This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2019) |
![]() | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (April 2025) |
Founded | 1896-2004 |
---|---|
Country | England |
Feeder to | Wessex League |
Relegation to | Southampton League Portsmouth League Bournemouth League Isle of Wight League North Hants League Aldershot League |
Domestic cup(s) | FA Cup FA Vase Hampshire Senior Cup Hampshire Intermediate Cup Local Divisional FA Senior Cups |
The Hampshire League was a long running amateur football league in Hampshire, England.
The competition ran for 108 years, from 1896 until 2004, when it was absorbed the expanding Wessex League. It has since been succeeded by the Hampshire Premier League with a recognised place on the FA Pyramid system.
History
[edit]The Hampshire Football League was formed in 1896 to provide an organised fixture schedule for clubs within the county.[1]
The inaugural campaign saw eight teams taking part with the first ever fixture being played on Saturday 5th September 1896 between Eastleigh Athletic and Freemantle, who won a thrilling match 5-4 with a player called Inglefield scoring the first ever goal! The first-ever league champions were Cowes.[2]
Originally administered by the Hampshire Football Association, the fledgling competition was initially split into regional sections with an end of season play off to decide the champions, but numbers grew and eventually the league formed three larger divisions with straight forward promotion/relegation.[3]
The post-war era saw the Hampshire League at it's prime,[4] consisting consisting of many strong clubs destined to later progress further up the pyramid whilst the Reserve and ‘A’ sides of Southampton,[5] Portsmouth,[6] Bournemouth,[7] Reading[8] and Aldershot also took part for many years. The strength of the league was well indicated by the performances of it's clubs in national cup competitions.[9]
By 1986, most of the top clubs had become semi-professional and left to join the newly formed Wessex League.[10] Along with their Dorset and Wiltshire counterparts, the Hampshire League became a feeder in a revised pyramid system.
To keep pace with the modern ground grading criteria, in 1999 the top-flight was renamed as the Premier Division, for which only clubs with the required facilities were allowed entry.[11] However, this was only delaying the inevitable, as in 2004 it was agreed to dissolve the competition and become part of the expanding Wessex League.[12] Vosper Thornycroft were the last champions.
The Hampshire League 2004[13] was subsequently formed by those opposed to the merger. Then, in 2007 clubs unable to meet the Wessex League criteria formed the Hampshire Premier League,[14] which with slightly stricter ground requirements, was granted "Step 7" status on the modern FA pyramid system. The two leagues remained separate until finally amalgamating in 2013 to form the present day two tier competition.
League champions
[edit]League Cup winners
[edit]Season | Winners |
---|---|
1991/92 | Bishop's Waltham Town |
1992/93 | Cowes Sports |
1993/94 | Winchester City |
1994/95 | Ecchinswell |
1995/96 | Otterbourne |
1996/97 | AFC Newbury |
1997/98 | Poole Town |
1998/99 | Poole Town |
1999/2000 | Hayling United |
2000/01 | Cancelled due to bad weather |
2001/02 | Liss Athletic |
2002/03 | Winchester City |
2003/04 | East Cowes Victoria |
Clubs
[edit]Letter | Club |
---|---|
A | AC Delco |
AFC Aldermaston | |
Aldershot | |
Aldershot Services | |
Alresford Town | |
Alton Town | |
Amesbury Town | |
Andover | |
Andover New Street | |
Awbridge | |
B | Bashley |
Basing Rovers | |
AFC Basingstoke | |
AFC Bournemouth | |
Basingstoke Town | |
Bass (Alton) (formerly Courage & Co) | |
B.A.T Sports | |
Bishopstoke Social | |
Bishop's Waltham Town | |
Bitterne Nomads | |
Bitterne Sports | |
Blackfield & Langley | |
