A HISTORY OF BODMIN TOWN FOOBALL CLUB
31 Oct 2009

The Club was founded in 1889 by W.M. Pethybridge and C.H. Bray, therefore had the distinction of sharing its centenary year with the C.C.F.A. As well as being co-founder of the club, Mr Pethybridge also played for Bodmin Town, mainly at centre-half. In later years he continued his association with the club, becoming a Vice-president. Between 1891 and 1898 he played for the County and captained the side in 1895. Although known as a centre-half, he played in every position except goalkeeper for Cornwall.

Bodmin played originally at Cooksland, off the Liskeard road, then moved to Coldharbour Lane, Barn Park, back to Cooksland, then Westheath and finally to Priory Park.
Following the 1914/18 war, the club played in junior football. After being runners-up in the Junior Cup (Eastern Section) in 1921, the club was granted senior status. In 1922/23 they were runners-up in the Senior Cup, also Champions of the Bodmin & District (Senior) League, repeating the latter again in 1926/27.

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century the club joined forces with the 'barracks' side, playing in white shirts with the nickname the "Lilywhites". The club adopted its familiar black & amber colours in 1925, starting off in stripes, changing to a quartered shirt, then reverted back to a striped kit before adopting the present amber shirt with black piping.

After the 1939/45 war, the club again played in junior football and were runners up in the Junior Cup and Bodmin & District League in 1947/48. Following this success they were once more promoted to senior status. In 1948/49 the club had five County players: G.L. Cocks, R.P. Hylatt, A.R. Smith, E.M. Harper, and J.A. Walton, the latter also an England player.

In 1953/54 the club joined the South Western League, which had been formed two years earlier. After a slow start, the club began to establish itself, finishing 5th in 1955/56, then 4th in 1958/59. Three years in the bottom half followed before the club withdrew from the South Western League, to play in the East Cornwall Premier League. In 1969/70 the club rejoined the SWL where it has remained to this day, over 30 years of continuous membership.

The club enjoyed reasonable success in the early to mid 1970's, mainly under the management of Johnny Williams followed by Bobby Baxter, then went through a lean spell until the mid 1980's when the club appointed Ricky Cardew, who had played for the club in the mid to late 1970's. In a 12 year period the club won every Senior honour in local football, two SWL championships, 2 League Cup victories, 3 Charity Cup wins, a Cornwall Senior Cup win and an excellent run in the F.A. Vase, reaching the fourth round (last 32) in 1997/98. The Club had its best season to date in 1993/94 with its first League & League Cup ‘double’ as well as reaching the final of the Cornwall Senior Cup.

During the 1990's the club were fortunate to host several attractive friendlies. First Division (now Premiership) Queens Park Rangers, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday have been followed by Sheffield United who have visited Priory at the start of the last three seasons. All these top sides have been impressed with the club's set-up, which are among the best in the South West.

Following the departure from the club of Ricky Cardew in September 1999, the club introduced a youth policy with Sean Hooper taking over as manager. The much-changed side finished in a mid-table position.

In 2000/2001 the side struggled from the start and had to apply for re-election for the first time in 16 years. This being successful, a few experienced players signed for the 2001/2002 season to support the younger players. After a good start the side lost one or two players which affected the team's subsequent performances. October 2001 saw Sean Hooper leave the club, with Steve Trotman taking temporary charge before handing over control to former Bodmin Town goalkeeper, Paul Hicks. The good form of earlier in the season returned to the squad and the side climbed steadily up the table, only to lose consistency and end the season in a mid table position.

The 2002/2003 season saw three changes of manager and numerous players come and go, the Club ending the season in last place, having to apply for re-election for the second time in three seasons. With the application being successful, the club went for experience, appointing the former Porthleven manager, Alan Carey for the 2003/04 season in the hope of returning the club to being one of the top sides in Cornwall.

From the start of the new season it was clear that the side was capable of challenging for honours, and with an unbeaten run of 23 league matches led the table for most of the season, but a spell of three league defeats in four matches gave the lead back to their rivals. Despite regaining their form, the team had to settle for runners-up. Although disappointing at the time, this was the best league position for the club in nine seasons. In addition the team reached the semi-finals of the Carlsberg South Western League Cup as well as the quarter finals of both the Cornwall Senior and Charity cups.. The club also had the honour of having several players picked for both the SWL and Cornwall sides, for the first time in several seasons, the latter winning the SW Counties Championship for the first time in the history of the competition.

The 2004/05 season proved similar to the previous one, with the Club finishing as runners-up in the Carlsberg South Western League again. Although the League Cup and Charity Cup ended disappointingly early, the final of the Cornwall Senior Cup was reached for the first time in six seasons. Also the team had an excellent run in the FA Carlsberg Vase reaching the fourth round, which equaled the Club’s best performance in the competition.

