Tag: charity shield

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Summer Update. 2026.

Report by Alastair Muirden. Photo of Chudleigh Athletic Reserves contributed by SDFL

The South Devon Football League continues to buck the trend when it comes to adult Saturday football. It’s fair to say that the SDFL have certainly benefited from the decline of the Plymouth Saturday league, and this summers intake of 11 out of 13 new applicants that were voted into the league by the current member clubs has allowed the competition to open a sixth division for the first time since 2013.

However pleasing it is to welcome new teams into a growing competition, the league management are still faced with challenges to support struggling clubs that lose managers and players during the summer months. It’s certainly a reminder of how fluid football is at grassroots level.

Teams joining the league for the 26/27 season include Watts Blake Bearne U-18s, Buckland Athletic Thirds, Signal Box Frankfort Seconds, Lakeside Athletic Seconds, Windmill U-18s, Tavistock Seconds and Thirds, Tamerton Foliot, Horrabridge Rangers, Ilsington Villa Seconds and Newton Albion.

Teams that have left the competition include Harbertonford, Totnes and Dartington Seconds, South Brent, Teign Village, Watts Blake Bearne First and Windmill First, who have merged with Bere Alston United into the Devon Football League.

The league will operate with 62 teams, which is an increase of five from last season and with the opening of another division, gives more clubs and players the opportunity to win silverware and play in end of season cup finals. Thanks to the amazing support of our sponsors Torbay Clearance Services and the Torquay United community project, the league were able to hold two of last season’s cup finals at Plainmoor and in the process, offer players and club volunteers the chance of a lifetime to experience the occasion of a fixture on the hallowed turf. The league are currently in talks with all stakeholders regarding venues for this season’s cup finals, so watch this space.

In addition to the six divisions, there will be eight cup compititions, one for each division and in the case of the new Division Five, The Bill Treeby trophy will be dusted off and contested for the first time in 14 years. The Fred Hewings Cup is for all reserve teams together with the Herald Cup, which is an open competition and remains the league’s flagship trophy. The first trophy that will be contested is the newly named, Barry Hayward Memorial Charity Shield. This traditional season opener is by invitation and would normally be between the winners of the Premier Division and the winners of the Herald Cup, but as Lakeside Athletic won the double last term, the league management committee have invited the losing Herald Cup finalists Paignton Saints to contest the shield, which will be played on Friday 21st August at Ipplepen Athletic with a 6.45pm kick off.

This well-supported fixture is a great opportunity for both teams to get their hands on some silverware to boost their hopes for the season ahead. The regular league season will kick off on Saturday 5th September.

The league also had their presentation dinner at Dainton Golf Club, where an array of trophies were handed out by the league sponsors and special guests to divisional winners: Lakeside Athletic, Watts Blake Bearne, Signal Box Frankfort, Kingskerswell and Chudleigh Athletic Seconds (pictured). Sporting awards were won by Ilsington Villa, Beesands Rovers, East Allington Utd Seconds and Broadhempston United, who not only won the South Devon league award, they also won the top sporting award for the county. There was also a special award to Tina and Andy Thomas from Kingsbridge and Kellaton United for their long service to South Devon football.

All of the new season’s divisions are available to view on the home page of this website and the South Devon Football League’s full-time webpage.

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Silverware for Villa in SDFL opener

The big kick off has arrived as quickly as summer came and went. 60 teams and 2,000 registered players start the long campaign of another football season hoping to bring honours and silverware to their clubs.

For last season’s league and cup winners, the challenge is clear: retain those honours; for the promoted teams, can you make a mark in a higher division? For relegated teams, win some games and rebuild confidence and, for the new teams joining the league, remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

When looking at the divisions, the Premier and Division One are very strong, if not equal, and the new teams that have joined from the Plymouth and West Devon league have added some extra spice to what should be a strong competition. No teams from the South Devon League moved into the football pyramid last season, but that could change over the next two years as the competition improves and the players get used to travelling a bit further afield on a Saturday.

The season officially kicked off last Friday with the Torbay Clearance Services sponsored Charity Shield fixture at Homers Heath that turned out to be a very tight affair that swung one way then the other to the enjoyment of the large crowd. An end to end first half ended in a stalemate, but just as Ilsington Villa stepped up a gear in the second half, they got caught with a breakaway from the Newton Abbot ’66 forwards; the first shot on target produced a great save from the Ilsington Villa ‘keeper, but he could not hold on to the ball and Liam Ashwell was first to the rebound and put the Sixes in front. From the kick off, the Moorlanders stepped up another gear and began to take control of the game, and it did not take game changer Luke Pilkington and last season’s club top scorer Dan Langford very long to put Ilsington in front, and whilst Sixes were still in the game, victory seemed beyond them, and they were not able to add the Charity Shield to the Herald Cup that was won last season. So the South Devon League charity shield sponsored by Torbay Clearance Services will no doubt be on display at the Carpenters Arms. Of course, the big winner on the night was the players’ Benevolent Fund which benefited by some £500, and the league would like to thank everybody that supported this great event as the season opener.

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At the start of every season, most people make predictions and give their thoughts on how their teams are going to finish, so for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts for the top five in each division. And in no particular order:

Premier. Ilsington Villa. Newton Spurs Second. Kingsteignton Athletic. Paignton Saints. Elburton Villa Seconds.

Div One. Plymouth Phoenix. Plymouth True Blues. Ivybridge Town Seconds. Windmill FC. Bovey Tracey Seconds.

Div Two. Mount Gould. Watcombe Wanderers Seconds. Barton Athletic. Liverton United. East Allington United Seconds.

Div Three. Ashburton. Liverton United Seconds. Stoke Gabriel TP Seconds. Drake FC. Waldon Athletic Seconds.

Div Four. Kingskerswell. Chudleigh Athletic Seconds. Waldon Athletic Thirds. Teign Village. Broadhempston United.

Looking through the opening day fixtures it is hard to pick a game that is not worth watching but here are some that catch the eye.

In the Premier Division, Paignton Saints host Buckfastleigh Rangers at Coach Road, and Waldon Athletic welcome Newton Spurs to Windmill Hill; both are tough games to call. Champions Ilsington Villa have to wait until 7th September to get their defence of the title underway, and last season’s runners up Morley Rangers have disbanded.

In Division One, every fixture has quality written all over it, but Windmill versus Plymouth True Blues will be a colourful affair, and at Bovey Tracey, where the visitors WBB, freshly relegated from the Premier Division will be looking to get some early points on the board.

Division Two gives newly joined Mount Gould the chance to lay an early marker for their intent when they visit relegated Buckfastleigh Rangers Seconds, and at Halford, newly promoted Liverton United host newly relegated Upton Athletic.

Division Three looks like having a competitive season, and the stand out games on opening day are Drake versus Totnes and Dartington Seconds at Manadon all weather pitch and Elburton Villa Thirds against Liverton United Seconds at Haye Road.

In Division Four, Barton Athletic Seconds host new boys Templer Way, who are testing out Saturday football for the first time, at Barton Downs, and there is a local derby at Teign Village where Chudleigh Athletic are the visitors and have already won a pre season game at the village by 3 goals to 2, so it should be a close affair. All games kick off at 2.30pm, and the full fixture list is available on the menu above.