Amesbury Town F.C.

History

Amesbury Town Football Club was founded in 1904 and first played its football in a field near the historic monument of Stonehenge. The team played local football in the Salisbury & District League until progressing to County football in the 1956–1957 season.

1950–1985

It was not until the late 1950–60s however that Town started to gain County honours, winning the Wiltshire League Division One title in 1959/60, Hospital Cup in 1959–60 and also the Wiltshire Subsidiary Cup in 1960–61. However, it was some 15 seasons later that further success came to the Town, winning the Wiltshire Combination League in 1974–75, repeating the feat in 1979/80. In season 1983/84 they lifted the Wiltshire Senior Cup for the first time beating Penhill YC in the Final.

Late 1980s and early 90s

In the early 90s the club enjoyed its most successful period, winning the Wiltshire County title twice, in 1990/91 and 1991/92 and finishing Runners up on three occasions, as well as lifting the Wiltshire Senior Cup in 1993/94 for the second time, beating Swindon Supermarine in the Final. It was now thought time for the Town to move forward, they applied to join the Western League and duly took their place in the First Division for the 1994–95 season. The first season was fairly successful, with average gates of 99 and one crowd of 200, finishing in 14th place out of 21 teams.

Late 1990s

However, the loss of key players over the next two seasons made them struggle and the Club finished bottom in season 1996–97. Although Town could have continued in the Western League, the Club took the decision to pull out, mainly due to the problem of finding players willing to travel the long distances involved to fulfil fixtures and cost incurred in travelling those long distances. It was decided to regroup and run just one senior side in the Salisbury & District League Premier Division for the 1997–98 season. Previously, a Reserve side operated in the Wiltshire County League. The Towns commitment to youth over the years saw them continue to run an under 18 side in the Wiltshire County FA Youth Floodlight League. In the meantime the Club were looking to progress in a different direction and applied to join the Hampshire League. With Amesbury being close to the A303 and only a few miles from the Hampshire border, this was indeed the best option for the Club.

1998–99 season

The 1998–99 season, Amesbury ran their first team in the Division 3 of the Hampshire League and re-introduced a Reserve side in the Salisbury League. The Club's first season in Hampshire was fairly successful, finishing 4th. Town also had success in Wiltshire, by winning the Wiltshire Junior Cup, beating Bradford United in the Final.

1999–2000 season

The 1999–2000 season saw Amesbury meet the criteria to gain entry into the newly formed Hampshire League Premier Division, with the Reserve side in the Hampshire League Combination. The season proved to be one of the most memorable in the clubs history, winning the Premier Division title in its inaugural season, however the Reserve side had a rather disappointing season finishing in the wrong half of the Hampshire League Combination.

2000–01 season

The 2000–01 season was not as successful as the club would have liked, failing to regain the Championship title of last season, eventually finishing in 12th position. The Youth team did however reach the Wiltshire County FA Youth Floodlight League final, narrowly losing to Chippenham Youth.

2001–02 season

The following season, 2001–02, the Club finished second from bottom having won only 8 of their 40 league games played, conceding 114 goals in the process whilst only scoring 45 themselves. The Club and bottom placed AFC Aldermaston were saved from relegation due to clubs in Division One of Hampshire League not having the necessary ground standards required for the Premier Division. This season also saw the Club entered in the FA Vase and hopes of a prolonged cup run were high after earning a creditable 0–0 draw at Portland United in the second qualifying round. However it was not to be as Portland United ran out 2–0 winners in the replay. Both the Reserves and Youth teams finished in lowly positions in their respective leagues.

2002–03 season

Season 2002–03 was better than the previous one with the Club finishing in eleventh place in the league. In the FA Vase the Club were drawn away to Devon League side Newton Abbot and again came away with a commendable 3–3 draw. But as with the previous season hopes of progress were dashed when Newton Abbot ran out comfortable 4–1 winners in the replay. The Reserve team withdrew from the Salisbury & District League when they were unable to fulfill their fixtures due to player unavailability.

