Sandford football team in Premier once again after waiting over 50 years
Sandford joining the elite after half a century
With the League AGM now out of the way a few stories to come especially this item on a very excited SANDFORD football daft village.
It may surprise many but for Sandford football club who have just been promoted to Premier this will be just their second ever season in the top flight.
The village club have only ever ploughed their Premier furrow once, that was in the 1969/1970 season, when under the Exeter & District Football League umbrella, they finished second from bottom and were relegated, and have remained outside the elite ever since.
Now over 50 years on the village can again prepare for the highest level the League can offer and they cannot wait.
Current secretary Adam Voisey and his Dad who is the club president and a former playing member of that Premier team are elated that the pinnacle has been reached again.
Sandford football team are well over a 100 years old, and possibly ran a team before the first world war, but they did kick off for certain in 1920 in the Yeoford division of the East Devon League.
This was the League positions of the YEOFORD DIVISION table at 26 April 1920
. .P W D L F A PTS
*Yeoford 14 12 0 2 55 10 22
Lapford 14 7 4 3 27 16 20
Winkleigh 13 7 3 3 21 12 17
Newton St Cyres 14 6 2 6 22 19 16
Cheriton Fitzpaine 12 6 1 5 32 14 13
Morchard Bishop 14 2 5 7 15 30 9
*SANDFORD 11 2 2 7 14 40 4
Bow 12 1 1 10 5 50 3
Note:
Yeoford deducted 2 pts re Newton St Cyres awarded 2 pts
Lapford awarded 2 pts re Sandford deducted 2 pts
Winkleigh v Sandford (Sandford did not turn up 23 April)
In the following years up to the second world war Sandford sometimes switched between the Exeter League and the Tiverton & District League, but since then they have stayed in present company. The club has won a number of league titles in the Exeter League over the years:
1958 Junior 2A
1960 Junior 1
1987 Intermediate 2
2001 Intermediate 2
2002 Intermediate 1
2003 Senior 3
However cup success is limited mainly to the Football Express competition 1959 beating Honiton Town 5-1, and 2015 winning 2-0 against Kentisbeare and possibly 1945 although record not traced.
Sandford have also won the Liddon cup in 1999 beating Uplowman 3-2 , and been runners up in the Express & Echo shield in 1993 and the Roy Pennell cup in 2000.
One fascinating memory for Sandford was in 1934 when they won the Victory Leagues Junior Division 2 title and with Crediton Town having won the East Devon Senior cup, both clubs were dined and entertained by the Crediton Cinema management team. Quite an event I believe.
The last word with Adam Voisey who comments that “sadly we lost club legend Trevor Knight in 2013, and I know he’d be proud now of seeing the club return to this level after all these years”. My dad (president) is one of the very few left who played for the club the last time in Premier, making his debut at 14 as he always reminds me in that inaugural season!
Saturday 25th June 2022