Bideford finally managed to stop the rot of five straight defeats with an excellent 2-1 win away at Southern Premier Division side Wimborne Town in the League Cup. In the league however The Robins have only taken one point from their last six games and have fallen all the way down to 16th position. Billy Tucker has returned from injury but James Mayne begins a three match suspension for his red card against Thatcham. Winchester City are a team in good form. They have won their last four games in the league which has taken them up to 9th position. Last time out they picked up a great away win at Street while their last home game was a 1-0 success over Larkhall.

Form Guide

Winchester City’s last six (LDWWWW) Pos 9th W7 D3 L5 Pts 24
08/12/18 Street 0 Winchester City 2 (League)
01/12/18 Winchester City 1 Larkhall Athletic 0 (League)
27/11/18 Fleet Town 1 Winchester City 2 (League)
24/11/18 Slimbridge 1 Winchester City 3 (League)
22/11/18 Winchester City 2 Montefiore Halls 2 (Southampton Cup R3) *Winchester won 4-2 on pens
17/11/18 Winchester City 0 Yate Town 1 (League)

Bideford’s last six (LLLLLW) Pos 16th W5 D3 L8 Pts 18
11/12/18 Wimborne Town 1 Bideford 2 (League Cup R3)
08/12/18 Bideford 0 Thatcham Town 1 (League)
01/12/18 Cinderford Town 4 Bideford 2 (League)
24/11/18 Bideford 1 Moneyfields 3 (League)
20/11/18 Bristol Manor Farm 4 Bideford 3 (League)
17/11/18 Blackfield & Langley 4 Bideford 1 (League)

A Brief History of Winchester City FC
Winchester City were originally founded in 1891 as Winchester Swallows FC. They became Winchester FC in 1894 and then Winchester City FC in 1907. Winchester played local level football in the Hampshire League until they joined Southern League Division One South for the 1971/72 season. However, the next season they were relegated back to the Hampshire League in which they fell to the third tier in 1979. In 1991/92 Winchester were Division Two (third tier) champions and began their long climb back up the leagues. It took nine seasons to get out of Division One which they did in 2000/01 by winning the division title but it took only two seasons to become Hampshire League champions as they finished top of the Premier Division in 2002/03. Winchester's ascension continued as they joined the Wessex League in 2003/04 and finished as champions as well as winning the FA Vase with a 2-0 win over AFC Sudbury at St Andrews, Birmingham. The Citizens were runners-up in 2004/05 and champions again in 2005/06. They rejoined Southern League Division One (South & West) in 2006/07 but were relegated back to the Wessex League in 2008/09. Winchester won their third Wessex League title in 2011/12 to be promoted back to the Southern League but lasted just one season and were relegated once again. In 2014/15 City were runners-up in the Wessex Premier and were promoted to the Southern League for a fourth time. This time they fared much better with a fifth place finish and qualification for the play-offs after achieving their highest ever league position. However their hopes of promotion ended with a semi final play-off defeat to Banbury United. In 2016/17 Winchester finished in 14th position, while in 2017/18 they finished 11th.

Winchester City FC
The City Ground
Hillier Way
Abbots Barton
Winchester
Hampshire
SO23 7SR
Tel: 07768 848905
Website: http://www.winchestercityfc.co.uk
Twitter: @wincityfc

Previous meetings:
28/04/18 Bideford 2 Winchester City 0 (SL Div 1 West)
25/11/18 Winchester City 2 Bideford 3 (SL Div 1 West)
27/02/17 Winchester City 0 Bideford 0 (SL Div 1 S&W)
17/12/16 Bideford 1 Winchester City 2 (SL Div 1 S&W)
2003/04 Winchester City 4 Bideford 0 (FA Vase SF L2)
2003/04 Bideford 3 Winchester City 3 (FA Vase SF L1)