Aldershot FC
It’s safe to say that most lower league clubs are better fan owned then they would be if they were owned by one wealthy owner. How many times do you see a club go bust because their owner has decided to pull out, or they themselves have gone bust and therefore all their assets become worthless. At least when the club is fan owned, you know the club wont go under without a fight, and usually the club comes before the fans themselves. The clubs I cover or have covered so far in this foreign edition have all been resurrected, and so people have said to me, ‘Well they aren’t really Forgotten Clubs, are they?’. Not in the sense that they are forgotten about but as in their history may have been. So that is why I cover these clubs, their rich history, their struggles and their memories. This next cub is not short of any of that, with a huge fanbase still following them while they compete in the Conference Premier to date. This club, while not being the most successful, can boast to being around for quite a long time before dissolving in 1992 and then coming right back thanks to its loyal fans. This club is none other than Aldershot Town FC, known as Aldershot FC in its current form.
Founded by a local sports journalist, Jack White, in 1926, Aldershot Town FC joined the Southern League in the 1927 season. White’s determination to have a football club represent the town paid off as he persuaded the local council to get behind it. And their faith was paid back straight away with their first ever game ending in a 4-0 victory against Grays Athletic. The game was played at their home ground, the Recreation Ground and attracted a reported 3,500. The Shots as they are known as ended their first season in a respectable 7th place and continued to stabilise themselves until 1932 when they won their first league title in the form of the Southern League. This promoted them to apply for membership to the Football League and they were accepted at the expense of Thames FC. 1932-33 was their first season in the Football League and saw the club change their name to just Aldershot.
The first few years for The Shots were forgettable to say the least with the club finishing 17th in the Third Division South in their first season. The rose three places the season after, finishing 14th and in 1935-36 the club went another three places up the table by finishing 11th. That was to be a false dawn for the club who finished bottom of the league a year later and had to re-apply that year. Luckily, they were accepted, and the following years saw progress, seeing them finishing 10th in the 1938 season, their highest finish to date. Mediocracy followed until the club finished 18th in 1958 and were relegated to the newly formed Fourth Division. Aldershot were one of the first clubs to compete in this division, after the restructuring of the Football League, but it also saw the club have the unwanted record of being the first club to finish bottom of the division in their first season in 1958-59 (22nd). Once again, the club were forced to reapply to join the Football League and once again, they were successful. The 1960’s passed without much notice but that didn’t stop the club attracting big crowds. In 1970 the club recorded their biggest ever attendance in an FA Cu tie v Carlisle. The reported attendance was 19,138, which was impressive for a Fourth Division club. Three years later the club gained their first promotion in the Football League, 41 years after they were formed, and it was only by goal average. The club came fourth and just pipped Newport County to gain promotion to the Third Division.
Things seemed to look like they were on the up for The Shots, as they finished 8th in their first season in the Third Division, but they struggled to find that form in seasons after, flirting with relegation in 1975 and just avoiding the drop by a single point. The inevitable happened the following season in 1976 when they were relegated back to the Fourth Division. They almost made an immediate return but were just beaten to promotion by Brentford, Watford and Swansea. The season after played out the same scenario as the club just missed out on promotion by a single point, this time to Wimbledon. Even though the club failed to gain promotion, coming close on numerous occasions, they were still punching above their weight, finishing higher than such prestigious clubs like Portsmouth and Huddersfield Town.
Season after season saw the club jump around the places in the Fourth Division finishing 16th 1981-82 but then finishing 5th in the 1983-85 season. But it was the 1986-87 season were Aldershot made a little piece of history, being one of the first clubs to gain promotion via the play-off system. Firstly, they beat Bolton Wanderers in the semi-final, to set up a play-off final against a strongly fancied Wolverhampton Wanderers. Aldershot had clearly not read the script and defeated the four-time FA Cup winners 3-0 on aggregate over two legs. Tipped to go straight back down again, Aldershot defied the odds again and avoided relegation by three points, however the 1988-89 season saw them relegated as they finished bottom of the pile, 17 points off safety. It was the start of the 90’s when financial problems became apparent for the club and their main aim was just to stay alive. This effected the playing side and the club finished 22nd in the Fourth Division. The summer of 1990 saw the club wound up with debts of £495,000 until 19-year-old property developer, Spencer Trethewy came up with £200,000 to save the club from going bust. This, however, turned out to be a a false hope and it soon emerged Trethewy dealing were not what they seemed and he was kicked off the board in 1990. He was subsequently found guilty of fraud and jailed for two years in 1994. Aldershot continued to struggle and on 25th March 1992 Aldershot FC finally went out of existence and had to resign their position from the Football League mid-way through the season. All their results were dismissed as a result, becoming only the second club to do so since Accrington Stanley before them. The clubs final league game came at Cardiff’s Ninian Park and ended in a 2-0 loss. Their last home game was a defeat to Lincoln City, losing 3-0. Too put into context the on-field struggle of the club, they lost their last 16 games, their last win coming against , an also struggling, Maidstone, on the 28th December 1991.
