St Austell Aug 31_Layout 1 23/08/2013 10:55 Page 5
3-2 by Bodmin Town at Hayle.
Ô seasons
between 1962/63 and 72/73
were arguably the best for the Club.
The newly renamed AFC St Austell
joined the South West Peninsula
League for the 2007/08 season and had
a difficult first season in Division 1 West.
One of the best remembered players of
this era was Mike Bickle who smashed
the South Western League scoring
records with 65 goals in one season. He
followed this with a total of 89 goals in
all competitions the following season,
including nine in one match against
Nanpean. Not surprisingly these feats
attracted the attention of the bigger
clubs and in 1965 Mike signed for
Plymouth Argyle.
The following season saw a change of
manager and marked improvement in
results, ending the season in third
place in Division 1 West and winning
the Senior Cup.
The 2009/10 season saw St Austell
finish as runners-up to Perranporth,
winning promotion to the Premier
Division. 2010/11 saw the Lillywhites
finish in 10th place in the Premier
Division and reach the Senior Cup
Final. Last season saw St Austell finish
8th in the Premier Division.
St Austell became one of the few clubs
to be ever present throughout the
League’s existence, and their 1-0
victory at Penzance in May 2007 was
the final game in the South Western
League.
The club has worked hard over the last
three years in improving the facilities
at Poltair Park and floodlights became
a reality earlier this year, with the first
game under lights being the home
game against Buckland Athletic in
front of a crowd of 556.
The Lillywhites won the league on only
one occasion – in 1969 – but were
runners-up in 1963/64, 1965/66,
1971/72 and 1972/73. They also won
the League Cup in 1988 and were
beaten finalists in 1991.
St Austell have lifted the Cornwall
Senior Cup on 12 occasions, and have
been beaten finalists 13 times. The
Lillywhites’ victory over Saltash Utd in
2009 was their first appearance in the
final since 1978 and their first victory
since 1972. They came back from 2-0
down to win 3-2 on a very wet Easter
Monday at St Blazey.
Poltair Park also hosted a FA Youth Cup
match between Cornwall and
Huntingdonshire, the Cornwall
Charity Cup semi-final between Penryn
and Newquay and the Charity Cup
Final itself.
This season will see the club enter the
FA Vase for the first time since
Bridgwater Town were the visitors to
Poltair Park in 1996/97. n
St Austell’s last appearance in the final
came in 2011, when they were beaten
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