There was exciting news coming out of Tuesday night’s Trowbridge Town Council meeting on as Trowbridge Town Football Club were awarded a grant of £65,000 for the purchase of floodlights at their Woodmarsh ground. This outcome is the culmination of the hard work, determination and perseverance of the club’s committee led by Chairman Andy Meaden to try and return the club to its former status as one of the leading names in Non-League football in the county of Wiltshire.
The provision of floodlights at the Woodmarsh ground will enable Trowbridge to be eligible for promotion to Step 6 of the National-League System should they finish in a promotion position in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. The provision of floodlights will also allow the club to enter a team in the Under 18 Floodlight Division of the Wiltshire Senior League benefitting the youth players within Trowbridge and mean that they don’t have to leave the town to play in a higher standard of youth football. At the other end of the age spectrum, it will also allow their Veteran’s side to play their games in the town rather than having to travel into Frome.
Back in the early 1980’s Trowbridge Town spent three seasons in the Alliance Premier Division, what is now the National League, the top division in Non-League football. Fourteen seasons were then spent in the Southern League until they were unfortunately forced to fold at the end of Season 1997-98. They had sold their ground at Frome Road for housing and were sharing with Bath City but then ran into financial difficulties causing the club to fold.
Trowbridge Town AFC, a new club, was formed in the summer of 1998 by a group of supporters in the town, who had been saddened by the demise of their club. The club entered into a partner arrangement with Trowbridge Town Youth to share their Woodmarsh facilities with the adult side playing in what was then the Intermediate Division of the Wiltshire Senior League. Within five years they had been crowned champions of the Premier Division of the Wiltshire Senior League and promoted to the Hellenic League (Step 6 of the National League System). They would spend eight seasons in the Hellenic League Division One West before being relegated back to the Wiltshire Senior League at the end of Season 2011-12. Since then they have remained in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, twice winning the league title but being unable to return to Step 6 of the National League System as floodlights were now a prerequisite to play at that level. This week’s news regarding the floodlight funding means that barrier to progress will be removed and if they once again are successful on the pitch there should not be any impediment to them climbing up the football pyramid. With new manager Wayne Thorne installed and a series of high-profile signings the prospects on the field are looking positive for Trowbridge returning to their former glories.
Well done to Chairman Andy Meaden, Club Secretary Kathy Crisp and the rest of the Trowbridge Town Committee on achieving this outcome. The following press release was issued by the club following the outcome of the Town Council meeting:
18 September 2024
