History

After Weston-super-Mare AFC were disbanded during WW2, the present club reformed in 1948 after a meeting at the Town Hall decided to form a semi-professional Club. Weston spent much of the next forty years or so in the Western League, until claiming the title in the 1991/92 season under the management of John Ellener, who had taken over from the legendary Harry Thomas only a few years earlier. Thomas played over 700 games for the club and was also the player/manager for a five-year spell. This proved to be an exciting time in The Seagulls’ history, particularly as strikers Matt Lazenby and Paul Elson scored goals for fun. 

After Ellener left the club in 1993, he was replaced by coach Pete Amos. Len Ashurst then took over and oversaw another exciting period with excellent players such as Stuart Jones and Ryan Souter, who were sold to Sheffield Wednesday and Bury respectively to raise much-needed cash. 

The new millennium brought more change for Weston as Frank Gregan was named manager and won the club promotion from the Southern League Western Division in 2002/03, with the runners-up spot clinched after a memorable victory at Clevedon Town. The following season also proved to be successful as the side finished high enough to qualify for the brand new Conference South, that started at the beginning of the 2004/05 season. That summer of 2004 was hugely significant as Weston also moved to their new Woodspring Stadium home, where the Seagulls still play to this day, although the ground is now known as the Optima Stadium. 

In subsequent years, Weston often flirted with relegation but were reprieved on each occasion, although there were also some happier times for the club, particularly when manager Craig Laird led the side to seventh place in the Conference South in 2012/13. This proved to be Weston’s highest-ever finish in the footballing pyramid. 

A few years later, in 2018/19, Weston were relegated. This has proved to be The Seagulls’ only relegation ever. 

In the summer of 2019, Scott Bartlett took over as manager for the second time. Unfortunately, Weston’s hopes of returning to Step 2 football were scuppered by Covid 19 as the next two seasons were declared null and void. In Bartlett’s second full season back in charge in the 2022/23 campaign, he led his side to the Southern Football League Premier South title. Bartlett’s title-winning side was captained by Dayle Grubb, another player to have amassed hundreds of appearances for The Seagulls and to have played in the Football League after a two-and-a-half-year spell at Forest Green Rovers.

Form

Weston-super-Mare have had a good first season in the National League South following their promotion to the division last year. The Seagulls have avoided being drawn into the relegation battle this season and look set for a comfortable mid-table finish.

They are currently 14th in the league table and have had a busy run of late. Saturday’s match at the Sussex Transport Community Stadium will be their fourth match in a week.

Their last six games have returned a mixed bag of results, with two wins, two draws and two defeats. At the time of writing, they last drew 1-1 against Eastbourne Borough, but face a Thursday night trip to Taunton Town.

Last Six
16/04 – Eastbourne Borough (H) – Drew 1-1
13/04 – Aveley (H) – Lost 1-2
09/04 – Chippenham Town (H) – Won 2-1
06/04 – Braintree Town (H) – Lost 0-1
01/04 – Torquay United (A) – Drew 3-3
29/03 – Taunton Town (H) – Won 4-0

The Gaffer

Scott Bartlett has been the First-Team Manager at Weston-super-Mare since May 2019.

Bartlett’s move into coaching came in the summer of 2011 after being forced to hang up his boots due to a knee injury. He moved into coaching with the Forest Green Rovers Academy, becoming their Head of Academy and raising the academy level to ‘category three’ before his departure from The New Lawn.

Scott looked after the Forest Green Rovers first-team on a caretaker basis across two separate spells in 2013 and 2016, managing four wins, one draw and one loss across both spells as he took FGR to the Conference playoff final in 2016.

In October 2016, Bartlett got his first permanent taste of first-team managerial experience by joining the Seagulls. In the eight months that followed, Scott reshaped the squad and ensured National League South safety, with his side scoring an impressive 66 goals along the way, drawing a blank just once. He left in June 2017 as he took up a full-time role with FGR. 

In May 2019, Bartlett left Forest Green in order to pursue a first-team managerial career, and he quickly joined the Seagulls on a three-year deal for their Southern Premier Division South campaign.

The Captain

Dayle Grubb is the Seagulls’ club captain and has made more than 400 appearances for the club.

Grubb began his career in the Bristol City academy, leaving them at the age of 16 in 2007. He linked up with the under-18s side at Weston straight away and went on to captain the youth team in 2008-2009, winning the under-18s Player of the Season as well as the Somerset Floodlight Youth League Cup 2009.

He began to break through into the Seagulls first team during the 2008-2009 season while captaining the under-19s side. The goalscoring winger was part of the Somerset Premier Cup-winning side in 2011 and 2012, as well as winning Supporters’ Player of the Year in 2013 and Players’ Player of the Year in 2016. The winger also captained the Seagulls during the 2015-2016 season and wore the armband in periods of the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 season.

His incredible form during the first half of the 2017-2018 season saw him included amongst the likes of Christian Doidge and England international Harry Kane as one of the top scorers in English football. During his first spell with his hometown club, Grubb made 360 appearances and was an unused substitute 33 times, scoring 95 goals and getting 105 assists.

The winger was given his big break in the Football League with FGR, officially joining the League Two side in January 2018 where he went on to make 72 appearances and be an unused substitute nine times, with 12 goals and nine assists coming during his time at The New Lawn.

His FGR spell was brought to an end in June, when he found himself released following the expiration of his contract.

Grubb then returned to Weston in August 2020 for a second spell, finishing 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 as the club’s top scorer. Dayle was part of the Seagulls side that saw the club win the Southern League Premier South title in 2023 and return to the National League South after four years away.

Key Player

One of Weston-super-Mare’s more experienced players, Reuben Reid is also their top-scorer in the league this season with 12.

Reid joined the Seagulls in 2022 after a career spent mainly in the EFL where he amassed well over 400 appearances for a number of different clubs including West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham, Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle.

He gave up the chance of a professional cricket career with Gloucestershire, having played for their second XI, to pursue his career with Argyle and was rewarded with a professional contract in February 2006.