After a couple of months off and an unusual amount of upheaval for Droitwich Spa FC, the Saltmen return to action on Saturday (ko 3pm) with a trip to Step 4 side Bishops Cleeve.

The Pitching In Southern League Division 1 South outfit, based just North of Cheltenham, finished 6th in the Division last season.
Due to Portishead (2nd) being relegated to Step 5 because of ground grading issues, "The Mitres" took their place in the play-offs but were defeated in the Semi Final at Malvern by a late Hillsiders goal, and the Gloucestershire side settle for another season at Step 4; their 5th in succession after promotion from the Hellenic League.

Cleeve have managed to retain 13 of last seasons' squad, including prolific striker Ross Langworthy who found the net on 27 occasions in 52 games last season, as well as long serving Manager Paul Collicutt.

The Saltmen ended 2025-26 in 3rd position in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division (Step 5) and lost out in the Play-off Final, in their first ever season at Step 5.

With 10 players leaving Kingy's over the summer as well as the entire Management team, newly appointed boss Quentin Townsend has had 3 weeks to prepare for his first game at the helm.
In-between times he's also had to address the squad, and to date has made seven new signings.

Townsend said ahead of his debut on the Spa bench:
"I just wanted to say that, three weeks into the job, I’ve been made to feel incredibly welcome and there’s a really positive atmosphere around the club here at Droitwich.

I’m really looking forward to getting started properly tomorrow with our first away pre season game at Bishop’s Cleeve.
It’s a step up from our level so it’ll be a good test to see how far we’ve come in a really short space of time.
We’ve now had five pre-season training sessions, and the squad is starting to take shape really well.
It’ll be great to finally put all that hard work into practice in a match.

Hopefully we’ll see plenty of you there supporting the lads, and if you’re making the trip, come and say hello in the bar afterwards.
Enjoy the game, and see you tomorrow."

The two sides have met once before when at Step 5 & Step 6 respectively, in 2021.
The Friendly played at Kayte Lane ended in a 2-6 win for Droitwich.
Interestingly, at the end of that season both Clubs won their respective Divisions and gained promotion!

We wish all Droitwich supporters a safe journey down and we look forward to seeing you there.

Match-day information below;

Address: Kayte Lane, Bishops Cleeve, GL52 3PD

Admission: £5 (Under 14's free)

Ground info: Car park on site, Bar on site, covered seating & standing, hot food & drink on sale

Distance: 28 miles / 40 mins

Nearest pub: The Swallow Inn