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Bideford A.F.C. is an English non-league football club from Bideford, Devon that plays in the Southern Football League. The club is nicknamed "The Robins" due to their all-red strip. The club plays its home matches at The Sports Ground, Kingsley Road, Bideford. The club are currently members of the Southern Football League Premier Division. ==History== Founded in 1946, Bideford A.F.C. has avoided relegation every year since the war, a distinction it shares only with Arsenal and Everton. The club played their first three seasons in the Exeter & East Devon League before joining the Western League in 1949. Bideford had requested to the Western League to be elected to the Second Division, but this was denied and they had to start in Division Three instead. This was the only season the Western League ran a Third Division, and Bideford won it without losing a game. Two seasons in the 1951–52 season later they then won Division Two, and gained promotion to Division One. Bideford won the Western League three times before joining the Southern League in 1972. The club spent three seasons in the Southern league before the extra expense involved and increased travelling took its toll, forcing them to drop down back to the Western League. During their time in the Southern League, the club set an all-time FA Cup record, when in 1973–74 they played thirteen FA Cup games in a single season – as a result of playing numerous replays in qualifying rounds including needing five games to beat Falmouth Town and four more to beat Trowbridge Town in the next round. With the subsequent abandonment of second and further replays, this record will never be beaten again. Two more Western League titles followed in the early 1980s, before a financial crisis hit the club. A re-formation took place in 1987, of the club leading to the current setup, a company limited by guarantee, under the revised company name Bideford AFC (1987) Ltd.〔 Under the chairmanship of Jim McElwee, and then Paul Mitchell, the club won four more Western League titles since 2000, and have also made the FA Vase semi-finals, where they lost to Winchester City.〔 Despite winning the Western League four times, under Manager Sean Joyce, between 2000 to 2006, the club elected not to apply for promotion to the Southern League due to the amount of travelling and expense that would be involved in playing teams which, almost without exception, would be over 100 miles away.〔 However after winning the Western League again for the 10th time in the 2009/10 season and winning the Devon St Lukes Bowl where they beat Exeter City 2–1 in the Final.〔 Bideford AFC accepted promotion to the Southern League in May 2010, joining Division One South & West. In their second season in Division One South & West the club gained promotion to the Southern League Premier Division as champions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bideford A.F.C.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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