Paulton Rovers off to a flyer at Chipping Sodbury

Paulton’s new look side got their pre-season underway against a much changed Chipping Sodbury, who since last season had themselves a change in manager and personnel.

Paulton started in the ascendancy with newcomers Cottle, Jackson, Llewellyn and Hailston all making good early impressions.

Cottle was linking things up well through the middle, Jackson had the beating of his full back, Llewellyn was winning 2nd balls and breaking things up in midfield and Hailston was providing a decent outlet up front.

With Withy and Gay looking fit and combining well down the right, and Dempsey was looking strong in the tackle at the back, Paulton controlled the first half and it was no surprise when Cottle opened the scoring after good interplay on the right enabled him to cut in and shoot left footed into the far corner from the edge of the box. Soon after a strong run down the right from Withy, who dug out a deep cross from the by line and Jackson finished well at the far post. 

Will Hailston scored twice
on his Paulton return

Mid-way through the first half quick passing between Cottle and Gay found Hailston 12 yards out who found the bottom corner to register his first goal on his Paulton return, which was soon followed as Llewellyn won back possession as Sodbury tried to play out from the back and was bought down in the box. Hailston coolly slotted from the spot for his 2nd and Paulton's fourth.

Wholesale changes at half time for both teams disrupted the flow of the game, although it continued to be played in a very competitive spirit. Early on the Sodbury right back was replaced after being caught by a mistimed Ibrahim challenge that earned him a caution 5 mins into the half. Llewellyn was also an early victim of a clumsy mid-air challenge that meant a heavy fall, and was replaced by Seviour soon after. Full time at The Ridings, Chipping Sodbury 0 Paulton Rovers 4.

Match Report from John Rendell

Paulton Rovers Ladies set to Kick Off 2020/21 Season

Paulton Rovers FC are proud to announce the first female section of the club as Paulton Rovers Ladies affiliate for season 2020/21.

After being tenants for the previous two seasons, Purnell Sports Ladies were offered the opportunity to become part of the club and in the last couple of weeks a deal has been agreed that should be a great platform to promote the female game in the local area.

The Ladies section comes with an established squad of around 40 players as well as new players already starting to train for the forthcoming season.

The club will run a First & Reserve team competing in the Somerset County Women's League and is therefore able to offer football opportunities for a range of abilities. 

Games are played Sunday afternoons with a 2pm kick off on the main Paulton Rovers pitch at Winterfield Road and training is twice weekly through summer and once through winter.

The Ladies section are also looking for sponsors to help them promote the female game in the local area by ways of kit, training wear and related press promotions.

If you know anyone interested in playing or are a local business interested in getting involved please contact Nick Doble on paultonroversladies@gmail.com in the first instance

Paulton Rovers Call First Orders at the Bar!

Paulton Rovers club reopened on Saturday with careful social distancing and adhering to all the Government guidelines.

The club has now opened to everyone and the opening hours, during the week, are from 5pm to 10 pm and weekends noon until 10 pm.

The first team start training at Winterfield Road from 6-30 pm on Thursday (9 July).

Jon Filer who has been the U18's asssistant manager for a number of years has decided to step from his other role as Reserve team manager. The Reserves reformed last season had a successful season in the Mid Somerset League prior to the premature ending.

Paulton Rovers are seeking a new manager/coach to run their Reserves team. This will entail working closely with the first team Management and the Development Centre, the successful applicant would be expected to maximise the use of local talent as much as possible. Applicants for the vacancy should email their details to the Football Chairman Dave Bissex.

The Rovers Return

After a lot of hard work by Paulton Rovers volunteers and committee members, the club will be ready to open at noon on Saturday 4 July with social distancing measures in place.

A replacement carpet for the one damaged by the recent flood in one of the bars is awaited.

This weekend the club will open from noon until ten o'clock and from Monday to Friday next week from 5-00 pm until 10 pm. All Rovers fans need now is the return of Southern League football!

Paulton Rovers Celebrate 16 Years in the Southern League

Paulton Rovers huddle at Swindon Supermarine

Since joining the Southern League in 2004/5 Rovers have played 93 different clubs in the league alone.

In that time having played in Midlands, West, South and West plus 2 years in the Premier Division, away games have taken Paulton to trips as far away as Surrey, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall and Warwickshire and many more counties in between.

The full list of the 93 opponents:

Abingdon United, Andover, Ashford Town (Middlesex), Almondsbury Town, Arlesley Town, AFC Hayes (ex Brook House)), AFC Totton

Burnham, Bracknell Town, Brackley Town, Bromsgrove Rovers, Bedworth United, Beaconsfield SYCOB, Bridgwater Town, Bishops Cleeve, Bedfont Green, Bashley, Bideford, Banbury United, Barnstable Town, Bristol Manor Farm, Basingstoke Town, Blackfield and Langley, Biggleswade Town

Corby Town, Clevedon Town, Cinderford Town, Cirencester Town, Chesham United, Chippenham Town, Cambridge City

