Page 23 - Brislington FC v Weston super Mare 190324

Weston-super-Mare F.C. A history

A er Weston-super-Mare AFC were disbanded during WW2,
the present club reformed in 1948 a er a mee ng at the Town
Hall decided to form a semi-professional Club. Weston spent
much of the next forty years or so in the Western League, un l
claiming the tle in the 1991/92 season under the
management of John Ellener, who had taken over from the
legendary Harry Thomas only a few years earlier. Thomas
played over 700 games for the club and was also the player/
manager for a five year spell. This proved to be an exci ng
me in The Seagulls’ history, par cularly as strikers Ma
Lazenby and Paul Elson scored goals for fun.

A er Ellener le the club in 1993, he was replaced by coach Pete Amos. Len Ashurst then
took over and oversaw another exci ng period with excellent players such as Stuart Jones
and Ryan Souter, who were sold to Sheffield Wednesday and Bury respec vely to raise
much-needed cash.

The new millennium brought more change for Weston as Frank Gregan was named
manager and won the club promo on from the Southern League Western Division in
2002/03, with the runners-up spot clinched a er a memorable victory at Clevedon Town.
The following season also proved to be successful as the side finished high enough to
qualify for the brand new Conference South, that started at the beginning of the 2004/05
season. That summer of 2004 was hugely significant as Weston also moved to their new
Woodspring Stadium home, where the Seagulls s ll play to this day, although the ground
is now known as the Op ma Stadium.

In subsequent years, Weston o en flirted with relega on but were reprieved on each
occasion, although there were also some happier mes for the club, par cularly when
manager Craig Laird led the side to seventh place in the Conference South in 2012/13. This
proved to be Weston’s highest ever finish in the footballing pyramid.
A few years later, in 2018/19, Weston were relegated. This has proved to be The Seagulls’
only relega on ever.

In the summer of 2019, Sco Bartle took over as manager for the second me.
Unfortunately, Weston’s hopes of returning to Step 2 football were scuppered by Covid 19
as the next two seasons were declared null and void. In Bartle ’s second full season back
in charge in the 2022/23 campaign, he led his side to the Southern Football League
Premier South tle. Bartle ’s tle-winning side was captained by Dayle Grubb, another
player to have amassed hundreds of appearances for The Seagulls and to have played in
the Football League a er a two and a half year spell at Forest Green Rovers.