Time Line (1961-2000)

1960/61 Club move back to Wiltshire Premier League as they took stock and re-grouped following some difficult seasons and finished as runners-up losing the league title by a single point 1961/62 It was agreed to allow grey hound racing at the ground where a company would convert the ground to include a full sized track, floodlights and a bar backed by a 21 year lease however the council refused the application. On the pitch the Robins finished third in the league 1962/63 Robins win Wiltshire Premier League with Mike Butt scoring 52 goals and were re-accepted into the Western League taking the place of Bristol Rovers Colts 1963/64 Frome struggle in first year back and find themselves £360 in debt 1964/65 A host of new signings including Mike Chedgy and Barrie Simmonds joined a new look Frome side with the Robins finishing mid-table 1965/66 Simmonds disappointed manager Doug Hayward by dropping down to play for Paulton Rovers but the Robins progress continued as they finished sixth 1966/67 The season saw Simmonds return again to Frome and although finished the season just below mid-table his strike in the second leg of the Somerset Premier Cup gave Frome a 3-1 aggregate final win over Yeovil 1967/68 Doug Hayward resigned at the end of the previous season with Roy Bartlett & John Doughty taking on the joint roles of player/manager. They found finish the season in fifth place 1968/69 Town sign former Northern Ireland international, Manchester United and Bristol Rovers ‘keeper Ronnie Briggs while new changing rooms were also built. Bert Scott who had been active with the Club for many years was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours and whilst the league saw Frome again finish fifth they shared the Somerset Premier Cup after drawing 3-3 on aggregate against Yeovil Town. A former Frome player from 1950’s Tony Book was named PFA Player of the Year while at Manchester City. Secretary Cedric Norton resigned at the AGM and was replaced by Tony Barnes. 1969/70 Frome would finish below mid-table and Bartlett tendered his resignation just before the end of the season. 1970/71 Derek Brain appointed as Manager and in a tough season would finish just two places off the bottom.  They announced their resignation once again from the Western League but would later withdraw that notice. 1971/72 Frome finished sixth and lost the Western League Subsidiary Cup final 2-0 to Bideford. A planning application for a new club house was agreed by the council. 1972/73 The Supporters Club which had ploughed money into the Club for many years disbanded and formed one committee with the existing football club with all sights on building the new social club.  On the pitch Brain’s troops finished in a lowly spot in the Western League while also reached the Western League Cup semi- final 1973/74 Town finished seventh as work continued at a pace on the social facilities 1974/75 Frome would finish sixth in the Western League and lost the League Cup final 6-1 on aggregate to league champions Falmouth. The new club house was also completed and opened and Brian Loader took over from Tony Barnes as Secretary. 1975/76 The Robins finished mid-table and in the national Rothmans League cup they would play the likes of North Shield and Blyth Spartans.  An “Its a Knock Out” tournament was also held at the ground made up of teams from some of the biggest firms in the town. 1976/77 Derek Brain signed former Bristol Rovers player Ray Mabbutt whose son Gary would go on to play for Tottenham Hotspur.  Ray Pearce began his long association with the Club taking over as Treasurer but the team had a poor season finishing just six places from the bottom. 1977/78 The summer saw Frome sign striker Paul Randell from Glastonbury but such was his prowess in the friendlies he was soon snapped up by Bristol Rovers. Frome finished seventh but better was to come! 1978/79 Manager Brain resigned after saying he had had enough of the intense criticism and was replaced by Bob Boyd who had managed Southern League side Minehead. Boyd would set about changing the squad including the signing of Dave Wiffill who would later go on to play for Manchester City. The turnaround on the pitch was immense and going in to the last two games of the season they needed just two points to claim the Western League title.  Both games were at home and they would draw the first against Bridgwater Town 0-0 on the Saturday and two days later on May Day they entertained Paulton Rovers where another stalemate saw the Robins pick up the league trophy. 1979/80 Frome were shocked as Boyd resigned and headed to Bath City in the summer while it was announced floodlights would be installed for the first time by the end of the season. Bryan Drysdale was appointed as Boyds replacement and the Robins would finish the season fourth while also winning the Western League Cup 3-1 on aggregate against Devizes Town. 1980/81 The Club sacked manager Drysdale and re-appointed Bob Boyd. There were mixed results and an application to join the Southern League was eventually withdrawn with a promise of additional ground improvements and a new application 12 months later & Frome finished the second in third place. 1981/82 The new season started badly and it came to a head in October as Boyd resigned at half-time of a 6-0 defeat at Chippenham Town claiming the players didn’t want to play for him and Steve D’Arcy was appointed as his replacement. Frome would finish sixth in the league. 