Season 2022-23 was to prove to be a difficult season all round, with the weather impacting from start to finish, issues with floodlights impacting clubs in both the Veterans’ and U18 divisions, the World Cup being played mid-season causing more issues, with the whole season then being overshadowed by the sad passing of Fixture Secretary Phil Cook. Phil had joined the League as Assistant League Secretary in 1977, the year after the league was formed. The following season, he was elected to the newly created position of League Fixtures Secretary, which he held up until his sad passing.

The season had bizarrely started with games postponed on the opening day by a number of teams due to it being too hot! The next challenge would then be the World Cup with fixtures having to be worked around England’s likely progress with the World Cup wallchart having to be used to schedule games in our league. Hopefully this will be the first and last winter World Cup.

Just as the World Cup ended a mini-ice age struck which saw numerous games postponed, including games in county cups which then had a knock-on effect to our league fixtures. Any hopes that the New Year would see an improvement in the weather were quickly dashed as the cold weather was then replaced by a period of wet weather that got so bad at one point, ark building companies were rumoured to be setting up in Malmesbury, Bradford-on-Avon and Corsham. The wet weather would continue right up to the final week of the season with a game in both Division 1 and the Under 18 Division being postponed by a referee just before kick-off due to waterlogged pitches and one game going ahead in the Premier Division which, if it wasn’t the final week of the season, would almost certainly have been postponed.

In the end we were able to finally finish the season on Saturday 20^th May and a big thank you to the clubs for their co-operation and understanding in helping us get the season to a final conclusion. Every game was played in the Premier Division and the Mid-Wiltshire Veterans’ divisions but the continuing bad weather in the final week of the season, floodlight failure and teams being unable to raise sides, disappointingly meant games had to be awarded in Division 1, the U18 Division and North Wiltshire Veterans’ divisions. 

Premier Division

The Season Preview for the league had seen the team managers predict how they saw the Premier Division and Division 1 panning out in the season ahead and the two favoured sides by a country mile were Trowbridge Town and Devizes Town. The latter had been relegated from the Western League at the end of Season 2021-22 and were playing in the Wiltshire Senior League for the first time. The Premier Division team managers clearly knew what they were talking about as the two sides dominated proceedings from the very start. Trowbridge Town had ended the previous season with just one defeat in their final 16 games, winning 14 of those 16 games and were most people’s favourites. Devizes Town manager George Bettles meanwhile had assembled a strong squad with Devizes looking to bounce back to Step 6 at the first attempt. Trowbridge carried on from where they left off the previous season winning all their first 11 league fixtures, some by big margins, as they averaged over five goals per game to head the early table. Devizes matched them stride-for-stride though, in the same period they won nine of their opening ten games, their only dropped points coming in a 1-1 draw against Wroughton at Nursteed Road.

Trowbridge tasted defeat for the first time in a long while in midweek at the beginning of October, but it was not a league game, the defeat coming in the Wiltshire County FA Senior Cup against higher league opposition in the shape of Uhlsport Hellenic League side Calne Town. That defeat was followed by the first dropped points in the league the following Saturday when Kintbury Rangers left Woodmarsh with a point following a 1-1 draw. It proved to be a mini-blip as Trowbridge then proceeded to win all of their next four league games to remain top of the table at the end of November having played just over half of their league fixtures. Devizes were five points below Trowbridge but with a game in hand, having won four of their next five league games, the only dropped points coming in another drawn home game, this time against last season’s champions Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development who had been struggling badly in the early months of the season. Devizes, like Trowbridge had tasted defeat for the first time in the Wiltshire Senior Cup, Devizes losing to eventual cup winners Downton, but they had progressed to the next round of the Fountain Trophies Cup with a big win over Division One side Purton.

With things going so well for Trowbridge they were then stunned by the shock news that manager Jamie Jordan, who was also the club chairman, was departing to join Hellenic Premier Division side Bradford Town, taking a sizeable number of the players with him. Thankfully for Trowbridge, several key individuals remained loyal to the club, and led a rally to ensure the club were not de-railed from their quest for the league title.  The title would also bring possible promotion to Step 6, with both Devizes Town and Trowbridge Town having by now applied to the FA for promotion.  Full back Ryan Baggs stepped into the managerial shoes, initially temporarily before agreeing to take on the role full time. Local businessman Andy Meaden, the Trowbridge Town programme editor and who also produced matchday programmes for many clubs at a higher level in the West, took over as chairman. The drive and enthusiasm of these two individuals, coupled with the efforts of hard-working club secretary Kathy Crisp ensured Trowbridge were able to field a competitive side for their next fixture against Melksham Town Reserves, a game they won 3-1 to retain their leadership at the top of the table.

