SWINDON SUPERMARINE

Founded in 1992 the club was formed by the amalgamation of two established Hellenic League clubs - Swindon Athletic and Supermarine. At the time of the merger fortunes were not running well for both clubs. Supermarine were to finish in bottom place in Division One in the 1991/92 season and Swindon Athletic were having problems improving their facilities at Southbrook to comply with new league rules. Both clubs recognised that they could best achieve their ambitions by a merger and the new club took the place of Swindon Athletic in the Premier Division.

Swindon Athletic, formerly known as Penhill up to 1989, were formed in 1968 and were previously members of the Wiltshire County League. The club won the Wiltshire Junior Cup in 1976/77 and the Senior Division Two title the following season but the decade of the 80's, during which they joined the Hellenic league, saw unparalleled success. Winners of the Wiltshire Senior Cup three times and runners-up twice between 1982 and 1989 they were also promoted to Wiltshire Senior Division One where they won the title in successive seasons in 1982/83 and 1983/84. In 1985 they joined the Hellenic League and were promoted at the first attempt when they finished runners-up to Viking Sports.

The Supermarine aircraft company became famous in the Second World War for its design of the Spitfire, for which we have all been eternally grateful. The football club grew out of the Works Social Club in 1946 under the name of Vickers Armstrong, and then simply Vickers. The club progressed through the Swindon & District and Wiltshire Leagues before joining the Hellenic League in the early eighties. They had immediate success in Division One when they were runners-up to Rayners Lane on goal difference in 1982/83. Supermarine were Wiltshire Senior Cup winners in 1985/86 when they defeated Penhill 1-0, the club they were to merge with some seven years later. Supermarine also won the Dr.Elliott Cup on no less than five occasions.

Since the merger Swindon Supermarine regularly finished in the top eight in the Premier Division. They were Wiltshire Senior Cup finalists in the 1993/94 season, and runners-up in the Premier Cup to Cinderford Town in 1994/95. Also in 1994/95 they entered the Wiltshire Premier Shield for the first time and went all the way to the final only to lose out to Trowbridge Town. With another cup final defeat in 1995/96 against Bicester Town in the Floodlight Cup, it seemed the club could never get over that final hurdle. That all changed in the 1996/97 season when they won their first trophies since the merger when they defeated Devizes Town in the final of the Wiltshire Premier Shield. With the Reserves securing the Reserve Division One Championship and winning the Reserve Division Challenge Cup a successful season for the club came to a close with a Hellenic Premier Division Challenge Cup victory against Kintbury Rangers.

In the following 1997/98 season the club were at the top of the Hellenic Premier Division from September and had only Endsleigh challenging them for the championship come May. With the lead changing hands in the last few games it was up to Supermarine to win the last two fixtures to secure their first Hellenic Premier Division Championship. This was done in style with two emphatic home victories, 8-0 and 6-0 on consecutive days against Bicester and Fairford Town and they were duly crowned 1997/98 Premier Division Champions under the guidance of John Fisher and Don Rogers.

There was no repeat of that success in the following season. An early setback came with the loss of our successful management team of John Fisher and Don Rogers, both left the club in the pre-season. Swindon Supermarine kicked off the 1998/99 season with a new management team at the helm in former reserve team managers Dave Hawkins and Kevin Moloney. It was going very well until November when a top three position gradually fell away with a dip in confidence and form. The team finished the season with only two league wins out of the last nineteen games and ended up in a disappointing fourteenth place. In January 1999 both Dave and Kevin left the club and from then on Alan Dyton took over, initially in a caretaker role. The only highlight that season came from an appearance in the Wiltshire Premier Shield final at the County Ground when they met Salisbury City only to lose 2-1.

The 1999/2000 season was a complete turn around with an excellent year both on and off the pitch. In November 1999 the club opened their new clubhouse at Hunts Copse and on the pitch they were very successful with two cup wins and a healthy third spot in the league. Only a dip in form in mid-March has saw the team miss out on a runners-up spot. They won the Norman Matthews Floodlight Cup with a 2-0 aggregate victory over league champions Banbury United in final. In the Cherry Red Records Challenge Cup final they defeated Ross Town 2-1 after extra-time.

That success of 1999/2000 was improved in the following 2000/01 season with a Hellenic League Premier Division championship title and the retention of the Floodlight Cup. The treble was on the cards but unfortunately Carterton Town won 7-6 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the final. With the championship secured the application to join the Dr Martens League was accepted. To secure promotion a number of ground improvements were successfully undertaken to meet the league's guidelines. A 225-seater stand was built to compliment the old stand, taking the covered accommodation to 300 seats. A 6ft-perimeter fence was erected to enclose the ground, new toilet facilities for spectators were built and although not necessary to meet the league's guidelines new floodlights were put in place.

