FTFC | Club History | Past Managers

frometownfc.co.uk Official Website of ‘The Robins’

Website Sponsor

There have been many brave souls who have stepped forward to take charge of Frome Town Football Club since the Club was formed back in 1904. Here we take a quick look at some of those who have been in the hot seat over the last couple of decades. Back in the 1992 the Club was managed by PHIL MORRIS who was a former legendary Robins goalkeeper and hailed from Bristol. He was extremely professional in his approach to the job and eventually left the Club after two seasons due to budget cuts. He was in charge for 88 games of which he won 22 and drew 20 in what was a very strong Western League Premier Division. Morris made way for local man STEVE FORD who was in charge for just one season and in his 40 games at the helm his team only won three matches and drew 5 and he was replaced by MIKE LEESON in time for the start of the 1995/96 season. It was a season that Robins fans will want to forget as the Club were relegated to Division One of the Western League in a poor campaign and he lasted a season and a half before another former Robins legendary player took the helm when SIMON CULLIFORD returned to lead the revival of the Club. Things off the field were not good for the Club at this point and after performances on the pitch showed a massive improvement Culliford was left with no alternative but to resign after budget cuts at the end of the 1997/98 season meant his job became too difficult. In total he was in charge of 70 games and of those his charges won 19 games and drew 14 with 37 losses. With money tight and not much of a budget to work with local Frome man COLIN THURSTON was promoted from his position as Reserve Team manager and he set about putting a squad together of players who were largely within five miles of the town. However it soon became evident this wasn’t going to work and while there were some excellent results and performances there were some truly woeful games as well. At the end of the season Thurston was on his way but little did Frome know that things were about to get a lot worse. The summer of 1999 saw the appointment of KINGSLEY JOHN who had formally been involved with the youth set-up at Yeovil Town but it soon became apparent that he was out of his depth and lasted just 13 games before being sacked. A mix-up in regards to his replacement saw the appointment of first team captain KEITH BALL to the post who took on the job in a joint role with ALI BELCHER. Simon Culliford had been lined up for a return but the then Chairman went against the Committee and appointed Ball instead. It proved to be a disaster as they were sacked at the end of the season with the Club rock bottom of the league and were only saved from relegation due to a league re-organisation. The same mistake wasn’t going to happen again and the re-birth of Frome Town started in the summer of 2000 when yet another former player and well respected manager SIMON WHITE was installed. It proved to be a superb appointment as the Robins bounced back within two seasons into the Premier League after winning the league title and finishing as runners-up in the league cup final. However after 92 games, 60 wins and 9 draws with 218 goals scored and just 99 against White was sacked for off-field problems. The new man at the helm was current player and former Yeovil Town legend PAUL THORPE who took on the role as player manager however despite a promising start some poor defeats in his second season (2003/04) led to his dismissal after 61 games in charge with 21 wins and 11 draws to his name. Former Mangotsfield United manager ANDY BLACK was the next in the job and he restored Frome to a Club that would compete at the top of the Western Premier Division and also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Vase. However disaster struck in 2005/06 when he failed to raise a side for an FA Cup replay at St Blazey and the Club had to withdraw from the competition and in the process Black lost his job. ANDY CRABTREE was given the task of re-building a shattered Club and he remained in post until the 2009/10 season after guiding the Robins to promotion into the Southern League and won the Somerset Premier Cup with a 3-1 win over Paulton Rovers. Crabtree was the longest serving manager for many years and completed 195 games in charge of which he won 110 and drew 35 before being replaced.