Ground Meadow Lane, Westbury Founded 1920 | Chairman Matthew Bright | |
Full name Westbury United Football Club Nickname(s) The White Horse Men or Green Army Manager Neil and Joe Kirkpatrick 2015–16 Western League Division One, 20th League Western Football League Division One | ||
Westbury United Football Club are a football club based in Westbury, Wiltshire, England. They are currently members of the Western League Division One and play at Meadow Lane.
Contents
History
The club started in 1920 with the amalgamation of two local sides. Westbury Old Comrades FC had just won promotion to the First Division of the Wiltshire County League and to strengthen the side they joined forces with a local junior side, Westbury Great Western Railway XI. Together they became Westbury United Football Club.
Recent Years
They joined the Western League Division One in 1984. They were crowned champions in 1991–92 and were promoted. Westbury played in the Premier Division for ten seasons from 1992, but were relegated back to Division One in 2002 and remain there to this day. New chairman Matthew Bright took over in November 2014 installing Shaun Gardner as 1st team manager. Matthew Bright aims to make the club more family orientated and make Westbury United the center of the local community. Westbury United now have a strong link with the local youth football club Westbury Youth FC and gives a clear pathway for all youth footballers. Shaun Gardner's team finished the 2014/2015 season bottom of the league table, however, avoided relegation. In September 2015, Gardner resigned as first team manager. His assistant manager, James Goddard, was appointed as his successor after 3 games in temporary charge. Westbury finished the 2015/16 season in 20th position.
Season 2016/17 started well by Westbury's standards with them winning half of their games up until the middle of November, they then went on a run of 9 games with only 1 win and 1 draw, morale amongst the players was low and the officers of the club were concerned Westbury would be involved in another relegation battle, the decision was made to relieve James Goddard from his duties at the club after a home defeat by, at that time, another relegation rival Chippenham Park.
Westbury's reserve manager, Marc Lanfear, stepped in to lead the first tem whilst a new manager was sought. He was assisted for those two matches by Nathan Hallett-Young, they won both of their games against two of the top three teams in the division.
Father and son, Neil and Joe Kirkpatrick, were appointment joint managers on 1st February 2017. They suffered defeat n their first 3 league games in charge, but after that they over saw a 5 league game winning streak, the first time Westbury United have managed this since 2009.
FA Competitions
The club has been competing in the FA Cup in most seasons since 1922, with the highlight being reaching the First Round Proper in 1937–38, losing to London side Walthamstow Avenue at home by 3–1. They are one of the few clubs to have taken part in every FA Vase since that competition's inception, but have yet to reach the later stages – their best showing being reaching the third round (last 64), which they have on three occasions.
Ground
Westbury United play their home matches at Meadow Lane, Westbury, Wiltshire, BA13 3AF.
The ground has two small stands, one being along the length of the pitch with 96 seats, and the other in one corner behind the goal. There are trees that surround the ground making it look enclosed, and there is plenty of space for additional stands to be built if necessary. The pitch has a small wall going around the outside of it, making the ground look more professional, and also has a set of nets behind one goal to stop the balls from going into the adjacent housing. The ground has a café which serves hot drinks, pies, pasties and sausage rolls on match days and a licensed bar which is open to the public. The clubhouse contains the licensed bar, a skittles alley and a pool table. The clubhouse is available for the local public to hire out for social events.