Club Background
Some places are “Football Towns” and some aren’t. As one can see in the We’ve Met Before (below) there was some sort of football going on in Taunton from the 1920s at the latest, but it has all been very messy with a club intermittently playing and folding under different names: Taunton United, Taunton Town, Taunton, back to Taunton Town.
Whether the club we see today, which was formed as Taunton FC in 1947, has any direct lineage back to the pre-War entities is dubious. It kicked about in local county football for a while before finally joining the Western League Division Two in 1954 which was the year after the club had moved into a permanent home at Wordsworth Drive.
In 1968 the club changed its name, adding ‘Town’ back in. In the early Seventies it purchased the stadium from the council and installed floodlights. In 1977 it applied to and was accepted into the Southern League Division One South for the first time. In 1979 a reorganisation of the league saw the Peacocks switched to the Southern League Midland Division.
Never competitive at Southern League level and struggling with the costs, in 1983 the club resigned and returned to the Western League Premier where it would remain for the next 19 seasons. There it was competitive, finishing Runners-up on five occasions and Champions five times, but preferred to remain in its tiny backwater and so repeatedly refused promotion.
At last in 2002 it felt ready to give the Southern League another go and accepted promotion to Division One West. To be honest for a considerable period of the 16 years it remained at that level (through several divisional reorganisations that saw it switched to first Division One South & West and then to Division One West again) things didn’t go any better than its first foray into the Southern League, with the majority of seasons seeing the Peacocks struggling around lower-midtable. In 2003 it did win the Somerset Premier Cup for the first time defeating Yeovil Town 2-1 in the Final though, to be fair, the Glovers had had rather bigger fish to fry that season.
However, in the mid-2010s, things did begin to change a bit. Taunton made the play-offs three seasons in a row, losing to Stratford Town (2014-15 Semi), Banbury United (2015-16 Final) and Tiverton Town (2016-17 Semi) before avoiding the whole play-off nightmare by becoming Champions in 2017-18 when only one league game was lost all season and the title clinched by 19 points.
The Southern League was being reorganised yet again for 2018-19 and Taunton’s promotion saw it arrive in Premier Division South. There the Peacocks finished runners-up by a single point behind W*ymouth. More play-off heartache followed, knocked out in the opening round by Poole Town on penalties.
The next two seasons were abandoned at Southern League level before the return of a completed season in 2021-22 saw Taunton Champions again and automatically promoted to National League South. Their first season at this level saw a solid mid-table finish in 14th.
This campaign, after a bright start in August and September, the wheels have come off again both on the pitch and (presumably connected) it would appear off it too. The club is in a cash flow crisis and it would seem the need to cut the wage bill, with Jay Foulston passed on to Yeovil Town’s books, hasn’t finished yet. Manager Rob Dray heavily hinted after the Boxing Day defeat at Huish Park that Dylan Morgan could also be moved out (though he didn’t say precisely where).
It’s hard to explain – Taunton is the third largest town in Somerset – why its football club has been so unrelentingly inconsequential and underachieving for decade upon decade. As we opened: some places are “Football Towns”, and some aren’t. Taunton is definitely in the ‘aren’t’ category.
