A Brief History of Shortwood United FC
Founded in 1900 Shortwood United played local league football until joining the Gloucestershire County League for the 1975/76 season. They became champions in 1981/82 and won promotion to the Hellenic Premier Division but were relegated to Hellenic Division One after one season. However The Woods bounced straight back finishing runners-up and in their first season back in the Premier Division were crowned champions. Over the next ten years Shortwood continued to be one of the league's top contenders, winning the title again in 1991/92, before spending the next decade or so in mid-table. After finishing runners-up in 2011/12 for the third time in four seasons, Shortwood made the step up to Southern League Division One South & West and have fared reasonably well with finishes of 8th, 6th, 11th and 7th. 2012/13 could be considered Shortwood's best ever season as they achieved their highest league finish of 6th in Southern League Division One and also reached the first round proper of the FA Cup where they faced Port Vale. The game was broadcast live on BT Sport and drew a record crowd of 1,247 to the Meadowbank Ground. In 2016/17 Shortwood finished 9th in Division One S&W.

Shortwood United
Meadowbank
Shortwood
Nailsworth
Stroud
Gloucestershire
GL6 0SJ
Tel: 01453 833936
Web: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/shortwoodunited
Twitter: @ShortwoodUtdFC

Form Guide
Shortwood are having a difficult 2017/18 and are on course for their lowest ever Southern League finish, currently lying 18th in the West Division (W6 D10 L13). Shortwood’s only win in 2018 so far came against North Leigh on 3/2 but they did come mightily close to a big upset win at Taunton in January. United led 3-0 but conceded three in the final 12 minutes including an injury time equaliser to draw 3-3. Last time out Shortwood went down 3-2 at Paulton Rovers. Like Bideford, Shortwood have suffered with a number of postponements in 2018.

Shortwood United’s last six (DWDDLL)
10/03/18 Paulton Rovers 3 Shortwood United 2 (League)
24/02/18 Swindon Supermarine 5 Shortwood United 1 (League)
17/02/18 Shortwood United 1 Yate Town 1 (League)
06/02/18 Shortwood United 2 Slimbridge 2 (League)
03/02/18 Shortwood United 2 North Leigh 1 (League)
13/01/18 Taunton Town 3 Shortwood United 3 (League)

Bideford have won two games on the bounce with wins over Willand Rovers in the St Luke’s Challenge Cup and a hugely important victory over AFC Totton in the league last Saturday. The Robins were unable to continue their run in midweek as the game at Cinderford became the 15th of the season to be postponed/abandoned, which is quite incredible. Bideford are now looking at Thursday night football in order to fulfil their league fixtures meaning they will have to play three games in a week at least once before the end of April. Bideford are 10th in the West Division (W14 D7 L7).

Bideford's last six (DLDLWW)
10/03/18 Bideford 2 AFC Totton 1 (League)
06/03/18 Bideford 3 Willand Rovers 2 (St Luke’s Cup SF)
24/02/18 Bideford 0 Kidlington 4 (League)
20/02/18 Taunton Town 1 Bideford 1 (League)
17/02/18 Cirencester Town 2 Bideford 1 (League)
06/02/18 Bideford 1 Tiverton Town 1 (St Luke’s Cup QF) *Bideford won 5-4 on pens

Most recent meetings:
09/12/17 Bideford 2 Shortwood United 2 (Southern Div 1 West)
18/02/17 Shortwood United 1 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
01/10/16 Bideford 1 Shortwood United 3 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
1988/89 Shortwood United 2 Bideford 1 (FA Cup PRr)
1988/89 Bideford 1 Shortwood United 1 (FA Cup PR)

Back in December, Bideford were made to fight back from 2-0 down at the Sports Ground for a 2-2 draw with two goals from Ben Seymour. Last season Shortwood won 3-1 at the Sports Ground while The Robins gained some revenge with a 2-1 win at Meadowbank thanks to goals from Chris McGrath and Billy Tucker.