They`ve Played For Your Club…..Tiverton Town

Continuing the series on players who have represented the current clubs in the Southern Football League.

Few could argue that Tiverton Town`s exploits in the Western League and the FA Vase in particular didn`t deserve a bigger stage.

However, it wasn`t until 1999/2000 that the Yellows took the plunge to join the Southern League.

Tiverton – along with Taunton Town - had dominated the Western League in the 1990s and having won four titles in that decade, it was rather ironic that Tivvy took promotion after being pipped to the championship by neighbours Taunton in 1998/99.

But they had a backlog of fixtures after retaining the FA Vase at Wembley when a single Scott Rogers goal saw off Northern League side Bedlington Terriers.

The win was made sweeter by the fact that Tivvy had defeated fierce rivals Taunton 5-1 in the two-legged semi-final.

A successful first season in new surroundings saw the club finish in fourth position in the Southern League Division One West, and the following season Tiverton endured a hectic final four weeks, playing 15 games in 29 days to snatch the runners-up place, and with it, promotion to the Premier Division.

One of the constants during the 1990s at Ladysmead was Neil Saunders, whose consistent performances at left-back and later centre-back made him one of the most highly regarded footballers not just at Tiverton but throughout the West Country region.

Signed from Crediton United in 1988, he spent one season playing in the Conference for Bath City in the mid-1990s but was otherwise very much a part of the Ladysmead furniture throughout his playing career and played in all three of the club’s Vase finals and captained the side at Wembley in 1999.

And he was also in the team for six of Tiverton’s seven appearances in the FA Cup First Round.

Although exact details are sketchy, it is widely accepted that Saunders also holds the record number of appearances for the club, a figure totalling around 650 matches.

He left Ladysmead at the end of the 2001/02 season, with his final game being the home match against a Kettering Town side who needed a win to secure the Southern Premier Division title.

It was fitting that a crowd of almost 2,000 saw Saunders` swansong, even though the Poppies won 2-1 to clinch the title.

Tiverton`s end of season dinner and presentation evening that year was the venue that Saunders used to announced that he was leaving the club.

And he wasn`t the only one, as fellow defender Nicky Marker also used the occasion to announce his retirement form the game.

Marker, whose stay with the club lasted two and half years, made an enormous contribution to the success and promotion of the club.

He began his career with his home-town club Exeter City, making 202 appearances for the Grecians.

He moved on to neighbours Plymouth Argyle and made another 202 appearances for the Pilgrims.

Blackburn Rovers was his next port of call and he made 54 appearances for the Ewood Park Premiership champion-winning team and also played in Europe before turning out 61 times for Sheffield United and 4 more for Plymouth whilst on loan.

However, both Saunders and Marker donned the boots again a few months later to pay tribute to another Tivvy hero – Phil Everett in his testimonial against Exeter City.

Over 700 fans turned up at Ladysmead to watch a strong Exeter line up face a Yellows side that included players from a decade in which Everett had been an integral part of Tiverton's climb from the Western League to the brink of the Conference and honour the man that topped 500 competitive appearances and found the net over 350 times for the club.

The Royal Marine, who played representative football for the forces, was `Non-League Player of the Year` for 1997/98 and the former Dawlish Town man scored his 378th and final goal for the club in a 3-0 win against Weymouth late in the 2002/03 season.

However, he did make a surprise appearance in 2009/10 having been with Western League neighbours Willand Rovers.

In December 2010, Tiverton appointed their former midfielder Mark Saunders as their new manager.

Saunders had been in caretaker charge at Ladysmead since the departure of Chris Vinnicombe a month earlier.

Born in Reading, Saunders ended up moving to North Devon and went on to become a firm favourite at Tiverton in the early 1990s in the Western League.

In the summer of 1995, Plymouth Argyle`s then-manager Neil Warnock decided to sign the 24-year-old, although he rather slipped through the backdoor unnoticed as Warnock made a host of high-profile signings for relatively big money.

Indeed, the unassuming Saunders made only 4 starts as Argyle won promotion out of the Fourth Division through the play-offs but was more or less an integral part of the team for the next two seasons.

A tireless midfielder with a tasty tackle and an eye for goal, Saunders was one of the few Argyle players to emerge with any credit from the relegation season of 1997/98 under Mick Jones.

Despite not finding the net until Christmas, Saunders had scored 7 goals by the end of the season and his worth was only truly realised by Argyle fans after he had left Home Park to sign for Gillingham on a Bosman free transfer.

He spent eight seasons at Priestfield, becoming a crowd favourite in the process of making almost 200 appearances with 15 goals.

After spells with Isthmian Premier side Folkestone Invicta and the emerging Maidstone United, then in the lower reaches of the Isthmian League, he re-signed for Tiverton 13 years after he left.

