TT PREVIEW

Graham talks about the Mitres

ABOUT ME

Hi, my name is Matt and I am the press officer for Bishop’s Cleeve and match day announcer (so apologies in advance if I announce the wrong player!) I have been supporting the club for the last 12 years and have been helping with the club social media accounts for the last 10, ably assisted by multiple volunteers. We now have a team of 6 lead by Dan this season and the transformation on the social media has been brilliant to see and a huge shout out to Dan, Ben, Kim, Rob and Johnny who have all worked tirelessly this season. My first match watching the Mitres was against Ascot United in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round, it was 2-2 abandoned in the 85th due to a violent thunderstorm! The whole club was welcoming, friendly and the football was good quality too so I quickly became a fan, particularly when I found the clubs at away matches were just a welcoming and that there was that football family feeling everywhere at non-league.

CLUB HISTORY

The club was formed in 1905 and moved to the Everyone’s Energy Kayte Lane Stadium in 1997. We first gained promotion to the Southern League, step 4 of non-league football, in 2006. The 2005/06 season was a huge season for the club as well as earning promotion to step 4 for the first time, the club reached the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing narrowly 1-0 at home to Eastbourne Borough. Having been relegated back to step 5 in 2017/18 we managed to win the Hellenic League in 2021/22 to earn promotion back to step 4, securing the title with a memorable 11-2 win on only our 2nd match on the new 3G pitch.

THE GROUND

Our ground is nestled on the south side of the village off Kayte Lane with the picturesque Cleeve Hill, highest point in the Cotswolds, in the background. We have a small, cosy clubhouse with a bar and big screens as well as a covered outside area and all our volunteers are friendly and welcoming. We hope all attending enjoy their day with us whatever the result.

SEASON SO FAR

So far this season we’ve won 6, drawn 1 and lost 2 but both defeats were extremely tight matches. Torquay will be by far the highest calibre team we have played but the last time we played step 2 opposition was the end of last season when we lost to Gloucester City on penalties in the county cup final but we more than matched them the whole game and will be hoping to do the same on Saturday.

https://twitter.com/BishopsCleeveFC/status/1831070937803891154?t=11ETIksu2po-E1H2qkohWQ&s=19

THE SQUAD

We have an extremely good squad and all our players have very good quality. Our longest serving players are Lewis Clayton, Steve Davies and Will Turner who have all played over 100 competitive matches for the club.

THE BACKROOM STAFF

Our first team manager is Paul Collicutt who was a player at Cheltenham Town and this is his second spell at the club having returned in 2019 and leading us to promotion to step 4, a county cup final and our highest ever league finish, 9th in step 4, both in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Colly has a great coaching staff with him with Assistant Manager Matt Jeynes who has played for the club and been on the coaching staff since 2016. He also coaches local school team, taking his side to Wembley and winning last season.

Also in the dugout will be Tommy Callinan who joined in 2022 acting as physio and coach in that time and Freddie Ward who played over 60 matches for the club before moving to the dugout in 2021.

There will also be Kit Man extraordinaire Pat Cleal who has been with the backroom staff since 2015 also being physio in that time. Physio Ally Major completes the bench line up having rejoined this season after a spell away with the Mitres. Fingers crossed she can just enjoy watching the game and won’t be needed.

PRE-MATCH REFRESHMENTS

The best place to have a drink beforehand will be in the Mitres Well at the ground, gates open 12:30, and we will have the Premier League football on the big screens. For those wanting to pop into the village there are two pubs in the centre, The Royal Oak and Kings Head, both by Tesco in the centre of the village.

FUN FACT

Bishop’s Cleeve is we think the largest village in Europe with a population of over 14,000 as of 2021 but is probably a lot more now with the expansion north of the village. Also Squadron Leader Eric Foster who inspired the Great Escape book and film lived in the village until his death in 2006.