Basingstoke Town Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward'.

History

The club was established in 1896 by a merger of Aldworth United and Basingstoke Albion. Basingstoke Town F.C. They joined the Hampshire League in 1901, and when the league was split into geographical divisions in 1903, were placed in the North Division.Early Hampshire League 1896-1914
Non-League Matters They finished bottom of the division in both 1903–04 and 1904–05, and again in 1906–07 and 1907–08. However, after consecutive second-bottom finishes and then finishing fifth out of seven clubs in 1910–11, they were North Division champions in 1911–12. Finishing as champions resulted in promotion to the County Section, although the club continued to play in the North Division. They won the North Section again in 1919–20, After league reorganisation in 1929 Basingstoke were placed in Division One. They finished as runners-up in 1965–66 and 1966–67, before winning the league in 1967–68.
Non-League Matters After finishing as runners-up again in 1968–69, they won back-to-back titles in 1969–70 and 1970–71, remaining unbeaten in the latter season. They club also won the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time in 1970–71, beating Fareham Town 3–2 in a replay after the original final ended 1–1. After their third Hampshire League title in 1971, Basingstoke moved up to Division One South of the Southern League. Their first season in the Southern League saw them reach the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for the first time, eventually losing 5–1 to Northampton Town. The club remained in Division One South until 1979, when league restructuring saw them placed in the Southern Division. They won the division in 1984–85, earning promotion to the Premier Division. Two seasons later they were transferred to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League. Although they were relegated to Division One at the end of the 1987–88 season, they made an immediate return to the Premier Division after finishing as Division One runners-up the following season. The 1989–90 season saw Basingstoke reach the first round of the FA Cup again. After beating Bromsgrove Rovers 3–0, they lost 3–2 to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

in the second round. They also won the Hampshire Senior Cup, beating AFC Lymington 8–0 in the final. In 1993–94 they were relegated to Division One. They won the Hampshire Senior Cup again in 1995–96 and 1996–97, beating Waterlooville 2–0 in the final on both occasions. The latter season also saw them return to the Premier Division after finishing as runners-up in Division One. The following season saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup and defeat

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

opposition for the first time, beating Wycombe Wanderers 5–4 on penalties after a 2–2 draw in a replay; the attendance of 5,085 was a new record for the club. They then took Northampton to a replay in the second round, before losing 4–3 on penalties. They reached the first round again in 1998–99, losing 2–1 to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

. In 2003–04 the club finished fourteenth in the Premier Division, entering a play-off against

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

for a place in the new Conference South. Although they lost 4–1, they gained a place in the new league after

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

decided against promotion. The club made another appearance in the FA Cup first round in 2006–07, beating League One club Chesterfield 1–0 at Saltergate before losing 3–1 to local rivals

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

in a second round replay. The Hampshire Senior Cup was won again in 2007–08 with a 1–0 win over Farnborough in the final. A fifth-place finish in 2011–12 saw the club qualify for the promotion play-offs. However, they lost the two-legged semi-final to

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

3–1 on aggregate, losing 1–0 at home and 2–1 away. They also reached the FA Cup first round again, losing 1–0 to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. They qualified for the play-offs for a second time in 2014–15 after finishing third, but were beaten 2–1 on aggregate by Whitehawk in the semi-finals. However, the club did win the Hampshire Senior Cup again, beating Havant & Waterlooville 3–2 after extra time in the final. The following season saw Basingstoke make another appearance in the FA Cup first round, a 1–0 defeat at

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

; however, after finishing bottom of the renamed National League South, they were relegated to the Premier Division of the Southern League. In 2016–17 the club won the Hampshire Senior Cup, beating

7–6 on penalties after the final ended in a 0–0 draw. They were placed in the Premier South division at the end of the 2017–18 season as part of the restructuring of the non-League pyramid. The club finished third-from-bottom of the division in 2018–19 and were relegated to Division One South. At the end of the 2020–21 season they were transferred to the South Central Division of the Isthmian League. The 2021–22 season saw them finish fifth, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. They went on to lose 4–1 to Chertsey Town in the semi-finals. In 2022–23 the club were South Central Division champions, earning promotion, as well as winning the North Hampshire Senior Cup with a 3–1 win over Romsey Town and the Hampshire Senior Cup with a 1–0 win against

Ground

The club played at Castlefields from their establishment until 1945, when a site for a new ground was offered to them by Lord Camrose. The new ground was initially known as Winchester Road, and consisted of a small wooden stand together with grass banking with some terracing. The first match was played on 1 December 1945 against Southampton Borough Police, and the ground was later renamed after Lord Camrose.Basingstoke Town
Pyramid Passion A new clubhouse was built in 1969 and a new main stand in 1970. Terracing was also added to the ground and floodlights erected. A roof was later installed over the terracing opposite the stand, with another terrace built next to the stand. The ground's record attendance of 5,085 was set in 1997 for an FA Cup first round match against Wycombe Wanderers. It currently has a capacity of 6,000, of which 651 is seated and 2,000 covered.Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p. 257 During the 2014–15 season it was known as the Soccer AM Stadium due to a sponsorship deal with the

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

show, before becoming the Ark Cancer Charity Stadium for the 2016–17 season. In 2019 the club was forced to relocate to Winchester City's City Ground as former chairman Rafi Razzak attempted to sell the Camrose for development. In October 2020 the club returned to Basingstoke, at the upgraded FA Winklebury Sports Complex in the Winklebury area of the town.Basingstoke Town to play first Winklebury stadium match TODAY
''Gazette'', 24 October 2020

Club staff

First team *Manager: Dan Brownlie *Assistant Manager: Aaron Nicholson *Coach: Paul Worsfold *Coach: Jon Boardman *Physiotherapist: Seanagh McCarthy *Goalkeeper Coach: Geraint Holliman & Lance Forster Academy *Academy Manager: Aaron Nicholson *Academy Coach: Ben Cook

Honours

*Isthmian League **South Central Division champions 2022–23 *Southern League **Southern Division champions 1984–85 *Hampshire League **Division One champions 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71 **North Division champions 1911–12, 1919–20 *Hampshire Senior Cup **Winners 1970–71, 1989–90, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2007–08, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2022–23 *North Hampshire Senior Cup **Winners 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024-25 *Remembrance Cup **Winners 2005, 2006

Records

*Best league position: 3rd in the Conference South, 2014–15 *Best

performance: Second round, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2006–07 *Best FA Trophy performance: Third round, 1998–99, 2003–04 *Most appearances: Billy Coombs (1980s) *Most goals: Paul Coombs 159 (1991–99) *Biggest win: 10–1 vs Chichester City, FA Cup first qualifying round, 1976 *Heaviest defeat: 8–0 vs Aylesbury United, Southern League Division One South, April 1979 *Record attendance: 5,085 vs Wycombe Wanderers, FA Cup first round, November 1997 **Record league attendance: 2,810 vs Aldershot Town, Isthmian League Premier Division 26 December 1998 *Record transfer fee paid: £4,750 to Gosport Borough for Steve Ingham

References

External links

*
Supporters Club website
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