Cheltenham Town

Cheltenham Town FC is a football club from the Spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, which is best known for its famous horse racing heritage. The club were formed in 1887 by a local teacher by the name of Albert Close White.

After playing local football for several decades, the club turned semi-professional in the early 1930's, joining the Birmingham Combination. In 1935 'The Robins' moved up to the Southern League, three years after moving into their Whaddon Road home ground. Town spent many seasons in each of the Southern League's divisions with a few promotions and relegations occurring.

In 1985-86 they were crowned champions under manager John Murphy, leading to elevation to the Alliance Premier League, now the National League. They went back down in 1991-92 and remained there until 1995-96 when Steve Cotterell was appointed as manager. In his first season Town won promotion back to the Conference. 

He bettered that the season afterwards as Cheltenham finished runners up in the top division of non-league, as well as lifting the FA Trophy following a 1-0 win over Southport at Wembley, where they were roared on by 19,000 travelling Robins fans.

In 1998-99 Town once again made an improvement as they were crowned champions and promotion to the Football League. In their third season as a league club Cheltenham won promotion via the play offs. Cotterell was a man in demand, and he left to join Stoke City soon afterwards. Bobby Gould took over, but the team were relegated after just one season.

In 2006 Whaddon Road had a new stand built for visiting fans and under the managership of John Ward they won another Play Off Final to be promoted, this time over Grimsby Town at the Millennium Stadium. 

Ward eventually left for pastures new and after spells in charge from Keith Downing and then Martin Allen, the club found itself back in the League's basement at the end of the 2008-09 season. The Robins also encountered financial problems leading to many players being released or sold.

Allen was released from his duties in late 2009 following a controversial incident away from work. He was replaced by former Kidderminster boss Mark Yates who initially struggled before steadying the ship and then improving performances as he shaped the side in his own style.

His philosophy worked as The Robins reached the playoff final at Wembley in May 2012, but they were defeated in the showpiece by Crewe Alexandra. However, the team bounced back the following season and once again reached the playoffs. This time they went down to Northampton Town over two legs in the semifinal.

Yates was sacked in November 2015 with his successor Paul Buckle being unable to help the side stave off relegation to the National League. The experienced Gary Johnson was the next in the managerial seat, leading this side to the non-league title in 2015-16 as the Robins recaptured their Football League status.

Michael Duff arrived at Whaddon Road in 2018 and led the side through the difficult Covid years, taking Town to the League Two title in 2020-21 prior to being enticed by the managerial role at Barnsley after leading Cheltenham to their highest ever league finish as they ended in fifteenth place in League One in the 2021-22 season.

 

Wade Elliott took over team affairs as Town finished one place lower. Cheltenham had not scored a goal or picked up a point after nine games of the 2023-24 campaign, which led to the appointment of Darrell Clarke as the club's new manager who was replaced by Michael Flynn after the side had been relegated.

Cheltenham Town FC will compete in Football League Two in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Cheltenham Town 0 Torquay United 1 (Tuesday 14th February 2012) Football League Two (att: 3,010)

I was on early shift at work and after calculations I figured I could about manage to attend a midweek game at Cheltenham if I caught the last train at 10.02 back to London. After checking the fixture list and booking cheap rail tickets in advance I chose the Valentines Day top four clash with Torquay United.

I finished work and headed for Paddington. I was in good form and managed a drink in The Mad Bishop & Bear. The ESB helped me sleep for part of my journey, which was a direct train which terminated in Cheltenham. We arrived a few minutes late, but it was still only 6.20. I had read that the ground was two miles from the station, but I was ready for a walk. 

Even though it was dark, the town looked beautiful with its Regency architecture, mixing nicely with its more modern buildings. The streets were wide and everywhere looked tidy. There were plenty of youths active on the pedestrian precincts. 

I arrived at Whaddon Road, or The Abbey Business Stadium as it had been rebranded for commercial reasons, at around five to seven. I headed straight for the clubhouse under the Main Stand. It was a traditional old social club, and it was crowded, with many fans inside being Torquay supporters. 

I was most happy to find hand pulled ales in the shape of Old Hooky from Oxfordshire. I had a couple of pints as I read the interesting £3 programme, while the club began to empty out well before kick-off, which was opposite to what I had experienced at many other clubs.

I wandered across the car park and paid £15 for the terracing. Once inside I surveyed the scene of a fine lower division ground. The home supporters had covered standing behind the Cromwell Road End, which had previously been an open terracing. It wasn't large, but it offered a decent enough view. 

To the left was a full-length seated stand of around ten rows in depth. The far Whaddon Road End was a covered seated stand which joined with its neighbour in the corner. Finally, the Main Stand was a good traditional structure raised above some open terracing, which continued at either side of it.

I tried the catering out, which was adequate without wanting me to rush back for more. Torquay were cheered on by a magnificent turn out of 461 supporters. They made plenty of noise. The rowdier of the Town fans were a group of youths in a section of the seats down the side.

Torquay were in the middle of a fine run, while Cheltenham were stuttering but were still up there in the running for promotion. The home side looked good from set pieces but looked unlikely to break the deadlock in open play. United on the other hand were more incisive and inventive. It was no surprise when the livewire Ian Morris put them ahead just after the half hour.

After the break, The Robins had a bit of pressure, and they missed a couple of opportunities. At the other end Taiwo Atieno put himself about to significant effect, upsetting the defenders and home fans alike. Torquay continued to soak up the pressure, while looking dangerous on the break.

I left ten minutes from full time to ensure I caught my train home. I was fairly sure I'd seen the only goal of the game. Even though I had enough time to make it to the station, I treated myself to a taxi from the precinct. The driver made use of the one-way system, although he was most polite when he dropped me off.

The scores came through on my radio to confirm what I'd thought about how the game would finish. I caught the train to Swindon, where I changed to the Paddington service. I walked to Marble Atch to fill in a bit of time when I got back before the night bus arrived.

I was happy to get another new ground out of the way and I had enjoyed my trip. I thought Cheltenham was a lovely place and would like to go there again for a longer visit in the future.