Dunstable Town, Didcot Town, Dorchester Town

Egham Town, Evesham United,

Frome Town, Fleet Town, Farnborough

Guildford Borough, Godalming Town

Hemel Hempstead Town, Hungerford Town, Hanwell Town, Hillingdon Borough, Halesowen Town, Hereford United, Histon, Highworth Town, Hitchin Town

Kings Lynn Town, Kettering Town, Kidlington

Leighton Town, Lymington and New Milton, Larkhall Athletic, Leamington

Mangotsfield United, Marlow, Merthyr Town, Melksham Town, Moneyfields

Oxford City

Newport (IOW), North Leigh

Poole Town

Rothwell Town, Rushall Olympic, Redditch United

Stratford Town, St Neots Town, Slimbridge, Salisbury, Street, Sholing (ex VT),
Slough Town, Solihull Borough, Sutton Coldfield Town, Stourport Swifts,
Shortwood United, Swindon Supermarine

Truro City, Taunton Town, Tiverton Town, Thatcham Town

Uxbridge

Willenhall Town, Wantage Town, Weymouth, Winchester City,
Windsor and Eton, Wimborne Town

Yate Town

Willand Rovers (in the division 20/21 but Paulton did not play a league game against them)

We have had excellent hard working managers in our Southern League campaigns with Darren Perrin, Andy Jones, Mark Harrington, Nick Bunyard, Richard Fey, Tony Ricketts and John Rendell, as well as some great coaches from Mike Kilgour, Steve Tovey, Paul Milsom, Aaron Brown, Nathan Rudge, Martyn Grimshaw, Kye Mountford and Paul Tovey.

If anyone has kept records of appearances and goalscorers over the years or any further information
e mail - ciaranlskinner@gmail.com and/or tony.walsh1948@gmail.com

Paulton Rovers Announce Hat Trick of Signatures

Will Hailston returns
 to Paulton Rovers

Paulton Rovers assistant manager, Paul Tovey announced 'After the recent disappointment in losing last season’s top goal scorer to lower league Roman Glass, we are thrilled to announce a triple signing to reignite the squad'. 

First to sign and commit has been Will Hailston who returns to the club.  After starting out at Bath City, he has scored goals wherever he has been. A local boy whose previous clubs apart from Paulton, Bradford and Frome Town, he will bring great potency to our forward line.

Another signing coming back to play for his local club is Dan Cottle who we have managed to prize from local rivals Frome Town. He greatly impressed when playing against us in the final game before lockdown, and has been a target ever since. Dan is a clever player who can link midfield and attack, and also get on the scoresheet himself.

Finally, to add even more goals we have added the prolific Jack Fillingham, who last season notched 28 goals in 31 in helping Shepton Mallet finish in the top 6 of the Western League.

He has been sought after by every ambitious local club in both the Western and Southern Leagues, and it is somewhat of a coup that we have managed to bring him to Paulton. His attitude, energy and goal scoring prowess will make him a threat in this league and one to watch.

There will be confirmation in the coming days of players who have been retained from last season and further new additions.

Paulton Rovers Chairman Reflects on the Season that Never Was

Paulton Rovers football chairman Dave Bissex declared 'Well what a year where do I start. A great pity we didn’t complete the season, I sincerely believe the club would have made the play-offs and we were reaching peak form and could’ve moved on, but this coronavirus halted all that, and totally changed not only football, but the whole of our lives'.

Dave said ' John Rendell our manager, with coaches Paul Tovey and Kye Mountford had actually built up a great bunch of lads and some of the football we were playing particularly latterly was most enjoyable. It was great to see Ben Bament finish the reduced season as leading goalscorer in our division, it was suggested all records should be expunged, but I expressed my own views with a club hat on giving particular thoughts to Ben, that was quite an achievement and he may never achieve that ‘goal’ again and it’s something that he can tell his grandchildren many years to come.

Although I am sure we would all like to see a repeat of that when we eventually start playing football again. When will that be one says, who knows, various options have been discussed and considered by the FA and that includes the possibility of not even starting until January of next year!

The prospects over the last couple of weeks have looked positive but it is very disappointing to see that the west country has now one of the highest infection rates in the country, and if the public doesn’t take serious notice there’s not much doubt we’re going to end up going back into lockdown again in the near future.'

Another thing absolutely imperative for all clubs at step three and below is that their club and bar facilities are fully functional again. 

For many clubs, this is their only source of revenue and they won’t be able to field a team of players or incur the cost of travelling and other expenses without their bar revenue. This I know is also something the FA are taking into consideration when restarting non league football, it’s being suggested that clubs and pubs may open in July, how successful that will be with the social distancing remains to be seen.

We have been taking advantage of the club being empty and various improvements and redecoration works have been carried out over the past few months being very careful to maintain social distancing, thanks to all those volunteers who gave up their time to assist with this.

Likewise the lads have done us proud and got the pitch in great nick again by taking advantage of the shortened season to give more time for grass growth.

Rest assured we are keeping a watchful eye on things and carefully monitoring what the government and the FA are saying, and we will be ready to resume with a strong squad once again when ever this happens.

We will give you an update again when we have more information to pass on in the meantime on behalf of Paulton Rovers and myself,  stay safe and look after yourselves.'

