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HistoryFounded in 1946, Bideford joined the Western League after some sucess in the old Exeter and East Devon League. Our First season being 1947/1948. The only season the league ran a Third Division, mainly reserve sides. We won it with ease, winning 19 of the 20 games and drawing 1. We also won the Subsidiary League with 9 wins in 10 games. On 1st April we player two league matches on the same day, beating Bridgewater Reserves in the afternoon 3 - 0 and Welton Reserves in the evening 7 - 1. The same eleven played both games (no subs in those days) and we had the same three officials.
We then spent two seasons in Division II. In our second season we set a league record of 179 goals, (this record stood until it was broken by Truro in 2006/7 although they played more matches). Outstanding player of the early seasons was centre forward Tommy Robinson. In 1948/9 he scored 37 in 28 league games, in 1949/50 he scored 50 goals in 27 games and in 1950/1 he scored 51 in 36 games.
Several players from the club have progressed to Football League status, the most recent of them being Tony Dennis and Shaun Taylor. Two former internationals have played for the club at the end of their career, Welshman Leighton Phillips, and Dermot Curtis from the Republic of Ireland.
Club honours
FA competitionsBest performances in the FA competitions are :
Club RecordsMost League Appearances: D May 528 J Guantlett 504 M Hillson 397 A Marsh 366 R Gough 317
Most League Goals: T Robinson 359 P Druce 190 M Southgate 150
Record Home Win: 16 - 1 v Soundwell 1950/51 Record Away Win: 10 - 0 v Melksham 2003/04
Record Attendance: 5975 v Gloucester City FA Cup 1949 (under new regulations): 1940 v Winchester FA Vase 2002/03 |
Bideford A.F.C. is an English non-league football club from Bideford, Devon that plays in the Western Football League, with rival clubs from the counties of Somerset, Cornwall, Dorset and Wiltshire. Managed by Sean Joyce, they are one of the top sides in the division. The club is nicknamed "The Robins" due to their all-red strip. The club plays its home matches at The Sports Ground, Kingsley Road, Bideford.
Bideford won the Western League three times before joining the Southern League in 1972. The club spent three seasons at that level before the expense involved and increased travelling took its toll, and they had to drop down back to the Western League. During their Southern League days, the club set an all-time FA Cup record, when in 1974-75 they played thirteen FA Cup games in a single season - they faced numerous replays in qualifying rounds including needing five games to beat Falmouth Town and four more to beat Trowbridge Town in the next round. With the subsequent abandonment of second and further replays, this record is likely to stand for a very long time. Two more Western League titles followed in the early 1980s, before a financial crisis hit the club. There was doubt that the club would be able to continue, but a re-formation took place in 1987]leading to the current setup, a company limited by guarantee, under the revised company name Bideford AFC (1987) Ltd.
Under the stable chairmanship of Jim McElwee, and then Paul Mitchell, the club have recovered to the point where they have now won four more Western League titles since 2000, and have also made the FA Vase semi-finals, where they lost to Winchester City. Now under the new chairmanship of Bideford businessman Roy Portch, and managerial skills of Shaun Joyce the club has been transformed into a once 
