Collumpton Rangers - Speeds Meadow

Cullompton Rangers FC

Speeds Meadow

Duke Street

Cullompton

Devon

EX15 1DW

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1516

Saturday 14th February 2026

Cullompton Rangers 5-0 Newton Abbot Spurs

SWP East

CULLOMPTON RANGERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1945 and initially played in the East Devon Victory League, before joining the Exeter & District League. They were Division 1 champions in 1960, earning promotion to the Premier Division. After finishing as Premier Division runners-up in their first season, they went on to win the league title in 1962 and 1964. However, they were relegated after finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 1967. After another relegation, the club were Division 2 champions in 1973 and won Division 1 again in 1979, earning promotion back to the Premier Division of the renamed Devon & Exeter League. They made the step up to the Devon League in 1992. Although findimg the going tough at times, they finished as runners-up in 1998 and 1999. In 2007, they were founder members of the South West Peninsula League, first in the Premier Division and, latterly, in the East Division. They enjoyed their record finish of 4th last season.

Cullompton Rangers' only FA Cup appearance came in 2009, when they fell at the first hurdle, losing 5-1 to Gillingham Town. The FA Vase 2nd Round has been reached three times. Local cup honours include the Devon Premier Cup in 1999 and the East Devon Senior Cup in 1994. Links with Wycombe Wanderers include Craig Woodman, who made 119 appearances for us between 2007 & 2010 and is still plying his trade for Cullompton at the grand old age of 43. Other notable names to play for them include former Birmingham City player Scott Hiley and Adam Stansfield, who started his career with the club but sadly passed away in 2010 whilst playing for Exeter City. The town of Cullompton is located in Devon, around 13 miles from Exeter. It has a population of around 10,000.

 

MY VISIT

Exeter had long been a part of the country I had wanted to explore, but I had been put off due to the ludicrously high price of train tickets. The cheapest it could be done for was around £70, and that was with taking specific trains with specific splits. Though the Great British Rail Sale was not as productive as in 2025, I was able to snag a pair of £10 singles from London Waterloo for this Saturday. It was a bit slower and more clunky than I would have liked, but for that price, I couldn't complain. It was annoying that I couldn't go from Reading, as that meant I could leave the car at home, but those tickets were far more expensive. I could potentially go back to Wycombe and catch a taxi from there, but the plan was to go back to Amersham and drive home, which would restrict my pub-going a bit. There were tons of pubs I fancied, but at the time of booking, I had six weeks to make a decision. As for the games, Cullompton Rangers was the overwhelming favourite, with Bovey Tracey also a contender. I also had eight others in lower leagues, though none on 3G at the time of my initial research. I was even considering accepting the loss of the £20 spent on train tickets, after a string of wet weather.

From my game at Kenilworth, I listened to and watched the Mansfield Town v Wycombe Wanderers game, which ended 0-0. It was a train to Coventry by which time I'd all but finished my blog, but the battery was almost dead. I decided to leave it until later, walking to the Bloomfield Tavern, where I had a pint of Derbyshire Buck cider, very pleasant too. There was only one cider I fancied, just as well as I didn't wanna get home too late. I only had time for one Wetherspoons, and it was to be the Earl of Mercia, as this had both special offers on food and Black Dragon cider. It did indeed come up trumps, though I was lucky to get a table for Black Dragon cider and a Spice Bag. I decided to take another break in the journey to stop in Leamington Spa. It wasn't nearly as nice as it sounds; perhaps the roadworks and scaffolding coloured my view, but it was a disappointing town. The Benjamin Satchwell Spoons was doing a brisk trade, which was why I was there. A can of Fierce Iron Bru was a change from cider, and it left me with enough capacity, according to my app, to have one more. So back to the station it was and more FM17 on the hour journey. I was back at 9.20 and walked via the bog to the bus stop. It was around ten minutes' wait for the bus home. I got through the door just before 10 and had a pint before bed. It was work as usual, and with a 3.50 am alarm, I needed a nap the following afternoon. I drew up a list of options for Tuesday in the evening, the weather looking crap again. It was the local side, Holmer Green, that got the nod. Harleston probably would have been OK, but with a lot of rain just before kickoff, 4-degree temperatures and a three-hour sleep before work the next day, I decided against it.

Out of all the new grounds I had considered, the Shawbury United game had already bitten the dust, due to Telford Town being unable to raise a team. I was going to keep an eye out to see what happened at Harleston Town & Melbourne Dynamo, just out of interest. As for my chosen game, a pitch inspection was scheduled, and with light rain all day, I wasn't confident. It wasn't enough to stop me from walking the ten miles to town and back, helping me undo some of the damage from all my snacking. Both the Holmer Green & Malbourne Dynamo games fell victim to the weather; however, the Harleston one went ahead. Nevertheless, it was abandoned after ten minutes due to a player injury, which is never nice. I was glad I took the option of a night in and was asleep well before 9. The week really started to drag on Wednesday with no game, and I could have done with a few drinks, but I decided to wait until Friday as usual. There was no reward at the end of the week, though, as Penn & Tylers Green v Oxhey Jets was called off due to the persistent rain. It was supposed to be a charity game in memory of club legend Andreas Latta. But the weather took the side of cancer and cost a great cause a four-figure sum, such is its arrogance and vicious spite.

