Opposition Preview | Weymouth FC (A)

This weekend we travel down to the south coast and Weymouth as our attention turns back to our Southern League Premier South campaign with a busy double game week ahead of us, also travelling to Farnham on Tuesday evening.

'The Terras' were relegated from the National League South last season in 23rd place, 13 points from safety after the total 46 games were played, Head Coach Warren Feeney keeping is job after the club relegated.

Weymouth have not started this season in the best fashion, amounting one win, three draws and three losses leaving themselves on 6 points from a possible 21, their only win coming away 2-0 winners at Plymouth Parkway's Bolitho Park on game week two. Due to that poor start to the season, the club parted company with Feeney after the opening five games, appointing Steve Claridge as his replacement. Claridge has steadied the ship since taking over, drawing two out of two league games, one of those being a tough midweek fixture against Taunton Town.

Since Claridge's appointment four players have departed the Bob Lucas Stadium and three new faces have appeared, showing that the new staff are having a change around within the dressing room.

Dangermen for the Terras of course include 37-year-old talisman Reuben Reid, who has had a terrific career playing having a combined 411 football league appearances, the most notable of those being for Plymouth Argyle having 65 goal involvements in 165 games for Argyle. Jack McCarthy had a bright start to the season, however was one of the four that departed following the appointment of Steve Claridge.

We have not faced Weymouth in a competitive fixture since January 2000, however we have met in pre-season back in 2014. In the last five competitive meetings with The Terras, there has been a combined 18 goals, resulting in an average of 3.6 goals per game which hopefully should bode for some goals come Saturday.

Club History

Weymouth Football Club, nicknamed “The Terras”, is a football club based in Weymouth, Dorset, founded on 26 August 1890.

In its early decades, Weymouth was a prominent team in local leagues: they were founder members of the Dorset League, winning its inaugural title in 1897-98, and also claimed the Dorset League again in 1913-14. After World War I they joined the Western League in 1921-22, and the 1922-23 season saw them complete a treble—Western League, Dorset League and Dorset Senior Cup. 

Professionalism came in the mid-1920s with membership of the Southern League, but financial difficulties in 1928-29 forced them back to amateur status. Football resumed after World War II; Weymouth achieved success in the mid-60s, winning back-to-back Southern League titles in 1964-65 and 1965-66. The club moved from their old Recreation Ground home to the new Wessex Stadium (now Bob Lucas Stadium) in 1987.

More recent history has seen Weymouth oscillating between tiers in non-League football. After being promoted from the Southern League in 2018-19, they moved up to the National League (5th tier) in 2020, but were relegated back to the National League South (6th tier) following the 2021-22 season.

Over its long history, Weymouth have enjoyed memorable FA Cup runs (such as challenging Manchester United in 1949, Preston North End in 1962) and have built a loyal fan base in Dorset.

This will be our second furthest away game of the season with Plymouth Parkway already taking the cake, we will need your support, City fans, get your tickets for the game here.