Somerton Town FC -Somerton Sports Club

Somerton Town FC

Somerton Sports Club

Gasson's Lane

Somerton 

Somerset

TA11 6HS

Official Site (archive)

Somerton Town - FA Full Time

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Ground Number: 1194

Saturday 3rd June 2023
Evercreech Sports 1-3 St Crispins
Yeovil & District League D1 Cup Final

SOMERTON TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

As with many teams at this level, information is scant on the history of Somerton Town FC.  I couldn't even find a formation date but the earliest record I can find is of Somerton Sports winning the Yeovil & District League Division 1. Somerton won the 2015 Yeovil & District Premier Division, after which they joined the Somerset County League. They won Division 2 East in their first season, winning promotion to Division 1 West. In 2018, they were runners-up to Worle, missing out on promotion by a single point. Their best finish since has been this season as they finished third behind Uphill Castle and Wrington Redhill. The club badge features the Market Cross, the town's most famous landmark.

Somerton was briefly the county town of Somerset in the 14th century and has a population of around 4,700. It is around 9 miles from the larger town of Yeovil. Like much of the area, glove-making was a major industry in the town in the early nineteenth century, along with the production of rope and twine. Somerton was hit by four Luftwaffe bombs on the morning of 29 September 1942 during the Second World War. The bombs were aimed at the Cow and Gate milk factory and it was largely destroyed. Ten nearby houses were badly damaged. Nine people were killed and thirty-seven were injured. A memorial at the dairy site commemorates those killed. A weekly market has been held in Somerton for much of its history. The cloth industry dominated the town's market from the 17th century until the 20th century when agriculture took over as the leading industry. Some light industries and services, such as garage repair, physiotherapy, water treatment, and builders and decorators, are located in the business park on Bancombe Road.

MY VISIT

With the season coming to an end, options were drying up. Yet another train strike meant that a couple of options were unviable and so I thought that it would be a revisit to Chipperfield Corinthians. But then fellow hopper Dan offered me the chance to go with him in the car to the Yeovil & District League Division 1 Cup Final at Somerton Town. This was about my only chance of a new ground so I was keen. Further research found that it was a pleasant town to visit with a decent-looking micropub and chippy. There was also a planned farm shop stop en route which was another bonus.

Originally, I'd been planning on doing a game in midweek at Croxley Green. However, they changed their venue from their usual home ground, so I stayed in instead. Wednesday saw Colin pull out of the trip to go to cricket instead. This meant that after going back on his word, it would cost everyone extra but we all figured it was still worth it. The rest of the week was tougher. I wasn't planning on having a drink until Saturday but Friday was a bit of a slog. A packed store full of shrieking kids and a very busy workload was not what I wanted. So a sensible couple of drinks were had on Friday night as I put the legwork into this blog.

 I had a rubbish night's sleep, only getting to sleep after 2 am and awake at 6. I got up and had breakfast and a freshen-up. I left at 7.40 and wanted to get cash out just in case. However, the two cash machines that I tried were knackered. Luckily, when I arrived at Tesco Express in Rickmansworth at 8.15, there was a working one. Dan turned up a few minutes later and we were on our way. It was a jovial journey with a good catch up with mates. As a passenger, it was good to be able to observe life going on. I was amazed by the amount of drivers still daft enough to use their phone whilst driving, given the consequences and ease of getting a hands free. Mind you, working in retail, the stupidity of people is par for the course. The journey gave me the chance to carry on with with my CM9798 game and as well as climbing the league a few places with Rushden & Diamonds, I secured the scalps of Everton & Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup. There really is no better game in my opinion.

There was a slowdown on the A303 whilst empty headed vessels slowed down to look at some fly-tipped rocks near Stonehenge. At least it made a change from the ghouls who rubber-neck at road accidents I guess. It got quicker after that and soon enough, we were at a couple of places spotted by driver Dan. King Brain Cider was a real highlight and I gpt 2.5 litres of their dry cider, plus seven bottles. It was in the middle of nowehere but the guy was super friendly and the cider excellent. Not far from that was Teals Fram Shop. This was not as good but still decent. I got a cookie, a scotch egg, some Spanish crisps and two further bottles of cider. In a great mood, we headed on to Somerton. Life was coming at me fast and I was struggling to find enough time. The town of Somerton was beatiful, but yet again, I was let down by ID Mobile's abysmal mobile internet. I was running short of time now, so only had the one pint at a lovely pub called the Etsome Arms. A pint of Bere's Goldrush was a tad sweet but nice and refreshing. From there, it was on to the adjacent Offy which yileded another three new ciders. Then, it was Tony's Chippy, faggot, gravy and chips before I headed to the ground.

Looking at the table, Evercerch finished in a modest 7th place whilst St Crispins came 3rd. In the league, St Cripins won 4-0 in their home game whilst the sides drew 1-1 at Evercrech. To get to the final, Evercrech had won 2-0 at Wyndham Athletic and 3-1 at Team Gryphon. St Cripins had beaten RLS 1-0 before being awarded the game against Bruton United as their opponents were unable to raise a side. Evercreech had travelled 14 miles to today's final and were established as recently as 2021. St Crispins were a year younger and were based in Butleigh, some six miles away. Evercreech took the lead after a couple of minutes, a low shot from the edge of the area to lead 1-0. They had the better of the game but it was all square when Crispins bundled in from close range in the second half. On 79 minutes, a huge long ball forward by the St Cripins keeper was headed on over the Evercreech keeper to give them the lead. In the last minute or so, the game was sealed. Another lob over the keeper, this time from considerably closer.

It had been quite the turnout and an impressive attendance of 198, this for a game in the tenth tier of non league or 14th level of English Football. It took a while for the trophy lift, but in the meantime, supporters were allowed to handle and lift the cup before the players did. Somerton Town was a great place with £2 pints of Hecks cider. Fellown hopper George had joined us  and provided great company. From the ground, we headed imto town for a bit of a look. It really was a peaceful and lovely place, suprisingly free of cars. The dodgy roads and gawpers delayed us near Stonehenge on the way home but the plan was to get back and walk down town and back. Or of I couldn't be arsed, I had plenty to do at home. A computer error wiped out some of my earlier achievements in game, it seemed to be a sign of what was to come tomorrow on the worst shift of the week at work.

THE GROUND

SOMERTON SPORTS CLUB is a lovely venue to watch football. The pitch is fully railed and is a decent, if sloped surface. The bar is superb, offering a good range of beer and cider, all at good prices. THere is also a decent-sized car park. Further afield is a very pleasant town with a range of pubs and food places