But like most clubs like Aldershot, who fell victims to poor financial planning, their fans would not let them completely die and a phoenix club was set up by the fans a year later. The clubm named Aldershot Town now, were placed in the Isthmian League Division Three, five levels below were Aldershot FC had once played. The club managed to reach the dizzy heights of the Football League again, playing League Two football in 2008 but were relegated in 2013. They are currently playing just below League Two, in the National Conference League.
The size of the club and the following the have at present meant it wasn’t hard to find a fan to share their memories about the club, old and new, but I was pointed in the direction by more than a few to one person. One look at his social media accounts and you can see he is Aldershot through and through. Tim Cowden aka TimShots gave me an insight to what it was like to support The Shots through thick and thin. His favourite memory of the old Aldershot was one I could have guessed, and one other Shots fans have picked out.
‘Old club would probably be the trip to Wolves May Bank Holiday 1987 – intimidating atmosphere, especially after the final whistle walking to the car! New club toss-up between winning promotion back to the FL 15/4/08 with a 1-1 draw at Exeter. Or the Hampshire Cup final at The Dell 1999.’ His favourite away day is was as recently as 2010 with a scenic trip to Cheltenham and taking three points from there, with trips to London being a preference of his due to the social aspect. But Tim still remember the old days as well. ‘Old club – many a football special with 40/50 of us going inter-city away days when we were young! These days any jolly to London tow or three times a season is about as good as it gets, more about the social side of the day out than the match itself!’
When asked what it was like following The Shots, Tim wasn’t short of words and didn’t gloss over the fact there wasn’t much to shout about in regards trophies or success.
‘Following the old club from 10 aged to 30 when we went out of business was a journey…We never really had any glory in those years, tow promotions, was too young for the first in 1973 but certainly the 1987 one is a lifelong memory. But generally, mediocrity was the order of the day’. Those old days were in stark contrast to when the club was newly reformed according to Tim, ‘The reformation sparked life into the club, we were suddenly winning every match. Promotions and championships followed along with cups and the holy grail of a return to the FL achieved after 16 seasons…..It all turned sour in 2013 with the club relegated and nearly folding again. We had a couple of play-off attempts to get back into the FL, should have gone up in 2016/2017. Lost our way in 2017/2018 after a great start – since then its been dire.’
Tim could easily be one of those fans that are blinded by their love and passion for their club, thinking they are the greatest club on earth and one day they will be playing in the Championship, but he seems to have a wise head on his shoulders and is realistic as to the limitations of the club. It is probably because they have seen the ugly side of football.
‘Our spiritual level is Div4/League 2 – {I}like to fool myself one day we could be in the Championship but not sure there’s ever going to be a time we can get above Div3/Lge 1. Of course, every football has to dream as well, and even though Tim is realistic, he does dream. ‘The dream for most of us is to see the club play at Wembley – we’ve been so close several times, plus on occasion we’ve reached a play-off final it was when it was home and away (1987) or Wembley was being redeveloped (2004)’.
When asked who favourite player is was to ever play for The Shots, Tim’s answer was like a father trying to choose his favourite child. In the end he went for goalscoring hero John Dungworth, who played with the club from 1977-80. Other players mentioned were Alex McGregor, Glen Burvill, Dave Howitt and Mike Earls, sharing a story of how he was star struck as a 16-year-old kid, working alongside Mick Earls wife. Those were his favourite players but the best for Tim was a club legend.
‘As for the best player I’m going to go with club legend Ian McDonald – joined in 1980, stayed all through the bitter end in 1992 as player and manager – a real gentleman and the best penalty taker the club ever had!’.
New club players got a shout out too. The likes of Mark Butler, leading all-time goalscorer, Gary Abbott and left-back Darren Barnard. Teddy Sheringham got a mention as the most famous player to put an Aldershot jersey on, although it was for a brief spell in 1985 were, he only played five games for the club as a teenager. As always there is a special mention for certain people behind the scenes, but this person had a huge part in the club’s history on the field too.
‘These days ATFC owe so much to Mark Butler – goalscorer turned marketing manager – bleeds red and blue. Was a fan of the old club as a boy and a member of the class of 1992 that saw football return to the town after the club went **** up’… I’ll never forget the work put in by Ian Reade in the 1980’s organising the away day travel. Really got me hooked on the whole ground hopping aspect’.
Arguably the biggest club I have covered so far in regards where they are in their current form, Aldershot Town epitomise a club that is just there to represent their town. A no frills club who provide their locals with something to shout about. They may not be the most successful club I will cover an they may never go above League Two but one thing is for sure, they are a club that are well followed, have been through the mill and will always have a place in footballing history with that first play-off victory. It could have been so easy for the fans of the old Aldershot FC to give up on their club and to go support another club who had been more successful in the past, but they didn’t, and it proves that not every football fan is in it for the glory. A little bit of hopes that Tim gets to live out his dream soon and The Shots reach Wembley, through a play-off or a cup final of some sort. If they do, I will be cheering them on, as I’m sure Tim will be too. But with all their near misses in their history, I will let Tim have the last word and what he says is the way Aldershot leave their fans feeling.
‘This is it, we’re going to make it now. Only to fail at the last hurdle’