We’ve Met Before
Previous Results for Yeovil Town vs Taunton Town
| 25/10/1924 | Home | Frnd | W | 5-1 | Edwards(3), Pidgeon, Hayward | ||
| 06/11/1924 | Away | FAC3Q | W | 2-1 | Edwards, J Pidgeon | ||
| 26/12/1924 | Home | SLWD | W | 1-0 | Radford | ||
| 07/02/1925 | Away | SLWD | L | 0-1 | |||
| 21/11/1925 | Home | WLD1 | W | 1-0 | Pidgeon | ||
| 06/02/1926 | Home | SLWD | L | 0-1 | |||
| 27/03/1926 | Away | SLWD | W | 3-1 | Haywood, Edwards, Gallon | ||
| 29/04/1926 | Away | WLD1 | W | 2-0 | Wilson, Gregory | ||
| 09/09/1926 | Home | WLD1 | W | 2-1 | Scott(2) | ||
| 16/09/1926 | Away | WLD1 | W | 3-1 | Lowes, Scott(2) | ||
| 25/12/1926 | Away | SLWD | W | 1-0 | Lowes | ||
| 27/12/1926 | Home | SLWD | W | 1-0 | Lowes | ||
| 01/09/1927 | Away | WLD1 | D | 1-1 | Williams | ||
| 27/12/1927 | Away | SLWD | D | 1-1 | Scott | ||
| 22/03/1928 | Home | SLWD | L | 0-1 | |||
| 25/08/1928 | Away | SLWD | D | 1-1 | White | ||
| 08/09/1928 | Home | SLWD | W | 2-1 | White(2) | ||
| 15/09/1928 | Away | FACP | D | 1-1 | Day | ||
| 19/09/1928 | Home | FACPr | L | 0-3 | |||
| 25/12/1928 | Away | WLD1 | L | 1-4 | Rowlands | ||
| 26/12/1928 | Home | WLD1 | L | 1-6 | Lloyd | ||
| 30/04/1929 | Home | SPC | W | 2-0 | Own Goal, White | ||
| 31/08/1929 | Home | SLWD | D | 1-1 | McNeil | ||
| 19/09/1929 | Away | SLWD | D | 0-0 | |||
| 25/12/1929 | Away | WLD1 | W | 1-0 | McNeil | ||
| 26/12/1929 | Home | WLD1 | W | 5-0 | Cheetham, Whitehead(3), McDade | ||
| 14/04/1930 | Home | SPC | W | 3-0 | Bloxham, Whitehead(2) | ||
| 04/10/1930 | Home | FAC1Q | D | 1-1 | McNeil | ||
| 09/10/1930 | Away | FAC1Qr | L | 1-4 | Cheetham | ||
| 27/12/1930 | Home | WLD1 | W | 5-0 | McNeil, Rankin, Edmunds(3) | ||
| 21/03/1931 | Away | WLD1 | W | 4-1 | Edmunds(4) | ||
| 06/04/1931 | Home | SPCF | W | 4-3 | Edmunds(2), Bloxham(2) | ||
| 15/10/1931 | Away | WLD1 | D | 2-2 | Rankin, Molloy | ||
| 24/10/1931 | Home | SLWD | W | 2-1 | Millington, Rankin | ||
| 19/11/1931 | Home | WLD1 | W | 5-1 | Davin(2), Pemberton(2), Own Goal | ||
| 02/04/1932 | Away | SLWD | L | 1-3 | Davin | ||
| 25/04/1932 | Home | SPC | W | 7-1 | Rankin(2), McDade, Millington(2), Pemberton(2) | ||
| 22/09/1932 | Away | WLD1 | W | 4-1 | Murley, Anderson(2), McNeil | ||
| 28/01/1933 | Away | SLWD | W | 1-0 | Lewis | ||
| 16/02/1933 | Home | SPC1 | W | 8-1 | Lewis(5), Anderson, McNeil, Rankin | ||
| 18/03/1933 | Home | SLWD | W | 4-1 | Anderson(2), Murley, Cook | ||
| 03/04/1933 | Home | WLD1 | W | 3-0 | Hodder, McNeil, Lewis | ||
| 18/11/1933 | Home | SLWD | W | 2-1 | Coward, Slade | ||
| 25/12/1933 | Away | SLWD | W | 2-1 | Coward, Own Goal | ||
| 01/03/1934 | Home | SPC2 | L | 2-3 | Bowditch, Cook | ||
| 10/03/1934 | Away | WLD1 | W | 4-2 | Page, Slade(2), Own Goal | ||
| 09/05/1934 | Away | SLWD | W | 5-0 | Parle, Holbeach(2), Own Goal, Taylor | ||
| 15/09/1934 | Home | SLC1 | W | 6-2 | Taylor(2), Page(3), McNeil | ||
| 05/01/1935 | Home | SLWD | W | 3-0 | Crewe, Taylor(2) | ||
| 26/01/1935 | Home | SPC1 | W | 7-1 | Parle(2), Smith, Taylor(2), Swain, McNeil | ||
| 12/11/1955 | Home | WLC1 | D | 1-1 | McKenzie | ||
| 14/01/1956 | Away | WLC1r | W | 3-1 | McKay, Woan, Compton | ||
| 20/12/1958 | Home | SPC2 | W | 7-1 | Dennis, Phillips(2), Edwards, Emmonds, McKay, Blackburn | ||
| 14/09/1966 | Home | SPC1 | W | 3-2 | Herrity, Taylor(2) | ||
