Alix Dorrington introduces Weymouth.

Don't Mention the War

As Weymouth are a side we've become fairly familiar with, a whistle-stop tour of The Terras recent history is appropriate.

After reformation in 1947 the Dorset boys spent a prolonged spell in the Southern League, where they stayed until 1979 and, prior to 1970, encountered United regularly. The Alliance Premier League, (now the Conference) was formed in 1979, with Weymouth founder members.

1987 saw a move to The Wessex Stadium and, following several excellent campaigns, League Football looked possible. Unfortunately, momentum was not sustained and The Terras were relegated to the Southern League in 1989. Gloom deepened after tumbling into the lesser Southern Division, but fans were appeased by a swift return to the Premier Division thanks to a 1997 championship win.

Following several mediocre seasons the club was taken over in 2004, with former World Player of the Year Steve Claridge, (well I thought so anyway) installed as player-manager. Average attendances rose to the 1,500 and Claridge led the Terras to a runners-up spot; comfortably qualifying for the new Nationwide South.

Place Your Bets Please

Journeyman Claridge was inexplicably dismissed in 2005, with Steve Johnson, brother of former U's boss Gary, stepping in.

Nevertheless, with the club returning to full-time status, the experienced Garry Hill (left) was recruited.

Last season proved momentous, as the Nationwide South Championship was clinched, and a return to the Conference beckoned after seventeen years away. Chairman Martyn Harrison was understandably delighted following major investment but, unbeknown to most, the honeymoon period was on a crash course.

Hotelier Harrison gambled by sanctioning nine notable signings, giving Hill a wealth of experience and talent at his disposal. Amongst the clan were Raphael Nade, Tony James, Ashley Vickers, Dean Howell, Nick Crittenden, ex-U Richard Logan and Simon Weatherstone, all of whom have extensive playing careers or Conference winners medals.

After a lightning start to the season, with a downturn in attendances came signs of apparent unrest and, following the 2-1 win over United, Harrison triggered discontent amongst supporters by suggesting, "A crowd of 1,700 when we're top of the table is disgraceful. If the town can't be bothered I don't see why I should, so they'll have to find somebody else to pay the wages."

Carry on Regardless

In spite of this, Hill's men continued to perform admirably and establish a top three spot, although, losses to fellow promotion chasers were a sign of things to come. November proved a disaster, as four defeats and an FA Cup exit saw the average gate drop to around 1,500.

As the pendulum of form then swung to and fro, then came the hammer-blow. Harrison admitted that he had over-stretched himself in financing Weymouth's climb towards League Football, and that Garry Hill was to be handed his P45 due to £1.2m losses and subsequent financial restructuring. Additionally, the entire squad were transfer-listed, and sure enough, within weeks twelve key players had left the club.

As expected, Weymouth slid down the table, but despite getting smashed at the hands of us, Oxford and Rushden they did enough to secure a spot in mid table, finishing 11th. However, the writing was on the wall and this season would be an awful lot tougher.

After an opening day victory against Halifax, it took six games for the Terras to register another victory, with only five more wins before the turn of the year, it was clear that a long season was on the cards for Weymouth. This proved to be the case as the Dorset side have only picked up two wins since November, causing them to plummet to 21st, just inside the relegation zone, meaning that no mistake can be made about the aim of John Hollins and Alan Lewer's charges: survival.

Previous Meetings

Weymouth are one of the clubs that we've faced a fair few times more than the majority of our Blue Square Premier counterparts, so needless to say, an abridged version of Previous Meetings is the order of the day.

Older fans may recall the first meeting of the two clubs, back on 6 December 1958. Despite United taking the lead through Brian Moore at The Abbey Stadium, Weymouth romped to a 4-1 win in front of 2,695, setting the tone for a series of high-scoring matches. After going tit for tat with the Terras over the next decade and a bit, the U's found themselves clinching two Southern League titles, the second of which was followed by election to the Football League.

However, it wasn't long before our paths crossed again, with the two sides thrown together at The Abbey in the FA Cup first round. The visitors shocked the home side after 55 minutes when Ken Pound opened the scoring, but John Collins restored parity shortly after with a diving header. United's Ivan Hollett then popped up with just eight minutes remaining to seal a 2-1 win and ease the hosts into Round Two.

It wasn't to be the last time we met in the FA Cup as on the 8th of January 1983 in the FA Cup 3rd Round. It was Division Two United against Alliance Premier League Weymouth, but there was to be no upset as George Riley bagged an early goal to give the U's a 1-0 victory.

The more modern era has seen us meet again in the Cup, with three fixtures coming in the Conference/BSP. Firstly, Garry Hill's terracotta charges pulled off a fine 2-1 FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round home win in October 2005, whilst his side emerged victorious in August 2006 with a 2-1 League success at The Wessex Stadium.

United finally gained revenge for that 7-0 drubbing in 1959 by repeating the score line in March 2007, with our last League clash down in Devon on 31 August of the current season ending in a 2-2 draw.

Finally, The Terras visited us for an FA Cup Second Round tie last December; Scott Rendell grabbing the headlines after converting a penalty to rubber-stamp United's 1-0 victory.

For full Previous Meetings please read Doug Shulman's article in Saturday's programme.

Alix Dorrington

Current form:

Cambridge: WWWLWL
Weymouth: LLLWDL

If you enjoy writing and could help to share the workload on this popular pre-match article, please e-mail web@cambridge-united.co.uk

Make Your Click Count For The U's - talk about it on the Message Board!

You are respectfully reminded that any article, as with all content on this website, unless otherwise stated, is subject to copyright © and the Official Cambridge United Website must be acknowledged as the original source including all quotes.

080322