Match Information
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Witney Town 3-0 Hanwell United
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When: Saturday 1st February 2025
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Kick-off: 2pm
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Where: The Witney Community Stadium (also known as the Witney Artificial Turf Pitch), Gordon Way, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 4EH
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Competition: Oxfordshire Senior League Division 2
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Attendance: 105
The Oxfordshire Senior League hasn’t previously appeared on my groundhopping radar.
However, it currently features the successful rebirth of former Hellenic League and Southern League members Witney Town FC this season following an 11 year absence from Non-League football.
They are presently attracting three figure crowds doing well in the OSL’s third tier - Division 2 - which would technically be Step 9 of the Non-League Pyramid.
To explain, holding Regional Feeder League status the OSL Premier Division can promote teams up to Step 6 (probably the Hellenic League Division One) subject to stringent ground grading requirements.
Focusing on Witney Town, they are fondly nicknamed the ‘Blanketmen’ due to local manufacture of woollen blankets dating back to the Middle Ages. I had watched the original side play two midweek Southern League home fixtures in the last century.
Firstly at their long-standing Marriotts Close headquarters on Tuesday 22nd October 1985 drawing 0-0 against Bromsgrove Rovers (attendance 178 in the league cup).
Furthermore on Tuesday 8th September 1992, I went to the inaugural match when Witney’s newly built Downs Road stadium was opened. That historic game finished 1-1 versus Wealdstone.
Indeed, I remember how the bumper crowd of 734 caused massive traffic delays approaching the ground. In total panic, I dumped my car on a nearby side road and sprinted to the turnstiles just making the kick-off with a few seconds to spare despite lengthy admission queues.
Unfortunately though, Witney Town folded in 2001 amidst unsurmountable debts. T
he club was reformed by supporters a year later as Witney United FC, reverting to the traditional ‘Town’ suffix in 2011 prior to disbanding again in February 2013 after more financial turmoil.
So it is really good to see a famous old name revived in Non-League circles for 2024/25.
Bearing everything in mind, I set off on my 180 mile round trip utilising the M25, M40 and A40. Witney itself is a town housing almost 30,000 people located 13 miles west of Oxford.
Ground Description
Referred to as both ‘The Witney Community Stadium’ and ‘Witney Artificial Turf Pitch’, it is a 10 minute walk out of the town centre.
Tucked away at the end of a residential cul-de-sac, this ground offers a temporary base until Witney Town stabilise and eventually identify their own long-term permanent venue.
The artificial pitch is unusual because it cannot be viewed from outside being entirely surrounded by a 12 feet tall wooden fence. Entry is through the single storey main building’s reception doors.
Football spectator viewing lies along one side of the arena. There is decent covered terracing consisting of two steps running half the length of the playing surface but sightlines are hindered courtesy of mesh perimeter fencing and spare goal posts.
Accordingly, Witney Town have cordoned off a narrow chain-linked area right next to the touchline for supporters thereby restricting the matchday capacity to 160.
Refreshments are sold inside the popular tea bar and plenty of parking bays exist on adjacent streets.
Programme Details
An excellent eight page professionally produced colour production was available at a table by the entry point. Contents included manager’s notes, fixtures/results/attendances, sponsorship details, a match report, league table and the Witney Town line-up.
The Match
On a damp grey afternoon, the floodlights were deployed from the start.
With first hosting third in Oxfordshire Senior League Division 2 rankings, anyone possessing expert knowledge of betting odds in the bet builder stakes might have fancied a tight encounter.
Nevertheless, Witney Town ripped into their opponents racking up this comfortable 3-0 triumph. Will Shayler thundered a 30 yard masterblaster into the top corner to draw first blood on 30 minutes.
Ryan Oliver doubled matters at close range (59 mins) before Oliver grabbed his second in Paul Gascoigne-style fashion hooking the ball over a defender’s head and then smashing home (72 mins).
The People
Witney Town are run by an enthusiastic band of volunteers who afforded me a very friendly welcome. I will avidly follow the Blanketmen’s expected progress in future years.
Football grounds visited: 2,619.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Tony Incenzo*
