Leominster Town - Bridge Street Park

Leominster Town FC

Bridge Street Park

Bridge Street

Leominster

Herefordshire

HR6 8EA

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Ground Number: 1554
Friday 15th May 2026

Leominster Town 7-3 Civil Service

Herefordshire League Division 2

LEOMINSTER TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1893 and spent most of its early years playing in local competitions. They played a single season in the Shropshire League in 1896 but left after one season, finishing bottom of the table. Information about the club is scant, but it appears as if they have spent most of their history in the Herefordshire League. They had their first spell in the West Midlands (Regional) League between 1996 and 2004, achieving two 3rd place finishes in Division 1 South without gaining promotion.  They resigned from the league in 2004 to return to the Herefordshire League, where they won the Premier Division title in 2010. They started in Division 2 this time, winning promotion after a 3rd place finish in their debut season. Two seasons were spent in Division 1 before they left the league in 2013.

The club finished as runners-up to Ewyas Harold in their first season back. A severe loss of form saw Leominster finish bottom in 2015, but they were not relegated due to Ross Juniors' resignation from the league. The club finished bottom again in 2018 and spent a season out of football before returning in Division 1, only to be stopped again by the pandemic. Despite finishing 6th in 2021, they were demoted to Division 2 for the following season. They were runners-up to Wellington Colts in 2023, winning promotion back to Division 1.  They were only to last here for a couple of seasons, being relegated after a bottom-place finish last season. They look set to put that right this season as they will be Division 2 champions.

The club won the first-ever Herefordshire FA Junior Cup, beating Worcester Excelsior 5-2 at Edgar Street, Hereford. In 2010, as part of a treble, the club won the HFA Charity Bowl and the Journal Trophy as well as the league title. For the first 70 years, the club was based at Worcester Road. This was also the home ground of the North Herefordshire League before it merged with the Herefordshire League. In the 1960s, Leominster Borough Council took over the site, which they had decided would be used for industrial purposes. Despite the council planning to build a new pitch, this never happened, leaving the club playing in a field and changing rooms in a caravan with no running water. Over the years, the requirements for grounds became stricter. So, In 1994, Leominster Town and Leominster United (formerly Dale United) merged, and three years later, the new ground opened at Bridge Street Park adjacent to the town's leisure centre. Floodlights were soon added, with the stand being converted to seats in the midst of the pandemic.

Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary, the River Kenwater. The town is 12 miles north of Hereford and 7 miles south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almost 12,000, Leominster is the largest of the five towns in the county; the others being Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, Bromyard and Kington. The town, previously spelt 'Lemster', takes its name from the English word minster, meaning a community of clergy and the original Celtic name for the district Leon or Lene, probably in turn from an Old Welsh root lei to flow. The most notable person to hail from Leominster is the West Ham United and England player Jarrod Bowen.

MY VISIT

I always love a bit of Friday night football, but outside of the hop games, I hadn't seen one in England since 19th December at South Leeds. They are always bumper crowds when clubs move their games, but so few do. It is always the same group of groundsharers, playing again and again on Friday night. It doesn't appeal unless it is a new ground or one that I've not been to for ages. On this Friday night, it was an exceptional opportunity. An early kickoff, at a great ground, in one of my favourite regions for cider. The only downer was that I would be driving yet again, but at least Colin would be in the passenger seat to halve my costs. I also spotted a farm shop which would hopefully be able to supply me with some local stuff to take home.

From Kennington on Tuesday, it was a far easier drive home. Rather than the conoluted cross-country route on the way, once we had got out of Kennington, it was dual carriageways and motorways. It gave a far better impression of Oxfordshire roads than the garbage that we used on the way there. I dropped Colin off at 9.15 and got home around 15 minutes later. There was time to get my blog up before bed, not that I really felt like sleeping. At least it was my shortest day at work the next day, though the weather couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or be sunny. Mindful of my game at Leominster on Friday, I checked the weather, and all was fine. I wasn't counting my chickens yet, though and knew that there was a multitude of reasons why the game might not go ahead. As a result, I left doing my research on the club until Thursday, although all the signs were good when I checked on Facebook. The research proved to be tricky, especially for seasons before the millennium, but I did what I could.

