CSL Division Four season preview

The newcomers are FC Boroughs who hail from Malmesbury, Potterne B, Witham Friary who have been the top dogs in the Frome Sunday League for the past few seasons. Along with the three newcomers the division will be made up with AFC Lyneham, Audley Spartans (formerly Chippenham United RAOB), X Change FC (formerly Kings Arms), Gladstone Rovers (formerly Old Road Tavern), Somerford, Chippenham West End, Lavington (Sunday) and Corsham Park Rangers, the latter two teams were both relegated from the third division last season and will be out for an immediate return but will find it very hard to get it at their first attempt.

Lavington (Sunday) will hope that they can recover from what was a dreadful last campaign which saw them suffer relegation which came as a huge surprise following their excellent start to the season that saw them top the division three standings after six wins in their opening seven games.

Lavington did well to keep going and see the season out when other teams might have called it a day so this seasons joint management team of Oliver Hickton and Scott Clarke will hope that their efforts will be rewarded with promotion which could be harder than they may think. Lavington might not finish in the top two but they should be capable of claiming a top six finish.

Along with Lavington Corsham Park Rangers will be bidding for an immediate return to division three where their luck finally ran out last term and they were unable to produce another Houdini act as they had done in the previous campaign when they managed to stay in the division by the skin of their teeth.

For Corsham Park to have any chance of getting out of the division at the first attempt manager Martin Perrett will need to strengthen his side and he will be hoping to pick up a few former Corsham Centre B players who may be looking for a club to play for. Without any new blood Corsham Park will be tipped to struggle once again.

Witham Friary are trying their luck in the league after a period of dominance in the top flight of the Frome League and they will start as favourites to claim the number one spot as they are a side who are rumoured to be packed with high quality players.

Manager, Richard Gould will be happy with the fact that the league doesn’t operate a senior player policy as it means that he can recruit more top names for his assault on the league in his attempt to go from the bottom to the top flight in successive seasons. Division four should be easy and it would be a surprise if Witham Friary didn’t win the title by a country mile.

Kings Arms (All Cannings) going into their second campaign in the league knowing what to expect and although they have lost a few players from the 60 plus that they had registered last term they still have a big enough squad to give manager Jim Wilson a selection headache.

Cannings could be in with an outside opportunity of claiming a top two finish but they will need to get off to a flyer in the first month and with some tough fixtures to look forward to then they are going to have to be at their very best for that that to happen. Only time will tell how they will do but if they don’t claim an automatic promotion berth they will be seeking to finishing in the top four at least.

Trowbridge based Westbridge Re-United have changed their name to Mash Tun Villa and they have moved pitches from the Stallards to Woodmarsh, home of Trowbridge Town FC and they will be hoping that when they season gets underway they can start with a bang as they did last term, but having finished with a whimper with just one victory from seven outings they will be need the likes of Paul Bendell and Chris Stiles to shine from the off otherwise they will face another roller-coaster season and another mid table finish.

Kings Arms FC are another team in the division who have seen a change of name and a change of home venue, now called X Change FC John Dix side will be entertaining their opponents at the Jubilee Field, Bromham rather than their home of the last few seasons Northbrook, Market Lavington.

For the first time in many years the side seems organised going into a new campaign and with a healthy looking squad signed on they could be ready for the challenge from week one. But despite the changes X Change are still predicted to struggle but may finish just outside of the bottom two.

Chippenham West End may have seen the departure of manager Pete Prentice after a short spell in charge but despite the setback on paper they have a half decent squad of players at their disposal and a lot will depend on the sort of start they make.

The West End managed only 14 points from a possible 48 last term and they will need to make an immediate impact otherwise they could find themselves cast adrift from the other teams once again. There will be a few new players hoping to shine this season and if they can turn things around then the former third division side may just start to head in the right direction .

After managing just two victories from 24 matches last season AFC Lyneham will expect to be the whipping boys once again and unless they have bought in a few players to shore up the leaky defence that shipped 223 goals last term they are looking at another uphill struggle. Jason Raven has taken over the manager’s role from Chris Holden and he will be hoping that he will have more success than he did in the 2007/08 season when Lyneham claimed two late wins to save themselves from being whitewashed.

Lyneham are likely to face another torrid season but if they can better the five points that they claimed last season they will see it as moving in the right direction.

Gary Chandler’s Somerford FC had a roller-coaster season last term but finished just two points away from going up in what would have been fifth spot, but had they been promoted they more than likely would have struggled to cope with life in the third division, as it is they might be in a position to mount a serious push for promotion this time around.

Chandler has seen a couple of players leave his village side but he has turned to youth and is hopeful that his new crop of youngsters may go on and surprise a few people. Somerford should finish in the top four if the youngsters perform to their best ability every week.

Chippenham based Old Road Tavern have seen a change of name, now called Gladstone Rovers Bernie Court has also bought in Tam Laidlaw to help him with the running of the side and if the two of them who have loads of experience can get the best out of their team then they will defiantly improve on last terms finish of ninth place. However this season they will have to do it without the services of Fabian Prangle who has left for Christian Malford.

With a squad of 17 players who have an average age of 27, 56-year-old Court will be hoping that his appearances this season will be very limited, but with Court not knowing when to hang up his boots he is likely to play more rather than managing the side who should have a good season.

Chris Shipway’s Audley Spartans side are another team who have seen a change of name this season the former Chippenham United RAOB were nowhere near their best last term so Shipway will be wanting a much better display from his team this time around that will see them finish out of the bottom three.

Last terms side were along with AFC Lyneham and the Kings Arms the whipping boys of the division and conceded 136 goals while scoring just 36 Shipway will hope that his team will be stronger in both departments otherwise it may just be another long hard slog for the Spartans as they battle to stay away from the wooden spoon position.

The final two sides who make up the 13 sides in the division are FC Boroughs and Potterne B who are both newcomers to the league, but many of the Potterne players have previous experience with other sides so will be expected to do very well.

With Peter Huntley as their manager he should be able to guide his side into a position where they are challenging for promotion come next May and it would be a surprise if they weren’t the closest challengers to Witham Friary for the title.

FC Boroughs who are based in Malmesbury may have a few familiar faces in their line up as one of the men behind the team is former Sherston Town manager Lee Newman and he will be hoping that he can tempt a few of his former team-mates back into playing.

With little known about the side it is really hard to say how well they will do, but the team themselves will be looking to be one of those who are in with a shout of reaching division three.