Mendip United

Mendip United Football Club was formed in the year 2000. It came about when the now demolished Mendip Gate Public House which was situated in Queens Road,Bishopsworth. It was taken over by Landlord Steve Brooks. After asking a few of the locals the best way to drum up trade,a group of players (some of whom at the time were already with clubs,some without) decided to form a Saturday football club which went under the name of Mendip Gate F.C. This gained alot of interest amongst the locals of the pub,and the local football clubs which some of the players left to come and join “The Gate”. Amongst the founders were Richard O’connor who took over the role of secretary and Lee “Mouse” Davis took the role of treasurer.Other founder members are current chairman Wes Saunders,and ex-players Martin Bridges,Paul Cox and Mark Jones all who have since left the club to name but a few. Steve Brooks bought the club its first kit of sky blue which has always remained the clubs pro dominant home colours,and Withywood School was the clubs original home ground. Despite a late application The Gate was accepted into the Bristol & Avon League Division 1. The first 2 months of the clubs existence was spent trying to find a manager which was unsuccessful, there was no interest as nobody seemed to take the club seriously. Leading up to the 1st friendly, secretary Richard O’connor ‘temporarily’ took up a player manager role (now in his 12th season!!). The first ever game ended in a 1-0 friendly defeat to sunday side South Bristol Wanderers, and the next was a 1-1 draw with Highridge ‘A’ and Chris Boosey scoring the 1st ever Mendip goal. By the start of the season the club was attracting players from well established clubs. The first season was a massive success, gaining promotion to the Bristol & Avon Premier division as runners up and winning the GFA Primary cup. That season saw the partnership of ‘Bailey & Brown’ score 80 goals between them, Darren Brown hitting 48 goals which is still a club record. The squad for the first ever trophy won by the club was as follows: Wes Saunders,Justin Norcott(c),Barry O’ connor,Rob Hathway,Steve O’ connor,Martin Bridges,Sean Perret,Brett Hurst,Paul Cox,Shaun Bailey,Darren Brown,Marcus Hook,Clint Moore,Richard O’Connor,Mark Jones and Jason Bamfield. In the summer of 2001 the club nearly had to fold two weeks before the start of the season because Withywood School decided that their pitch would no longer be leased to adult teams, So the club was homeless. By chance Filwood playing fields (are current ground) had a spare pitch so Mendip survived. That pre-season saw the arrival of De-veys prolific goal scorer Paul Bodnarazek and Highridge Utd centre half Alex Sully, both paving the way for more success by playing a major part in helping the club win its first league title. Unfortunately half way through the season the Mendip Gate pub was shut down and later demolished. Luckily enough the Queens Head (which the club still to this day uses as its H.Q.) took us in,sponsored us and made the club feel welcome. Promotion through the pyramid system saw the club leapfrog a few divisions and go straight into the Bristol & District division 3. A reserve team was formed and added to the Bristol & Avon league and the club changed its name slightly to Mendip United, however even to this day people still refer to us as The Gate!. Former B.C Timbers reserve team manager Neil Gilbert was given the task of managing the Res’s with Richard Nicholls assisting. The first team blitzed District 3 winning 24 games out of 26 ,drawing 1 and losing just the 1. Despite winning successive promotions throughout the up coming seasons as runners-up, Mendip would have a 4 season drought without a winners trophy, whilst the reserves were slowly but surely establishing themselves as a decent team with potential,consistently finishing in the top half of their division. With Gary Bennett and Mark Whiteman forging a prolific pairing up front they were becoming a match for most sides. Neil Gilbert and Mendip parted ways which saw former centre half Andy Phipps take over as manager with Dave Gamlin as his assistant. The 2004-05 season saw an influx of new 1st team signings with Jon Mead and the Ford brothers Arron and Bobby signing on. Jon Mead took over as first team captain in the District 1 promotion season and is still captain today and without question is the clubs most successful skipper. Over the years players have come and gone,(far to many to mention everyone), but a special player who had a big impact on the club was former De-veys player manager veteran Nigel Brice (joined 2004-05). Age was not on his side as he joined the club aged 45 but ability and organization was there for all to see, himself along with Richard O’Connor help change the seriousness and attitude of the players with the warm-ups before games and more intense training becoming ritual. The 2006-07 season is a well talked about season at the club still to this day. It was the 1st teams second season in the Senior District league, and with top local players in Mark Liddell,Ash Marr,Scott Gribble and Justin Norcott (returning for a 2nd spell at the club) we were well equipped to end that trophy drought. However,a horrific start to the season saw the Gate second from bottom at christmas with 1 win to are name,but a brilliant run of results led by a new strike force of Phil Preece and Joe Moore saw the club go unbeaten for the remaining 17 games,grabbing promotion to the Bristol Premier Combination league as runners up and missing out on the league title to old rivals Avonmouth Village by a single point!. The trophy drought had not quite ended,but the following season (2007-08) saw the team win the Bristol Premier Combination Division 1 title at the 1st attempt with new signings Mike Jenkins and Darren Garton inspirational. Nigel Brice 2 months short of his 50th birthday retired having helped the club end its 4 year trophy drought. The 2008-09 saw a massive change at the club,for the first time an assistant manager was introduced in the 1st team. Former reserve number 2 Paul Caradine was promoted within the club. Well established county league players from local side Highridge Utd joined the Gate. Marksman Dean Maggs,play maker Mike Berry,defender Andy Talbot,midfielder Lee Hancock and De-veys pair of Ash Riddock and Jason Jarvis (2nd spell at the club) signed. It also saw former Highridge/St Aldhems keeper Ash Pope take over from long serving stopper Wes Saunders between the sticks. Wes to this day has still made more 1st team appearances for the Mendip than any other player (250+).The reserve team saw Jeff Barry become player/assistant manager to Andy Phipps. The reserves by now were near on a completely different side from the original team with only leading goal scorer Gary Bennett still playing. James ‘Juggy’ Leslie had become captain alongside outstanding youngsters Sean Caines,goal scoring winger Ben Thatcher and keeper Nathan Burrows establishing themselves in the side. The season was a massive success,the reserves gained promotion from the Bristol & Avon league finishing 3rd,and they also won their 1st ever trophy beating local rivals De-veys on penalties in the Temple Colston cup final played at Yate Town F.C, 2 days later the 1st team won the Premier Division of the Bristol Premier Combination at the 1st attempt. Dean Maggs netting 30 goals in his outstanding debut season,Mike Jenkins despite a brief spell at Hengrove hit 20+ and the team in general dominated the division. Disappointingly but predictably the club was declined promotion to the Gloucetershire County League due to the fact are facilities were not to regulation,and so the on going search for a potential new ground started and to this day continues. The next season (2009-10) saw the first team and res’s bring in yet more new players,but the season ended in a “so near yet so far” scenario with the reserves starting brightly in the District 3 but finishing 4th and the 1st team challenging on all fronts but falling short in all competitions,finishing 3rd in the league and runners up in the GFA Senior cup final. Not since the very 1st season (10 seasons previous) had the club appeared in a GFA final,and a win would have been the perfect way to celebrate are 10 year anniversary,but it wasn’t meant to be. On a positive note the District League re-juggled their divisions which saw the reserves elected to District Division 2,and the club held a successful 10 year anniversary/reunion/presentation night at Totos in Redcliffe street. Mark Liddell won the best Mendip United player of the past 10 seasons and Wes Saunders the most committed player of the past 10 seasons. Despite no winners medals on show that season ,the disappointment seemed to help lay down the foundations for the most successful season the club has ever and possibly will ever have. The 2010-11 season saw Arron Ford step in as assistant to Andy Phipps in the reserves with yet again more new blood coming in. Danny Young,Tyson Nott,Sam Packer,to name a few ccoming in alongside long serving players James Leslie,Ryan Peacey,Bob Ford,Jason Jarvis,Jeff Barry,Dean Norman,Gary Bennett,Ben Thatcher,Matt Caines,Brett Hurst and Phil Preece (25 goals top scorer) saw the reserves have their highest ever league finish of runners up in District 2 gaining promotion and runners up in the GFA intermediate cup. The 1st team with new signings keeper James Burnham ,Craig Liddell,Andy Sposito,Tom Windows,Gary Hancock and Darren Garton (returning late in the season for a 3rd spell) alongside current players Mead,Talbot,Caines,Riddock,Mark Liddell,Caradine,Mcneeley,Lee Hancock and prolific goal scorers Mike Berry (18 goals),Del Attiwell (28 goals) and Dean Maggs (32 goals) went on to become the first ever Bristol Premier Combination club to win the treble. Beating Frampton 3-0 in the GFA final,Shaftesbury 1-0 in the League cup final and becoming league champions for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. We were voted Bristol Soccer World team of the season and came top of the fair play league!

Mendip United squad

Ben Thomson

Lee Hancock

Dean Maggs

Mark Liddell

Josh Cocking

Andy Talbot

The Mendip United Home Pitch

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