It was the usual busy Friday at work, although it wasn't as unpleasant as usual. I got my head down and time flew by, with me out at 1. I met Colin, and we were on our way. I'd deliberately skipped lunch as we were stopping at the Golden Cross hotel in Bromsgrove. We arrived at 3, the car park out the back of the pub was free for half an hour. I ordered small fish and chips with cranberry juice for £6.69, service and food were spot on. It was helped by the generous offer from the council of 30 minutes of free parking. As the car park was out the back of the pub, it was perfect. Colin told me on the journey that Daniel was asking £40 each for petrol to Brecon Corries next week. Surely some mistake on Colin's part, as that meant that the occasional Braintree Town fan would be raking in 25p a mile from us, with the Essex pair presumably paying nothing.

 

I am always fair with Colin, splitting the costs halfway, as anything more invalidates your insurance, as it would be counted as hire or reward. Personally, I'd be asking for £35 from Colin, including a significant detour to drop him home with just us two or £16 each with a full car. It put next week all up in the air again. It was a slow but picturesque journey to the Quarry Farm shop, where I picked up some local ciders. There might be some retries in there as the mobile signal was rubbish, but it was nice to pick up some obscure stuff. Sadly, none from local legends Ross-On-Wye cider, though. We were at the ground just before 5. I was happy to pay the £1 to park in the Leisure Centre, but had not got enough change. Instead, it was dumped out on the road outside. We had a look inside the ground, confirming the game on and got some pictures. From there, it was less than a 15-minute walk to the town's Wetherspoons, The Duke's Head. It was a sleepy but pleasant town with a slow internet signal. In the pub, I had a sticky Korean chicken bowl with a pint of Black Dragon for £10.82. Service was, as usual, good. It was nice to sit in a comfortable environment to type this blog, with the plan to leave for the ground around 6.20. The plan was to get to the ground well in time for kickoff and to check out what else was on offer.

Leominster Town were top of the league and had won 19 and lost 2 of their games. They'd won their last twelve, plus had a walkover, making it thirteen straight wins. In their last game, they'd beaten Burghill Rangers 6-0.  Before that run, they had lost their only two games in November at Kidderminster Town and at home to AFC Worcester II. Civil Service were in 9th and had won 5, drawn 2 and lost 14. They'd lost their last couple, including a 3-1 loss at Ledbury Town Development last time out. When the two sides met on 27th September, Leominster won 6-2 at Victoria Park, Hereford. There was a shock goal for Civil Service, 90 seconds in. It was an opportunist strike from 25 yards which deceived the keeper. Four minutes in, Leominster thumped the bar. 23 minutes, it was all square when a right-sided cross was put home from close range. 28 minutes, Leominster led 2-1. The Civil Service keeper flapped at the cross, and the ball was headed home from close range. The visitors came close to equalising on 33 minutes, but the keeper saved with his right foot and tipped it around the post. 41 minutes, it was 3-1 to Leominster, a shot from 20 yards floating in. I'd got a burger at halftime, nice and freshly cooked, although as it turned out, I missed some goals. The second half saw yet more goals, with the hosts winning 7-3. The highlights were a penalty save by Civil Service, before they went up the other end and pulled a soft goal back, plus another on a quick break. Overall it was an avalanche of goals for Leominster, though on the night they lifted the title.

THE GROUND

BRIDGE STREET PARK is an incredible ground for the 13th tier of English football. The main stand is seated and holds around 120. It would put some step 4 sides to shame, as it is all brick-built rather than metal. Additionally, there is some cover behind the goal, thanks to the clubhouse. For now, the ground is two-sided, though there is room for expansion. The clubhouse mainly offers a good range of food as well as drinks. Parking is plentiful. The town is 15 minutes walk away and has its own train station and presumably buses. The town has a Wetherspoons amongst other things, and looks like a nice place to spend a few hours in.