MY first photo this week is of, what proved to be, a very significant occasion in the playing history of Crediton United with the appointment of a Team Manager for the first time at the Club.

For the previous 59 years the responsibility of team selection had always been in the hands of the Club’s Committee.

In the 1960’s though the appointment of an experienced ex-player to run the team seemed to be the popular move in local football so Crediton United decided to follow suit.

As it happened Crediton had the ideal man to assume the position as former Exeter City player Ian Grinney had recently retired from playing in a Crediton shirt and agreed to take on the position.

The team photo shown was in fact taken on September 6, 1969, when the team played their first game of the season at Cullompton with Ian as manager.

The teams shared a 1-1 draw on the day with club records showing Crediton’s scorer apparently being “yours truly”. Not that I can recall it!

Also this was Bill Hole’s first Senior appearance at the age of 16.

Another Crediton born City player Bill Ellaway, who must’ve been more than 20 years Bill Hole’s senior, featured in the team.

Most importantly however was the introduction of a team manager, which the Club has maintained ever since, and was the start a new era for the club.

A new fundraising scheme was started which brought in more than £3,000 in a couple of years to give the Club a sound financial base as well as several sponsored walks, annual six-a-side competitions and other Dave Blanchford instigated fundraising.

A few years later the Club moved to Lords Meadow where it was allowed to build its own Clubhouse and from its success eventually enabled the development of the ground to allow it to join the Western League in 1990.

Sadly, of the team shown in the photograph, four of the players have passed away since that day - many years before their time. These are Tim Roche, John Hurst, Geoff Lee and Paul Lee. All of them were good players and great team mates. Rest in peace my friends!

Ian Grinney was team manager for five years after which there was a series of managers who took charge for one or two years each.

In 1985 another former Exeter City player Trevor Atkins, shown in the second photograph this week, was appointed as Manager.

Trevor had good contacts with players in the Exeter and Mid Devon area both he and the Club were ambitious to do well.

In his second year as manager the team won the Devon and Exeter League Premier Division and were runners-up the following season. By the end of the decade the Club’s ambition to join the Western League was realised and joined the League’s First Division in August 1990.

Jump forward three successful years and my second photo shows Trevor Atkins and his team following promotion in 1993 to the Western League Premier Division.

The photo shows one of Trevor’s best teams of his time at Crediton in their first season in the Premier Division.

Trevor was team manager for nine seasons and was probably responsible for the best nine years in 110 years of football in Crediton.

With the Western League concentrated more on Bristol and eastern-based Clubs, the travelling for Crediton proved to be too expensive and the formation of a new Devon League, and eventually the South West Peninsula League, enabled Crediton United to maintain a good standard of football.

Chris Gillard