Roger Fice joined the management team for the 2005/06 season, Achieving a League and League Cup ’double’ for the first time in 12 years gave Alan Carey his first League Championship, after so many near misses. In addition the side also reached the finals of both the Cornwall Senior and Charity Cups, making the 2005/06 season the best up to that point in Bodmin Town’s long history. The Club also entered the F.A. Cup for the first time and had two excellent matches. Exempted to the second round of the F.A. Vase, the team had two excellent matches, the second being away to Sudbury in Suffolk, who had reached the final for the previous three seasons. The side put in a great performance before going down to a narrow defeat. With a ‘double’ and two cup finals to celebrate at the end of the season, the partying went on until the Club’s annual dinner at the end of May.

The 2006/07 season was expected to be very closely fought, but no one could have predicted just how tight the battle for the final South Western League title would turn out to be. An early exit from the League Cup, the FA Cup and the FA Vase left Bodmin Town to concentrate on retaining the League title. This began well, staying undefeated until mid October when a surprise defeat ended the excellent start, but a run of thirteen unbeaten league matches, kept the side near the top of the table. A disappointing loss in the quarter final of the Senior Cup meant the Cornwall Charity Cup was the only cup competition remaining. Reaching the final, again against St Blazey, we lost out in a penalty shoot-out by 10-11. With the league drawing to a dramatic climax all sides had jittery spells. However, on the final day we still had a chance to retain the Championship, having to beat Liskeard and rely on other results. Our last match ended in a draw and we finished in fourth place, just three points behind the eventual League Champions.

For the start of the new campaign the Club had a new Assistant Manager in Darren Gilbert who had stepped up to the position following Roger Fice’s resignation midway through the previous season. With his great experience Darren would surely be a great asset to the Club and Manager Alan Carey. An inconsistent start to life in the newly established Carlsberg South West Peninsula League saw two defeats in the first four League games. However, we reached the 1st qualifying round of the FA Cup, playing Southern League Premier Division side Team Bath. The team put in an excellent performance, only to concede two late goals. The FA Vase ended disappointingly, with defeat in the 2nd qualifying round. Following a disappointing loss at home to Tavistock at the end of October, the team started on a remarkable sequence of results, which saw just one more defeat in all matches in the remainder of the season, that being in the Cornwall Senior Cup semi-final against Saltash United, and only then after extra time. This incredible run saw the team go 25 League matches unbeaten, which included 17 straight wins in all competitions. The League title was won with two matches to spare and by a clear 10 points. This was followed by victory in the Throgmorton Cup Final to give the Club its second ‘double’ in five seasons. To cap this, the Cornwall Charity Cup was also won, the first ‘treble’ achieved by the Club.

The new season could have been a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s Show’, especially as it is always more difficult to retain a Championship than to win it in the first instance. However, despite numerous setbacks 2008/09 ended in magnificent triumph for Bodmin Town Football Club. Although there were early exits from both the F.A. Cup and Vase competitions, added to the resignation of Manager Alan Carey in early October, the squad of players just got stronger as the season progressed. Darren Gilbert stepped up from Assistant Manager to take over the reigns, with his first match only days after his appointment. With that match successfully negotiated, he began to put his mark on the team. He made several excellent signings in his first few weeks, most notably Steve Colwell, Lewis Reed and Brinton Nute, all of whom made a tremendous contribution to the side. The fact that the squad stayed together, despite several tempting offers, is of great credit to Darren and all of the players. There were a few setbacks along the way, firstly the departure of Sean Flynn, a month later a serious injury to Steve Ovens kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. Early in the New Year Brinton Nute suffered an injury which prevented him from playing any further part, finally the absence of Leigh Underhay for almost the whole season, all made Darren’s job that more difficult. Some good news came with the return of Craig Swiggs after 18 months out, following a serious injury on the final day of the 2006/07 season. In the subsequent matches Craig returned to full fitness and before the season ended was playing as well as he did before his injury. On the pitch the team just kept on winning with 13 consecutive League victories. The only setback in that time was defeat to Truro City in the Senior Cup, although the team successfully reached the semi-finals of the Throgmorton Cup after two excellent wins. The winning League run was ended at home to Torpoint after which the side went another 15 League games undefeated, during which the final of the Throgmorton Cup was reached. With five matches still to play Darren’s side retained the Tristan Scott Championship Trophy and after extra time in the Throgmorton Cup final, against Ivybridge at Saltash his side achieved something no other Bodmin Town side has done, two successive League and Cup doubles. Despite losing the final two League games, both away, the first of which was the first away defeat since August 2007, 2008/09 will go down arguably, given all the circumstances, as Bodmin Town’s best ever (to date)! Congratulations to Darren and his squad for a magnificent season.