Botley | |
Bournemouth | |
Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic | |
Bournemouth Tramways | |
Brading Town | |
Braishfield | |
Brockenhurst | |
Broughton | |
BTC Southampton (formerly Docks & Marine Sports) | |
C | Christchurch |
Clanfield | |
Colden Common | |
Compton | |
Cosham | |
Cove | |
Cowes Sports | |
D | David Coleman AFC |
Downton | |
Durley | |
E | East Cowes Victoria |
Eastleigh (formerly Swaythling Athletic) | |
Eastleigh Athletic | |
Eastleigh Spartans | |
East Lodge (formerly McMurdo, Drayton Park, St Marys & Co-op Sports) | |
Ecchinswell | |
Emsworth | |
Enham Alamien | |
Esso (Fawley) (formerly AGWI United) | |
F | Fareham |
Fareham Sacred Hearts | |
Fareham Town | |
Farnborough North End (formerly Covies) | |
Fleetlands | |
Fleet Spurs | |
Fleet Town | |
Folland Sports | |
Fordingbridge Turks | |
Ford Sports (formerly Briggs Social) | |
Four Marks | |
Freemantle | |
G | Gosport Borough |
Gosport United (merger of Athletic and Albion) | |
Guildford City | |
H | Hadleigh |
Hamble Club | |
Hamworthy Engineering | |
Harland & Wolff | |
Havant Town | |
Hayling United | |
Headley Athletic | |
Hedge End | |
Hilsea Club | |
Horndean | |
Hythe & Dibden | |
K | King's Somborne |
L | Lansdowne |
Laverstock & Ford | |
Liphook | |
Liss Athletic | |
Locks Heath | |
Longfleet St Marys | |
Ludgershall Sports | |
Lymington Town | |
M | Malshanger |
Mayflower | |
Micheldever | |
Midanbury | |
Moneyfields (formerly Portsmouth Civil Service) | |
Moneyfield Sports (formerly De-Havillands and Hawker-Siddely) | |
Mottisfont | |
Mullard Sports | |
N | Netley Athletic Victoria |
Netley Central Sports | |
Newbury Town | |
New Milton | |
Newport | |
North Hants Ironworks | |
Northwood St Johns | |
Nursling (formerly Nutfield United) | |
O | Old Tauntonians |
Ordnance Survey | |
Otterbourne | |
Overton United | |
P | Paulsgrove |
Pegasus | |
Pennington St Marks | |
Petersfield Town (formerly United) | |
Pirelli General | |
Pokesdown | |
Pokesdown Old Boys | |
Poole Town | |
AFC Portchester (formerly Wicor Mill) | |
Portals Athletic | |
Portsmouth | |
Portsmouth Royal Navy | |
Q | Queens Keep |
R | RAF Andover |
RAF Calshot | |
RAF Flowerdown | |
RAF Gosport | |
RAOC Hilsea | |
RAPC Worthy Down | |
Reading | |
Ringwood Town | |
Royal Marines Portsmouth (formerly RMLI Gosport) | |
Romsey Town | |
Royal Artillery Portsmouth (reformed for 1900-01 season after disbanding in 1899) | |
RS Basingstoke (formerly SR and DCA) | |
Ryde Sports | |
S | Salisbury |
Salisbury Corinthians | |
Salisbury City | |
Sandown | |
Shanklin | |
Sherborne St John | |
Sholing Sports (formerly Athletic) | |
Southampton | |
Southampton Civil Service | |
Southampton YMCA | |
Southern Electricity (formerly Portsea Island Gas Co and Portsmouth Electricity) | |
South Farnborough Athletic | |
Stockbridge | |
Swanmore | |
Sway | |
T | Tadley |
Thornycroft Athletic | |
AFC Totton | |
Totton Athletic | |
V | Verwood Town |
Vosper Thornycroft (formerly Thornycrofts (Woolston)) | |
W | Warsash |
Waterlooville | |
Wellington Works | |
Wellworthy Athletic | |
Westbourne Athletic | |
West Wight | |
Whitchurch United | |
Whites Sports (merged with Cowes) | |
Winchester Castle | |
Winchester City | |
Woolston (formerly Bitterne Guild) | |
Y | Yateley Green |
Achievements by clubs in national cup competitions
[edit]During its 108-year existence, the Hampshire League was done proud when represented by its member clubs in the national cup competitions, especially in its heyday as listed below, when clubs frequently progressed past the early qualifying rounds:
- 1919/20 Thornycrofts (Woolston) reached 1st Round, v Burnley (home, drew 0-0, lost replay away 0–5) [15]
- 1932/33 Ryde Sports reached 1st Round, v Margate (away, lost 0–5)
- 1936/37 Ryde Sports reached 1st Round, v Gillingham (home, lost 1–5) [16]