Andy Sandell Returns to Paulton

Paulton Rovers manager John Rendell announced today that "'Following the departure of Kye Mountford at the end of last season, we are delighted to announce that Andy Sandell will be joining the management team as Assistant Manager/Coach with immediate effect. 

Andy has a wealth of experience in the professional and non league game and will be a welcome addition to the team. Welcome back to the club Andy.

I was disappointed that Kye Mountford could no longer commit to the role following the abrupt end to last seasons play off push, but respect his decision.

I thank Kye for his efforts since bringing him to the club and he provided an excellent link between players and management during last season, playing a part in an enjoyable period.

I am really pleased to be bringing Andy back to the club where we played together back in 2004. Darren Perrin signed Andy and I could see what a prospect he was back then, he’s one of the most influential players I played with throughout my non league career and I wasn’t surprised he went on to play many games in the professional game for Bristol Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers as well as non league.

I am very much looking forward to having Andy join Paul Tovey, Jack Benden and me as part of the management team working with this group of players."

Paulton Rovers Manager Reflects on the Season that Never Was

Speaking to the Clubs website, Paulton Rovers manager John Rendell reflects on the season that never was and how his side are coping with no football.

"I am in regular contact with all the lads and they are all doing well. Our Sports Therapist Jack Bendan has given all the players a summer programme, tailor made to their needs so it has been a good way to stay close and seeing the lads working together.

Overall we had a really good season with some outstanding performances and wins. The way we set up to play we were very attacking and we won many games in a high scoring fashion, the flip side to this is that we didn’t keep many clean sheets and this is an area we feel we want to improve on over the summer.

We brought in a number of different players last summer and they all showed the hunger and desire to play for the club that we are looking for, and as a group of players took on board instruction from Paul Tovey, Kye Mountford and myself and they reaped the benefit from that winning games and in the main enjoying their football throughout the season.

We managed to beat Weston Super Mare, Bedfont Town and Salisbury in the cup and excellent performances in the league against Cirencester, Cinderford and Barnstaple. Topping the league for a short while during September/October was a very positive moment for the club after a number of years of transition.

The lowest point of the season was certainly when we had our one blip over the festive period, with the softer pitches and key injuries the lads lost momentum and confidence dipped throughout the squad and unfortunately we didn’t deserve anything from the three games lost on the bounce.

We had many impressive personal performances during the course of the season, we brought in Ben Bament to score goals and that he did, ending up the leagues top scorer. Wide players Ed Butcher and Dave Sims also contributed well ending up with many goals and assists to their name and it was excellent watching them work together as an attacking unit.

Midfielders Braeden Symes and Brad Abraham also won many battles in the engine room doing all the unnoticed legwork which allowed the chance for the lads up top to express themselves.

During these uncertain times we are still unsure what will happen with football next season and I am sure everyone is ultra-keen to get back to some kind of normality."

Paulton’s Pristine Pitch

Paulton Rovers pre-season pitch preparations continue to "grow" well, thanks to the hard work of the Club's ground staff Rob, Mike and Chris Filer.

With the sunshine early in the week and the rain a few days ago, the Club are pleased to report that the grass has come on well. However, the Government have urged caution around a likely return to amateur sport, despite the efforts of the Premier League to complete the 2019/20 season behind closed doors.

Whenever football can resume at Winterfield Road, Rovers fans will be pleased to know their playing surface will be in an immaculate condition.

Thank you Ciaran

Paulton Rovers bid a fond farewell to Media Assistant Ciaran Skinner, who is moving away from the area. Dave Bissex, the Club Chairman, issued a special message of thanks for all the hard work Ciaran has put into the Club over the past 3 years.

Dave said: "On behalf of Paulton Rovers Football Club and myself, thank you for all the work you’ve put in over the past three years, and under the guidance of Tony, you have achieved a very good standard in media, interview skills, and using the tannoy system for Matchday announcements at the club.

You are still at a very young age and your dedication and achievements will I am sure help you progress further and will give you a good grounding for a long and excellent career in the field. Take care and best wishes".

Ciaran's departure leaves a vacancy for a media assistant at the Club, a role that involves writing match reports, match announcements, Social media work, editing the match day programme and producing posters. Training, support and mentoring will be provided. Anyone interested should contact Tony Walsh on 07765 888 375 for mor information.

Paulton are also advertising a vacancy for a first team football secretary, which will also incorporate the under 18's side. Some experience would be beneficial although it is not essential as training will be provided. Anyone interested in this role should contact Dave Bissex directly.

Paulton Rovers Prepare for New Season

With the BetVictor Southern League season officially over, Paulton Rovers' groundsmen have made use of the extra time available and brought forward their pitch renovation works.

It was already decided this closed season the touchline closest to the club house, that had gradually built up a 'hump' over the last 20 years had to go, so the extra growing time available was ideal. With club member Paul Lynch on the grading bucket & groundsman Mike unloading the trailer, we estimate a whopping 10-12 tons of soil was removed!

Paulton were hoping to do the same with the other touchline and provide astro-turf to the dugout areas but with the club shut and no income coming in the financial outlay was too much, so this has been delayed to next year.