Bournemouth & Boscombe v Welton Rovers - 50th Anniversary FA Cup Round 1

The 1966 Matchday Programme Cover

The following article is one I co-authored with my good friend Cllr Paul Myers. Those who know Paul may be surprised to see him take an interest in football, but when it comes to local history there is no-one better to provide the detail.

It’s 50 years since Welton got to the first round of the FA Cup where they played away to Bournemouth and Boscombe on Saturday 26th November 1966.

Founded originally in 1887, making them one of the oldest clubs in the area, Welton Rovers were on the up in the 1960s. They won the Somerset Senior Cup in 1960-61 and retained it for 1961-62 and 1962-63, before returning to professional status.

Former Huddersfield Town and Bristol City striker Arnold Rogers took over as manager and went on to achieve unprecedented success for the club. The Club won three successive Western League titles. In 1964-65 Welton finished 3 points ahead of Bideford, in 1965-66 finished 11 points clear of Portland United and in 1966-67 they were 5 points ahead of Minehead. In 1964-65 they reached the first round of the FA Cup - losing to Weymouth. In 1965-66 they were unbeaten for the entire season with Ian Henderson scoring a club record of 53 goals (including 6 hat-tricks).

So when Welton Rovers reached the 1st round of the FA Cup again in 1966, there was genuine optimism that the Club could achieve a historic giant killing against Division 3 (League One in today's structure) Bournemouth & Boscombe, better known today as Premier League AFC Bournemouth.

The game was played in front of a crowd of 6,582 at Dean Court, the same site that the Cherries play at today. Whilst Welton gave a good account of themselves on the day, particularly in midfield, their inability to convert their chances allowed their hosts to record a routine three-nil victory. At the time of the match, Bournemouth weren't the force we know today. The Club had never been above Division 3 at any stage in its history. Yet its ambition to climb the leagues, prompted the Club to change its name in 1972, giving rise to the AFC Bournemouth we know today. At the time that ambition was short lived, despite initial success the loss of manager John Bond and star striker, Ted MacDougall, saw the Club flounder for the next four decades.

The Club were subject to a winding up order in 1997, which they survived through a supporters takeover, but the Clubs troubles didn't end then and as recently as 2009 Bournemouth only managed to secure their league two status on the penultimate game of the season. That great escape prompted one of the most meteoric rises in Football history and in less than a decade AFC Bournemouth have gained promotion to the Premier League, realising an ambition that was 40 years in the making.

If circumstances had been different could Welton have been the team gracing today's Premier League? Probably not! It's not really fair to paint the 66 Cup tie as a "sliding doors" moment, but it doesn't hurt to dream!

This article was published in both Midsomer Norton Life and the Midsomer Norton & Radstock District Journal.