FALMOUTH TOWN – AN EPIC SEASON
A look back at the epic 2024/25 season with Falmouth Town and the memorable moments, epic journeys and triumphs.
Falmouth Town started the second season in the Western League way back in July 2023, with 0-0 draw at newly promoted Brixham. August saw league wins over St Blazey, Saltash United and Torpoint Athletic, with one defeat away at Ilfracombe Town. FA Cup action saw us defeat Southern League Exmouth Town and progress to the next round, where unfortunately we went out to a very strong Southern League Frome Town. We also started our now heroic FA Vase campaign with 6-0 win at home to Honiton Town of the SWPL.
September saw league wins over Nailsea & Tickenham (A), Wellington (H) and Buckland Athletic (A), plus a 0-0 draw at Clevedon Town. The FA Vase campaign saw us progress with a 3-1 win over Crediton United at home.
We started October with a visit to Wendron United in the Cornwall Senior Cup, where Town won 2-1, a reversal of last season’s defeat in the same competition. League results were indifferent, with a win at home to Street, followed by a defeat at home to Shepton Mallet, with a draw away to Barnstaple Town. In the FA Vase 1st Round we travelled to Fareham Town in Hampshire and came away with a 1-0 win. The Les Phillips Cup campaign was not so successful, going out to a 1-0 defeat to local rivals Helston Athletic.
November started brightly enough, with a home win to Torpoint Athletic in the Cornwall Senior Cup 2nd Round and a 2-0 win over the the highly rated Wessex League outfit Moneyfields F.C. in the FA Vase 2nd Round. The weather was starting to take its toll, a clue of things to come, with the only league action being a 3-1 win at home to Barnstaple Town. November also saw the first of two new signings, with Rubin Wilson joining from Helston Athletic.
Saturday, December 2nd saw us meet Barnstaple Town again, this time away in the FA Vase 3rd Round. Town won 2-1 to progress to the 4th round. League action saw us beat Saltash United 2-1 at home. This was followed by our Boxing Day fixture, which resulted in a 1-0 win for Falmouth Town over local rivals Helston Athletic in front of a mega crowd of 1,845. The second largest Step 5 crowd in the country! The year ended with 4-0 win away to Millbrook in horrendous weather, top marks to Millbrook for getting the game on. December saw our second new signing, when Oscar Massey joined Falmouth Town from Barnstaple Town.
2024 started with 1-0 defeat at home to Bridgwater United. January also saw Town progress in the Cornwall Senior Cup with a home win over St Blazey and in the FA Vase with 2-0 win over the much fancied Hartpury University side of the Hellenic League, who knocked out Mousehole in last year’s FA Vase. January’s league matches saw us with a win over Welton Rovers and an away defeat to local rivals St Blazey.
February started with a visit from Brixham on Saturday 3rd, resulting in a 2-1 win, followed by Millbrook on Tuesday 6th, which saw Town come back from 2-0 down to win 6-2. Saturday, February 10th is a day which will remain in Town supporters’ memories for a life time. It’s the FA Vase 5th Round and we have been drawn away to Jersey Bulls in the Channel Islands. This once in a life time trip saw herculean efforts by the Town faithful to get there, including a charter flight from Newquay Airport. By air and sea, over two hundred supporters made it to the Springfield Stadium in St Helier, where they witnessed a 3-0 win for Town. We were into the Quarter Finals for the first time since 1987. We must thank Jersey Bulls for the superb hospitality and friendship they extended to us. Buoyed on by this, Town went on to two more league wins away to Torpoint Athletic and home to Buckland Athletic. A decent finish to the month.
March started with FA Vase Quarter Final action and a visit to Great Wakering Rovers of the Essex senior League. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be our day, losing 2-0 to the eventual finalists. Great Wakering Rovers went on to lose 3-0 to Romford in the FA Vase Final. The rest of March was taken up with league action and Town bounced back with three wins over Bridgwater United (A), Nailsea & Tickenham (H) and Street (A).
April was a very busy month, with no less than ten games, remember that weather comment back in November. Another new signing was made to strengthen the team for the run in and we welcomed Andy Elcock from Southern League Tavistock. We kicked off with an away win over Welton Rovers on Easter Monday, followed by by 4-0 win at home to Clevedon Town on Saturday 6th, a 1-0 away win at Wellington on Tuesday 9th and 1-1 draw at Oldland Abbotonians on the following Saturday. This was followed by a home win to Ilfracombe Town on Tuesday 16th. Now came the big game, Helston Athletic v Falmouth Town at Kellaway Park, a clash between the top two. It was Helston who came out on top in this one, winning 1-0. So with just two fixtures remaining and needing 1 point to secure the runners up spot, we travelled to Shepton Mallet on Saturday, April 20th. It was not to be our day, Shepton Mallet ran out 2-0 winners, the only club to do the double on us. Next up was Newquay in the Cornwall Senior Cup semi-final at Blaise Park on Tuesday 24th, a 4-2 Town win was enough to see us through to the final. The last fixture was the following Saturday, home to Oldland Abbotonians. A 1-0 win was sufficient to ensure second place in the table, but more importantly, home advantage in the play-offs. Tuesday, April 30th, the play-off semi-final, home to Barnstaple Town. In front of a crowd of 480, Town secured a 3-1 win. We now looked forward to the final.
Saturday, May 4th at Bickland Park was an electric affair, with a visit by Clevedon Town, who had beaten Bridgwater United (away) in their semi-final, for a game with arguably the biggest prize of all. For the winners it would mean promotion to the Southern Football League. Falmouth Town went ahead in the 2nd minute with goal from Oscar Massey. Clevedon Town continued to battle and made for a competitive game. The result was sealed in the 70th minute when Luke Barner was set up by an Oscar Massey pass to make it 2-0. The noise from the 973 strong crowd deafening as the final whistle went. Falmouth Town had secured promotion to the Southern League. The team was surrounded by hundreds of youngsters, while older members in the crowd were seen to shed a tear upon realisation at what had been achieved. This is not quite the end of the story, there’s one twist in the tale. The much delayed Cornwall Senior Cup Final was a clash between AFC St Austell, the SWPL champions, who had won promotion to the Western League and Falmouth Town who had now secured promotion to the Southern League. The game was played at Wendron’s Underlane ground, where our cup campaign had started back in October. It was a closely contested game, however it was a double chasing St Austell who took the lead. Within ten minutes Town had levelled the score through Cam Hutchinson. The game finished 1-1 and so we entered extra-time. St Austell again took the lead and it stayed like that until 120th minute when James Swan hammered home the ball from 6 yards. This was not the end of the story, in the dying seconds of injury time, Luke Barner slipped the ball past the St Austell keeper to steal the game. More rapturous celebrations from Town fans in the 1000 strong crowd. What a way to end a memorable season!
It only remains to thank the players and staff, the volunteers, the F-Troop and the supporters, all who have played their part and without whom, none of this would have happened. So we now look forward to the 2024/25 season in the Southern Football League, new challenges, new adventures and new stories to write. We’re Falmouth Town and we’re never going to stop!
You can follow us here on the Falmouth Town website, on Twitter (X), on Instagram, on Facebook and on Will Hedgecock’s YouTube Channel, but the best way to follow us is to come along to the games and enjoy the match day experience. All roads lead to Bickland Park!