History

Ottery St Mary Association Football Club was formed on Saturday 2nd of September 1911 at a meeting chaired by F Wyatt, the headmaster of the King's School, just four days after the Ottery St Mary Rugby Club was wound up leaving the sum of £3.0s.11d in the bank which was used to form the Football Club. The officers elected on the night were chairman, Mr. F Wyatt; secretary, Mr. AF Casley; treasurer, Mr. GH Tobey; captain, Mr. FH Street; and vice captain Mr. EH White; and a committee of R Hake, F Luxton, AH Carnell, JH Meldon, W Pithers, C Wagland, and Paddon.

The newly formed club was then entered into the East Devon Football League and the Football Express Cup, with their first game on Saturday the 30th September away at Countess Wear which the Otters won 4-0 with Street, Stone, Pithers (2) scoring the goals. The first home game was a week later against Otterton & Bicton United with the Otters winning 3-0. The game is believed to have been played on the old rugby pitch by the old saw mills (now Finnemore industrial estate), but some say that the first games were played by St Saviour's Bridge on what is now the Millennium Green but as they are both so close together they may be one and the same.

The Otters played at 4 grounds between 1911 and the present day : The old Sawmills/St Saviour's Bridge; Shutes Mead; Slade Road: and Washbrook Meadows; The club moved to it's current home Washbrook Meadows in 1960 and built the first club house in 1974 which was replaced in 1990 by the present social club at a cost of £40,000. Floodlights were installed in 1985 at a cost of £8,000 and were officially opened on the 26th of February 1986 with a game against first division Queens Park Rangers. The main stand at Washbrook Meadows is thought to have been built in the 1920s and bought second hand from Withycombe Rugby Club Exmouth.

After the Second World War the Club played in the Exeter & District league and becoming the Senior One Champions in 1953/54, and again in 1961/62. and won the Devon & Exeter League Championship in 1973/74. Ottery St Mary then won the Devon Senior Cup in 1987/88. The Otters then joined the Great Mills Western League and were First Division Champions in 1989/90 gaining promotion to the Premier Division. The Otters joined the Devon League in 1994/95 with their highest League position 5th place coming in 1998/99. Ottery St Mary's last success came in 1998/99 with a 1-0 win over Stoke Gabriel to win the Throgmorton Cup.

Ottery St Mary AFC now play in in the Axworthys Devon League and also run a full range of youth section and two girls teams.

Steve Flinders.

Club Honours :

Devon & Exeter Senior 1 Champions 53/54 & 61/62

Devon & Exeter League Champions 73/74

Devon Senior Cup Winners 87/88

Devon FA St Lukes Cup Runners Up 87/88

Weston League Division 1 Champions 89/90

Throgmorton Cup Winners 98/99

Devon County League Sporting cup winners

98/99 & 01/02

Throgmorton Cup runners up 05/06