Their will be five different teams in Division Three this time around.
North Star B who were promoted as champions of division four will be joined by FC Jager (formerly Melksham Jagerbar), British Lion FC and White Horse FC who all had to be pushed up to join the other nine sides who make up the 13 competing for honours.
The teams that stayed in the division are Steeple Ashton Rangers, Trowbridge Town Supporters’ Club, Southwick Wanderers, Corsham United, Blue Circle (Sunday), Pack Horse Rangers, The Crown FC and Westbury Rangers B and they will be joined by relegated Eastlands.
For many sides in the division it will be a case of business as usual and the end results could well see the same teams that topped division four last term finishing in the promotion places this time around but on this occasion it might be FC Jager who get the better of North Star B but there will be a number of other sides who will believe that they are capable of a top two finish.
Calne based North Star B will start the season as odds on favourites to finish as champions for a second successive season having waltzed to the division four title last term.
You would have to be foolish to bet against them reaching the second division under manager Liam Westland who has dramatically turned around the fortunes of the club since arriving for the start of last season.
In Mark Dolman North Star have last season’s top goal scorer, Dolman bagged 72 goals and if he can net a treble in the Star’s opening game of the season he will have netted seven successive hat tricks beating Antony Dowell’s 10 year record.
North Star are not a one man show and they have quality all over the park and they should have few problems in finishing in an automatic promotion spot once again.
North Star’s closest challengers could be Melksham based FC Jager whose manager Barry Holloway is confident that his side will be up there challenging for the number one spot come next May.
Holloway has strengthened what he saw as weaknesses in his sides defence by bringing in the much travelled centre half Darren Whiting from AFC Melksham and goalkeeper Nick Evans from Miller Sports.
With a prolific strike force already at his disposal Holloway is happy to welcome back James Taylor and new signing Matty Messenger to the side and hopes that they will strike up a partnership with Nick Ridout, Dave Castle or James Eatough, with so many striking options and will what seems to be a solid defence FC Jager will push North Star all the way.
Devizes based British Lion have had to switch pitches from Green Lane, Devizes to All Cannings where they will hope that they can still play the football that they have become accustomed to.
However with the pitch at Cannings being a lot smaller than what they would have been use to it might not suit their style of playing but only time will tell if that will be the case.
British Lion lost only three games out of 24 last season but five drawn games four of which were against the so called weaker sides in the division put paid to their chances of nicking a top two placing.
The team have lost the services of a few players but hope to bring in some new faces for what should be a season that sees them finish in the top half of the standings.
After a fantastic first season in the league that saw Steeple Ashton Rangers claim the fourth division title in 2007 things went very flat last season for Nathan Holloway’s side with too many players failing to perform to the high standards that saw them claim silverware just 12 months earlier.
Holloway will be hoping for a much better second stint in the division and for that to happen players like Lee Mounty, Marc Sheppard, Mike Ritson, and Phil Lewis will need to stand up an be counted.
Holloway knows that he needs to strengthen his squad and if a few new players could be added to keep competition for places healthy and it should see Rangers at the business end of the table come next May.
Westbury based White Horse FC surpassed their greatest expectations last season by finishing in fifth spot in division four which was good enough to earn them an immediate return to the division that they tumbled out of at the end of the 2007/08 campaign.
White Horse put together an eight match unbeaten run towards the end of the last season thanks in the main to goals from Andy Filed and Mark Pugh along with heroic performances from players Darren Clarkson, Andy Cahill and Ali Khan and if manager Clive Black can get his team up and running from day one then they should bolt out of the stalls and could well surprise a few people as they should finish in a position of safety.
Blue Circle (Sunday) are one of four teams in the division based in or around Westbury so they will be more than happy that they shouldn’t have much travelling to do this season.
Over the past few campaigns Steve Martin’s side have been seen as perennial strugglers but they always use their get out of jail card at what seems to be the right time.
