Tuesday 11th August 2026 ko 19:00

Wiltshire League Premier Division

DOWN AMPNEY 2 (Bailey 14 45+1)

WROUGHTON 0

Att 27

Free Entry

Football is full of geographical quirks, and in England the counties do seem to cause quite a few of them. Down Ampney is in Gloucestershire even if the football team do play in the Wiltshire League but I suspect the more important factor is that the village is in the Cotswolds.

The trip down from Burford, through Bibury and Hatherop is one of the most beautiful drives you could hope to imagine, I was almost disappointed to have to curtail things as I arrived at the ground! Down Ampney is the birthplace of classical composer Ralph Vaughan-Williams. The local All Saints’ dates from 1265 and was founded by the Knights Hospitaller. It adds to gentle affluence, so I was slightly surprised to see a chip van doing a roaring trade in the car park; they did a roaring trade through!

I’ll remember Down Ampney as the place that visually summed up the drought of summer 2026. Put bluntly there wasn’t a single blade of green grass. That’s no sleight on the club, more a comment on the weather, I hadn’t cut my lawn since May! It was odd seeing so much yellow, to the point I enjoyed seeing the quirk of a roller made out of a gas canister (hopefully empty!) as something to break up the relentless scorched turf.

The hosts won a competitive encounter, but more than anything else I trust this beautiful part of the Cotswolds has seen some rain these last few weeks…