Saturday 19th April 2025 ko 14:30

South West Peninsula League Premier West

BODMIN TOWN 0

DOBWALLS 3 (Larrieu 12secs Tate 41 Kenyon 48)

Att 316

Advance Ticket for all games on the hop £55

Entry £6

Programme £2

I arrived at Priory Park, to a queue of groundhoppers trying to make sense of the Pay & Display machine. Gone are the days when you simply insert a combination of coins you never seem to have, now you phone an automated number that doesn’t seem to understand English, or manipulate an App you don’t have, and there’s not enough 5G to download it. Here by coincidence my one parking App was the one in use here…. the adage of the chimp and the typewriter comes to mind.

I’d been tipped off that all was not right at Bodmin Town. I was surprised at that, I remembered former W.B.A. keeper Kevin Miller playing for Bodmin last time I visited, and club have won the South West Peninsula League 5 times. I knew Priory Park in its current form isn’t long for the world- a “Community 3G facility” is planned, but I was shocked and saddened in equal measure to see the club down to just 3 volunteers.

That meant the programme and catering had been outsourced, and in the case of the latter to a burger van who thought that cooking to order was the way forward for a crowd over 300… At least the folks who waited 40 minutes to get fed could watch the game while they did. None of this should reflect on those involved at Bodmin Town, they have had to deal with a mass exodus of players (mainly to Liskeard) and volunteers seem to have drifted away with them. It all seems like a very high price to pay for not taking promotion after those championship wins.

With my groundhop organiser’s hat on I regretted that loss of opportunity with all that outsourcing, but every time I thought in those terms, I thought back on those 3 heroic volunteers; what else could they have done? At least they made 300 times £6. I hope it did the club some good.

We watched Dobwalls win straightforwardly enough and it was of little surprise to hear a few weeks later that Bodmin had resigned from the league in favour of the Cornwall-only St Piran League. It does seem odd to think they could easily be playing Nanpean Rovers next season.

From a selfish perspective I was pleased to see Priory Park in its traditional form. But as I walked back to the car I couldn’t help but feel desperately sorry for Bodmin Town and hope that the voluntary demotion allows them the space and time to rebuild. The town and its club deserve no less.