed Clevedon Town the following year.
The 1991–92 season saw Clevedon finish as runners-up in the Premier Division. They were league champions the following season, earning promotion to the Midland Division of the Southern League. The club were transferred to the Southern Division in 1994 and back to the Midland Division in 1998. They went on to win the Midland Division in 1998–99 and were promoted to the Premier Division. However, the club were relegated from the Premier Division at the end of the 2000–01 season, dropping into the renamed Division One West.
Clevedon Town qualified for the promotion playoffs after finishing fourth in 2004-05, losing 3-2 to Bromsgrove Rovers in the semi-finals. The following season, though, they won Division One West and were promoted to the Premier Division. For the first time, the club reached the first round of the FA Cup in 2006-07, losing 4-1 at home to Chester City in front of a record Hand Stadium crowd of 2,261. They were demoted to Division One South & West at the end of the 2009-10 season after four seasons in the Premier Division. Despite winning the League Cup in 2011-12, the team resigned from the Southern League at the end of the 2014-15 season and plummeted to the Western League's Premier Division.
Honours
🏆 Southern League Division One West (Champions: 2005–06)
🏆 Southern League Midland Division (Champions: 1998–99)
🏆 Southern League Cup (Winners: 2011–12)
🏆 Western League Premier Division (Champions: 1992–93)
🏆 Weston-super-Mare & District League (Champions: 1939–40, 1943–44, 1944–45)
🏆 Somerset County League (Champions: 1936–37)
🏆 Bristol & Suburban League (Champions: 1925–26, 1927–28, 1928–29)
🏆 Somerset Premier Cup (Winners: 1986–87, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02)
🏆 Somerset Senior Cup (Winners: 1901–02, 1904–05, 1928–29, 1976–77)
🏆 Somerset Junior Cup (Winners: 1897–98)
🏆 Somerset Medal Competition (Winners: 1887–88)
🏆 Clevedon Charity Cup (Winners: 1926–27, 1930–31)
An Interview With Clevedon Town club historian, Paul Davis:
GG: How long have you worked for Clevedon and how do the opportunity come about?
PD: Firstly I would say that I don’t work for Clevedon Town but volunteer although it does involve a lot of work. The whole club is run by volunteers and the first team budget is one of the lowest in the Western League Premier Division and given what some of our players are being offered by Division 1 clubs lower than many of those too. I was first involved with Clevedon back in 1980 when disillusioned with watching League football I went to Clevedon as my closest non-league club playing at a decent level. I then went to the AGM and suggested the programme needed improving and I was nominated to take it on! When work intervened I gave up but continued to support the club as well as do some groundhopping at all levels and said I would come back when the opportunity arose. After the club was in turmoil in 2015 and thrown out the Southern League due to the owner I helped recover the club as a fans club and got more involved and when I retired 4 years ago got really stuck in!
GG: Can you tell us a fun fact about Clevedon?
PD: I’ll give you three:
1995: former manager Steve Fey achieved a coup by signing Sir Stanley Matthews on Southern League registration forms for Clevedon Town. The only problem was Sir Stan was then 80 and his only appearance was to kick off a testimonial game for Doug Hand against Bristol City.
October 1996: Clevedon drew 2-2 with Witney Town after extra time in a Dr Martens cup tie at the Hand. Believing Witney had won, with away goals counting double, the teams left the pitch, and the fans went home only for it to be found there should have been a penalty shoot-out.
The great meat pie event 1998: Chairman Barry Bradshaw came up with the idea of baking the world’s biggest meat pie for charity and brought in his friend and local resident Eddie Large, of “Little and Large” fame, to help promote the idea. The event took place on 12 April 1998 and 17 catering students from Stratford-on-Avon College baked the pie, weighing a massive 23,237 lbs. and creating a then world record. It certainly brought a lot of interest and publicity to the club as both local and national media took interest in the event, taking place on the car park at the Hand Stadium, the club’s home. Sadly, the meat took so long to de-frost and then cook that it proved too late for portions to be sold off to the public and much of it had to be written off but the publicity and goodwill it generated certainly helped bring publicity to the club and local football.
GG: What are your thoughts on non league football as a whole and where it stands in football across the globe?
PD: I love non-league football and apart from Clevedon I watch also watch all level and generally fit in 150 games a season. Non-league football exists on various levels from National League to grassroots football. Each level is equally important and you can choose which suits you. My concerns are that the level of financial support for each level is widening and the FA who administer the game have absolutely no knowledge of the game at our level ands have failed in their attempt to establish a common structure across the pyramid and the geography of the country against the distribution of clubs where we suffer in the south west more than most.
GG: What does the club mean to the community?
PD: The problem we have is that the ground is outside the town, so we have to work hard to keep the community engaged with events other than the pure football. Recently we hosted an event at the Clevedon History Festival, we have secured a community heritage grant to paint a mural depicting the club history on the outside wall and we are holding a Fun Day which will include the clubs annual Walking Football Cup involving teams made up of first team players, under 18s and walking footballers, a Sunday Market, vintage cars, activities for children, bar and food and we are running a vintage bus all day around the town and out to the ground to encourage people to come.
GG: What are the clubs’ aims in the near future?
PD: To continue to grow sustainably
GG: what do you think is the most famous moment to happen at the ground?
PD: I’ll give you two:
FA Cup best: 1st Round Proper in 2006/07 v League 2 Chester City losing 1-4 at the Hand Stadium before a record crowd of 2,261. Clevedon’s goal scored by Jack Pitcher.
