Action from last season's game between Devizes Town & Chippenham Town (Picture courtesy of David Giles)

The fifth season of Veterans football in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League kicks off this week, an earlier start than previous seasons due to each division having now increased to 12 teams. Towards the end of last season, when it became clear that we were going to have additional teams for Season 2023-24, we circulated all clubs to ask if they’d prefer three Divisions of eight or two Divisions of 12.   It was stated that an earlier start would be necessary for two larger Divisions. The overwhelming response from the clubs was to go with two Divisions of 12 hence the earlier start.

With many clubs using the own grounds in the Mid Wiltshire Division there should not be an issue in completing the season on time in that division. The North Wiltshire Division on the other hand, with just two hired venues available around Swindon and just one club having use of a ground on a regular basis, it potentially going to be problematic to complete on time with a division of 12. A few weeks ago it seemed that another venue had been secured in Swindon at Kingsdown School, and fixtures were scheduled for the whole season with all games set to be completed by the early May deadline date. This meant limited need to send teams to Green Lane, Devizes, an understandably unpopular venue for the Swindon based sides given the distance involved and a very late kick-off time. However, unfortunately, that additional venue at Kingsdown School has fallen through and we are back to just having one slot at New College and one slot at the Gerard Buxton Ground, with Cricklade Town able to play their games at Cirencester Town. As a result of not securing that slot at Kingsdown the fixtures in the North Wiltshire Division will need to be overhauled. Some of the early season fixtures in August have already been switched to grass pitches but the fixtures will need major surgery from September onwards for games involving Blunsdon who we had hoped would be able to utilise Kingsdown.

There is now a desperate need to try and locate an additional venue in and around Swindon as some of the slots at Green Lane that could have been used for the North Wiltshire Division have now been taken up by Westbury United who had made the decision to move away from using Meadow Lane given the number of postponed games last season. Despite Westbury's use of Green Lane, more North Wiltshire Division games will still need to be scheduled at Green Lane than would have been the case unless another venue or an additional slot at an existing venue can be secured.

The first round of fixtures in the North Wiltshire Division this week sees defending champions Cricklade Town without a game as scheduled opponents Coate, one of three new sides in the division, have an overseas wedding in the camp.  Cricklade, who already had a large and strong squad, including the prolific TJ Bohane who scored 31 goals last season, have added more quality to the side with Jonny Davoille, still playing for Wroughton in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, one of their new signings. The relaxation of the rules around eligibility made at the AGM, allowing players who play on a Saturday in our Premier Division to play in the Vets, will see a number of players taking part in both categories this season and hopefully assist with teams fielding sides in all divisions. When they do get to play, new side Coate include Paul Stonehouse who last season was the top scorer for Swindon Old Boys in their squad for the coming season.

With the lighter evenings at the start of the season the opportunity has been taken to stage games on grass pitches in the Swindon area and the North Division gets underway Monday night when Stratton Juniors entertain one of the other new sides to the division Penhill United at Meadowcroft. Stratton Juniors, after last season’s issues with postponed games, have reverted to just the one side this season. Manager Alun Rossiter will be pleased that he has retained the services of Vince McMackin who has been Stratton’s top scorer in every one of the five seasons that Stratton have been in the Veterans’ league. Penhill include in their squad the current and previous manager of Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League Premier Division side Wroughton, with both Chris Flanagan and Ben Jarrett set to play for them this season.

The third new side to the division is Nomads who include a sizeable number who were part of the Bassett Bulldogs side that played one season in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League back in Season 2017-18. With many having played for the Youth Section of Wootton Bassett Town in the distant past, they ironically start their season against Royal Wootton Bassett Town on Wednesday at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. Royal Wootton Bassett Town finished as runners-up last season, also making the County Cup Final, and will be hoping to go one better this season and lift their first league title having been a member of the league since the formation of the Veterans’ division.

The top match of the opening round of fixtures sees Redhouse, champions two seasons ago, and who finished third last season, as well as making the final of the Veterans’ League Cup, up against the side who finished just below them in their inaugural season in the league, Chiseldon. Redhouse manager Darren Grace has retained all the key players from the past two seasons and his side are once again expected to be challenging for honours at the top of the table. It is a similar story at Chiseldon who will once again will have onboard goal machine Richie Miles, who scored 29 times last season, having also hit 24 the season before when playing for Priory Vale.