He added over 100 appearances as well as becoming assistant manager to Chris Vinnicombe in 2010.

He assumed the top job soon afterwards following Vinnicombe’s brief and unsuccessful tenure, but after a run of 18 games without a victory he stepped down in March 2013.

He later became player/assistant manager to Richard Pears at South West Peninsula League side Exmouth Town.

A tenacious midfielder originally with Saltash United, Dave Leonard was converted to a wing-back having joined Tiverton following a contractual dispute with Yeovil Town in 1994.

Not renowned for his prowess in front of goal, when Leonard did find the target it was often in spectacular style, such as his strikes against Ilfracombe Town in the FA Vase and Taunton in the Les Phillips Cup final.

A cruel injury on the opening day of Tiverton’s first Southern League season saw him side-lined for a long period, and he left in the summer of 2002 after making 154 appearances and scoring 32 goals for the Yellows.

He has since gone on to manage Liskeard Athletic, Truro City, where he resigned as manager in April 2008 after learning the club would not turn professional in 2008/09 season, and Plymouth Parkway and from February 2016 until August 2020 was manager of Plymouth Argyle Ladies.

With the 1998/99 FA Vase Final against Bedlington Terriers apparently heading for extra-time, the Tivvy boss Martyn Rogers sent on Scott Rogers, the son of his cousin and former team- mate at Exeter City and Tiverton, Peter Rogers.

In the 89th minute the then-19-year-old midfielder duly scored the only goal of the game.

Forward to the summer of 2020, and Scott Rogers now sits alongside his uncle as joint manager of the Southern League Premier Division South club.

He was part of five promotion winning sides during his career.

He eventually left Tivvy in 2003 to sign for the emerging Forest Green Rovers, having made over 300 appearances for the Yellows, scoring 47 goals.

He moved to Bath City in 2006 and to Newport County in the Conference in 2009.

Moves to Eastleigh, Chippenham Town, Taunton Town and neighbours Willand Rovers where he took on the player-managers` role, leading them on a memorable FA Cup run that Gosport Borough ended in 2014 before returning to Ladysmead in the summer of 2015.

He added a further 100-odd games to his tally before concentrating on management firstly as assistant boss, then joint manager.

Striker Dominic Richardson was a trainee at Plymouth Argyle and emerged during Peter Shilton's spell as manager, eventually making his debut under Neil Warnock in an Auto Windscreens Shield fixture.

The local lad made two more substitute appearances for the Pilgrims, both in the low-key surroundings of the Auto Windscreen, and was eventually released to try his luck in local football in December 1996.

After a spell with Porthleven, he joined Tiverton in 1998/99 and went on to play 66 times and score 15 times for the Yellows.

Richardson went on to score prolifically in the South West football, playing for St Blazey, Polperro, Liskeard Athletic, Launceston and St Austell amongst others, ending his career at Lanreath.

Defender Matt Villis became player-coach with Tiverton`s close neighbours and league rivals Taunton Town in 2019 after joining the Peacocks in 2015.

Villis originally signed for Tiverton in 2007 from Bridgwater Town, having started out with Plymouth Argyle.

He failed to make the breakthrough with Argyle but mad 22 appearances on loan at Torquay United in 2004/05 and then 18 after signing for the Gulls on a more permanent basis.

After 85 appearances for Tiverton, he moved to Weston-super-Mare in late 2009 in a move that it later transpired was forced through in order to free up a wage budget to accommodate mercurial midfielder Colin Marshall.

Villis re-joined Tivvy in 2013 under John Clarkson but stayed just one year before moving onto Bideford and then Yate Town, having added 34 more games to his Tivvy tally.

Chris Vinnicombe had three spells with Tiverton, although his third one was as player-manager which proved unsuccessful and he stepped down just five months after being appointed and eventually took over at former rivals Elmore.

He started out as one of Exeter City`s brightest talents of the 1980s.

The left back was a product of Exeter's youth system and made his League debut for the club aged just 16, in a 2-1 defeat at Doncaster Rovers in September 1988.

The following January he was handed a full professional contract, and his performances soon caught the eye of other clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Going into the 1989/90 season, Vinnicombe had nailed down his spot at full-back, and with scouts from other clubs joining the ranks of England’s elite in assessing the youth team graduate, it was almost inevitable that he wouldn’t see out the season at St James` Park.

Described by Terry Cooper as “one of the best young players I’ve ever seen”, Chris played in all 14 of City’s league games before a move transpired, as well as the League Cup victories against Swansea City and then Blackburn Rovers, where he scored his first senior goal.

Eventually, it was Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers who secured his signature for an initial fee of £200,000 plus instalments, and with English teams still banned from European competitions, the move provided the young Grecian with an opportunity to be involved at the very highest level of the continental game.