For many teams the cold snap that struck in December followed by the wet weather in January caused a lot of frustration but for Trowbridge it was probably something of a blessing as it brought newly installed manager Baggs some time, which enabled him to bring in some new players to replace those that had defected to Bradford Town. Trowbridge were to play no more games in December and just two games in January, winning both, one in the league against Shrewton and a narrow 2-1 victory over Salisbury Dev in the Fountain Trophies Cup. Devizes also played just the three games in December and January, all in the league, all of which were won as both teams entered February unbeaten in the league with Trowbridge two points clear at the top with both teams having played 18 games.

The unbeaten run of one of the two sides was to be ended in February. Having opened the month with a big win at Marlborough, Trowbridge lost for the first time in the league on Saturday 18 February when they suffered a 2-1 defeat away at Wroughton. They bounced back immediately the following week with an excellent 5-2 victory over Blunsdon who were having a tremendous first season in the league having been promoted from the Swindon & District League and who sat third in the table at the time. Devizes also played three league games in February winning two and drawing one to retain their unbeaten record, but the dropped points were something of a surprise, the draw coming in the game away to a struggling Marlborough Town side.  Devizes had opened the month with an impressive 6-1 win over Kintbury Rangers in the Fountain Trophies Cup to make it through to the quarter final stage. So as the season moved into March Trowbridge remained at the top of the table, but their lead had been cut to just one point with nine games to go, with the two sides still to play each other twice.

The first of those meetings was on the first weekend in March at Woodmarsh and was played in front of a bumper crowd of 250. A first half penalty from Rhys Talmash put Devizes in front and they should have led by more at the break if they had taken their chances. The second half continued in a similar vein, but Devizes were unable to add to that first half goal despite having much of the play and also having a numerical advantage following a sending off for Trowbridge. Devizes were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal. A ball over the top five minutes from time eluded the Devizes central defenders and Connor McKay found himself through on goal and his low shot went through the legs of the Devizes keeper for an equaliser for Trowbridge much to the delight of the large home crowd. A fortuitous point for the home side, so it was as you were at the start of play with now just eight games to go. Due to the wet weather Trowbridge were to play just one more game in March, that a comfortable home win over lowly Stratton Juniors. Devizes were able to play three more games including a cup quarter final at Kingsdown on 3G. In an eventful game that finished 4-4 after extra time. Devizes were never in front of their Division One opponents and were reduced to nine men as discipline issues, not for the first time in the season, reared their head. However, a late equaliser for Devizes in extra-time meant penalties were needed to decide matters with the Premier Division side eventually coming out on top in the shoot out to scrape through to the semi-final. They were more convincing in the league in their next two games as they scored five times against both Frome Collegians and Calne Town Reserves to head the table going into April, two points ahead of Trowbridge who had a game in hand.

With Devizes opening April with a Fountain Trophies Cup semi-final, which they won 3-1 against Frome Collegians, Trowbridge took advantage to regain the leadership with a midweek win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town. Saturday 8^th April was to prove pivotal in the title race, whilst Trowbridge were winning at home against Malmesbury Victoria Development, Devizes fell to their first defeat of the season, a 1-0 loss at home to a resurgent Melksham Town Reserves to give Trowbridge the advantage in the title race ahead of the return fixture between the two on Bank Holiday Monday. The defeat for Devizes now saw them four points adrift of Trowbridge and desperately needing a win in that Bank Holiday fixture. The Bank Holiday fixture attracted an even bigger crowd than the first game with 350 in attendance in what was to prove to be a good day for Devizes both on and off the pitch as goals from Jack Coward and Kieron Gleed secured a 2-0 win and cut Trowbridge’s lead at the top to just a single point with four games to go.

