Weymouth Football Club
The Home Of Dorset Football
Weymouth Football Club was founded in 1890 playing their first ever fixture on the 24th of September helping found the Dorset League. Weymouth joined the Western League in 1907–08, embracing full-time professionalism but by 1928–29, debts had mounted, and so they resumed as an amateur club. I’ve been lucky enough to talk to Weymouth Football Club’s CEO Paul Maitland, a lifelong fan and previous chairman Nigel Biddlecombe as well as stat-man Duncan Gardner. My interviews with these three people have helped me understand the highs and lows of such an important club in Dorset.
Photo by Will Lacey
Photo by Will Lacey
Photo by Will Lacey
Photo by Will Lacey
Photo by Will Lacey
Photo by Will Lacey
Nigel’s first memory comes from a 5-2 loss at home to Coventry City in 1958 at the age of two years old. Since that moment, his love for the Terras grew greater, and his involvement became more significant. Nigel’s involvement increased between the 70s and 80s. In 1976 he took his first role on the supporters club committee, he then began running the coaches for away matches as well as a programme shop in 1984.
The lifelong Weymouth fan has been involved in various roles, he expressed the tough time when George Rolls entered his role as chairman and how much of a test it was for the manager. “Times were difficult for Ian Hutchinson, he was manager at the time and so then I began to do secretarial roles as he was running around trying to do 100 jobs at once, which led me to become a director. In February 2012 I bought the club after chucking £20,000 pounds in George’s pocket, I regret it so much”. Nigel put his life savings into getting the club from Rolls but was then “pushed out the club by directors”. He said, “I love Weymouth Football Club, to get pushed out, it broke my heart the football club has always been a massive part of my life”.
Nigel also spoke to me about how Weymouth Football Club is in a very different place today, “In the sixties, when we were winning the Southern League we could offer players accommodation and jobs, the attraction was so much greater we could entice players easy, over recent years we haven’t been able to do so and therefore it’s harder to convince players to come to Dorset where it’s out the way”. Nigel also states that the accessibility for games has worsened, “Weymouth’s new ground is hard to get to, the old ground was in the heart of the town, today it’s an Asda, we shouldn’t have moved really I’ve got to get a taxi there now if I want to go and there are fewer things around it to socialise”.
This season Weymouth achieved survival, on the final day, with nine points required from their last three games and results needing to go in their favour survival looked impossible, however, a 2-0 win away to Dover secured their survival in National League South for the 2023/24 campaign. Stat-man Duncan Gardner has been a Terras fan for over thirty years and describes it as a “rollercoaster” much like this season.
“Survival means everything, we feel as a club we are above Southern League level, Conference South is a minimum and so survival really has meant everything”. Duncan also has an overriding feeling of confusion as the strike partnership between Akheem Rose and Bradley Ash accumulated 45 goals between them, “how on earth we were in a survival fight with a strike partnership scoring that many goals are beyond me”.
CEO Paul Maitland also labelled survival as “massive”, with his “toughest year in football” finishing with a “fairy tail ending”. Paul highlighted how psychology was an important factor in survival. He said, “Everyone had us nailed down for relegation, the pressure was gone and so with five games remaining our thinking became so clear, draws were useless we had to win”. He said that survival had been secured on the penultimate game of the season, “although we did still have to win to stay up, I sat down with the manager in the week and we both knew we were going to survive, the players trained well in the week and everyone knew their roles”.
After such a difficult season for fans of Weymouth, I wanted to understand how fans were feeling ahead of next season, but confidence seems to be the overriding sensation at the moment. “This season was psychological, if we just have a better start next season and earn a platform, we will do a lot lot better”. The fans are appreciative of the gaffer, “I have so much faith in him as a manager I love his positivity, mentality, and I think it rubbed off on the squad keeping us up, he’s a good manager who turned around an oil tank this season getting belief back into players after relegation last season”.
Photo by Will Lacey
Photo by Will Lacey
Looking forward to next season CEO Paul Maitland has said that “promotion is always the aim, despite fighting to survive this campaign, while off the pitch financial stability is a massive focus point”. The most important thing is to see progression “Whether we finish mid-table, make the playoffs or win the league, first and foremost we make sure we are financially stable”. Brad Ash and Akheem Rose were vital for Weymouth’s survival so I asked about confidence to retain these players. “Conversations are ongoing, what we ended up being and what players thought they were signing up to were two very different things, some strong promises were made but they were unachievable. Players will leave and fans will be disappointed but ultimately the managers job is to build a squad that can compete, we can only control what we can control and who’s here will come down to who wants to be here and what we can afford”.
Paul has said Bobby was very much “his pick” for manager and his track record speaks for itself. He was the best person for the job by far, and it has shown this season. “He is the right man to lead us forward and take us back up, his knowledge of the game is unbelievable and his work ethic is superb”. The board and Paul have “full faith in Bobby, hence the reason for his contract extension until 2025, I look forward to the success and progression he will bring”.
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