Eastleigh Athletic were a long-running amateur football club, based in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. They were one of the early pioneers of football in the area and were the main team in the town until the loss of their ground and the emergence of other local sides.

History

The Eastleigh Railway Depot was opened by the London & South Western Railway Company in 1891 and shortly afterwards workers formed a football team, initially known as Eastleigh LSWR. The company owned their own sports ground at Dutton Lane in the town, which over the years was developed with an oval cycling track and grandstand for spectators. In 1896 the club adopted their best known identity of Eastleigh Athletic and were one of the eight founder members of the

Hampshire League The Hampshire League was a football league in Hampshire, England. During its heyday its constitution consisted of four divisions with over 60 clubs taking part - this included a vast number of semi-professional teams and Reserve/’A’ sides o ...

. On 5 September

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

they took part in an historic match against

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; an area near Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. These were former ...

- the first ever game of the new competition. On a sunny afternoon, the two teams provided plenty of entertainment for the large crowd with the match receiving full coverage from the Hants & Dorset press. Eastleigh narrowly lost that day 4-5 and fielded the following team: Collins, Dexter, Brocklehurst, Silverman, Bull, Service, Jeffcote, Bastock, Woodhouse, Knox and Sharp. Eastleigh finished the season in 4th place. During the course of the AGM on 26 July 1897, it was mentioned by the Assistant Hon. Secretary, William Powley, that the colours of the club would be changed to chocolate and blue. This decision was to prove inspirational as in 1897–98, they were league champions and

Hampshire Senior Cup The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1887 and has been contested every year since, except 1914 to 1919 when it was postponed due t ...

winners, after a 2–1 victory against the 2nd Gordon Highlanders (Aldershot). The final was played at the County Ground, Southampton in front of a large crowd. In order to generate a full fixture list, it was not uncommon for clubs in those days to enter more than one league during the same season and in 1897–98 Eastleigh also entered a side in the Western League (Professional Section). Also playing in this eight-team Division were Swindon Town, Reading, Bristol City and Eastville (now Bristol Rovers) - Eastleigh finished in 7th place. The following season they then joined the Southern League Division 2 (South West Section), finishing 5th out of six clubs, but on the scrapping of this short-lived division the main focus switched back to the more realistic

. In 1903 the league was divided into regional sections with Eastleigh placed in the South Division where they consolidated, however, they still maintained a strong cup pedigree. Eastleigh Athletic were regular entrants in the national competitions and in 1902–03 enjoyed their best run in 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 ...

when they reached the 4th Qualifying Round, losing 1–3 away to Whiteheads, the Dorset League champions. The Southampton Football Association was formed for the 1908–09 campaign and Eastleigh became founder members, entering sides in its Senior and Junior Leagues - the club would retain their membership for the remainder of their existence. There was further cup glory that season when they recorded a fine double by again winning the

after a 2–0 victory against the 2nd Cameron Highlanders (Tidworth) and also the inaugural Southampton Senior Cup after a 2–0 victory over Bitterne Guild (both games were played at The Dell, Southampton). The 1910–11 season saw the 'Railwaymen' reach another two finals; the

was won for the third and final time after a 4–2 success against Kings Royal Rifles Corps (Gosport) at Fratton Park, Portsmouth but they were denied another double after losing the Southampton Senior Cup final 0–3 (in a replay) against Bitterne Guild, who gained revenge for their defeat two years previously. The club closed down for the Great War (1914–18) but reformed once peace resumed and the early twenties saw them reach another two Southampton Senior Cup finals and

yo-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 440 BC. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in th ...

between the county league's two divisions, winning the West Division title in 1922–23. In 1925, after a poor season, they opted to join the less demanding Southampton League, where they soon found their feet again as they consecutively won the Junior 3, Junior 2 and South Hants Division titles during the final three seasons of the decade. In

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

the club returned to the

Division 2 under the name of SR Eastleigh Athletic (S.R. stood for Southern Railway, the new owners of the locomotive works in Eastleigh) and the team soon re-established themselves as they pushed for promotion. After several near misses they were champions in 1938–39 only to have their progress halted by the outbreak of World War II. In 1947 Eastleigh again returned to the county League when they were placed in Division 3 East and when