| 15/03/1971 | Home | SPCSF | W | 6-3 | Grey(2), Housley, Clancy(2), Myers | ||
| 04/11/1972 | Home | FAC4Q | W | 4-1 | 5145 | Brown, Weller, Bertram, Myers | |
| 04/08/1979 | Away | Frnd | W | 4-2 | |||
| 04/08/1980 | Home | Frnd | W | 1-0 | |||
| 21/02/1981 | Home | SPC3 | W | 3-0 | 642 | Platt, Green, Borthwick | |
| 01/08/1981 | Away | Frnd | W | 2-1 | |||
| 28/07/1982 | Home | Frnd | D | 0-0 | |||
| 15/02/1983 | Away | SPC3 | L | 0-1 | 256 | ||
| 02/08/1984 | Away | Frnd | W | 3-0 | |||
| 09/08/1989 | Away | Frnd | W | 7-0 | 400 | ||
| 28/09/1996 | Home | FAC2Q | D | 0-0 | 3303 | ||
| 30/09/1996 | Away | FAC2Qr | W | 5-3 | 2257 | Gill, Patmore(2), Turner, Birkby | |
| 16/02/2000 | Away | SPCQF | L | 1-5 | 697 | Eaton 45 | |
| 22/11/2000 | Away | SPC2 | L | 0-2 | 266 | ||
| 29/04/2003 | Away | SPCF | L | 1-2 | 914 | Aggrey 84 | |
| 23/07/2019 | Away | Frnd | W | 2-0 | 687 | Murphy 46, Trialist 68 | |
| 11/09/2020 | Away | Frnd | L | 1-2 | 464 | Wilkinson 78 | |
| 03/08/2021 | Away | Frnd | W | 1-0 | 597 | Knowles | |
| 12/07/2022 | Away | Frnd | D | 0-0 | 723 | ||
| 15/10/2022 | Home | FAC4Q | D | 0-0 | 3093 | ||
| 18/10/2022 | Away | FAC4Qr | L | 0-1 | 2347 | ||
| 06/12/2022 | Home | SPC2 | W | 2-1 | 441 | Britton 30, Worthington 34 | |
| 26/12/2023 | Home | NLS | W | 4-1 | 6301 | Nouble 15, Smith 20, Murphy 69, Lo-Everton 72 | |
| 09/01/2024 | Away | NLS | W | 1-0 | 3001 | Nouble 50 |
(* Any Somerset Premier Cup ties between 2003 & 2019 excluded as not classified First Team fixtures for Yeovil Town.)
Results Summary For Yeovil Town vs Taunton Town
| Home | Away | Overall | ||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A |
| 28 | 6 | 5 | 112 | 40 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 72 | 45 | 49 | 13 | 15 | 184 | 86 |
Club Statistics
RECENT RESULTS
| 07/10/2023 | Dover Athletic | Away | NLS | D | 2-2 | 617 | Foulston 35, Stearn 45+5 | |
| 21/10/2023 | Hampton & Richmond Borough | Home | NLS | L | 0-1 | 843 | ||
| 24/10/2023 | Bath City | Away | NLS | L | 0-3 | 1577 | ||
| 28/10/2023 | Chelmsford Town | Away | NLS | D | 0-0 | 645 | ||
| 11/11/2023 | Hemel Hempstead Town | Away | NLS | L | 0-1 | 491 | ||
| 21/11/2023 | Welling United | Away | FAT2R | L | 2-2 | 258 | Stearn 52 (pen), Linton 88 (7-8 on penalties) | |
| 25/11/2023 | Worthing | Home | NLS | D | 1-1 | 765 | Morgan 87 | |
| 02/12/2023 | Eastbourne Borough | Away | NLS | (abandoned at half time, fog, with Taunton leading 2-1) | ||||
| 09/12/2023 | Farnborough | Home | NLS | W | 4-0 | 680 | Chamberlain 5, James 38, Stearn 59, Evans 86 | |
| 16/12/2023 | Havant & Waterlooville | Away | NLS | L | 0-3 | 766 | ||
| 23/12/2023 | Tonbridge Angels | Home | NLS | D | 2-2 | 768 | Morgan 37, Grimes 90+6 | |
| 26/12/2023 | Yeovil Town | Away | NLS | L | 1-4 | 6301 | Booth 78 | |
| 06/01/2024 | Slough Town | Away | NLS | L | 0-3 | 947 | ||
| 09/01/2024 | Yeovil Town | Home | NLS |
LEAGUE ATTENDANCE STATISTICS
Highest League Attendance: 902
Lowest League Attendance: 642
Average League Attendance: 768
CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS
| Games Without A Win: | 4 | Games Without A Home Win: | 1 | |
| Games Without An Away Win: | 7 | Games Without Defeat: | 0 | |
| Games Without A Home Defeat: | 3 | Games Without An Away Defeat: | 0 | |
