Bideford vs Willand Rovers
Southern League Division One South
Saturday 28th March 2026
3:00pm kick off
The Persimmon Homes Sports Ground, Bideford

Saturday’s Devon derby meeting between Bideford and Willand Rovers is a massive game in the season of both club’s who are right in the thick of a relegation battle. A classic six-pointer, Willand will leapfrog Bideford in the table should they win at the Sports Ground, while Bideford could extend the gap between the sides to five points.

The main target for both is of course to drag themselves away from the bottom four. Bideford are 14th, but only two points above the drop zone, and in fact would have been the wrong side of the red line had Farren Simons not scored a last minute winner for the Robins at Bashley last week. Willand have dropped back into the relegation zone because of a couple of 1-0 home defeats to Swindon Supermarine and Malvern Town. Prior to that, Rovers had been on a bit of a resurgence with four wins in five games, including a 2-0 win against promotion chasers Shaftesbury.

The sides met back in November at Silver Street where Bideford triumphed 3-2 thanks to goals from Scott Robinson (2) and Jamie Hearsey. Bideford have won the last three meetings between the sides, including the last contest at the Sports Ground on Boxing Day 2024 where a solitary Robinson goal gave the Robins all three points.

Bideford’s last six (LWLLWL) Pos 14th Pld 35 W10 D7 L18 Pts 37
24/03/26 Holsworthy 0 Bideford 0 (St Luke’s Cup SF) *Holsworthy won 6-5 on pens
21/03/26 Bashley 2 Bideford 3 (League)
17/03/26 Bideford 1 Winchester City 6 (League)
14/03/26 Brixham 4 Bideford 0 (League)
07/03/26 Bideford 2 Bristol Manor Farm 0 (League)
28/02/26 Frome Town 4 Bideford 0 (League)

Willand’s last six (WWLWLL) Pos 19th Pld 35 W9 D8 L18 Pts 35
25/03/26 Willand Rovers 0 Malvern Town 1
21/03/26 Willand Rovers 0 Swindon Supermarine 1
18/03/26 Willand Rovers 4 Mousehole 1
14/03/26 Malvern Town 5 Willand Rovers 2
07/03/26 Willand Rovers 1 Didcot Town 0
28/03/26 Westbury United 1 Willand Rovers 3

A Brief History of Willand Rovers FC
Willand Rovers were formed in 1946 and played in the Devon & Exeter League until becoming founder members of the Devon County League in 1992. Willand would become Devon League champions in 1998/99 and again in 2000/01 where they would be promoted to Western League Division One. After four years in the division, Rovers won the Division One title in 2004/05 and with it, promotion to the Premier Division. Willand have only once finished outside of the top ten in the twelve years they’ve played in the Premier Division and were runners-up in 2009/10. In 2016/17 they finished in 6th place then narrowly missed out on promotion in 2017/18 finishing 3rd. However in 2018/19 Willand finally became Western League champions and secured promotion to the Southern League for the first time. Rovers were in 14th position when the 2019/20 season was abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic and were 7th in 2020/21 when play was stopped once again. In 2021/22, Willand finished in 15th position as they also did in 2022/23. In 2023/24 they improved slightly to 14th place before dropping back to 15th in 2024/25.

Willand Rovers FC
Silver Street
Willand
Devon
EX15 2RG
Tel: 01884 33885
Website: http://www.willandrovers.co.uk
Twitter: @WillandRovers

Most recent meetings:
29/11/26 Willand Rovers 2 Bideford 3 (Southern Div 1 South)
21/04/25 Willand Rovers 2 Bideford 4 (Southern Div 1 South)
26/12/24 Bideford 1 Willand Rovers 0 (Southern Div 1 South)
10/04/24 Willand Rovers 2 Bideford 1 (Southern Div 1 South)
04/11/23 Bideford 0 Willand Rovers 2 (Southern Div 1 South)
04/03/23 Willand Rovers 0 Bideford 1 (Southern Div 1 South)
11/10/22 Bideford 1 Willand Rovers 3 (Southern Div 1 South)
18/04/22 Willand Rovers 1 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 South)
01/01/22 Bideford 0 Willand Rovers 4 (Southern Div 1 South)
01/01/20 Willand Rovers 3 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 South)
26/08/19 Bideford 2 Willand Rovers 1 (Southern Div 1 South)