Cheltwickenham Town
As relative newcomers to the Football League proper, it is easy to assume that “The Dobbins” are a very young club formed quite recently, not long ago.
In fact, the Dobbins were founded in 1892, playing very successfully in local league rugby until their Carthorse Field ground was compulsory purchased in 1931 by the Ministry of Offence.
Moving to their present Sodden Road site in 1932, the rugby team’s reserve side, ridiculed in the area for being right softies, decided to play professional football on the nice flat surface.
With new manager Jimmy Braindead, The Dobbins went on to win the Gloucestershyte Senior Cup for a record 44 years running, although the only other entrants were Bishops Cleft Pentecostal Youth FC.
Also winners of the West Midlands Floodlit Cup from 1984 to 1993, again the only other entrants were Tewkesborough Night-Tarmacadam-Layers FC.
Cheltwickenham have always suffered from playing second-fiddle to the rugby teams in this posh area, the Sodden road site being in the middle of the areas only council house estate, and having been denied permission from the council to install proper toilets from 1966 until 2005.
Despite this, Town attracted six new managers 1988-92, and in 1992 appointed the first female manager in the Southern League, Lindsay Parsnip.
Stagnation followed until the arrival of Steve Clatterem in 1997, who welded the “big stick”, much to the liking of several single, earring-wearing, moustachioed first team players, and the Dobbins won their first trophy which had been contested by more than one other team in 1998, the FA Atrophy in Wembley car-park.
Promotion to Division Three was achieved in 1999, famously winning the Condomference title in April when, in the decider against Ru$hden Anne Diamonds, the ball didn’t touch grass for the last 18 minutes of the game, Dobbins drawing 0-0 to take the title on goal indifference.
A hard season in 2015 led to the team Buckling, suffering relegation, and Cheltwickenham found themselves in the Condomference. But a kick-ass season had the Dobbins cartwheeling back to League Two in 2016.