The following Saturday saw Trowbridge’s game with Pewsey fall victim to a waterlogged pitch allowing Devizes to move back top of the table following a win away at Shrewton. Both teams then won in midweek, Trowbridge defeating Odd Down and Devizes beating Wroughton to stay top of the table. Saturday 22^nd was to prove to another pivotal day, whilst Trowbridge were defeating Wroughton in a Fountain Trophies Cup quarter final tie to keep alive the possibility of a Devizes Trowbridge final, Devizes were losing 1-0 away at Royal Wootton Bassett Town to a late winner where again ill-discipline did not help their cause.  Devizes remained top of the table two points clear, but Trowbridge now had two games in hand with Devizes having just the one game to play. Devizes manager George Bettles also departed following the defeat at the Sustain Stadium. The possibility of the top two meeting in the Fountain Trophies Cup final was ended the following Tuesday by Division One champions Larkhall Athletic Development who secured an extra-time win over Trowbridge in the semi-final meaning Trowbridge now only had the league title to focus on. A 4-0 win over Pewsey Vale two days later saw them climb back top of the table ahead of the May Bank Holiday Weekend.

The title was a s good as confirmed two days later when Devizes failed to win their final game away at Blunsdon, the two sides sharing four goals and the points, and whilst Devizes moved level on points with Trowbridge their inferior goal difference meant Trowbridge would need to lose both their final two games by a big margin to be denied the title. The title was confirmed on the Bank Holiday Monday in front of another three-figure crowd at Salisbury Development with the trophy being presented at the Ray McEnhill Stadium for the second season running. Trowbridge also won their final game at Kintbury to finish six points clear in the final table. That gap masks what a tight competitive title race it had been in reality, a title race that had gone to the closing weeks of the season. Congratulations to Trowbridge on their title triumph and well done to Devizes on making it such an enthralling contest. With Trowbridge not being in a position to take promotion to Step 6 Devizes had the consolation of gaining promotion at the first attempt so for the club it was mission accomplished despite not claiming the title and they will be playing in the Uhlsport Hellenic League next season.  There was to be no trophy for them though as they were defeated by Division One Champions Larkhall Athletic Development in an exciting Fountain Trophies Cup final that saw eight goals with Larkhall deservedly lifting the cup courtesy of a 5-3 success on a warm afternoon at Corsham’s Southbank Ground, the traditional home for the final.

Whilst the top two were to finish over 20 points clear of the chasing pack, the battle for third spot was a lot more competitive with five sides, Pewsey Vale, Wroughton, Frome Collegians, Kintbury Rangers and league newcomers Blunsdon all battling out for that third spot going into the closing weeks of the season. In the end it was Pewsey who would secure that third-place finish, assisted by Malmesbury Vics Development defeating Frome Collegians in the Collegians penultimate game else it might have been Frome who took that third spot. In the end Frome had to settle for a fourth-place finish, just one point behind Pewsey, their best performance since joining the league. One point further back was Blunsdon who had a tremendous first season following their promotion from the Swindon & District League. Just behind them were Kintbury Rangers again just a solitary point separating the sides. Wroughton had looked the favourites to secure that third spot at one stage but following their history making first appearance in the Wiltshire County FA’s Senior Cup final their season fell away dramatically and saw them win just one of their last nine games, losing seven of them, to fall back to a final finish in seventh spot. They did have the consolation of having the division’s leading scorer with Jonathan Peachey-Score finding the net on 36 occasions in all competitions, with Frome Collegian’s Jack Newman in second place with 28 goals.

There was also an exciting battle at the other end of the table with eight teams flirting with relegation at one point. Melksham Town Reserves had spent virtually all season at the bottom of the table but a change of manager mid-season and a tremendous run at the end of the season, which saw them win six of their last eight games, including that win over Devizes which inflicted so much damage on their title aspirations, saw Melksham secure their Premier Division safety. Salisbury Development were another side to have an impressive second half to the season and but for a four-point deduction for postponements early in the season when they struggled to raise a side would have finished well clear of the drop zone. Come the final reckoning just three points separated Melksham Town Reserves in 12^th spot and Marlborough Town in 15^th place, the final relegation position. Marlborough’s fate was sealed in the final game of the season, Odd Down Development defeating Wroughton to move above Marlborough who will now join bottom of the table Stratton Juniors in Division One next season. Shrewton United were the other side involved in the relegation battle and were another side who escaped the drop thanks to a much stronger second half of the season.

