Fleet Town F.C. - History

History

Fleet Town F.C. was formed in 1890 and were originally called Fleet F.C. The club’s first played in Watson’s Meadow, and moved to their present ground in 1923 when Lord Calthorpe of Elvetham Hall made available the site. The ground was subsequently bequeathed to the council for the non-commercial recreational use of the residents of Fleet and Church Crookham. The ground was given the name Calthorpe Park. From 1923 up until World War II, Fleet ran two Saturday teams and a Wednesday XI in the Aldershot and Basingstoke Leagues. During the war the club competed in the War Emergency League before returning to the Aldershot and Basingstoke Leagues when hostilities ceased.

The club entered the Hampshire League in 1961 and in 1963, after changing their name to Fleet Town FC, were Division Three champions earning Promotion to Division Two. In 1966 further promotion followed as they won the league, and moved up to Division One. The season later the club made its debut in the FA Cup, making the Second Qualifying Round, before losing to Horsham 3–0. In 1978 the Club entered the Athenian League staying there until the league was extended for the 1984–85 season. As the new ground requirements could not be met for the Athenian League, Fleet moved into the Combined Counties League for two seasons, followed by a season in the Surrey County Senior League and then a season in the Surrey County Premier. For the 1987–88 season the club then joined the Chiltonian League. Basic improvements to the ground and facilities followed and the Club gained acceptance to the Wessex League for the 1989–90 season.

During the summer of 1991 further considerable improvements were carried out with the clubhouse being completely refurbished, the pitch totally re-seeded, the floodlights upgraded and the perimeter of the ground fenced. The fire which totally destroyed the stand in the 1991–92 season was replaced a season later with a new 200 seat capacity stand.

Two seasons after the fire the club in the 1994–95 season finished as Champions of the Wessex League and were promoted to the Southern League. The following four seasons saw the Club finish 19th, 20th, 13th and 18th. During the 1997–98 season the Russell-Cotes Cup was won for the first time. During their fifth season in the Southern League the club finished bottom, and were relegated back to the Wessex league. In the same season however, they lifted the Aldershot Senior Cup. The club gained their Southern League status again at the end of the 2001–02 season when they finished as Runners-up in the Wessex league, under manager Steve Beeks.

In their second season back in the Southern League Fleet finished bottom of Division One East, however instaed of being relegated the club retained their status at Step 4 to play in the Isthmian League as the Non-League pyramid was restructured for the 2004–05 season. A rollercoaster season ended with the club’s Division One status only assured on the very last day of the season as Fleet finished in 19th position.

In the 2005–06 season under a new management team of Andy Sinton and Steve Mellor, the club won the Basingstoke Senior Cup for the first time with a 2–0 success over Andoverin the Final. The management team followed this up with more success the following season, as the club won the Russell Cotes Cup 1–0 against Gosport Borough. The club also had nearly more success that season as they reached the Play-offs, playing in the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time, and making the Final of the Basingstoke Cup again.

For season 2007–08 the FA moved the club to the Southern League Division One South & West. The club that season finished as Runners-up behind Farnborough, and again losing out in the play-offs. Fleet did however reach four cup finals winning three, Russell Cotes, Aldershot Senior and Basingstoke Senior cups. They also had their best ever run in the FA cup reaching teh Third Qualifying Round that season, a feat they would repeat the following season as well.

The 2008–09 Season saw the club on the move yet again with promotions/relegations elsewhere meaning that it returned to the Isthmian League Division One South. That season the club would again reach the play-offs and lost again, but as per the previous seasons under Manager Andy Sinton more cup success was achieved, with the club winning four cups the Russell Cotes, Aldershot Senior, North Hants and the Hampshire Senior Cups. The most prestigious was the Hampshire Senior Cup when they beat VTFC at St Marys Stadium, in front of a 1200 crowd to send the cup to Fleet for the first time ever. The following season the club retained the Aldershot Senior and North Hants Senior Cups, whilst also winning the Basingstoke Senior Cup.

At the end of the 2009–10 season Chairman Graham Smith stepped down and this was shortly followed by manager Andy Sinton resigning to join AFC Telford United. Steve Mellor took over as manager and saw the club reach the final of the final of the Aldershot Senior Cup, losing to Badshot Lea on penalties. The 2011–12 season saw the club move to the Southern League Central Division and the team started to struggle which saw Manager Steve Mellor replaced with Craig Davis as player manager. The team finished 21st but were not relegated and remain in the Southern League Central Division as a result of Bedfont Towns resignation from the league.