Thursday 6th June 2024
The provisional constitution for the 2024-25 South West Regional Women's Football League season has been published, with the Football Association releasing allocations for all leagues at tiers one through six of the Women's Football Pyramid.
There's set to be significant change too, with the South West Regional Women's Football League running two tier six divisions, as opposed to the three that it ran in 2023-24 when Bassett finished as runners-up in the Division One Eastern.
As a result, for the forthcoming campaign Bassett - alongside fellow 2023-24 Division One Eastern sides Bath City, Purton and Stockwood Wanderers - will be playing in Division One North.
The restructuring means a reduced amount of travel for Bassett, with the Dorset-based Eastern Division sides being allocated to Division One South.
It also means a greater number of local derby fixtures. Alongside near neighbours Purton, Bassett will face fellow Wiltshire side Corsham Town - promoted as champions of the Wiltshire County Women's League - as well as Cirencester Town - who are promoted to tier six after winning the Gloucestershire County Women's League.
The presence of Corsham and Cirencester will see both Bassett's Women's and Men's First Team sides face common opponents - something that has been a rare feature since the Women's First Team was re-established in 2009-10.
While having a more local flavour, Bassett will nevertheless be coming up against a number of opponents who they have never or rarely met in competitive action.
Of the sides they did not meet in 2023-24, Bassett have never faced Corsham, Paulton Rovers, SGS Olveston United or St Vallier. While never before taking on Gloucester City's first team, Bassett were in the same league as their reserves in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons while playing in the Gloucestershire County Women's League.
In the 2011-12, 2014-15 and 2015-16 Gloucestershire County Women's League campaigns, Cirencester were Bassett's league rivals, while the same was true of Bitton in 2012-13.
Meanwhile, the only ever competitive contest between Bassett and Downend Flyers came in the 2015-16 Women's FA Cup.
It's therefore set to be a season of discovery as well as local intrigue, as Bassett aim to go one better than 2023-24 and earn promotion back to tier five.
The full provisional constitution for the 2024-25 South West Regional Women's Football League Division One North, featuring 12 sides, is as follows:
Bath City
Bitton
Cirencester Town
Corsham Town
Downend Flyers
Gloucester City
Paulton Rovers
Purton
Royal Wootton Bassett Town
SGS Olveston United
St Vallier
Stockwood Wanderers
The constitution is, at present, provisional and subject to change.
Last modified on Thursday 6th June 2024 at 13:04.