Over the season there were 53 games postponed in playing the 240 league games and 31 games in the Fountain Trophies Cup, giving a ratio of postponed games to games played of 20.3%. In the end, all 240 games were played in the division with just nine games postponed for unacceptable reasons, with just one club incurring a points deduction in the final table, showing that the deterrents (fine and points deduction, initially suspended pending a second offence) were effective in the Premier Division in getting games played.

Division One

The decision at the start of the season to run a second division on a Saturday was being brought into question when two of the teams who had been asking for such a division decided to stay with their current league just prior to the AGM, leaving a proposed division of just seven teams. To give the sides plenty of fixtures the decision was made that the teams would play each other four times. Part way through the season the division was reduced to just six teams, Kintbury Rangers Development being forced to withdraw when the loss of their first team manager and a subsequent exodus of players meant they were only able to field one side on a Saturday.

Credit to the six teams for sticking with it and seeing out the season. It was not ideal, but we have been vindicated with our decision by now having 16 teams set to participate in our Division One next season and a new Pyramid Agreement in place that now includes a Hellenic League Division 2 as well as the two District Leagues.

Whilst there was a lack of teams, the division was competitive with any of the top five teams capable of beating each other on their day, the one exception was Purton who had another season of struggle which saw them lose all their league games and finish bottom of a division for the second season running. Credit to them for once again seeing out the season and the good times could finally be set to return to the Red House with a new management team for next season, with Matt Bennett leaving Royal Wootton Bassett Town to takeover as joint manager with Pete McGunigall.

The two sides who looked to be the teams to watch out for were Kingsdown, managed by former Wroughton manager Adrian Wilkinson, and Larkhall Athletic Development who had most of the previous season’s young Odd Down (Bath) Development Premier Division squad. Through no fault of their own Larkhall fell behind with their fixtures as teams postponed games against them but when they finally caught up with their games the title race did emerge to be between them and Kingsdown.

In games between the two sides, it was Kingsdown who had the better of things, winning two and drawing one of the four games. However, they would be the only two games that Larkhall Athletic Development would lose all season in league competitions, including games played in the Fountain Trophies Cup. Kingsdown meanwhile were to lose to Devizes Town Reserves twice, Ludgershall Sports and Pewsey Vale, as well as Larkhall Athletic. These defeats against teams below them in the table would ultimately cost Kingsdown the title as they finished five points adrift of Larkhall.

Larkhall would also go on to win the Fountain Trophies Cup, defeating four Premier Division sides on their way to lifting the cup, including the top two sides Trowbridge Town and Devizes Town. The latter win over Devizes came in the final where an impressive showing from Larkhall saw them win 5-3 in an entertaining game.

The intention all season had always been to promote three teams at the end of the season, although those on the Non-League Forum, who like to imply they are in the know, never quite believed us despite stating it on numerous occasions. Even in the final month of the season sarcastic comments about our small division and promoting three from six were being made, but we knew we had received such interest during the season about Season 23-24 that we were going to have a much bigger Division One next season. Had to laugh when we then announced it would be a 16 team Division One next season and a post was made about an expected increase in numbers, not what I had been reading on the Forum.

That third place saw another interesting battle between Ludgershall Sports and Devizes Town Reserves with Ludgershall eventually taking that third spot finishing five points ahead of Devizes. Unfortunately, due to the continued heavy rain in the final two weeks of the season two games between champions Larkhall Athletic Development and Devizes Town Reserves went unplayed, one fixture being postponed by the referee just before kick-off following a heavy downpour. With both teams’ pitches no longer available due to summer maintenance work having commenced the two games were both declared draws by the Management Committee, as was the other outstanding fixture between Ludgershall Sports and Pewsey Vale Development. Ludgershall Sports will now join Larkhall Athletic Development and Kingsdown in the Premier Division next season. Ludgershall also had the division’s leading goal scorer with Luke Holden scoring 29 times in games that stood in all competitions, Holden also scoring twice against Kintbury Rangers Development, goals that unfortunately were expunged from the record books when they withdrew from the league. Larkhall Athletic Development’s captain Charlie Saunders finished just behind Holden on 24 goals.