- 1945/46 Newport reached 2nd Round, v Aldershot (lost 0–12 on aggregate)
- 1952/53 Newport reached 1st Round, v Swindon Town (away, lost 1–5)
- 1953/54 Newport reached 1st Round, v Swindon Town (away, lost 1–2)
- 1954/55 Newport reached 1st Round, v Hinckley Athletic (away, lost 3–4)
- 1956/57 Newport reached 1st Round, v Watford (home, lost 0–6)
- 1957/58 Newport reached 1st Round, v Hereford United (away, lost 0–3)
- 1958/59 Newport reached 1st Round, v Shrewsbury Town (away, lost 3–4)
- 1968/69 Waterlooville reached 1st Round, v Kettering Town (home, lost 1–2)
- 1972/73 Alton Town reached 1st Round, v Newport County (away, lost 1–5)
- 1969/70 Thornycroft Athletic reached 1st Round, v Weymouth (away, lost 0-5)
- 1976/77 Gosport Borough reached Quarter Finals, v Barton Rovers (home, 1-1 away, lost replay 1-3)
- 1981/82 Sholing Sports reached 4th Round, v Shortwood United (away, lost 0-2)
- 1985/86 Havant Town reached Quarter Finals, v Wisbech Town (home, lost 1-5)
- 2002/03 Winchester City reached Quarter Finals, v Oadby Town (away, lost 0-1)
- 1910/11 RMLI Gosport won the competition, 2-1 v South Bank in Final
- 1929/30 Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic reached the Final, lost 1-5 v Ilford
- 1932/33 Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic reached the Semi-Finals, lost 1-2 v Stockton
Historical position within English football league system
[edit]The following table shows the position of the various Hampshire leagues within the English football league system:
Season | Level 4 | Level 5 | Level 6 | Level 7 | Level 8 | Level 9 | Level 10 | Level 11 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1949–79 | Football League | Southern League Premier | Southern League South | Hampshire League | ||||
1979–86 | Football League | Alliance Premier League | Southern League Premier | Southern League South | Hampshire League | |||
1986–2004 | Football League | Football Conference | Southern League Premier Div | Southern League South Div | Wessex League | Hampshire League | ||
2004- | Football League | National League | National League South | Southern League Premier | Southern League South & West | Wessex League Premier Div | Wessex League Division 1 | Hampshire Premier League |
- A History of the Hampshire Football League 1896-1996 - by Norman Gannaway
- Hampshire League Tabulated History - by Stephen Farmery
- Hampshire Football Association Centenary History 1887-1987 by Norman Gannaway
- Association Football in Hampshire until 1914 by Norman Gannaway
References
[edit]- ^ Association Football in Hampshire until 1914 by Norman Gannaway
- ^ Hampshire Football Association Centenary History 1887-1987 by Norman Gannaway
- ^ A History of the Hampshire League 1896-1996 by Norman Gannaway
- ^ A Tabulated History of the Hampshire League by Stephen Farmery
- ^ Southampton - The Complete History of the Club by Peter East
- ^ 'Pompey - The History of Portsmouth Football Club by Mike Neasom, Mick Cooper & Doug Robertson
- ^ Cherries First Hundred Years - This History of AFC Bournemouth 1889-1999 by Kevin Nash
- ^ Reading FC Versus the Rest 1920-2007 - The History of The Royals by Dave Twydell
- ^ The FA Cup Club by Club Record Since 1945 by Tony Williams
- ^ https://www.wessexleague.co.uk/history
- ^ https://www.fchd.info/lghist/hants2000.htm
- ^ https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5592690.hants-league-accept-wessex-expansion-plans-as-inevitable/
- ^ https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5567954.all-systems-go-as-new-hampshire-league-earns-a-reprieve/
- ^ https://www.hpfl.co.uk/history
- ^ https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/17986978.thornycrofts-took-mighty-burnley-fa-cup/
- ^ https://www.islandecho.co.uk/ryde-sports-the-biggest-isle-of-wight-football-club-to-have-folded/
- ^ https://www.fchd.info/cups/amcupsummary.htm