Corsham Print
Wiltshire Senior League
Former Clubs
West Swindon
Grounds
Mannington Recreation Ground, Swindon (1976-77 to 1979-80)
Drakes Way Playing Fields, Swindon (1979-80 to 1986-87)
Greendown School (1987-88 to 1989-90)
Gorse Hill Recreation Ground, Edinburgh Street, Swindon (1990-91 to 1991-92)
Greendown School, West Swindon (1991-92 to 1999-2000)
Ballards Ash, Wootton Bassett (2000-01 to 2004-5)

Seasons in League (Number and period)
29 Seasons (1976-77 to 2004-05)

Status
Folded

League & Cup Honours (when in WSL)
Ghia Junior Cup Runners-up 1985-86
Division 3 Runners-up 1988-89
Division 4 Runners-up 1990-91

Other Honours
Club Secretary’s Award 1984-85 (A.C. Fall)

Club Notes
A club with the name West Swindon were established in the 1890’s and played in the Swindon & District League. They were a successful side winning the Swindon & District league in Season 1895-96, also reaching the final of the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup, losing narrowly to holders Trowbridge Town 1-0. However, after the final had been played, the Wiltshire FA re-instated Swindon Town Reserves who had earlier been thrown out of the competition over a rule interpretation concerning ineligible players in one of the early rounds. The dispute had seen both the Football Association and the local County FA both getting involved. In the end West Swindon were then forced to play another semi-final against the re-instated Swindon Town Reserves, losing heavily. It appears a second final did not take place but following a proposal by both Swindon Town and Trowbridge Town the Wiltshire FA decided that the two clubs would be declared joint winners and share the cup, with West Swindon declared runners-up. That is why in the Wiltshire FA handbook for the entry for the 1895-96 Season you see joint cup holders listed and West Swindon listed as runners-up. Not the Wiltshire FA’s finest hour!

It appears that the West Swindon Club, like many of the era, folded for a period but a team bearing the name West Swindon were back in the Swindon & District League in the 1920’s but finding the top division difficult, finishing bottom in 1921-22 and finishing second from bottom the following season. At some stage during the decade this West Swindon side appear to have folded and it is not until the 1960’s that it has been possible to trace information on a side bearing the name West Swindon.

Season 1963-64 saw West Swindon win Division 2 of the Swindon & District league and follow that up the following season with the Division 1 title. With Highworth Town being such a dominant force in the 1960’s in the Swindon & District League there was to be no Premier Division title. When the Wiltshire Combination was established in Season 1968-69, West Swindon joined the old Wiltshire League playing in Division 1 of that league. A top half of the table finish in their first season in the league saw them finish in 7th place. The following season saw West Swindon battle it out with St Josephs for the title.  West Swindon remained a strong side in Division 1 of the old Wiltshire League challenging near the top of the table throughout the early 1970’s. West Swindon’s final two seasons in the league saw them finish in third place and then sixth place.

The establishment of the Wiltshire County League in Season 1976-77 saw West Swindon as a founder member and in that inaugural season they played in Junior Division A, finishing in 7th place which was good enough to see them in Division 3 for the second season of the league.

West Swindon were to spend the next 13 seasons in Division 3, generally finishing in the top half of the table. The first two seasons saw them finish 4th and then 5th in the table whilst the final two seasons of this period saw them challenging for league honours before looking to move up to Senior status. The introduction of the league cup from 1980-81 was another competition that West Swindon traditionally did well in during the 1980’s. Season 1984-85 saw them reach the semi-final of the Ghia Junior Cup and the following season they went one better making it all the way to the final. Unfortunately for West Swindon they came up against a strong Park Reserves side who defeated them 2-0.

They had another good cup run in Season 1988-89, reaching the semi-final again before losing to by a solitary goal against Wootton Bassett Town Reserves. In the league that season they achieved their highest position in Junior football, finishing as runners-up behind Walcot Athletic. Walcot again led the way in Division 3 the  following season but West Swindon were unable to repeat that second spot, finishing in third place behind Manor and just missing out on further honours. In the cup West Swindon again did well, reaching the quarter final stage.

On the back of the two top three finishes West Swindon sought to move up to Senior status for Season 1990-91 but issues with the proposed pitch just prior to the start of the season meant the scheduled step-up did not happen and they then found themselves in Division 4 of the league for the first time. Retaining most of their successful squad they challenged at the top of the Division, finishing as runners-up behind a Ramsbury side that lost just once all season.