Fixture statistics for the season are shown below. Over the season there were 31 games postponed in playing the 102 league games and 11 games in the Fountain Trophies Cup, giving a ratio of postponed games to games played of 27.4%. Ten games were postponed for unacceptable reasons, including two games conceded in the Fountain Trophies Cup. Following Kintbury Rangers Development’s withdrawal, no points deductions appeared in the final table, suspended points deductions for three sides were in the end not required to be imposed.

Under 18 Division



For the third consecutive season there was an exciting and competitive U18 Division where, on the night, each side was capable of beating each other. The title race went right down to the closing stages of the season with four sides all battling for honours in those closing weeks. For much of the season Kintbury Rangers and Royal Wootton Bassett Town had looked to be the two sides who would fight it out for the title but both Calne Town and Radstock Town both joined the battle for honours as the season progressed with excellent second halves to the season. Royal Wootton Bassett Town had defeated Kintbury Rangers early in the season but that would turn out to be the only defeat that Kintbury suffered all season in the league. After beating Kintbury, Royal Wootton Bassett Town would then remain unbeaten for 13 league games, suffering their own first defeat in the return fixture with Kintbury at the end of February. This result put Kintbury in the driving seat, whilst Royal Wootton Bassett still led the table by a point, Kintbury had a game in hand meaning the destination of the title was in their own hands. However, the following week Kintbury were held to a 2-2 draw by visitors Radstock Town meaning the two sides at the top were level on points with four games to go with the potential for a play-off being needed to decide the title race.

The need for a play-off for the title was rendered less likely when, in Royal Wootton Bassett Town’s next league fixture, three late goals gave Radstock Town a come from behind win that once again gave Kintbury the advantage. Kintbury duly won their next two games, with Royal Bassett Town defeating Bradford Town to remain three points behind Kintbury with both sides having just two games to play. When Kintbury Rangers secured a comfortable 5-0 win over Bradford Town in their next fixture they were guaranteed at least a play-off for the title but still had one game to play against Warminster Town with Royal Wootton Bassett Town knowing they could not afford to drop any more points.  Next up for Royal Wootton Bassett Town was a visit to Radstock Town for the return fixture and a solitary goal from Radstock Town’s Theo King was enough to give the home side Radstock a 1-0 win thus ending the visitors’ chances of pipping Kintbury for the league title.  Kintbury had won the title with a game to spare, the final game against Warminster Town, which in the end was awarded to Kintbury, no longer had any relevance to the title race. The defeat for Royal Wootton Bassett Town also meant that, not only had the title quest been ended, achieving runners-up was also not just in their own hands, they would now need Radstock to do them a favour by taking points off Calne Town in their game scheduled for later in the week.

Thursday 4^th May saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Calne Town and Radstock Town go into their respective games with just a single point separating all three but with Calne Town having a game in hand over the other two, knowing that if they won both their games, they would be certain of runners-up spot. For Royal Wootton Bassett Town a win against Warminster Town at home was essential and then they needed Radstock to take points off Calne, a Calne defeat would see Royal Wootton Bassett Town take that runners-up spot, a draw would mean a play-off would be needed if Calne Town then defeated Bishops Cannings in their final game. For Radstock to finish as runners-up they needed to beat Calne and hope Royal Wootton Bassett failed to beat Warminster and that Bishops Cannings then won that final game against Calne Town.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town did what they needed to do against Warminster Town. An early goal settled any nerves, but it was only in the second half that they made certain of the three points, eventually winning 5-1. Down in Radstock the home side Radstock Town were not only looking to get the win for a possible second place finish but also avenge their recent defeat against Calne Town in the Under 18 Cup Final. It started well for Radstock two first half goals saw them lead 2-0 at the break. Whilst Calne game back at Radstock in the second half scoring two of their own a third for Radstock ensured their unbeaten league run at the back end of the season extended to ten games and also meant that Royal Wootton Bassett Town would be confirmed as runners-up for the second season running.

