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Welton Rovers Youth Football Club |
The Club as it is today was founded in 1990 as West End United then in 1998 the name was changed to Welton Rovers Youth Football Club. The roots of the Club however can actually be traced back to before the First World War, to West End Rovers FC.
Organised boys or youth football in those days was predominately played at school, football clubs were all men’s teams. He name West End Rovers was chosen because its players comprised mainly of men who worked for the coal mining industry in the “west end” of the Somerset coal fields. First records available show that the Club played in the Bath & District League from the 1919-1920 season, winning the League and Cup double in the 1920-1921 season. By 1932 the Club played in the Mid-Somerset Football League.
The Club won the League twice in the late 1930s including another League and Cup double in 1937 and also reaching the quarter-finals of the Somerset Cup in the same year losing 0-2 to Shepton Mallet.
In 1952 West End Rovers became West End United (unfortunately we don’t know the reason for the change) and it continued initially to play in the Bath & District League then moved to the Mid-Somerset League winning the Division 3 title in 1955 and the Cup in 1958. A return to the Mid-Somerset League in 1964 saw promotion to Division 2 but in the following season the Club withdrew from the League and no further records remain so as far as we can ascertain West End United folded around about 1965.
In 1990 West End United was reborn but this time it was a youth football club for ages Under 7 to Under 17 playing in the Midsomer Norton & District Youth Football League as indeed we still do today. From its rebirth the Club flourished to become the largest and most successful youth football club in the area. Most memorable was the Club’s then legendary annual six-a-side tournament which attracted over 100 teams each year.
In more recent times the Club’s most successful team was the 2001-2002 Under 14 side which completed a unique treble in winning the League Title, the Cup and the prestigious “Lewin” County Cup. In addition, during its time the team won many other League Titles, Knock-Out Cups and Runners-Up medals, such was their dominance.
In November 1998 the Club became affiliated to Welton Rovers Football Club, Midsomer Norton’s Western League senior football club, hence our change of name to Welton Rovers Youth Football Club. This coming together provided a path for our Club’s aspiring youth players to feed through to senior club football and similarly it provided the senior Club with a source of home grown young talent.
Since the amalgamation a number of the Club’s top players have progressed on to play for the senior Club, first at Under 18 level, then the Reserves and ultimately the First Team.
It’s often said that success in football goes in cycles and it’s probably true to say that going through the millennium the Club “took its eye off the ball”, the consequence of which was player numbers waned as did the number of teams in the Club.
However, over the past three seasons the Club has enjoyed a new resurgence with 3 successive new Under 7 teams plus a new Under 12 and Under 16 teams last last season.
New players are also joining existing teams, some completely new to football and others who have moved to Welton from other Clubs.
This resurgence together with the Club being awarded the FA Charter Standard award in September 2007, is eveidence that the Club is firmly back on the right tracks.
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