Frome Town sealed the Southern League Division One title on Easter Monday, beating Shaftesbury 3–2 at a packed Badgers Hill in front of 1,096 jubilant fans.
The Robins twice came from behind to clinch a win that caps a remarkable season – from fears last summer that the club might fold, to a record-breaking run that sees them crowned champions with 101 points and three games still to play.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Manager Danny Greaves. “It’s been on the cards for a while in everyone else’s eyes but in my eyes it was never done until it was mathematically done.
“To do it in the way we’ve have today sums up our season really. Heart, resilience. We went 2-1 down and to come back and win it in the way we did shows what we’re about.
“Everyone’s played a massive part, from the bench or starting or whether we’ve had to rotate things or change things, the performance levels of everyone has been absolutely top.”
Danny paid tribute to supporters. “They’ve been brilliant,” he said. “To think nine months ago we were down with the Town Council, we might not have had a club and to have this kind of day here and have a crowd of over 1,000, it’s something we should cherish for a long, long time.
“Massive thanks to the fans who have supported us all year, home and away, they’ve come out in their numbers and get behind the boys and that’s for them; they played a massive part in this.
“We’ll celebrate with a few beers and enjoy the moment because these occasions don’t happen very often.”
Two-goal hero Archie Ferris, whose brace took his season tally to 22, said, “To win it in front of a thousand plus; the fans have been incredible, they’ve followed us round all year, home and away. Superb. We just wanted to do it so much today.”
This is just the fourth league championship in the club’s history – following triumphs in 1963, 1979 and 2002, and the victory completes a story few could have imagined last June when the club’s future hung in the balance. Danny Greaves rebuilt the squad following relegation, and the team responded with an extraordinary unbeaten run stretching now to 29 games in all competitions – a club record, including 14 straight home wins.