Congratulations to Kintbury on their title success in their first season at the Under 18 level, losing just that one game all season. Congratulations also to Royal Wootton Bassett Town on securing runners-up for the second consecutive season and well done also to Calne Town and Radstock Town for their excellent seasons, with just a single point in the end separating the runners-up from the two sides who finished in joint third position. Calne Town and Radstock Town also had the consolation of that cup final appearance with Calne winning the final 3-0 to lift the trophy. They had been beaten finalists in the inaugural Under 18 Cup competition, but this time were convincing winners on the night.

In the rest of the division Bishops Cannings had started well but lost key players to both Calne Town and Radstock Town, partly due to playing their home games on a Friday night, and fell away towards the back end of the season. It was the opposite for Melksham Town who won just three of their opening 14 games in all competitions but ended the season with five straight wins with a young side that bodes well for next season. Kingsdown Lions also picked up as the season went on and both Bradford Town and Warminster Town picked up points along the way against some of the teams at the top end of the table.

AFC Aldermaston struggled with just the one win and then had issues with their floodlights which would ultimately lead them to being unable to complete their fixtures with a number of games being awarded to their opponents. A couple of games involving Warminster Town were also decided in the Management Committee when the wet weather, that continued right into May, resulting in games going unplayed.

The postponement of games in the Under 18 Division was to be a key theme throughout the season, with an above average level of postponements. The Under 18 games on a Thursday night were frequently being postponed due to waterlogged pitches as clubs looked to protect the pitches for the first team games on a Saturday. Fixture statistics for the season are shown below and highlight that over the season there were some 62 games postponed in playing the 90 league games and 9 games in the Under 18 Cup, giving a depressing ratio of postponed games to games played of 62.6%. 14 games were postponed for unacceptable reasons, with nine games in total being awarded across the division.

Veterans' Divisions

Once again, we were able to run two divisions in the Veterans’ category. The North Division was based around the 3G facilities at New College Swindon, the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground at Royal Wootton Bassett, the Wiltshire FA Headquarters at Devizes Green Lane which was used mainly for cup fixtures when used for North Division sides and Cirencester Town’s ground, which Cricklade Town had managed to secure use of for their games. The division involved ten teams, an increase of one on the previous season. The Mid-Wiltshire Division, like the previous season, had ten teams and, whilst also using Green Lane, saw most of the teams playing on their own grounds which made fixture scheduling for the Mid Wiltshire Division a lot easier than in the North.

Mid-Wiltshire Division

The Mid-Wiltshire Veterans’ Division was once again a very competitive division this season and getting the teams at the top of the division to play each other at times was like herding cats, although the awful weather that impacted the season was a major contributory factor to the postponement of games. As with the Under 18s, the Veterans’ teams are generally the lowest priority for clubs in terms of use of their pitch and given the difficult weather that we suffered the past season it is no surprise that, like the Under 18s, the ratio of postponed games to fixtures played was high for this division at over 30%. That said, all of the games, like our Premier Division, were completed in the end. As well as the bad weather there were also issues impacting fixture scheduling at FC Calne where maintenance work on the floodlights at MOD Lyneham meant the club was unable to play games at Lyneham from November onwards.

The title race itself saw both of the two previous champions, Corsham Town and Melksham Town, once again involved with Bradford Town, Westbury United and Devizes Town the other sides who were fighting for honours, although the latter two fell away at the end to leave a three-team battle for honours which went right to the end of the season. Last season’s champions Melksham Town led the way from the start of the season and would go unbeaten in all competitions until May the 1^st. By that time they had already secured a cup double having won the Wiltshire County FA’s Veterans’ Cup, where they had defeated Royal Wootton Bassett Town from the North Wiltshire Division 4-0 in the final and also then won the League’s Veterans’ Cup having beaten another North Wiltshire Division side, Redhouse in the final after a penalty shoot-out. With Redhouse scoring all three of their opening penalties and Melksham failing to register with their opening two, few would have predicted the final outcome. Melksham scored with their third with Redhouse then missing their fourth and fifth penalties meaning the shootout went to sudden death. With Redhouse failing to score with their sixth penalty and with Melksham scoring theirs it was Melksham who triumphed in the end 4-3 in a remarkable penalty shootout turnaround. Of the five missed penalties, four of them were actual saves by the two keepers, who were both the stars of the final.

