Match Preview

Bideford vs Willand Rovers
Southern League Division One South
Monday 26th August 2019
3:00pm kick off
Sports Ground, Bideford

League action returns to the Sports Ground on Bank Holiday Monday and it's a Devon derby for everyone to enjoy as Western League champions Willand Rovers are the visitors for their first ever Southern League meeting with Bideford. Both sides enjoyed FA Cup wins on Saturday although Willand's passage through to the next round was much more emphatic than that of The Robins. Willand scored an impressive 5-1 victory at Street while Bideford laboured to a 1-0 win at Cribbs. In the league Bideford started well with a good win over Moneyfields before a disastrous first half at Frome Town cost them dearly. While Willand have two FA Cup victories in the bag they have yet to pick up a point in the league with losses against Mangotsfield and Thatcham so will be desperate to get off the mark in North Devon on Monday afternoon.

Form Guide

Willand Rovers' last six (LWWLLW) Pos 19th W0 D0 L2 Pts 0
24/08/19 Street 1 Willand Rovers 5 (FA Cup PR)
21/08/19 Willand Rovers 2 Mangotsfield United 3 (League)
17/08/19 Thatcham Town 2 Willand Rovers 0(League)
10/08/19 Willand Rovers 2 St Austell 1 (FA Cup EPR)
03/08/19 Ilfracombe Town 2 Willand Rovers 5 (Friendly)
01/08/19 Willand Rovers 2 Taunton Town 5 (Friendly)

Bideford’s last six (WWLWLW) Pos 14th W1 D0 L1 Pts 3
24/08/19 Cribbs 0 Bideford 1 (FA Cup PR)
21/08/19 Frome Town 3 Bideford 0 (League)
17/08/19 Bideford 1 Moneyfields 0 (League)
05/08/19 Taunton Town 1 Bideford 0 (Friendly)
03/08/19 Elmore 2 Bideford 3 (Friendly)
30/07/19 Bridgwater Town 0 Bideford 2 (Friendly)

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.

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

Most recent meetings:
31/07/18 Willand Rovers 2 Bideford 2 (Friendly)
06/03/18 Bideford 3 Willand Rovers 2 (St Luke’s SF)
29/07/16 Bideford 5 Willand Rovers 0 (Friendly)
16/07/13 Willand Rovers 0 Bideford 3 (Friendly)
07/10/09 Willand Rovers 0 Bideford 0 (Western Prem Div)
25/08/09 Bideford 1 Willand Rovers 1 (Western Prem Div)
13/04/09 Willand Rovers 2 Bideford 0 (Western Prem Div)
21/10/08 Bideford 2 Willand Rovers 0 (Western Prem Div)
25/03/08 Willand Rovers 3 Bideford 0 (St Luke’s SF)
04/03/08 Willand Rovers 1 Bideford 1 (Western Prem Div)
28/08/07 Bideford 3 Willand Rovers 0 (Western Prem Div)