It was a boozy Friday evening, I'd much preferred to have been out at football, but instead I got a third successive promotion with Hull United on FM17 and earned a debut in both the FA Cup and FA Vase. This carried on the next morning until I left for the Wycombe game at 10.40. A pint and some wings in Spoons, a pint of Old Rosie in the Rose and Crown, a Romanian mixed grill and a can from Tesco made it the usual indulgent pre-match. A great Wycombe win, 4-0 against Doncaster Rovers, put me in a good mood. It was a couple more drinks on the way home, and I'd walked 16 miles in all. Finally, a nightcap to send me off before a hard day at work the next day, which was intolerably busy. It was my day off on Tuesday, and the standard walk to town and back. I was glad to get my car booked in for the MOT & Service next week, though it was annoying to be a bit too late to take advantage of some better prices. I prioritised getting it done as soon as possible, though ahead of some long-distance drives in the coming month. I had planned to go to Chalfont St Peter v Holmer Green in the evening, but once again, it was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The same could be said of New Milton Town v AFC Stoneham on Wednesday, which was postponed early afternoon. It's been a very frustrating start to the new year with only one midweek non-league game so far, which was, of course, played in torrential rain. It was a dull Wednesday and Thursday, with the week dragging again due to no football.

Final plans were put in place on Thursday evening. I decided that I'd probably leave the car at home to be safe and not have to do a stinking sober trip home. It was a super busy day at work on Friday, but with it being so constant, time flew. I had a few drinks to help me relax and was still considering taking my car to save time, finally settling on coming back via London, Wycombe and Taxi. On the day, I woke at my usual work time, missing out on a lie-in when I couldn't get back to sleep. I got out of bed at 6.50, getting ready and leaving at 7. Bus, Chiltern train and tube got me to London Waterloo well on time for my train. 40 minutes early in fact, naturally, the Wetherspoons was my refuge with a £3.49 pint of Stowford Press going down a treat. I was at platform 9 in plenty of time, a good job as it left a minute early. It was a pleasant enough train, shockingly though, no plugs or USB charging, so I would be limited in playing my Football Manager 2017 save with Hull United, seeking my fourth promotion in a row from the NCEL Premier. It was a pleasant enough journey, though, and the free WiFi was useful. I got good news at 10 am, first choice game at Cullompton was on. Not the most interactive club, with replies turned off on Twitter by default. It was interesting to note, though, that former Wycombe player Craig Woodman was still playing for them at the grand old age of 43. A couple of cans of Stromgbow aided my research during the picturesque journey. The comfortable surroundings aided my research into the club, which I left until the journey down due to the perilous state of the weather.

I was at Honiton at 12.15 for the rail replacement. Despite being late leaving, it was well organised but very busy. It was a frustratingly slow trip once we got near Exeter due to traffic. Then people took ages getting off the bus. Ten minutes late, I headed to the first Wetherspoons, The Chevalier Inn. Unlike other Wetherspoons in Devon, it was awful, with most stuff out of stock. A pint of Thatchers Gold was quaffed for £3.80. Next up, George's Meeting House, it had some good ciders, but they weren't in the meal deal. A spice bag and Aspalls came quickly, and I headed for the bus stop with five minutes to spare. However, the bus didn't turn up despite Google Maps claiming it did. The next one was five minutes late, and finally, I was on my way, behind schedule. I had been following the Reading v Wycombe game, and despite us coming back from 2-0 down to level, we lost the game 3-2. It was a long, old route, very rural. There were huge gaps between stops, but I got off just short of the town. It was a fifteen-minute walk to the ground. I arrived a few minutes past but heard the referee blow for kickoff as I got near. 

Cullompton Rangers were in 4th place, going well but in mixed form. Their last game was a 4-0 win at Ilfracombe Town, but that was a month ago. Newton Abbot Spurs were 7th and amazingly, this was their first league game since December 28th, when they'd drawn 1-1 at Teignmouth. The visitors had possession but didn't create much. Instead, Cullompton took the lead on ten minutes, a right-sided cross headed home. It was 2-0 around 27 minutes in, a good cross and #10 headed home at the back post. Similar to the first, but I had a far better view this time. It was a similar goal for 3-0, just before halftime. I had a bottle of Rattler Gold at halftime, a new one for me. A well-worked move and a low shot made it 4-0 on 49 minutes, although there was no communication on lineups or goals. A penalty with fifteen minutes to go saw Cullompton lead 5-0, this after a trip just inside the area. There was still silence from both teams and the FA Full Time being the hopeless system that it is, I had no idea who had grabbed the goals when I came to publish this blog.

THE GROUND

SPEEDS MEADOW is a well-kept but basic ground. The main covered area is on the far side, a brick-built stand with bench seating. This holds around 150. On the near side is some cover in front of the bar for me under 50. The bar itself offers a reasonable range at reasonable prices and also serves food. The ground is adjacent to the M5 and main train line, though Exeter is the nearest station. The town is 20 minutes walk away, where the Pony and Trap is worth a visit.