Off the field the hard work has continued with the chairman and committee working to secure the future of the club the Dr Martens League. Another club sponsorship was secured with a new company, Wiltshire OnLine, becoming the main sponsor for the 2001/02 season. They along with our other sponsors will hopefully help us to achieve further success in the years to come in the Dr Martens League. Earlier in the summer the club's first team manager, Alan Dyton, made the decision to step down from his role because of work commitments but he was keen to continue in some capacity at the club. In July Alan's successor was found when the club appointed Swindon Town's community officer Clive Maguire as first team manager, and equally pleasing was that Alan decided to assist Clive that season. Unfortunately, Clive resigned his managerial post at the end of October and after acting as caretaker manager for three games Alan also left the club. Clive's resignation came after a disastrous start to the season with twelve defeats from thirteen games, but other than the game away at Shepshed Dynamo the players had more than held there own. With a little more fortune they could have secured more than the three points they won at Cinderford Town.

The club then began the difficult task of looking for a new manager, a manager who could hopefully improve their perilous position in the league. After around ten days of looking the club believe knew they have found the right man when they secured the services of the vastly experienced John Murphy. John has managed Cinderford Town, Witney Town, Trowbridge Town and Cheltenham Town and has achieved a number of successes in the Southern League.

With John at the helm the team staged a tremendous come back. Especially over the final two months of the season when they picked up a number of important victories. These victories left the team safe; a full ten points clear from relegation and a much healthy position than just after Christmas. At that time they were eleven points off the second from bottom placed team and relegation looked a dead cert. A remarkable turn around in what was a truly remarkable season in the history of Swindon Supermarine. The team lives to fight another day in the Dr Martens League and things can only get better from the 2001/02 season.

The 2002/03 season was unfortunately worse than our first season in the Western Division. After a very good pre-season where the team played extremely well, the season started disastrously with only one draw in seven league games by the end of September, compounded by a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Chard Town in the Axa FA Cup. By this time the team were back at the foot of the league table. Along with these bad results and some personal concerns that John has he decided to relinquish his managerial position on Friday 27th September. Over the weekend the club officials drew up a shortlist of potential managers that they believed could turn things around and by Monday morning the 30th September they had decided to promote within the club with Academy Director Tom Jones being offered the position, which he duly accepted. A honeymoon period followed for some nine games but after eight defeats, the last a 9-0 demolition by Sutton Coldfield, and a single point from the draw at RC Warwick Tom resigned from his position as manager on 12th October.

After a weekend of hectic activity and a few enquiries from interested managers it was announced on the Monday evening that former Cirencester manager Ray Baverstock had been offered the position. This he duly accepted and with his assistants Pat Slattery and John Freeth began the most difficult task of keeping the club in the Dr Martens League which they duly obliged with a record seven wins from the last eight league games culminating in a 3-1 victory at Bromsgrove Rovers on the last day of the season. During this run they also defeated Swindon Town in the semi-final of the Premier Shield only to lose 3-1 to Salisbury City in the final 48hrs after securing our Dr Martens League safety.

The 2003/04 season started so differently from our first two seasons in the DML Western Division. With Ray and his team at the helm the team started very well with 18 points and a mid-table position by the end of October 2003. Something the club never achieved in the first two season until after the New Year. So it was a completed shock to everyone at the club when Ray decided to step down at this time due to personal commitments. With his assistants Pat and Joey also deciding not to carry on a new manager was needed to continue the brilliant work Ray and the team had achieved. After a number of interviews and no suitable successor to be found, chairman Steve Moore and major sponsor Rikki Hunt (Fuelforce) began talks with Ray in an attempt to resolve some of his personal commitments and concerns in an effort to offer him a route back to the mangers position. After three days of talks it was brilliant news for everyone when Ray decided to return to the club on a 2-year contract just one week and one game after initially resigning. Unfortunately early into the new year, in January, Ray informed the club that his original reasons for quitting in October were still apparent and he handed in his resignation for the second time in a season.

It wasn't long before a successor was found when Tommy Saunders' footballing exile ended with the former Chippenham Town boss being unveiled as the man to take charge at Swindon Supermarine. Saunders was at Hunts Copse to watch Marine draw 1-1 with Sutton Coldfield on Saturday 10th January and was formally appointed as Ray Baverstock's replacement minutes after the final whistle. The outspoken 32-year-old led Chippenham from the Screwfix League to the Dr Martens Premier Division with back-to-back promotions and also took the Bluebirds to Wembley for the 2000 FA Vase final. Unfortunately Tommy’s reign only lasted only lasted a couple of months as he resigned after the 2-2 draw with Cinderford at the beginning of March. Mark Collier, he’s coach and assistant for the past two months took over the job for the next game against Stourport Swifts and duly led the side to their first victory in seven games. Following the win Mark was offered the position as manager which he accepted and took us to a safe 17th place in the Western Division and Southern League football for the 2004/05 season, our fourth in the league.

During the summer 0f 2005 the club managed to secure its future at South Marston with the purchase of the current ground and an additional seven acres of land. A consortium of club supporters led by former Swindon Town chairman Cliff Puffett who is now the new chairman of Swindon Supermarine. There are plans to develop the whole complex over the next five years with enhanced training facilities for both the senior team and the local young footballers of Swindon. We are focused on supplying quality facilities to the community and work has started in the pre-season with an improved playing surface. For a fifth consecutive season the club is in the Southern League with Mark Collier starting his second full season as manager and Ian Howell as his assistant.