| Games Without A Draw: | 2 | Games Without A Score Draw: | 2 | |
| Games Without A No-Score Draw: | 7 | Games Without Scoring: | 1 | |
| Games Without Conceding: | 0 | Home Results Sequence: | LDWD | |
| Away Results Sequence: | DLDLLLL | Overall Results Sequence: | DLLDLDWLDLL |
Club Information
Address : Wordsworth Drive, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 2HG. (Current sponsorship name: Somerset Campervan Co. Stadium.)
Telephone Number : 01823 254909
Email : admin@tauntontown.com
Chairman : Kevin Sturmey
Matchday Manager : Martin Dongworth
Club Secretary : Alan Slade
Team Manager : Rob Dray
Capacity : 3,000
Seated : 422
Covered Terrace : c. 1,000, the rest uncovered
Surface : grass
Record Attendance : 3,284 v Tiverton Town, FA Vase Semi-Final 1st Leg, 13/03/1999
Colours : shirt claret with light blue pin stripe, shorts light blue, socks light blue
Nickname : The Peacocks
Programme : £3.00
Ticketing
This is a segregated match. A reminder that this fixture has now been rearranged to Tuesday 9th January with a 7.45 p.m. kick-off. Taunton uses the Fanbase ticketing portal for on-line sales. If not already signed up you will need to register with it before purchasing tickets. Away supporters are in the Fire Station End.
There’s an away seated option of 60 seats as well as standing (800). Prices are the same in both categories.
Update 31/10/2023: AWAY ALLOCATION is SOLD OUT. (A few more were released later taking total to 920.)
Prices :
Adult: £14.00
Concession (State Pension age and Student with ID): £11.00
Youth (13-18) : £5.00
Junior (6-12): £2.00
Under 6 : FREE (with paying adult)
Disabled :
Disabled parking spaces are located immediately to the left of the main turnstile. Entrance to the ground for wheelchairs, mobility scooters, pushchairs etc. is via the pedestrian gate adjoining the vehicular entrance. There is a wheelchair viewing area in the Main (Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance) Stand and another on the opposite side of the ground to the left of the North Stand by the media gantry. A disabled adapted toilet is available in the foyer of the clubhouse.
Official Away Travel
The Green & White Supporters’ Club is running away travel to Taunton Town on Tuesday 9th January with a 7.45 p.m. kick-off.
Details are as follows:
Members: Adult £12; Concession £12
Non-Members: Adult £15; Concession £15
Coach departs Huish Park: 5.00 p.m.
To book, call Paul Hadlow on 07736 044570 (after 6.00 p.m. please) or email him on paulhadlow@outlook.com.
If you are getting in touch by email, please make it clear which match you are booking for and that you give your full name, the names of people that are travelling and a contact telephone number.
You may be asked to pay a £5 deposit to reserve your seat.
Directions To The Ground
General
Huish Park to Wordsworth Drive is 25 miles.
By Road
No, am not going to tell you how to get from Yeovil to Taunton… if don’t know that then shouldn’t be out on your own.
Those travelling from further afield, if using the M4 there are long-term roadworks and 50 mph speed restrictions on both sides of the carriageway between Junction 19 and Junction 20 (Almondsbury Interchange with the M5). Delays can be a regular occurrence so allow a bit of extra time if that’s on your route.
