BackClub History
Club History 1 of 2
1. Abbreviated programme notes version for opponents
Bristol and District League handbooks of the 1920's reveal that the Oldland football club was founded as St. Anne’s (Oldland) in 1910. St. Anne’s (Oldland) won the GFA Minor Cup at the end of the 1921/22 then lifted the 1925 GFA Junior Cup but had to wait until the 1950's for further success. Little is known about the club's fortunes between the wars, but they became founder members of the Bristol Premier Combination in 1962 and were promoted to the Gloucester County League in 1973, remaining there for twelve seasons until being re-elected as Oldland Decora in 1986.
Pupils at Hanham Abbots school launched Abbotonians football club as juniors in 1947 and they enjoyed many league and cup successes in the early years.
The two clubs merged in 1998, playing as Oldland Abbotonians and won the Somerset Senior League Division One in 2004/05, were Premier Division runners up in 2005/06 and eventually promoted to the Toolstation League in 2006/07.
Oldland has often been described as a nursery for Bristol Rovers with a number playing for the club before turning professional at Eastville. Former Rovers favourite Bobby Jones was one of many successful Oldland managers, a list which also includes former Arsenal and Rovers player David Hillier. Abbots rose to heady heights in the 1980's with the help of former Rovers players Jeff Meacham, the late Steve Talboys (Wimbledon) plus Rovers favourites Graham Day, Peter Aitken and Phil Bater. Among other youngsters who left Abbots to play for Rovers were Stuart Taylor, Phil Kite and Kevin Westaway.
Lee Gibbs had led the club into the Western League before passing over to ex-Arsenal player David Hillier at the start of the 2008/09 season; Hillier helped them become the first ever Division 1 side to win the Les Phillips (league) cup, securing 7th place in the league as well. Having finished 4th and been assured that promotion was imminent at the end of 2015/16 Oldland were disappointingly not promoted and had to start again with the squad moving away.
For the second half of 2018/19 Clayton Woodman and Steve Cains returned to the club they had played for. This heralded the start of some significant fundraising and works at the ground, the dressing rooms were rebuilt in a separate unit, the clubhouse was transformed with the ground boundaries and exterior work on the stands and dugouts upgraded in 2022/23 in order to make the site more secure and cut back on vandalism. However, following issues with neighbours and South Glos Council most of these now had to be taken back down. What does remain is the famous bar, known by many as the liveliest and best clubhouse in the league with numerous social events in addition to match days
In the 2022–23 Western Football League season, the O's finished fourth in the table and qualified for the playoffs, defeating Shirehampton in the final and qualifying for promotion to the Premier Division. However, the costs and regular journeys of several hundred miles caught up with the club, as it has many others, and voluntary relegation back to Division One was taken in the summer of 2026, without which the club would probably not have survived.
Woodman and Cains are now Chairman and Vice Chairman with football matters being led by Paul Weeks as Director of Football. The club have recently agreed Heads of Terms on a new 25-year lease for the ground, and an optimism is back around the club.
On the pitch in most recent years, Kris Miller and Aaron Cornwall had stepped in and brought a raft of new faces to the club and in the latter half of the 2025/26 season Lee Lashenko who had managed at a higher level came in and brought yet more professionalism and players with a proven track record. He left at the end of the season to take up a role as Director of Football at Southern League Tiverton Town and this season The O’s are led by Jay Powell who has previous managerial experience at this level and also a raft of contacts of local players. He is being assisted by Josh Nelson and Miller has returned as a player coach as the club regroups after the voluntary drop down.
The Reserves are in the Bristol Premier Combination and are managed by Dave Griffin and the Under 18s side who play in the Western Counties Floodlit Youth League are managed by Nick Hammond who is in hist first season bringing with him a fresh group of players straight from youth football.
Pupils at Hanham Abbots school launched Abbotonians football club as juniors in 1947 and they enjoyed many league and cup successes in the early years.
The two clubs merged in 1998, playing as Oldland Abbotonians and won the Somerset Senior League Division One in 2004/05, were Premier Division runners up in 2005/06 and eventually promoted to the Toolstation League in 2006/07.
Oldland has often been described as a nursery for Bristol Rovers with a number playing for the club before turning professional at Eastville. Former Rovers favourite Bobby Jones was one of many successful Oldland managers, a list which also includes former Arsenal and Rovers player David Hillier. Abbots rose to heady heights in the 1980's with the help of former Rovers players Jeff Meacham, the late Steve Talboys (Wimbledon) plus Rovers favourites Graham Day, Peter Aitken and Phil Bater. Among other youngsters who left Abbots to play for Rovers were Stuart Taylor, Phil Kite and Kevin Westaway.
Lee Gibbs had led the club into the Western League before passing over to ex-Arsenal player David Hillier at the start of the 2008/09 season; Hillier helped them become the first ever Division 1 side to win the Les Phillips (league) cup, securing 7th place in the league as well. Having finished 4th and been assured that promotion was imminent at the end of 2015/16 Oldland were disappointingly not promoted and had to start again with the squad moving away.
For the second half of 2018/19 Clayton Woodman and Steve Cains returned to the club they had played for. This heralded the start of some significant fundraising and works at the ground, the dressing rooms were rebuilt in a separate unit, the clubhouse was transformed with the ground boundaries and exterior work on the stands and dugouts upgraded in 2022/23 in order to make the site more secure and cut back on vandalism. However, following issues with neighbours and South Glos Council most of these now had to be taken back down. What does remain is the famous bar, known by many as the liveliest and best clubhouse in the league with numerous social events in addition to match days
In the 2022–23 Western Football League season, the O's finished fourth in the table and qualified for the playoffs, defeating Shirehampton in the final and qualifying for promotion to the Premier Division. However, the costs and regular journeys of several hundred miles caught up with the club, as it has many others, and voluntary relegation back to Division One was taken in the summer of 2026, without which the club would probably not have survived.
Woodman and Cains are now Chairman and Vice Chairman with football matters being led by Paul Weeks as Director of Football. The club have recently agreed Heads of Terms on a new 25-year lease for the ground, and an optimism is back around the club.
On the pitch in most recent years, Kris Miller and Aaron Cornwall had stepped in and brought a raft of new faces to the club and in the latter half of the 2025/26 season Lee Lashenko who had managed at a higher level came in and brought yet more professionalism and players with a proven track record. He left at the end of the season to take up a role as Director of Football at Southern League Tiverton Town and this season The O’s are led by Jay Powell who has previous managerial experience at this level and also a raft of contacts of local players. He is being assisted by Josh Nelson and Miller has returned as a player coach as the club regroups after the voluntary drop down.
The Reserves are in the Bristol Premier Combination and are managed by Dave Griffin and the Under 18s side who play in the Western Counties Floodlit Youth League are managed by Nick Hammond who is in hist first season bringing with him a fresh group of players straight from youth football.