The Cement boys were undefeated in their final six games of last term which was the reason why they avoided the drop by just three points, so if they can recapture that form from the beginning of the season rather than the end they ought to finish nearer the top half of the table rather than the bottom two.
The third team in the division to play in the shadow of the White Horse are Westbury Rangers B whose manager Dave Griffin will not have been happy with their seventh place finish which with a bit more consistency could have been a lot better.
Rangers were hampered with pitch problems when the weather took hold and went weeks without a game so in the final month of the season had to cram in more midweek games than they would have wished for and this eventually took it’s toil.
Rangers should battle to another mid table finish but they are also one side who could feature in both a push for promotion or the fight to stay in the division, a lot will depend on how they get on in the first couple of months of the season
Trowbridge Town Supporters’ Club who play out of Bratton are the fourth team who play in the Westbury area and like all their near neighbours will be happy with so many local derbies.
Kevin Williams Supporters’ Club had a season of consolidation last term and although Williams may not have been happy with the way his team performed at times he must have been very please at other times especially when they defeated both Three Crowns United and Three Horseshoe Renegades.
Williams like a number of other managers in the division will be asking his players for more endeavour this term and if they can deliver the goods then they should be safe in the division for another season at least.
With no victory in their final eight matches of last season spoiled what promised to be a great season for Pack Horse Rangers and with that disastrous run possibly still playing on their minds and with a poor start Simon Reid’s side will have to wary of getting embroiled in a relegation battle.
Reid is well aware that his key player is goalkeeper Del Llewellyn as it was no coincidence that Rangers dip in form started when the excellent shot stopper got injured.
Having manager just 35 goals in 24 outings last term Pack Horse are in desperate need of some firepower in front of goal, without that the Chippenham based side are likely to face a tough season that may just end up in relegation.
Eastlands manager Adam Davey will be hoping that his side will have it in them to avoid back to back relegations and in an attempt to stay in the division Davey had turned to former hit man Jason Roberts to supply the goals that they will need to do so.
With a mixture of youth and experience which includes stalwarts, Tim Culling, Julian Kirby and Davey himself as the older members of the squad, and youth led by 18 year-olds Dan Wordley and Rob Langan the Melksham based side will be aiming to get back into a winning groove before it’s too late as they only claimed three wins in 24 games last term.
On the form of the last few seasons it would be fair to say that Eastlands will be one of the sides who will have to fight for their third division survival.
Another side who are predicted to struggle in their second season in the division are Corsham United who at times found themselves fighting slightly above their weight last term and had it not been for an excellent December and January when they went unbeaten they could have suffered and immediate return to division four.
With striker Joe Pritchard still recovering from injury Corsham could again struggle to find the target which should that be the case then Kai Flack’s side will find themselves embroiled in a relegation battle come the end of the season.
Southwick Wanderers settled well to life in the division at their first attempt last season and with almost the same squad of players signed on there is no reason why they shouldn’t finish in the top half as they did last term which surpassed most people’s expectations.
Wanderers who only lost two of their 12 home fixtures would love to transfer their home form to their away matches where they suffered eight defeats on their travels and if that could happen then the likes of Neil Collett, Matt Rusling, Iain Sanderson and co should have little difficulty in consolidating their position in the division.
Devizes based The Crown FC have seen a few changes since the end of last season, due to the pitch problems at Green Lane, their home venue is now at Lavington School Pitches, Market Lavington.
However the major change has seen last terms manager Dan Sloan replaced by Tom Perkins. Perkins is confident the he can turn a fifth place finish of last season into a much higher one, he has signed on hotshot striker Jonathan Emm who has missed most of the last two seasons through injuries but if he is fully fit he is likely to be the perfect foil for Dan Sloan, Jack Fisher and Tom Slater and could have a field day in front of goal and if they can tighten things up in defence then they could cause a few problems to the more fancied sides and may well be the surprise package in the division.
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