You are here: Home arrow Club History
Club History PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Thursday, 05 June 2008
Rovers were formed in 1881 and first joined the Western League in 1900. Since that time they have had five spells in the League albeit on three occasions they were only missing for one or two seasons. In that time they have never won the League although they have been consistently one of the better sides. Their best ever position was finishing in fourth place four years ago.

They have however won the Somerset Senior Cup on twelve occasions, and the Somerset Senior League seven times, the last being in 1974, when they were re-admitted to the Western League after an absence of fourteen years.

Although records are scarce, their best attendance is believed to be 2,000, which saw them take on Crewe Alexandra in the FA Cup in 1906.

Its not known exactly how long Rovers have played at Winterfield Road. Certainly since its formation several grounds have been used including the Chapel Field, and the Cricket Ground, and for a couple of seasons after the War, the Recreation Ground in the village.

Aerial View of the clubThe ground as it is now began to take shape in 1967, when the Club bought an old RAF hut, re-erected it on the ground, and were granted a licence. Soon plans were drawn up to obtain a mortgage to fund the building of bigger premises, which included a skittle alley. To achieve this the pitch was turned round 90 degrees to its present position and the Club House was built roughly where one of the penalty areas was before.

A new changing room block was built behind the old covered enclosure near the half way line in 1972, and the Club was further extended. In recent years the premises and stadium have been improved immensely, with the addition of a stand, and covered terracing, training facilities also included a floodlit court, and there are two mini soccer pitches for the young teams in the village.

Improvements to the Stadium have been made over the past few seasons to originally facilitate Southern League standards. There are two stands, covering on three sides and a further pitch used by feeder teams.

The social club is now the premier venue for many social occasions within the local community.

In July 2005 Andy Jones stepped up from Reserve Team Manager to succeed Darren Perrin as First Team Manager. The 2006/7 was the most successful in the club's history finishing runners up in the British Gas Business League South & West Division One. “Joner’s” team narrowly missed out on the play offs in the 2007/8 campaign although they were still in the hunt right up to the final game of the season They also made their first ever appearance in the Somerset Premier Cup Final and held, Blue Square side, Bath City going into extra time when the floodlights failed. The replay saw them go down 3-0.

The Reserves compete in the Somerset County First Division under the guidance of Mark Evans assisted by John Harvey and the Youth team compete in the Somerset Floodlight Youth League First Division, managed by David Neal.  Feeder teams provide football for under 8's to under 16's.

The Sunday side was originally called ‘Paulton Milan’ however at the start of the 2006/2007 season they became affiliated to Paulton Rovers.  They play in the Frome District Sunday league Division Two, and have reached two League KO Cup Finals in recent seasons.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 August 2008 )