AFC Swindon have been members of the league for four seasons now and prior to last season had won just once in 36 games. Last season saw a big improvement with the side winning three games to avoid finishing at the bottom of the table for the first time. They will hope to continue this improvement this coming season. They start their campaign on Tuesday night against another of the clubs who have been members for four seasons, Swindon Rovers. Rovers look to have a similar squad to last season when they finished just below the half way mark in the table.

The final two sides in the North Wiltshire Division are Blunsdon and Swindon Old Boys who meet at Sutton Park on Wednesday night. Blunsdon are under new management with Jamie Saunders taking over from Ian Rosewell who will now concentrate solely on the club’s Premier Division side. Swindon Old Boys had a good season in 2022-23 finishing fifth, just three points behind Chiseldon and will be hoping to continue their upward trajectory this coming season, having been seventh in their first season in the league. Blunsdon started well last season losing just one of their opening five games but results declined after Christmas, with just three wins in 14 games in 2023 and they will be hoping for a much more consistent season this time round.

The Mid Wiltshire Division last season was once again a very competitive division. The title race 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. The previous season’s champions Melksham Town led the way from the start of the season and would go unbeaten in all competitions until May the 1st. 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.  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.

Looking forward to the current season the same teams are expected to feature heavily in the title race. Champions Bradford Town open their defence of the title at home to Chippenham Town tomorrow night and have retained all of the key players from last season including Mark Robinson, Nicholas Ross and David Percival who scored 68 goals between them last season. Last season Bradford Town did a league double over Chippenham and will start favourites to get their season off to a winning start.

Mark Robinson seen in action here for Trowbridge Town is back for Bradford Town (picture courtesy of Gary Caldicott)

Runners-up Melksham Town also start the campaign at home when they entertain Amesbury Junior Badgers who finished bottom of the table last season. Whilst Melksham should get their season off to a winning start, they will be conscious that the last time the sides met it was decided by a solitary goal in Melksham’s favour on a bitterly cold night. Melksham have strengthened their squad with Luke Ballinger signed for the upcoming season. Amesbury will be aiming for a better season this time round after two seasons at the foot of the table.

The opening night of the season sees one of the two new sides to the division, Durrington, in action when they entertain Trowbridge Town Tigers at Bulford. Durrington are something of an unknown quantity and it will be interesting to see how they get on in their opening four games, where they avoid having to play any of last season’s leading sides. Trowbridge have Clifford Sakyi, who has been their top scorer for four consecutive seasons, back to lead the line.

Tuesday night sees Westbury United open their campaign at Green Lane with a visit from Calne Town, the FC Calne side of recent seasons now coming under the Calne Town umbrella. Last season’s two meetings were close affairs both settled by single goal margins, with each side winning their respective home games. Westbury will be hoping that trend continues on Tuesday night.

The game between the other new side, Warminster Town and Radstock Town has been re-scheduled to a free night in October, the two clubs having agreed the revised date. Warminster will be playing all their home games on a Friday night this season and again, like Durrington, will be something of an unknown quantity. Radstock Town finished second from bottom last season and whilst they were tight at the back, conceding just 32 in their 18 league games they found goals hard to come by at the other end, netting just seven times in those 18 games. They will be hoping for a much-improved season in front of goal this time round.

The other two sides, Corsham Town and Devizes Town are once again expected to be involved in the battle for honours at the top end of the table. Devizes have returned to playing games at their Nursteed Road ground, although may still look to utilise Green Lane in the winter months if slots are available. Corsham Town have had a change of manager with Chris Jones, who steered them to the league title in Season 2020-21, returning to the hot seat after one season away. Corsham welcome back top scorer Steve Tweddle who helped himself to 20 goals last season. At the time of writing it is unclear whether Devizes top scorer from last season Rhys Schell is set to return to Nursteed Road.

Steve Tweedle who is back at Corsham Town for another season (picture courtesy of David Giles)

As noted above the action gets underway tomorrow night as the Veterans’ category continues to grow in popularity but is in desperate need of some new facilities in the North of the county to be able to continue that growth and also allow for an older Veterans category to be established.

Last Season's Results & League Table

Opening Week Fixtures