2003–04 season

The 2003–04 saw the Club finish in 8th place in the league, which was again an improvement on the previous season. After getting off to a slow start winning only once in their first six league games the team then produced their best form of the season winning ten of the next thirteen league matches. Unfortunately player suspensions and games canceled took its toll and the club were unable to find the same level of consistency again. In the FA Vase the Club were once again drawn away to Newton Abbot where they lost 5–2. For the first time in a number of seasons the club won two cup matches. The club defeated Warminster Town 3–0 in the Wiltshire Senior Cup before losing in the next round to Westbury United. Shrewton United were then beaten at the Rec. 4–2 in the Salisbury Hospital Cup. However this success was short lived as Bemerton Heath Harlequins defeated the Town 5–0 at the semi-final stage. The Reserve team were reformed and had a successful season finishing in 9th position in the Hampshire Combination League Division Two. The Youth team again struggled in their league finishing in the bottom half of the table.

2004–05 season

The commencement of the 2004–05 season saw a number of improvements made at the Recreation Ground and it was hoped that the team would be able to make a real challenge for promotion. Despite a reasonable start to their league campaign the team once again lacked any real consistency due in part to injury to several key players and finished a very disappointing 15th place in the league. There was a change off the field when Manager Nick Horner resigned at the beginning of March and this resulted in two of the more senior players – Steve Reeves and Neil Sole being asked to stand in as temporary managers until the end of the season. In the FA Vase Minehead were defeated 4–1 before the team lost to eventual quarter finalists Bridgwater Town 0–3. In the league cup Micheldever and Clanfield were seen off before VT F.C. cut short the Clubs cup aspirations by winning the penalty competition 6–5 after the match had ended 2–2 following 120 minutes of exciting cup football. The Reserves, made their debut in the Wessex League Combination West and acquitted themselves well despite finishing 13th in the table and the importance of a reserve side was shown when a number of players graduated to the first team towards the end of the season. One of the highlights of the year was two fixtures to celebrate the Clubs Centenary. The first team entertained a strong Salisbury City side whilst the Reserves played against an Amesbury Old Boys team.

2005–06 season

For season 2005–06 the Club appointed a new management team of John Scott, Pete Taylor and Gareth Dilling and expectations were once again high for a successful year. However, with players moving on the team that started the season was unrecognizable from the one that ended the 2005–06 campaign. It was therefore necessary to introduce a number of locally based youngsters most of whom had never played at this level of football before The team made a reasonable start to the season but were inconsistent and despite high levels of commitment from the players a victory from the last match of the season was required to ensure relegation was avoided. This was achieved with a hard fought victory against Petersfield Town. In the FA Vase the team were drawn at home to Western League side Bishop Sutton and despite a number of chances (none of which were taken) the visitors ran out 1–0 victors. During the course of the season it was decided to pull the reserves out of the Wessex League Division Two as it was becoming increasing difficult to fulfill fixtures with the non availability of players.

2006–07 season

For the 2006–07 season the majority of last season's squad were re-signed and several key areas have been strengthened and it was expected that the team will have a far better season than the previous one in the renamed Sydenhams Wessex League Division One. They had a couple of memorable results so far this season with wins in the FA Vase against higher division clubs Cove (2–0 after replay) and Thame United (4–2). Furthermore, in the Wiltshire Senior Cup, they managed to overturn rivals Devizes Town in the first round of the competition. Along the way, they have received 'Team of The Round' award in the First Round Proper of the FA Vase but bowed out to Corsham Town in the second round 2–5. Manager John Scott resigned in November 2006, was replaced by Tony Craven, who was dismissed in January 2007. Glen Butterfield, a former manager, then returned to the club from Andover New Street. They finished the season 18th of 19 teams but were saved from relegation due to yet another re-organisation of the league which disbanded its Division Two and increased the number of teams in the Premier Division and Division One to 22 teams respectively. In July 2007 the clubs home ground was renamed Bonnymead Park.

Ground

Amesbury Town play their home games at Bonnymead Park, Recreation Road, Amesbury, Wiltshire, SP4 7BB.