Yate Town Reserves Team - Season 2012-13

Yate formed their Reserve team in 1967, and immediately won the District League third Division. They then transferred to the Bristol & Suburban League for the 1968-69 season, and were immediately successful and quickly progressed from the Third Division into the Premier Division.

The early nineties were the teams most prolific period, as under player manager Kevin Prue they won successive Premier Division and Alf Bosley League Cup doubles, and also won the G.F.A. Senior Amateur Cup in 1991-92 and retained this Cup the following season. Unfortunately the team was unable to gain promotion to the County League due to the Rules, which then precluded Reserve teams playing at the higher level.

This archaic rule was eventually rescinded, but the Reserves were unable to mount a challenge for promotion for several years. Season 2003-04 saw Richard Trotman step down as Team Manager, with Richard Dunn taking over the duties, and in his first season promotion from the Suburban League was achieved. The first season in the County League saw them finish in a highly respectable sixth place.

Season 2005-2006 saw the Reserves mount a challenge for the League title, but a poor last month saw them finish in third position. They also reached the quarter finals of the G.F.A. Challenge Trophy, losing to eventual winners Slimbridge, and also won the Stroud Charity Cup.

The 2006-2007 season was another successful one, as the Reserves finished in fifth position and reached the Final of the Les James League Cup and the semi final of the Stroud Charity Cup.

The following season, several of Yate’s successful Youth Squad were given the opportunity to play at County League level, and acquitted themselves well as the team finished in a creditable eighth position. Manager Richard Dunn unfortunately tendered his resignation shortly before the start of the 2008-09 season. He was replaced by Paul Dempsey, who with the assistance of Gary Powell and Rob Hughes continued the development of the youngsters at the Club, with many making the step up from our Youth Team, blending well with some more experienced players, and after a slow start we ended the season in seventh spot, as well as reaching the semi finals of both the Les James League Cup and the Stroud Charity Cup. “Demo” continued as Player Manager for the following season, with Assistants Andy Mathias and Youth Team Manager Rob Hughes.

We made a promising start to the 2009-10 season by winning the prestigious Fry Club Cup pre-season competition, beating Henbury 2-1 in the Final, and eventually finished the season in fourth position in the County League.

The 2010-2011 season saw us challenging for the title for most of the season, but we fell away in the last few matches and eventually again finished in fourth place. We reached the Final of the Stroud Charity Cup, losing 2-0 to Hellenic League Slimbridge in the Final.

We had a disastrous start to last season, and were languishing in bottom position for much of the campaign. The appointment of Dale Dempsey as Manager with Richard Dunn as his Assistant, led to a consistent improvement, however, and we escaped the threat of relegation, eventually finishing in a creditable 12th position.

This season it is expected that we will field a relatively young side, with the inclusion of several more experienced players, some of whom were instrumental in our recovery last season.

One person who deserves a special mention is Ian Summers, who was instrumental in forming the Reserve team back in the sixties, and has been heavily involved with the team ever since.