2018: Clevedon Town encourage the progression of young players and in 2018/19 the Under 18 side won the Somerset Floodlight Youth League and Cup double and reached the 3rd Round Proper of the national FA Youth Cup, Manchester City Under 18 side with million-pound youth internationals before a crowd over 1,500 at the Everyone Active. Jeremie Fringpong now at Bayer Leverkusen is about become to most expensive player to play at the Hand as Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Barcelona chasing him.
GG: If you could sign one player to come and play for Clevedon for a single game, who would it be?
PD: I asked Manager Alex White for his choice and straightaway he went for John Stones. If it’s only one game we want to learn as much as possible from the player and I can’t argue with that. The romantic in me says Messi but he probably doesn’t talk much Somerset so we wouldn’t learn very much!
GG: What’s your favourite part of being a football supporter?
PD: Looking forward to what’s round the corner and continuing to add to the statistics and history of Clevedon Town.
GG: Who is the best footballer you’ve seen play at Clevedon’s ground and why?
PD: Again I asked Alex for his choice and it was the same as mine – Tommy Doyle for Manchester City Under 18s. I also thought Roberto Martinez looked a class player when we played Chester and I also remember seeing Glen Hoddle play returning from injury for Spurs Reserves against Bristol City Reserves when City were using the Hand Stadium for Reserve games. At non-league level it would definitely be Nigel Clough when Burton Albion played at the Hand in the Southern League Premier Division.
GG: Finally, Can you tell us why people should come and visit Clevedon?
PD: Clevedon Town is a friendly fan and community led club where you are assured of a warm welcome and a chance to browse the thousands of programme and lots of badges in great club shop. You can combine the trip with a visit to the Town to enjoy its traditional Victorian sea front and iconic world renowned pier plus the local shops and bars on Hill Road close to the sea front.
Matchday: Clevedon Town 1-1 Stourbridge
We travelled to Clevedon on a warm summer's day as we sought another game laden with goals. As the game was a 1pm kickoff, we headed straight to the stadium, with a trip to the town centre planned for after the game. We arrived at the ground in good time, and we parked in the large car park at the ground- which was free.
Upon arrival, it became quite clear that we were going to be treated like royalty during our stay. Everyone, from the stewards, to the cooks, to the people on the turnstiles, everyone was truly amazing with us. We went straight into 'Paul's programme emporium' which was full to the brim with a variety of match programmes. These included some from Non-League grounds, to the Premier League, to foreign grounds, to World Cups, they literally had everything. AFC Finners purchased a variety of them and was pretty much dragged out kicking and screaming in an effort to stop him from emptying his bank account (and Paul's Programme Emporium).
Our next stop was to the tuck shop, which offered a variety of food: burgers, hotdogs, pies, chips and much more. It really goes without saying that some football grounds are far too expensive for the food they provide. Clevedon were the exact opposite of this. They were offering a cheese and bacon burger, chips, and a drink for £6. Where can you get this value for money at a ground nowadays?
We then headed into the club bar, which again was really homely. The amazing thing about this bar is the large amount of effort that has gone into making it feel like it has character. The place is full of framed memorabilia from the club's history, including a framed shirt from the club's game against Manchester City's youth team (which had James Trafford, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tommy Doyle in its ranks).
After this, we headed to our seat. The stadium is fantastic when considering the level that the club play at. Two large stands which would not look out of place in the National League. Again, what was interesting was the character of the ground. It just seemed to have the right amount of modern against the vintage.
The atmosphere was what you'd expect from a preseason friendly with an attendance of around 200 people. You don't expect flares and pitch invasions at this level, especially in a friendly, so it's fair to say that the score is justified on this one. FairPlay to the small contingent of Stourbridge fans who made the noise they did, they did themselves proud.
Teamsheet
Clevedon Town
Manager: Alex White
James Dunn
Elliot Nicholson
Sol Kent
Callum Kingdon
Glen Hayer
Caleb Selway
Henry Westlake
James Wakefield
Syd Camper (c)
Alex Camm
Nathanial Groom
Substitutes
Joe Teall
Brad Probert
Ethan Crossley
Sam Beresford ⚽️
Fin Biggs
Raul Vasile
Freddie King
Sam Iles
Stourbridge
Managers: Leon Broadhurst
Charlie Price
Joel Shambrook
Jack Wilson
Callum Gittings
Joel Kettle (c)
Joe Hull
Dexter Walters
Jack Fletcher
Darryl Knights
Luke Benbow ⚽️
Niall Flint
Substitutes
Harry Lewis
Kam Smith
Farid Mikidam
Jaiden White
Trialist A
The first chance of the game fell to Clevedon as Sol Kent broke down the left and into the box where his cross was blocked and the rebound fell to Henry Westlake who shot over. Dexter Walters, of Stourbridge, then crossed for Luke Benbow and his header saw Clevedon goalkeeper James Dunn pull off a great save by pushing the ball over the bar. Stourbridge then took the lead as James Dunn was unable to hold Luke Benbow's shot and despite scrambling back he could not prevent the ball crossing the line.
The game fell flat in the second half, with neither team creating many chances. Stourbridge had the first meaningful chance of the half when Clevedon threw the ball away at the back and Niall Flint fired just wide. Clevedon had an opportunity of their own when Sam Beresford sent Freddie King through, but Charlie Price saved his shot with his feet. Clevedon equalised late in the game when Freddie King was played through and squared to Sam Beresford, who tapped home to make it 1-1.
Scores On The Doors
Atmosphere: 3/10
Food and Drink: 7/10
Stadium: 6/10
Welcome: 9/10
Overall Experience: 8/10
GG
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