Full name | Weston-super-Mare Association Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | "The Seagulls" |
Founded | 1948 |
Ground | Woodspring Stadium, Weston-super-Mare |
Capacity | 3,500 (350 seated) |
Chairman | Paul Bliss |
Manager | Scott Bartlett |
League | National League South |
2015–16 | National League South, 16th |
Website | Club home page |
Weston-super-Mare Association Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. Nicknamed The Seagulls, the club is affiliated to the Somerset County Football Association and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.
The club was founded in 1887 but disbanded twice (for the two World Wars); the current club was established in 1948. Their claim to fame is that they have never been relegated in their history, although since their promotion to the sixth tier in 2004 they have been reprieved from relegation three times (in 2007, 2008 and 2010). The team's best performance in the FA Cup came in 2003–04 when they reached the second round of the competition.
Weston-super-Mare has a modest fan base and a fierce rivalry with fellow Somerset club Clevedon Town. However, the two clubs have not played in the same league since Weston-super-Mare gained promotion to the Southern League Premier Division in 2003.
Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. was formed in 1887. The team's first record of a competitive match being against near-neighbours Clevedon Town in a "Medal Competition" organised by the Somerset FA. In 1900 they joined Division two of the Western Football League but left after two years. In 1910 they rejoined this league and played there until World War I.
Between the wars, the club played in the local Bristol and District Football League and then the Somerset County League but the club disbanded upon the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. The club reformed in 1948 and immediately rejoined the Western League, initially in Division Two. At this time the team played at the Great Ground in Locking Road, where initially there was no cover for spectators and the players had to change in a marquee. A season after the club joined rejoined the Western league they made their debut in the FA Cup in the 1949–50 season losing to Gloucester City in the preliminary qualifying round. The team remained in the Second Division until the league consolidated to a single division in 1960. During this time they moved to the Langford Road Ground. In 1976 they were placed into the Western League Premier Division upon the creation of a second tier, meaning that by their centenary in 1987 they had never been promoted or relegated in their history.