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The History of Wimborne Town F.C. Cont…

In September 2019 Matty Holmes stepped down as Wimborne Team Manager to concentrate on building and
setting up the new Wimborne Town FC Elite Academy, something that Matty had been building up since his
time with Wimborne Town FC.
Matty's brother Danny stepped up from Assistant Manager to become Manager with James Stokoe taking on
the role as Assistant Manager / Player. When the 2019/20 season was abandoned in March, Wimborne were
lying in 15th place.
As thoughts turned to the 2020/21 season, and with club budgets under serious scrutiny, Danny Holmes
resigned as Manager. The Board wasted no time in appointing club legend James Stokoe as Manager, and he
brought in another former player, Mark Gamble, as his Assistant. But with only five players remaining from
the previous season, and on a vastly reduced budget, the new management duo set about rebuilding the
team.
Although the league season was again curtailed with Wimborne having played just 6 games, there was time
for the club to have a thrilling FA Cup run - reaching the 4th Round Qualifying for the first time since 1986.
In December 2020 the club moved into its brand-new stadium, named New Cuthbury, on the other side of
town. The Development Team were able to successfully complete their season at the new ground winning
the Hampshire Combination and Development League Premier Division, but the first team had to wait until
the start of the 2021/22 season to play their first league game there.
In the summer of 2021 a 3G training pitch was installed next to the main grass pitch to be used by the club's
new Academy, Development Centre teams from U9s to U16s, and 20 Youth teams.
Despite the excitement of finally moving to the new stadium with its superb facilities, the 2021-22 league
season was a huge disappointment on the pitch. The team managed only three league victories at New
Cuthbury, finished bottom of the table, and, for the first time in their history, Wimborne Town were relegated.
In addition the new grass pitch was beset with flooding issues which caused a number of postponements.
So the 4-season stay at Step 3 came to an end. However, there was some cup success with the club going
further in the FA Trophy than ever before, reaching Round Two. The new Academy was successfully
launched. And mid-way through the season. the Club was taken over by a consortium led by former Finance
Director Lee Merrifield.
With the new Board of Directors giving Manager Stokoe a better playing budget, expansive player
recruitment, and remedial work on the main grass pitch carried out, the 2022-23 season started with great
hope. However, an underwhelming start to the league campaign and early exits from the cup competitions,
meant the departure of Stokoe and Gamble at the beginning of October. They were replaced by Tim Sills and
his management team from local league rivals Hamworthy United. A 14-game unbeaten run lifted the
Magpies up the table, only to be defeated in the play-off semi-final by Sholing. League attendances increased
by 47% to a club best of 563, as the supporter demographic became much younger. The youthful, reformed
Reserves team, under former first team player / manager Christer Warren, won the Dorset Senior Trophy.
With considered first team recruitment, the Reserves looking for more success, a second cohort in the
Academy under the leadership of another former first team manager Matty Holmes, and over 300 children
playing in the burgeoning youth set-up, there is great optimism around the whole Club for the 2023-24
season.