The league leaders are in town on Saturday as Thatcham Town visit the Sports Ground to take on The Robins. Thatcham are having an excellent season having lost just two games all campaign and are unbeaten on the road. They do come into Saturday’s fixture off the back of a rare defeat at the hands of Melksham Town but won four on the trot prior to that. Bideford’s form has improved slightly but recent results have been very mixed. A cracking win over second placed Frome Town was followed by a decent point on the road at Moneyfields before last week’s disappointing defeat at Bristol Manor Farm. Back in September, Thatcham edged out Bideford by the odd goal in seven at Waterside Park.

Form Guide

Thatcham Town’s last six (LWWWWL) Pos 1st W16 D3 L2 Pts 51
18/01/20 Thatcham Town 0 Melksham Town 2 (League)
11/01/20 Willand Rovers 0 Thatcham Town 4 (League)
04/01/20 Thatcham Town 4 Moneyfields 3 (League)
01/01/20 Sholing 0 Thatcham Town 2 (League)
26/12/19 Thatcham Town 2 Winchester City 1 (League)
14/12/19 Thatcham Town 1 Slimbridge 3 (League)

Bideford’s last six (LWLWDL) Pos 15th W6 D4 L11 Pts 22
18/01/20 Bristol Manor Farm 2 Bideford 1 (League)
11/01/20 Moneyfields 0 Bideford 0 (League)
04/01/20 Bideford 2 Frome Town 1 (League)
01/01/20 Willand Rovers 3 Bideford 2 (League)
26/12/19 Bideford 3 Barnstaple Town 2 (League)
17/12/19 Bideford 1 Melksham Town 3 (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.

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

Previous meetings:
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)