Post by Dave on May 12, 2013 8:32:43 GMT
Taunton Town FC ( The Peacocks) Ground Review
I have been driving into Taunton twice a week (I have customers I need to call on in Taunton) for the last ten years and have never seen the towns football ground. Getting there much earlier one day I decided to try and find the ground and take a few shots if possible. This I managed to do and have to say it is a very pleasant ground and very easy to find. Simply come off the M5 at junction 25 and head towards the town centre. You will see the sign for the ground on a set of traffic lights and at those lights turn left. I was half expecting a drive of a mile or so before I came to the ground, but before I had chance to get the van in third gear, the ground was right there on my left.
I drove into the car park not knowing if I could gain access to the ground, but the left hand corner of the ground was wide open and so in I walked. I had only walked a few steps before I was approached by a young man. I asked him if would be aright to take some pictures of the ground and he replied, “what are you one of those ground hoppers” I told him my reasons and he said help yourself, later when I talked with this young man, I learned he was working for the club fulltime as the grounds man and head barman. I did joke with him about maybe looking for a new job as I knew where one might be going.
Also helping out on the pitch was the chairman of the club and when I talked with him the first thing he asked me about was the new stand at Plainmoor. From where I was standing, down the right hand side of the pitch is a low long covered type stand that has seating in it. Behind each goal are covered standing areas and on the left hand side of the pitch, a small stand used by the club directors etc and two new buildings under construction.
The first long thin looking building will be used by the directors and cooperate people etc, the second building is going to be the new club house and bar. In another corner of the ground a café is planned to be built.
The pitch looked in very good condition, but when I stood behind the bottom goal, I noticed the pitch does have slope on it running from right to left towards the long covered seating area.
About 18 months ago the old club house that was being renovated, went up in smoke, the cause of the fire was thought to be an electrical fault. The fire service was called at 12.30am and at the peak of the blaze had 10 fire engines at the scene, including crews from Taunton, next-door, Bridgwater, Wiveliscombe, Tiverton, Burnham and Wellington.With asbestos in the roof of the structure, firefighters considered evacuating the 27 residents of the nearby Hamilton Court nursing home but decided against it after taking advice from paramedics, police and nursing home staff. The chairman told me it cost the club £100.000 to have the asbestos removed after the fire
Many thanks to the groundsman and the chairman for letting me take the pictures; I will come up one fine day to watch the team play.
CLUB HISTORY (The Peacocks)(Taken from their website)
The present Taunton Town Football Club was formed in December 1947 by a few local businessmen and played their first friendly fixture during Easter 1948. They then played on a number of grounds, such as: Mountfields, French Weir, Victoria Park, Huish Old Boys and finished up at Denman's Park, Haines Hill.
Having joined and played in the Somerset Senior League, 1953 became a notable year. The Town Club gained admission into the Western League and moved into Wordsworth Drive, their present home, on a lease agreement with the Taunton Borough Council.
The Club struggled financially and depended heavily on a very active Supporters Club during the late 50's and early 60's/ 1968/69 season saw an upsurge in the Club's fortunes with Manager Doug Hillard securing the Western League Championship for the first time.
During the middle 70's Ron Gingell became Manager and they finished as runners-up for four consecutive seasons. The 70's was also highlighted by the Club purchasing the Ground from the Taunton Borough Council and the installation of floodlights. During 1977 the Club gained promotion to the Southern League (Southern Section) and in 1979 transferred to the Midland Section with the opening of the M5 Motorway.
The administration of the Club was transformed in 1981 with the Club becoming a Limited Company. The new Board soon found that the Southern League was too expensive and dropped down into the Western League at the end of season 1982/83. It was another seven years before the Championship Pennant returned to Wordsworth Drive. This time Keith Bowker's team was successful.
The Team, under Manager Terry Rowles, battled through all the F.A. Vase rounds to reach Wembley in May 1994 - only to lose in extra time to Diss Town.
Russell Musker was appointed in November 1994, and so began a very successful period for the Club - finishing in the top three during his first year. Champions in season 1995/96, Runners-up for the next two seasons, then back to Championship wins in 1998/99, 1999/2000 and again for the third consecutive year 2000/2001. Also, to cap it all, another F.A. Carlsberg Vase Final appearance - this time at the magnificent Villa Park Stadium played on Sunday 6th May 2001 when we finally reached our goal as winners of the F.A.Carlsberg Vase beating Berkhamsted 2-1!! This ended a sequence of 18 defeats in cup finals since the 1950s.
The season 2001/2002 brought a fight to the end to gain 2nd place in the League to enable the "Town" to apply for the Dr Martens Southern League. This 2nd place was achieved on the last game of the season Wednesday 8th May - one week later promotion to the Dr Martens Southern League Western Division was confirmed to the relief of all.
Another Cup victory was achieved in 2003, lifting the Somerset Premier Cup with a 2-1 win over Yeovil Town.
Peter Beadle took over as Manager at the start of the 2005/06 season amid great optimism but left in October to join Newport County and former Hallen manager Gary Domone stepping into the hot seat becoming manager of Taunton in October of 2005. Taunton beat Mangotsfield United to win the Somerset Premier Cup in his first season and reached the play-off final at the end of 2006/07 season.
Gary Domone resigned in December 2007 and was replaced by former goalkeeper Ian Jones. His tenure lasted until April 2009 when Taunton stalwart Paul West became manager. West, who lifted the FA Vase in 2001, is now in his third season and has rebuilt the team with a local emphasis. There have been changes off the field as well with Tom Harris stepping down as Chairman after 29 years. Tom is now Club President and the new Chairman is former commercial manager Kevin Sturmey.
CLUB HONOURS
FA Vase
Runners Up 1993/94 at Wembley
Winners 2000/01 at Villa Park
Somerset Premier Cup
Winners 2002/3
Winners 2005/6
Western League Champions
1968/69 1989/90 1995/96
1998/99 1999/00 2000/01
Division 1 South & West League
2006/07 Play off finalists
FA Cup
1st Round Proper
1981/82 at Swindon Town
FA Trophy
1st Round Proper
1981/82 at Queens Park Rangers