Having made arrangements to share the pitch at Gorse Hill with Walcot Athletic to enable Senior status, Walcot having obtained Senior status at the end of the 1989-90 Season, West Swindon were again hit with pitch related issues.  The dry and hot summer of 1991 caused huge cracks to appear over almost all the pitch at Gorse Hill, which made this ground unplayable. Thamesdown Recreation Committee then decided to carry out a sand slitting exercise on the pitch. After they had completed the work, the pitch resembled the beach at Weston-Super-Mare after the tide had gone out, instead of a Senior ground on which to play football.  Eventually, after much wheeling and dealing, a pitch was found for West Swindon at Greendown School. The Wiltshire County FA then gave West Swindon special dispensation to play at the school ground until the end of the season. A similar arrangement was made for Walcot at another school ground. At the end of that season, which had seen West Swindon finish just above half-way in Division 2, they decided to remain at Greendown School with facilities upgraded to allow for Senior football. 

However, pitch issues struck the club once again ahead of Season 1992-93. The pitch at the school was sand slitted in the late summer and, as had been the case when the same was done at Gorse Hill the previous season, the pitch was deemed unplayable and unfortunately they were forced to withdraw from Senior football. This meant that Season 1991-92 would be the one and only season the club would play at Senior status. Their one and only outing in the Addkey Senior Cup had seen them carry over their good cup form from the Junior Cup, reaching yet another semi-final, before going down 2-1 to eventual winners Pewsey Vale.

The loss of Senior status was softened by the fact that West Swindon’s reserve side had finished in a promotion position in Season 1992-93 so it meant West Swindon were once again back in Division 3 rather than having to start again in Division 4. West Swindon were to spend the next three seasons in Division 3 but a poor season by their own high standards in Season 1995-96 saw them finish bottom of the table and relegated to Division 4, the first time the drop down had been due to performances on the pitch. 

Two fourth places finishes in Division 4 followed, as they just missed out on finishing in an allocated promotion place, but that second fourth place finish turned out to be good enough to see them return to what was the re-branded Junior Division 1 for Season 1998-99 as the impact of the introduction of the new Intermediate status filtered down to the two Junior divisions.

Season 1998-99 saw West Swindon again challenging for honours, in the end finishing just one point below runners-up Malmesbury Victoria Reserves. The following season saw the Junior Division 1 suffer two withdrawals after the season had started, with both Mitel Reserves and Shaw departing, meaning a division of just nine teams. West Swindon did not have such a successful season and finished in sixth place. There was once again just nine sides in Junior Division 1 in Season 2000-01 and with only nine in Junior Division 2 as well, both divisions’ fixtures involved sides playing each other three times. It was another season of struggle for West Swindon though as they finished second from bottom.

The following season the league amalgamated the two Junior divisions into one large division of 18 teams but again for West Swindon it would be a season to forget as they won just four of their 34 games to finish bottom of the table. A better season followed in Season 2002-03 as they finished in 10th spot in a division of 17 teams and made the Junior Cup quarter-finals, losing on penalties against eventual winners Cricklade Town Reserves. With the ending of Intermediate status the league reverted back to two Junior divisions in 2003-4  and the 10th place finish the previous season meant West Swindon were placed in Junior Division 2 where they were to achieve a top half finish in 7th spot.

As a result of an influx of new sides, the following season saw them back in the top Junior Division 1 but Season 2004-05 was to be their final completed season in the league, finishing in 13th place in a division of 16 teams. However, their strong form in the league cup competitions was once again evident in this final season as they made their sixth semi-final during their time in the league, knocking out Minety, Lower Stratton and AFC Abbey Rodbourne to make the last four. There was not to be a happy ending though as they lost 4-1 in that semi-final to eventual winners County Ground. This was to be their last season in the league and the club subsequently folded after just over 800 games in the league.

Team Record
West Swindon FC Early 1990's (picture courtesy of Derek Edgington)
West Swindon FC 1998-99 (picture courtesy of Derek Edgington)
West Swindon FC 2000's (picture courtesy of Kenny Campbell)
A sample of West Swindon line-ups from programmes from the 1990's (93-94, 94-95, 95-96, 96-97, 98-99 & 99-2000)
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