We take to the road for a very long Tuesday night trip to Thatcham, which we hope will finally take place this time! This one has been a bit of a saga… Originally a Saturday fixture, the game fell foul of the weather and was re-arranged for a Tuesday night in January. That game was unable to take place as two serious road accidents prevented us from getting to Thatcham. The re-re-arranged fixture was set for another Tuesday night in February, but incredibly, on our arrival at the ground we found that one of the floodlights was on fire! Unfortunately it meant a wasted seven-hour round trip for us.

The good news ahead of this latest long trip to Berkshire, is that we have already secured our safety in the Southern League for this season. So, the pressure on the fixture has been removed and the lads can just go and enjoy the game and hopefully come back with three points!

What sort of side Sean Joyce is able to put together for this very awkward (to say the least) of midweek fixtures is another matter. Several players have been carrying knocks and availability is always very tricky for these away games where we don’t get home until 2am or later! Be that as it may, we are in very good form with four wins and two draws in our last six games in all competitions. Saturday’s comeback win from 2-0 down at Cinderford was a prime example of the great character shown by our players in recent weeks.

For Thatcham, who are 21st in the table and nine points from safety, all may not be lost just yet. While they’d need a minor miracle to escape the bottom four now, news that Shaftesbury are to be relegated due to a ground grading failure may mean that fourth from bottom could be reprieved from relegation. Helston currently occupy that spot and have a five point cushion, so it still would be a big challenge. Of course, this is all pending an appeal lodged by Shaftesbury anyway.

The previous fixture between Bideford and Thatcham this season took place just five weeks ago at the Sports Ground and ended in a 1-1 draw. Mattie Buchan opened the scoring before Christan Johnson equalised for the visitors.

Bideford’s last six (DWDWWW) Pos 13th Pld 38 W12 D13 L13 Pts 49
12/04/25 Cinderford Town 2 Bideford 3 (League)
05/04/25 Bideford 2 Didcot Town 1 (League)
02/04/25 Ivybridge Town 1 Bideford 2 (St Luke’s Cup SF)
29/03/25 Shaftesbury 3 Bideford 3 (League)
25/03/25 Cribbs 0 Bideford 3 (League)
22/03/25 Bideford 1 Yate Town 1 (League)

Thatcham Town’s last six (LDWWLL) Pos 21st Pld 38 W8 D8 L22 Pts 32
12/04/25 Willand Rovers 3 Thatcham Town 1 (League)
05/04/25 Malvern Town 3 Thatcham Town 0 (League)
29/03/25 Thatcham Town 3 Helston Athletic 0 (League)
25/03/25 Thatcham Town 1 Cinderford Town 0 (League)
22/03/25 Cinderford Town 2 Thatcham Town 2 (League)
15/03/25 Thatcham Town 1 Bemerton Heath Harlequins 2 (League)

A Brief History of Thatcham Town FC
Thatcham Town were founded in 1894 as Thatcham FC and joined the Reading Temperance League in 1896 where they would remain for 57 years winning the Division Two title in 1905/06. The club were founder members of the Hellenic League in 1953. They dropped to the newly formed Division One in 1956 but would win that division in 1958/59. After three seasons in the Premier Division they were relegated back to Division One. The Kingfishers then bounced between the two divisions over the next 20 years winning the Division One title again in 1964/65 and 1972/73. The club were renamed Thatcham Town in 1974 and went on to be crowned Hellenic League champions in 1974/75. After being relegated again in 1978 they spent four seasons in Division One before joining the Athenian League, which disbanded in 1984. Thatcham then joined the London Spartan League and after two fourth place finishes joined the Wessex League in 1986. The Kingfishers were crowned Wessex League champions in 1995/96. In 2005/06 they were runners-up and accepted promotion to the Southern League for the first time playing in Division One South & West. They sidestepped over to Division One Central for a season in 2012/13 before returning to South & West. In 2014/15 they dropped back down to the Hellenic League where they spent four seasons before winning their second Hellenic League title in 2017/18. In what must be considered the club’s greatest ever season, Thatcham also won the FA Vase by defeating Stockton Town 1-0 in the final at Wembley in front of 31,430 fans. In 2018/19 Thatcham finished 11th in Southern League Division One South. They then transferred over to the Isthmian League where they achieved finishes of 12th, 13th and 8th consecutively in Division One South Central. They transferred back to the Southern League ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Thatcham Town FC
Waterside Park
Crookham Hill
Thatcham
Berkshire
RG19 4PA
Tel: 01635 862016
Website: https://www.thatchamtownfootballclub.com
Twitter: @Thatcham_TownFC

Previous meetings:
08/03/25 Bideford 1 Thatcham Town 1 (Southern Div 1 South)
25/01/20 Bideford 1 Thatcham Town 1 (Southern Div 1 South)
14/09/19 Thatcham Town 4 Bideford 3 (Southern Div 1 South)
09/03/19 Thatcham Town 1 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 South)
08/12/18 Bideford 0 Thatcham Town 1 (Southern Div 1 South)
14/04/12 Thatcham Town 1 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
17/11/11 Bideford 1 Thatcham Town 0 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
29/01/11 Thatcham Town 3 Bideford 0 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
18/09/10 Bideford 1 Thatcham Town 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)