‘The division looks so strong’, Western League 26/27 season preview

AFTER what seems like a very brief off-season, the Western League returns tomorrow (Saturday 25th) for the 2026/27 campaign.

Moving up to join Buckland Athletic at step five are Bovey Tracey AFC, who romped to the SW Peninsula League Premier East title last term under Ben Gerring.

The South Devon duo both bring lofty ambitions to the table and they will actually be facing each other in the second game of the season, meeting at the Western Counties Roofing Ground on Tuesday, July 28.

Whilst this is definitely the fiercest, there will be a few other Devon derbies on display with Brixham AFC and Tavistock AFC coming down from the Southern League, not to mention that Ivybridge Town and Sidmouth Town are in the mix as well.

Boxing Day is always a coveted fixture with Buckland and Bovey hosting Brixham and Ivybridge respectively on December 26.

As highlighted by Gerring, “the division looks so strong”, perhaps the strongest it has looked in a while following the hotly-contested relegation of Portishead Town. The Posset, alongside Clevedon Town and Torpoint Athletic to name a couple, will be pushing for promotion in a season to remember.

The Bovey boss is happy to keep his cards fairly close to his chest for now, commenting: “I haven’t put a set target on it for the boys, what I’ve asked is that if we give the same account of ourselves as we did last year then we should enjoy a very successful season.”

As is his opposite number at Buckland, Matt Cusack, who said: “I’m confident with the players that we’ve got, with their thirst for learning and desire to development, we’ll be in and amongst it.”

Results are far from paramount in pre-season but the majority of Bovey’s games went to form, a home win over Bideford AFC (step four) being the one outlier.

They beat Ipplepen Athletic, drew with Barnstaple Town, beat Newton Abbot Spurs, lost to Plymouth Parkway and Willand Rovers and also had a behind-closed-doors clash with Weston-super-Mare AFC.

All in all, “it went really well” in Gerring’s eyes, with “A good range of minutes for a different variety of players; whether it be trialists, current squad or new players, a good mix.”

He added: “The only thing I’ve been a little bit disappointed with is the lack of clean sheets. We’ve spoken about being hard to beat and hard to break down so we’ve got some work to do there but we look generally fit.”

Captain Cliff Walters, youngster Jack Brimming and technical midfielder Alex Gray are the only three players to have moved on from that title-winning side so they’ve been afforded a much-needed run of consistency.

Charlie Stevens arrives from Brixham AFC to fill Walters’ boots, described by his new manager as “Athletically and physically in great shape but then in terms of his positional sense, tactically, we need to do a bit of work there.”

In the attacking third, Jadore Lawson has signed after a strong season with Ivybridge Town and Rudi McKinnon is another winger- he was registered for last year but didn’t appear due to his work commitments.

More recent additions include goalkeeper Colby Britton, local lad Zico Kendall, Charlie Castlehouse from Parkway and Alex Cherry from Wellington AFC.

As has been mentioned previously, Bovey enjoyed a stellar 2025/26 campaign, claiming the league title along with St Luke’s Challenge Cup glory.

The consistency of their squad was a key factor with 11 players making 30+ appearances, Cieran Bridger leading the way on 40. Beyond that, four were in the 20s and this settled group made a real difference.

At times, Bridport FC threatened their dominance including a 7-6 victory over Bovey at the WCR Ground but come the end, there were nine points separating the two.

Bovey totalled 82 points, scoring 139 goals and finishing with a hugely impressive goal difference of +108, as well as performing brilliantly in all of the knockout competitions.

Ben Gerring was a part of the playing squad in 2024/25 and took on the managerial role in the final weeks of that season.

His ambitions were then met by the club and their finances and it paid dividends, on the way to a historic year.

Bovey will now play their first ever season at step five and the manager’s own career on the field is pulling power for some signings.

Representing the likes of Torquay United and Truro City, Gerring can be a coach just as much as a manager. Alex Cherry for example “wanted to come in and pick [his] brains as a fellow centre-half.”

The departure of club stalwart and captain Cliff Walters at the end of last season has left Bovey with a hole in the leadership group.

Gerring has chosen versatile defender Owen Stockton as the heir to the armband and sees it as a challenge that he can live up to.

“If I was to find something in his game that needed improvement it would be communication on the pitch, being that leader for the boys whilst the game is going on,” said Gerring.

He continued, “We were really impressed with Stocko in terms of his football attributes, being a centre half I’ve asked him to lead. He’s very well respected in the dressing room and I think by giving him the armband, he might then have the confidence to [lead] more.

“I think he’ll take it in his stride, I have no doubts about that.”

Stockton arrived at Bovey from Buckland around this time last year and whilst he is primarily a centre-back, he has shown the capabilities to play as a fullback or even at the base of midfield.

Owing to the Moorlanders’ dominance last season, he regularly drove out of the backline with the ball at his feet and so it’ll be fascinating to see how that changes now that they’ve gone up a level.

Stockton made 28 appearances in 2025/26 and scored nine goals (as per the SWPL website)- he was consistently a threat from set-pieces.

Bovey were blessed with a plethora of attacking stars last season but perhaps none were more exciting to watch than Jack Brimming.

The teenager has made his deserved move up the pyramid and now, the man tasked with taking on the mantle is Jadore Lawson.

Looking at the statistics, you wouldn’t think much of Lawson’s campaign in the green of Ivybridge but the raw talent and ability speak for themselves.

With a constant desire to run at defenders and beat his man, the former Plymouth Argyle youngster has what it takes to light up the Western League.

“He has gone from strength to strength in pre-season after coming in a bit too casual and I can’t wait to see what he can do,” said Gerring.

The departure of Brimming and how he was nurtured at Bovey has laid the groundwork for Lawson to potentially follow in his footsteps.

Buckland have enjoyed a similar pre-season campaign in that they “Beat the teams who are in the steps below and lost to the teams who are steps above.”

It started with a win away at Teignmouth AFC before their iconic, annual fixture against Torquay United, which saw the Gulls run out comfortable victors in the baking sunshine.

In the next four, they lost to Frome Town and were beaten at the death by Parkway whilst overcoming Falmouth Town reserves and Newton Spurs.

This schedule “allowed us to get minutes into everybody, allowed us to do it gradually and bed in new signings so that they can get used to our game model,” in the words of manager Matt Cusack.

He highlighted the Parkway game as their “most complete performance of pre-season”, adding that “It allowed us to practice our out of possession shape more so” than earlier in July.

When it comes to the squad shifting, Myles James and Luke Forward have gone to Willand and Bideford respectively whilst goalkeeper Andrew Sowden-Bird’s work commitments were no longer compatible with Buckland’s training schedule.

George Russell, the latest arrival at the time of writing, has replaced James and Cusack teased that he’s ‘confident’ of landing a winger in the coming days.

Earlier in the window, Toby Pullman’ joined from Newton Spurs after making a handful of appearances for the Bucks last term plus goalkeeper Mike Searle and centre-mid Baga Mariko have reunited with Cusack.

Last season was a rollercoaster ride for the Bucks as, a rough final month with a thin squad, cost them their spot in the playoffs.

“I don’t want to keep harping on about [the injury crisis], it’s getting a bit boring” said Cusack so he’s “hopeful that we can keep everyone on the pitch and keep this squad together.”

They slumped to a still respectable seventh-placed finish in the Western League and progressed well in the FA Vase, before losing to Barnstaple on penalties at Homers Heath.

Ryan Bush was the star of the show on his way to the golden boot but they were at times found lacking in defence and midfield, due to both injuries and players moving on to pastures new.

The aim now for Cusack and co is to right those wrongs.

This will be Cusack’s second campaign at the helm of Buckland. Ahead of his first year, he was assertive in confirming that anything less than a top-five finish would be a disappointment.

Cusack took on the reins from Dan Hart, now with St Blazey, who was in charge for a few years and steered the club to the playoffs in his final season.

Prior to this role, Cusack managed Helston Athletic and he won this division with them in 23/24, showing that he has the knowhow that Buckland require. He was also involved with Plymouth Parkway.

Hinting at what he looks for in a signing, Cusack said: “He has that hunger to want to get better which is exactly the type of player that I like working with”, when discussing young fullback Danny Frankum.

As previously alluded to, Ryan Bush comes into this year off the back of a standout season.

There was support around him from the likes of Jack Baxter and Luke Forward but without Bush’s goals, it could have panned out very differently, particularly in the absence of Jared Lewington.

He earned the most recent supporter’s and player’s player of the year, not to mention the praises of his manager.

“Bushy had a fantastic season, profiting from Jared’s injury undoubtedly and I was really impressed with how he took the mantle on.”

The prolific forward surpassed the 30-goal mark and none of his teammates were able to reach double digits.

Cusack will be hoping to see Bush continue to thrive as well as achieving a more even spread of goals, which is plausible enough with Pullman and Josiah McKayle both settled and in the mix.

Myles James and Scott Pocock were both integral to Buckland’s backline in Cusack’s first year in charge and so to lose both, one to a transfer and one to injury, is a huge blow.

Injury to Ruben Kane and the likes of Sean Thomson and Cameron Sangster moving on during the season also left the Yellows short-changed in the middle of the park.

For that reason, Baga Mariko has what it takes to really make a difference for his new club.

A combative and energetic midfielder, Mariko has worked with Cusack before and was an exciting watch in pre-season.

The gaffer was quick to sing his praises upon his arrival in Newton Abbot and it would seem that a bit of physicality wouldn’t go a miss in this Buckland side.

Bovey Tracey will welcome Wellington AFC to town tomorrow whilst Buckland have a tough test on the road, visiting Tavistock AFC.

The pair, having hopefully won their respective openers, will then clash at Bovey on Tuesday, July 28, in what promises to be a mouthwatering affair.

Gerring and Cusack were assured in saying that “We won’t be looking any further than that first game” and also: “We’ll worry about what we can do and worry less about the opposition.”