Parking
There are two car parks at the ground but the inner (Car Park 1) is currently listed as unavailable to ordinary supporters. The main (Car Park 2) is at the front of the stadium. From the evidence of Google Maps it has around 100 spaces and according to the hosts is generally full by around an hour before kick-off (and that’s with Taunton’s usual gate which averages under 800). Parking here is £2.00, cash payment please.
For those not arriving early enough to get into the club’s car park the nearest public car park would seem to be Victoria Gate with 71 spaces, which is a third of mile (around 7 mins walk) from the ground and appears to be free after 6.00 p.m. In fact most (but not all so do check signage) Taunton car parks further away from the ground towards the town centre also seem to be free after 6.00 p.m.
If looking for on-street the council has recently (2022) introduced permit schemes in a couple of districts of town but they’re far enough from the ground you’re pretty unlikely to be looking to park in those areas. There are some metered streets but these again are mostly not particularly near the ground. The stadium is pretty much surrounded by housing estates and streets that don’t appear to have residential parking schemes in place so the only hassle there is likely to be the extraordinary conviction that obsesses the British, that in some inexplicable way the public highway outside their homes somehow belongs to them and their vehicles.
By Rail
Yeovil Pen Mill to Taunton with a single change at Castle Cary is the best option, with a journey time of around an hour to an hour and a quarter depending on the connection. However to get back after the game one would have to catch a service down to Exeter St Davids and then another back up to Yeovil Junction *, arriving 00.09. Taunton Railway Station is just over one mile (25 minutes walk) from the stadium.
(* Rather depending how repairs have progressed by 09/01 on the section of line around Crewkerne blocked by a land slip before Christmas.)
By Bus
Within Taunton the town services to look out for that run closest by the stadium are the No. 4 and No. 6 .
By Taxi
A selection of Taunton taxi companies can be found here.
Web Resources
Web Sites
Taunton Town Football Club – Official site.
Taunton Town Football Club, Home of the Peacocks – former official site going back to its Southern League days that has been left up as a historical record. Contains news items, match reports and stats dating back to 2008 that no one bothered to port across to the new official site.
Social Media
Taunton Town FC – Official Twitter account.
Local Press
Somerset County Gazette – dedicated Taunton Town section that has an article or two most weeks.
Food & Drink
General
Taunton is the county town of Somerset. Quite why is a bit of a mystery… until one considers the other options… it’s a low bar. Originally the county town was Ilchester; then Somerton; with Taunton taking the mantle, which it has clung on to ever since, around 1366. The population is about 65,000.
Club Bar
As the match is a segregated one awaiting info on what that means for the use of the clubhouse by away fans. IF available to visiting supporters it opens from 6.00 p.m. Elsewhere, at least part of the reason the inner car park is no longer available for parking cars is that various mobile / pop-up food & drink options are positioned in this area.
Local Pubs
The three pubs nearest the ground are: The Somerset Inn (a very small – terraced house conversion- local) which seems to have re-opened recently but prior to that closure was only opening evenings, no further details; The Victoria Gate (also re-opened reasonably recently as some kind of chain pub under this new name, no further details); and The Rose Inn (traditional wet led boozer with Sports TV) that’s the wrong side of the stadium from the entrance though one can cut across Hamilton Gault Park rather than take the longer walk round by the road.
More town centre are:
Eat the Bird: A Taunton ‘craft’ beer joint (TA1 1AE), right by the River Tone and Somerset County Cricket Ground. Exactly one mile (so around 20 minutes walk) from Wordsworth Drive.
Ninkasi: Another ‘craft’ beer bar by the river (TA1 1JH). Marginally under one mile (20 minutes walk) from the stadium.
Perkin Warbeck (TA1 3LP): the Spoons in Taunton, 15 minutes walk (just over half a mile) from the ground.
Plough Inn: Free House and possibly the best cider outlet in town (TA1 1PB), yards from the Railway Station and exactly one mile (so around 20 minutes walk) from the ground.
Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You: Probably a cousin, so expect they will.
Top-Tip: This is not a derby. Don’t embarrass yourself by referring to it as a derby. Leave that to The Peacocks.
Local Amenities: As the county town there’s lots of administrative stuff based here and it’s the home of Somerset CCC.
Other Points Of Interest: Most people sail past Taunton on the M5 – it’s the wisest thing to do. Former Yeovil Town manager Colin Addison was born in Taunton.
[No responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice. ]