1982/83 Frome had another great season and finished as runners-up to Bideford while also winning the Somerset Premier Cup 6-1 on aggregate against Taunton Town and also claimed the league cup with a 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle Reserves 1983/84 Town won the Western Counties Floodlit Cup beating Salisbury City 1-0 while losing a replay to Dawlish Town in the Western League Cup final.  The league saw the Robins finish fourth. D’Arcy’s successful spell in charge ended at the conclusion of the season. 1984/85 Pete Thomas was the the new man in charge at Frome but results were poor and Frome finished in the bottom five. 1985/86 Frome parted company with Thomas at the end of February after a poor season with Kalem Seconds taking his place until the end of the season and finished just below mid-table. 1986/87 Secretary Pete Bishop resigned and was replaced by Sue Merrill and the new manager was Graham Muxworthy but a spate of injuries & bad luck curtailed the season & the Robins finished near the bottom of the league and with no cup runs in any of the competitions. 1987/88 After a poor start to the season Muxworthy was replaced by Kalem Seconds but Frome again finished near the foot of the table but did reach the semi-final of the Western Counties Floodlit Cup losing 1-0 to Swanage. 1988/89 Another lowly league position with a small playing budget & dwindling crowds 1989/90 Steve Coles took over the managers role in September but only lasted a matter of months before walking out with Frome bottom of the league & was replaced by Lindsay Parsons. Frome finished just one place from the bottom of the pile and were saved from relegation by a league re-structure. 1990/91 Parsons stepped aside after a difficult year in charge with Steve Ford taking over & finished 13th. 1991/92 A year later and Ford walked away after his already small budget was cut further as gates continued to drop with Bristol based John Southern the latest to take the hot-seat. The end to this season would go down in Club history as the great escape as the Robins needed to beat top six chasing Saltash United in the final game while also hoping Welton lost at Minehead. With 5 minutes to go of the season relegation seemed a certainty as Frome were drawing and Welton were leading 1-0 until Richard Coombes netted for the Robins to put them ahead at Saltash and with the last kick off the season Minehead grabbed an equaliser which sent Welton into Division One. However it wasn’t enough to save Southern from being axed. 1992/93 Geoff Morton-Norris was re-elected chairman and the man given the task of trying to revive the ailing clubs fortunes was Phil Morris but with still a small budget to work with Frome finished in the bottom six. 1993/94 A bottom four finish was enough to see Morris leave the managers post as did Chairman Morton-Norris. 1994/95 Steve Ford took over the reigns again as Frome continued to fall deeper into the gloom with attendances down and little sign of things changing. With Frome finishing bottom of the league, Ford moved across to the general managers position with Mike Leeson installed as Frome’s tenth manager in as many seasons, 1995/96 Another poor season saw Frome again finish bottom of the table and their 30 year stay in the top flight of the Western League came to an end as they were relegated but before it could get better it would get worse. 1996/97 After a poor start to the season in the lower league Leeson was replaced by former player Simon Culliford and the Robins would go on to finish just below half-way. 1997/98 Frome finished in the bottom three with debts spiralling to £33,000 and the social club had once again lost its licence. The Club, which had been on a downward spirall for many years was about to start getting it’s house in order off the pitch if not on it as Paul McGuinness stepped in to take on the social facilities. 1998/99 With the turmoil engulfing the Club Culliford stepped down and was replaced by Colin Thurston who set about creating a team of local based players however results were poor again and they finished in the bottom three with Thurston parting company with the Club with three games left. 1999/00 Changes off the pitch continued with Geoff Norris stepping down as Chairman to successfully contest the Secretary’s role with Sue Merrill while McGuinness took on the task of Chairman & started to make his mark immediately  making improvements to the ground over the summer for the first time in many years.  The ground was transformed within weeks and it was in keeping with the way the new committee and it’s chairman wanted things to be ran.  On the pitch Kingsley John was appointed as manager but he only lasted a couple of months but in that time he did sign a young striker, Mark Salter, who would go on to become one of the Clubs all time leading players.  With John gone Keith Ball and Ali Belcher took on the managers position but Frome’s playing fortunes hit the lowest point in many years as they finished bottom of the league and were spared the embarrassment of relegation into county football by the skin of their teeth.  A blessing in disguise as this proved to be the turning point for the Club as the sleeping giant began to waken.

Address Frome Town AFC, Blindmans Brewery Stadium, Berkley Road, Frome, Somerset, BA11 2EH Contact Phone; (01373) 464087 Email: info@www.frometownfc.co.uk Frome Town AFC are a members run Club affiliated to the Somerset Football Association