With several members of England’s Italia ‘90 World Cup squad, as well as half of the Scotland side on the books at Ibrox, it is perhaps not a surprise that Vinnicombe’s move did not see him play a huge amount of football, but his talent still earned him a Scottish Premier League winners' medal in 1991, and 12 caps for the England under-21s.

Successful spells at Burnley, where he made 114 appearances, and Wycombe Wanderers, where he spent six years, playing over 260 games, were to follow, before he came home to Devon to play for Tiverton in 2004.

He then made a return to St James Park in August 2005 but made just 3 appearances in the Conference before re-signing for Tivvy in the summer of 2006, where he swept the board at the club’s end of season awards.

He totalled 163 matches for the Yellows and netted 8 goals before leaving for neighbours Elmore and then taking over as player-manager of South West Peninsula League Premier Division side Witheridge, where he had two spells in charge until 2016.

Goalkeeper Steve Book was an experienced and charasmatic player – son of another ex-professional keeper Kim Book - who made his name in the professional game with Cheltenham Town where he won the FA Trophy and promotion to the Football League in 1998.

Book had already played extensively in the Western and Southern Leagues with the likes of Welton Rovers, Paulton Rovers, Frome Town, Weston-super-Mare, Bath City and Forest Green Rovers and later turned out briefly for Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers before returning to the non-League game with Mangotsfield United in 2006.

It was with the Mangos that he scored his only career goal, and he moved to Tiverton in 2008 for a two-season stay, making 106 appearances.

He became goalkeeper coach at Bristol Rovers and in June 2010, he agreed to join his former club Cheltenham as a part-time goalkeeping coach.

In August 2011, at the age of 42, Book was again registered by Cheltenham for a League Cup match against MK Dons where he sat on the bench.

Another hugely popular goalkeeper to wear the number one jersey at Ladysmead was Mark Ovendale.

Nicknamed 'Ovengloves' by the fans, he joined Tiverton in 2004 following his release from York City.

Leicester-born, he began his professional career with Northampton Town in 1994 after being with local Leicestershire Senior League side Leverington and then Eastern Counties Leaguers Wisbech Town.

He made just 6 first team appearances for the Cobblers before being signed by Barry Town in the then-relatively new League of Wales.

Ovendale helped the former Southern League club win three league titles before being sold to Bournemouth for £30,000 in the summer of 1998.

After 89 appearances for the Cherries, he moved to Luton Town in August 2000 and added 45 games to his tally in two-and-a-bit seasons before briefly re-joining Barry.

In 2003 he signed for York City but was released after the Minstermen suffered the drop into the Conference.

He moved to Ladysmead in 2004 and was the undisputed number one during his two-year stay at Tiverton, making 106 appearances.

He moved briefly to Welsh Premier side Carmarthen Town and then to Conference South side Newport County in 2006 but was used sparingly as he suffered with injury.

He moved to Wimborne Town in a coaching capacity having been forced to retire from playing in 2007 but after a lengthy battle with cancer, he sadly passed away in August 2011 at the age of just 37.

Jason Smith was a tall, commanding centre-back who won caps as an England Schoolboy and was on Exeter City`s books as a youngster before joining Ilfracombe Town.

He signed for Tiverton as a 17-year-old and he started in Tivvy`s 1993 FA Vase Final at Wembley.

His performance earned him a move to then-Premier League Coventry City shortly afterwards but sadly he never made a first team appearance and, after a brief spell with Rushden & Diamonds, he was back at Ladysmead after two years away.

Smith was a key piece of the unstoppable Tiverton team of 1997/98 and his form earned him another crack at professional football, this time with Swansea City.

His time in South Wales was hugely successful and he worked his way up to become Supporters’ player of the year and club captain,

In 2003, despite undergoing three operations in the previous 18 months, the centre-back was forced to hang up his boots at the age of 29 and after making 150 appearances for the Swans, after failing to shake off a long-standing ankle injury.

Smith had been a linchpin in John Hollins' Swansea side that won the Third Division title in 1999/00.

But the Bromsgrove-born defender picked up the ankle injury the following season in a LDV Vans Trophy match against Brentford and was never really able to return to 100 per cent fitness.

He returned to Devon and was involved in a coaching role at Bideford College.

Colin Marshall was one of those highly talented lads who never really made the most of his undoubted ability.

The Scottish-born midfielder started his career with Aston Villa and helped them to win the FA Youth Cup in 2002, playing in a side that contained the late Peter Whittingham, Liam Ridgewell, brothers Luke and Stefan Moore and Northern Ireland international Steven Davis, who is still performing regularly for Glasgow Rangers.