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

took over the works two years later their name was amended to BR Eastleigh Athletic. Until this point they had been the town's senior club, but the post war era saw the emergence of local rivals Pirelli General, Eastleigh Spartans and Swaythling Athletic in the

and this saw increased competition for the area's best players. Disaster struck soon after when they lost their ground after the Railway Goods Yard was expanded and after this, the club endured a somewhat nomadic life for the remainder of their existence. They initially moved the short distance to a pitch at Chickenhall Lane in Bishopstoke, and after several steady seasons they won promotion in 1956–57 as Division 3 runners-up. Further enforced moves saw them ground share with local rivals Ford Sports in Swaythling before moving back to Eastleigh, using Fleming Park (a council owned sports centre still used today) for home games, but despite some steady performances, they had to leave the competition in 1961 due to the venue's inadequate facilities. A year later they were re-admitted back after agreeing a groundshare with league rivals BTC Southampton at nearby Stoneham Lane. They were placed in Division 3 but things were never quite the same and after several seasons of struggle they were relegated in 1964–65 after finishing bottom. Their fortunes did not improve back in the Southampton League and BR sadly folded early during the 1966–67 campaign. After several years inactivity, the club reappeared under the guise of B.R.S.A. (British Rail Staff Association) and again ran teams in the now defunct Eastleigh & District League (1905–91) and the lower junior divisions of the Southampton League, where they enjoyed moderate success before finally calling it a day in 1977.

Honours

**Division 1 Champions 1897/98 **Champions 1938/39 and Runners-up 1931/32 **Division 3 Runners-up 1956/57 **West Division Champions 1922/23 **South Division Runners-up 1919/20 *Southampton League **Junior Division 2 Champions 1927/28 **Junior Division 3 Champions 1926/27 **South Hants Division Champions 1928/29 *

Hampshire FA The Hampshire Football Association, also known as ''Hampshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Hampshire, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is loc ...

**Senior Cup Winners 1897/98, 1908/09 and 1910/11 **Junior 'A' Cup Winners 1932/33 (Reserves) *Southampton FA **Senior Cup Winners 1908/09, Finalists 1910/11, 1919/20 and 1922/23 **Junior 'A' Cup Winners 1929/30 (Reserves) **Junior Consolation Cup Winners 1929/30 (Reserves)

Notable players

Eastleigh Athletic had many fine players during their long history; most notably a number of former professional players worked at the site. These included

Tommy Bowman Thomas Bowman (26 October 1873 – 27 August 1958) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half back in the 1902 FA Cup final for Southampton. Playing career Bowman began his professional career at Blackpool in 1896, making his ...

Samuel Meston Samuel Meston (16 January 1872 – 14 August 1948) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke and Southampton. Whilst with Southampton, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals and won six Southern League championship m ...

, Bert Paddington,

Baven Penton Harry Baven Penton (1890–1967) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-forward for Southampton and Boscombe prior to the First World War. Playing career Penton was born in Boscombe, Bournemouth in early 1890 and was a p ...

and Joe Turner, whilst Jim Swinden and

Richard Brookes Richard Brookes (fl. 1721 – 1763) was an English physician and author of compilations and translations on medicine, surgery, natural history, and geography, most of which went through several editions. Life He was at one time a rural practi ...

both their careers there before moving on to greater things.The Alphabet of the Saints: A Complete Who's Who of Southampton FC by Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk

Home ground

For many years, Eastleigh Athletic played at Dutton Road in

but were forced to leave when the railway yard was expanded after World War II. They then spent the Fifties playing on a pitch at Chickenhall Lane,

Bishopstoke Bishopstoke is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh, Eastleigh district of Hampshire, England. It is recorded as "Stoke" as early as 948AD when King Eadred granted land there to a thegn called Aelfric. Stoke later came into th ...

but losing the ground they had a rather nomadic existence which no doubt eventually contributed to their demise.

Local rivalries

With there being so many teams in the area, Eastleigh Athletic had many local rivals. These mostly included Swaythling Athletic, Pirelli General, Eastleigh Spartans, BTC Southampton and Ford Sports (formerly Briggs Social) - both of whom they groundshared with.

Playing records

League

FA Cup

References

Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Hampshire Eastleigh Southern Football League clubs Association football clubs established in 1891 Association football clubs disestablished in 1967 1977 disestablishments in England Railway association football teams in England {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub