Bath City will encounter an exciting blend of seven new opponents in the upcoming Southern Premier South season, alongside several local derby matches that fans can eagerly anticipate.
Among the familiar rivals are Chippenham Town, Frome Town, Taunton Town, and Yate Town, offering fans some thrilling local clashes. However, Bath City will also embark on journeys to face opponents they have never met before, including Berkhamsted, Chichester City, Hanwell Town, Hanworth Villa, Malvern Town, Plymouth Parkway, and Uxbridge — all new names on City’s fixture list.
One of the most frequent opponents remains Gloucester City, with the upcoming season marking their 73rd competitive encounter. Bath City will also revisit ties with Bracknell Town and Chertsey Town, who recently eliminated City from the FA Trophy in 2024, as well as Sholing, whom they defeated 2-0 at Twerton in the 2019 trophy.
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This season will see Wimborne Town compete in the same division as Bath City for the first time. Interestingly, Wimborne has previously secured two notable FA Cup victories over the Romans — once in 1982 and again just last season.
City fans will have the opportunity to visit nine new grounds this season. Basingstoke Town, for instance, has moved to the Winklebury Sports Complex, a 3G pitch and one of nine artificial surfaces in the league. Other newly encountered teams with 3G surfaces include Hampshire-based Gosport Borough and Havant & Waterlooville, both with recent Southern Premier South history.
Evesham United will be stepping up to Step 3 for the first time, joining Malvern Town who are notable for having former City forward Ryan Brunt as their Director of Football. Bath City’s trips will be more manageable this season, with approximately 1,593 miles to be covered in total—significantly less than last season’s 2,744 miles—bringing the average away journey down to around 119 miles.
Plymouth Parkway’s Bolitho Park represents the longest journey at approximately 131 miles from Twerton, where City drew 1-1 with Truro in September 2023. In contrast, local rivals Chippenham, Frome, and Yate are all within a 15-mile radius, promising intense local support at those fixtures.
Yate Town is one of only three clubs, alongside Chippenham and Gloucester, that Bath City previously faced in the Southern League. The Romans secured the league title there in 2007, thanks to goals by Craig Davidge and Steve Jones. At that time, the Southern Premier had a wider geographical spread, including teams from Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Devon — areas now outside the current regional focus.
The Roman’s new adversaries come with their own histories: Berkhamsted narrowly missed promotion in last month’s play-offs, while Chichester City has moved laterally from the Isthmian Premier after finishing 12th last season. Hanwell Town finished mid-table in the Southern Premier South last season, and Uxbridge achieved an impressive 9th place in their debut Step 3 campaign. Hanworth Villa will be competing at this level for the first time after winning the Isthmian Central play-offs recently, avenging their final defeat to Uxbridge just a year prior.
The 2026/27 season is set to kick off on Saturday, 8 August 2026, concluding on Saturday, 17 April 2027. Since 2004, Step 3-4 leagues have employed play-offs for teams finishing between 2nd and 5th place, with single-legged ties hosted by the higher-ranked club. It is anticipated the format will change to mirror the National League system, extending play-offs to include teams down to 7th place with two elimination rounds. The final is tentatively scheduled for Monday, 3 May.
While last year’s fixtures were announced just three weeks before the season started, no official announcement date for the 2026/27 fixtures has been confirmed yet.
The 22 clubs contesting the Southern Premier South in the 2026/27 season are:
Basingstoke Town, Bath City, Berkhamsted, Bracknell Town, Chertsey Town, Chichester City, Chippenham Town, Evesham United, Frome Town, Gloucester City, Gosport Borough, Hanwell Town, Hanworth Villa, Havant & Waterlooville, Malvern Town, Plymouth Parkway, Poole Town, Sholing, Taunton Town, Uxbridge, Wimborne Town, Yate Town.