A Brief History of Paulton Rovers FC
Paulton Rovers were founded in 1881 and joined the Western League way back in 1900. They competed in Division One and Division Two for 60 years before moving to the Somerset County League when Division Two was disbanded. Paulton rejoined the Western League in 1974 when it expanded back to two divisions (Premier Dvision and Division One) and spent all but three of the next 30 seasons in the Premier Division. After finishing runners-up in 2003/04, Paulton were promoted to the Southern League. They achieved a second place finish in Division One South & West and were promoted in 2013/14 after winning the play-offs beating Merthyr in the final. Paulton achieved their highest ever league finish of 10th in the Southern Premier Division in 2014/15 but finished bottom in 2015/16 and were relegated back to Division One South & West. In 2016/17 Paulton finished in 15th position. Arguably Paulton's finest achievement was reaching the first round proper of the FA Cup in 2009/10 where they hosted Norwich City live on ITV. The match drew a record crowd of 2,070 to the Athletic Field and Norwich ran out 7-0 winners.

Paulton Rovers FC
Web: http://www.paultonroversfc.co.uk
Twitter: @PaultonRoversFC

Form Guide
It’s been a difficult season for Paulton who sit 17th in the West Division (W9 D7 L20) but a good 13 points clear of any relegation worries. Rovers have shown their capabilities at different times this season with wins over Evesham, Wimborne, Totton and draws with Taunton and Salisbury. They come into this fixture off the back of two narrow defeats to Bristol Manor Farm and Kidlington, and a respectable draw in midweek against playoff chasers Totton.

Paulton Rovers’s last six (WLWLLD)
10/04/18 Paulton Rovers 1 AFC Totton 1 (League)
07/04/18 Paulton Rovers 0 Kidlington 1 (League)
02/04/18 Paulton Rovers 0 Bristol Manor Farm 1 (League)
27/03/18 Paulton Rovers 4 Wellington 1 (Somerset Cup SF)
24/03/18 Paulton Rovers 0 Swindon Supermarine 2 (League)
22/03/18 Cinderford Town 3 Paulton Rovers 4 (League)

Reaching the playoffs will now take an exceptional effort from the players as Bideford must now play 7 games in 15 days in order to complete their league fixtures. Tuesday night’s game against North Leigh became the 17th to be postponed in a season that has been ruined by the weather. Last time out Bideford put an end to their worst run of the season by beating Larkhall 1-0 thanks to a goal from Sean Downing. Bideford are 10th in the West Division (W16 D9 L10), seven points off the playoffs with two or three games in hand.

Bideford's last six (DDLLLW)
07/04/18 Larkhall Athletic 0 Bideford 1 (League)
02/04/18 Bideford 0 Taunton Town 1 (League)
31/03/18 Evesham United 3 Bideford 0 (League)
27/03/18 Bristol Manor Farm 1 Bideford 0 (League)
24/03/18 Bideford 2 Salisbury 2 (League)
20/03/18 Bideford 3 Mangotsfield United 3 (League)

Most recent meetings
14/11/17 Paulton Rovers 1 Bideford 3 (Southern Div 1 West)
28/03/17 Paulton Rovers 2 Bideford 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
22/10/16 Bideford 1 Paulton Rovers 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
26/12/15 Bideford 0 Paulton Rovers 1 (Southern Premier)
31/08/15 Paulton Rovers 0 Bideford 0 (Southern Premier)
06/04/15 Paulton Rovers 2 Bideford 1 (Southern Premier)
01/01/15 Bideford 3 Paulton Rovers 0 (Southern Premier)
31/03/12 Bideford 0 Paulton Rovers 0 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
10/12/11 Paulton Rovers 1 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
07/03/11 Paulton Rovers 0 Bideford 0 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
16/11/10 Bideford 3 Paulton Rovers 0 (Southern Div 1 S&W)

Back in November, Bideford raced into a 3-0 lead at Winterfield Road thanks to a Ben Seymour hat trick on the way to a 3-1 win. Last season’s game at the Sports Ground finished in a 1-1 draw, while Paulton came from behind to win the return fixture 2-1.