MISTERTON have written themselves into the record books by securing their first league title for 36 years.

Jack Bradford’s men celebrated the Perry Street & District League Premier title on Saturday, without even playing.

That was because opponents Shepton Beauchamp handed Misterton an away walkover, sealing their position three points ahead of Forton Rangers at the conclusion.

The silverware was Misterton’s first since winning the Coronation Cup in 2022, following a 4-3 thriller with South Petherton.

Speaking to the Bridport News, manager Bradford spoke of his elation and pride at Misterton’s immense achievement.

He said: “It’s been quite a while, 1988. It was three years on the bounce last time they won it. We had quite a good team and played Yeovil Town in a pre-season friendly.

“They’ve not won since, so it’s quite a big thing for the village. It’s a good bunch of lads with quite a few youngsters in there.

“Quite a few of the boys were with me in the reserves, so they’ve stepped up when I stepped up. It was nice a few of them could progress.”

And Bradford is looking forward to adding a picture of his team to Misterton’s shrine of other league winners on the clubhouse wall.

“We’ve got quite a lot of photos up in the changing rooms,” he added.

“Ironically, we put a load of old photos up this year because we had a clear-up.

“We’ve got a multitude of photos now so hopefully we can add ours, which will be nice.

“Misterton is one of the bigger teams in the league. They’ve been in the Perry Street league for quite a while, so it’s nice to say that we’ve won it and looked after that reputation.

“Being one of the bigger clubs in the league, we never really got it done in the last few years.

“The lads are buzzing, so hopefully we can build on that next year.”

Misterton’s season is not done yet, though.

Bradford’s troops could seal a league and cup double with victory over old foes South Petherton in the Challenge Cup final at Forton next Friday (6.30pm).

“If we can win the double, that would be even better,” Bradford added.

“It’s a hard game, South Petherton came third in the league so it will be a challenging game.

“We did beat them in the cup final a couple of years ago, so we have quite a big rivalry.

“We beat them once this year and they beat us once, so it should be a close game.”

Naturally with any league win, talk turns to promotion.

However, Misterton are likely to stay in the Perry Street league rather than step up to Somerset County League or Dorset League level.

Bradford said: “We thought of maybe making that step up, it would involve a bit of work around the club, the changing rooms and pitch, which obviously costs money.

“I know Joe (Djeebet), our new chairman who took over this year, has got some plans and aspirations to make that happen.

“I definitely think we’ve got the players to do it. Three or four have left Misterton to play higher and then dropped back down.

“It would be a big decision for the club and we did speak about it last week. If we did do it, it would probably be next year.

“It would be a case of doing fundraising. We’d have to expand the changing rooms and move the pitch closer.

“It’s nothing that’s not achievable. It’s something we’d definitely be interested in doing further down the line.

“In terms of travelling, it would be the Somerset League. That’s the only thing with going up to a higher standard, it does involve more and more travelling which seems to be a thing that, nowadays, some lads don’t want to do.

“There would have to be a discussion with the players whether they would commit to that.”