Unable to get into the Villa first team, Marshall went on loan to Scottish side Clyde where he extended his period with them until the end of the 2003/04 season, made 25 appearances with 2 goals and was the SFL`s young player of the month for February 2004.

After being released by Villa in the summer of 2004, he returned to Scotland and signed for St Johnstone but stayed for barely two months, playing 5 games, before leaving for Falkirk.

A dozen game for them was followed by 10 for Stranraer and 13 for Dundee before making a somewhat surprise move to Tiverton in 2009, where he played 43 games and scored 5 goals before embarking on his travels once more, this time to Spanish minnows Crevillente Deportivo.

Iceland`s Bi/Bolungarvik was his next port of call and then league rivals Knattspyrnufélagið Víkingur – all in 2011.

It was to the other side of the world that Marshall resumed his career with Japanese outfit Machida Zelvia .

It was during his first spell with the Pacific Island side Amicale that he was part of the team which reached the OFC Champions League final, but Marshall missed a penalty as his side lost on aggregate to New Zealand side Auckland City.

He returned to Scotland for a 24-game spell with Cowdenbeath in 2014/15 before returning to Amicale.

In January 2017, Marshall joined Gartcairn in the West of Scotland League Central District Second Division but was subsequently released in March of the same year.

He has since gone on to join Drumchapel United in the Sunday central league!

A player who can almost match Colin Marshall with the number of entry stamps on his passport is Maksym Kowal.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Kowal is a powerful forward who joined Tiverton from Barnstaple Town early in the 2013/14 season.

He is a Canadian of Ukrainian descent and was playing for Buffalo Bulls in the United States and Canadian sides Des Moines Menace and Toronto Lynx before arriving in this country in the summer of 2013.

After playing for Barnstaple in the Western League, he signed for Tivvy and made 36 appearances, scoring 4 goals.

He had a 12-game spell in the Northern Premier League with Carlton Town before being off on his travels again.

His first port of call was Poland in 2015 where he turned out for Widzew Lodz, Rakow Czestochowa and LKS Lodz before going to the other side of the world to New Zealand in 2017 with Tasman United, North Wellington and Canterbury United.

He returned to Canada in 2019 with Vaughan Azzurri where he scored 14 goals in 14 games and then had short a short spell with FC Ukraine United, also in Canada and Athletico Ottowa, where he won the `golden boot` and was voted as most valuable player.

Last year he departed Ottawa for fourth-tier German side VfB Germania Halberstadt.

Tiverton have had few former international players on their books over the years.

Jason Rees made one full international appearance for Wales in April 1992 against Austria.

At the time he was with his first club, Luton Town, for whom he went on to make 82 appearances.

The midfielder moved to Portsmouth in 1994 and played 43 times, Cambridge United, for whom he made 20 appearances and Exeter City, where he played almost 100 times.

He signed for Tivvy in 2000 but played only 17 games before he was whisked back into the Football League with Torquay United, for whom he made 60-plus appearances.

He re-joined Tiverton in 2002 and took his total passed the 100-appearance mark.

He saw out his playing days with Taunton Town and then entered management with South West Peninsula League sides Ottery St Mary and Exeter Civil Service.

Tiverton also had a future international very briefly on their books in midfielder John Wilkinson.

He joined home-town club Exeter City from school and went on to make 20 first team appearances, scoring 2 goals.

He was released by the Grecians in 2001 and made the short move to Tiverton.

But his spell at Ladysmead was just one game at home to Worcester City on December 19th 2001.

He was off on his travels to the Far East where he played in Singapore for Woodlands Wellington, Geylang United and Singapore Armed Forces, for whom he played 133 times.

He took out Singapore citizenship and married a local girl, making him eligible for the national team and he made his debut in 2007, going on to play 29 times, many in World Cup qualifiers.

Wilkinson joined Insee Police United on a two-year contract in January 2012 and became the first foreign captain in the history of the Thai Premier League.

But he was swiftly back in Singapore with Home United and then, after an 8-game stint in Goa with Salgoacar, he finished his playing career back in Singapore with Tanjong Pagar United.

played 29 international games for Singapore having obtained citizenship through marriage.

And finally, although goalkeeper Ben Foster was never a permanent Tiverton player, the now veteran of over 500 League games and eight-times capped England international left his mark at Ladysmead in a 16-game loan spell.

Prior to his arrival in Devon, Foster had kept goal in a struggling Racing Club Warwick team before capturing the attentions of Stoke City, for whom he never played a first-team match but enjoyed several successful loans while on their books, including at Stafford Rangers, Kidderminster Harriers, Wrexham and Tivvy.

He was put up by manager Martyn Rogers in his home in Willand and was spotted by Manchester United`s Alex Ferguson during one of those loan periods and the rest, as they say, his history.

Tiverton Town Web Site