The league title race went right to the final week of the season and the final two games in the division. A 0-0 draw at Green Lane between Bradford Town and Melksham Town left Melksham top of the table but vulnerable to either Bradford Town or Corsham Town overtaking them with a win in the final game of the season between the two sides two days later. Two goals from the division’s leading scorer Bradford Town’s Mark Robinson gave Bradford the win which meant they climbed above Melksham Town to win the title for the first time. Robinson ended the season top of the goal scoring charts on 27 goals in all competitions. Melksham Town in the end had to settle for runners-up and missed out on the treble. The defeat for Corsham meant they just missed out on the medals this season, finishing two points behind Melksham Town. Congratulations to Bradford Town on their title success in what was a fascinating title race. Congratulations also to Melksham Town on achieving runners-up to add to their two cup wins, this is the third consecutive season they have finished in the top two in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division.

At the other end of the table the teams all finished their games in a timely manner with special mention to Radstock Town who, despite playing on a grass pitch, were the first team to complete their fixtures. Radstock played their last game on Monday 6^th March when the last game which decided the title race was not played until May the 17^th. Amesbury Junior Badgers, Trowbridge Town Tigers, Chippenham Town, FC Calne and Devizes Town, who all played on 3G, also completed their games in good order.

Bradford Town champions of the Mid Wiltshire Veterans' Division

North Wiltshire Division

Whilst it was a full house in terms of fixtures played in the Mid Wiltshire Division this was not the case in the more difficult North Wiltshire Division where, despite all teams utilising hired 3G pitches for most of the season, seven games had to be decided by the Discipline Committee, with five of those involving the two Stratton Juniors sides who between them postponed ten games out of a total of 19 postponements in the division across the season. The postponed ratio at 18.1% was a lot lower than the Mid Wiltshire Division but the Rule 20 charges raised were more than double that in the Mid Wiltshire Division. The approach of fines and suspended points deductions was not really effective in getting games played in the division and consequently the proposal for next season is to revert back to the approach adopted in the Covid impacted seasons in the Vets’ divisions of awarding games where teams are unable to raise a side.

With teams being reluctant to travel to Green Lane for a 9pm kick-off, the facility at Devizes was only really used for cup games involving the North Division sides. With two additional sides set to join the division next season, Green Lane is going to have to be used for league fixtures in the North Division next season until the new facility being built at Moredon in Swindon becomes available,  although an earlier start, coupled with the use of grass pitches at the beginning and end of the season, as was the case this season, is planned in order to keep this to a minimum. A big thank you to Richard Austen at Cricklade Town for securing the use of Cirencester Town’s ground for their games which enabled the North Division to be concluded in May, without that we would probably still be playing games now.

The title race itself turned into a three-team battle between last season’s champions Redhouse, Cricklade Town and Royal Wootton Bassett Town. As noted earlier both Redhouse and Royal Wootton Bassett Town were to make cup finals, but both ended up as losing finalists to Melksham Town. The two sides would also miss out on the league title but, as with the Mid Wiltshire Division, the race went right to the end of the season with Cricklade Town finally securing the title following a 2-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the first week of May. This left Redhouse and Royal Wootton Bassett Town battling it out for runners-up spot with the two sides set to meet the following week. Redhouse were three points ahead when the two teams met but were playing their final game of the season. With Royal Wootton Bassett Town having a much superior goal difference and their final game scheduled to be against Blunsdon, a team they had defeated twice already during the season without conceding a goal, they knew that a win over Redhouse would effectively give them second spot. A draw would mean Redhouse would then need to rely on Blunsdon getting something out of that final game. It looked to be heading that way until a late goal for Royal Wootton Bassett Town saw them take the three points by the narrowest of margins completing a league double over last season's champions.

Congratulations to Cricklade Town on their title success to add to the League Cup they won the previous season. They lost just one game all season, that being an early season defeat to Chiseldon on grass in their second game of the season. After that they won all of their remaining 16 league games to finish nine points clear at the top. Well done also to Royal Wootton Bassett Town on securing runners-up and making the County Cup Final. Congratulations also to Redhouse for their part in an exciting title race and for also making that League Cup Final and going so close to lifting the cup, eventually losing narrowly in that enthralling penalty shootout.

Melksham Town Vets winners of both the Vets County Cup and Vets League Cup