Corsham Print
Wiltshire Senior League
Former Clubs
Avon Bradford
Ground
Bradford on Avon Sports & Social Club, Trowbridge Road, BA15 1EX

Seasons in League (Number and period)
7 Seasons (1976-77 to 1982-83)

Status
Club Folded

League & Cup Honours (when in WSL)
Wiltshire Senior Cup Runners-up 1977-78

Club Notes
Avon Bradford started life in 1913 as Spencer Moulton, the Sports Section of George Spencer & Moulton Co Ltd who were based at Kingston Mill, Bradford on Avon. The company later became part of Avon Rubber. They entered the then Wiltshire League, joining Bradford Town who were founder members of that league. It was Bradford Town who finished higher that season, finishing third whilst Spencer Moulton were back in 9th place, but Spencer Moulton did manage to beat their near neighbours 3-2.

Whilst Spencer Moulton returned to the Wiltshire League after the end of World War I, Bradford Town initially did not. The early 1920’s saw two third place finishes but in Season 1925-26 they opted to join the Somerset Senior League where they remained for two seasons finishing in 5th and 7th spot. 

Season 1927-28 saw them return to Division 1 of the Wiltshire League where they were to remain until the outbreak of World War II, their highest league placing being a third-place finish in Season 1930-31.

After the hostilities had ended Spencer Moulton returned to the Wiltshire league and again finished in third place in the second season after the war, Season 1946-47. Whilst they remained in Division 1, this was to be their highest placed finish in the period until the Wiltshire Premier League was established in 1956-57.

Spencer Moulton were members of the Premier Division which featured many of the top sides in the county but struggled, finishing bottom of the table for four consecutive seasons, eventually being relegated to the Wiltshire League Division 1. The early 1960s saw them struggle finishing bottom of the table on at least three occasions. However, a fourth-place position in Season 1965-66 was enough to see them promoted back to the Premier Division, where they remained until the formation of the Wiltshire Combination.

The establishment of the new Combination saw Spencer Moulton as a founder member of the new league’s top Division. A 10th place finish in 1968-69 was followed by a second from bottom finish in 1969-70 and they were relegated to Division 2 of the Wiltshire Combination. Spencer Moulton finished in 6th place in Division 2 in 1970-71. 

By the start of Season 1971-72 the club had changed its name to Avon Bradford, recognising the takeover of George Spencer & Moulton Co Ltd by Avon Rubber back in 1956. Following a runners-up spot behind Old Manor in the Wiltshire Combination second division, Avon Bradford elected to join the Western League for Season 1972-73, rather than move back up to top division of the Combination, where they were to remain for just two seasons. They finished third from bottom in their first season in the Western league but dropped another place in an enlarged division the following season and were then forced to leave the league in controversial circumstances as they failed to gain re-election at a league meeting, the first club to suffer this fate, even though they finished above fellow Wiltshire side Chippenham Town and new sides were joining the league.

They returned to the Wiltshire Combination in Season 1974-75 and were back in the top division in the final season before the formation of the Wiltshire County League, but had another tough season finishing second from bottom. 

Despite their lowly position in the final season of the Wiltshire Combination they started in Division 1 of the new Wiltshire County League in the league’s inaugural season. Indeed, all seven seasons they would remain in the league would be in Division 1. After an 11th place finish in that first season of the league they improved on that the following season, achieving a 9th place finish, just below half-way. However, the highlight of this season was Avon Bradford making the final of the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup for the first and only time in the club’s history. On the way to the final they saw off three Swindon sides, Ferndale Athletic, Sanford and Garrad, the latter at the semi-final stage, and also defeated Warminster Town in the quarter final. In the final they met Melksham Town and in a tight affair at Devizes Town it finished 1-1. The replay was staged at Trowbridge Town’s ground but there was to be no happy ending for Avon Bradford as they went down 3-0 in the replay.

The next four seasons were to see them remain in the bottom half of the table with some of their better performances again coming in the Wiltshire Senior Cup. Season 1978-79 saw them make the quarter final stage and in Season 1980-81 they went one stage further losing at the semi-final stage to eventual winners Downton. They finished that season in 11th spot and improved on that by one place the following season.

Season 1982-83 was to be the highlight of the time in the Wiltshire County League. In the league they secured a top four finish behind champions Penhill YC, Avebury and Bemerton Athletic. They also again made the semi-final of the Wiltshire Senior Cup knocking out Terry Warner Pinehurst, Calne Town and Amesbury. Once again they were knocked out at the semi-final stage by the eventual winners, this time Penhill YC inflicting a 2-0 defeat on Avon Bradford.

At the end of the season they elected to join the Hellenic League being placed in the Premier Division of that league, their reserve side initially also left but returned in 1986-87 and remained in the Wiltshire County League until the end of the 1987-88 season.  A tough first season saw them finish second from bottom and they were relegated to Division One. Their first season in Division One saw a mid-table finish but it was to be downhill from there. Season 1985-86 saw them finish fourth from bottom, but the two following seasons’ saw them finish at the bottom, the second of those seeing them some nine points adrift of the two sides above them. That season 1987-88 was to be their last in the Hellenic League and their last in Senior football as they withdrew from the Hellenic League.

The side re-grouped in the Trowbridge & District League where their reserves were in Division 3 of that league having pulled out of the Wiltshire League just before the start of Season 1988-89. They secured the Division 3 league title in that first season and also beat Dowty New Mendip Reserves in the final of the Spring Cup. There were further honours in Season 1991-92 when they pipped The Deverills to the Division 2 league title by one point to reach the top division in the Trowbridge & District league. Season 1996-97 was to prove a very tough season for the club as they finished bottom of Division 1 of the Trowbridge & District league, winning just one of their twenty-four league games but they were not relegated at the end of that season. An improvement the following season saw them finish in 9th spot in the table, but Avon Bradford subsequently folded before the decade had ended.

Western league side Bradford Town now play on the old Spencer Moulton/Avon Bradford ground having been formed in 1992 when Senior football was brought back to Bradford-on-Avon.

Team Record
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