History
East Cowes Victoria Athletic Association Football Club (The Vic’s) were formed in 1885. The name is the longest registered with the English F.A. The Victoria part derives from the fact that the ground in Beatrice Avenue is part of the crown estate and in the area owned by Osbourne House, the home of Queen Victoria.
The Vics’s were founder members of the Isle of Wight F.A, and played on the Island for the first 30 years. In 1889 the Isle of Wight F.A introduced cup competitions including the Isle of Wight Senior Gold Cup – this trophy is reported to be the most valuable football trophy in the world being made of solid gold. The only drawback is that if you win the Gold Cup you can’t keep it – most clubs insure it for the annual presentation night and return it to the bank. In 1947 the Vics joined Division 3 of the Hampshire League and spent 9 seasons in Division 3, 18 in Division 2, 12 in Division 1, then moved to the Wessex league before being relegated in the 1999/2000 season and rejoining the Hampshire League.
Following relegation the club formed a new Committee and finished 4th in the Hampshire Premier Division. In 2001/2002 the Vic’s had their best season in recent years, when they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Wessex League, finishing runners-up to Alton Town. But they did win the Hampshire Trophy-man Cup Final beating Liss Athletic 1–0. In Season 2003/2004 Vic’s returned to the Wessex League after the Football Associations restructuring of the leagues. Since then the club has been in a rebuilding process and currently has a crop of young players breaking through into the first team squad.
During this reconstruction phase of the club they have played Aldershot Town in second round of the Hampshire Senior Cup, reached the semi-final of the Isle of Wight Senior Gold Cup and are progressing with the rebuilding of the team. East Cowes Victoria have notably made the signings of top Isle of Wight players (Kurt Butt, Simon Williams, Stephen King, Paul O'Connor and many more) as well as competing with many other Island sides for the top players on the Isle of Wight for the 2008–09 season.
Read more about this topic: East Cowes Victoria Athletic A.F.C.
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