Andover

Andover Football Club was formed in 1883 and played their first game on 27 October at Stride's Field, Weyhill Road, a friendly match against Basingstoke Mechanical Engineers. Three years later they moved to the Walled Meadow, where they played their home matches for the next 96 years. For most of the next thirty years, the club competed in three separate small leagues which were run side by side during the space of each season; the Hampshire League, the Salisbury and District League, and the North Hants May League. During this time, Andover won the Salisbury League eight times, the North Hants May League five times and reached the Hampshire Junior Cup final twice.

Andover competed in the first Hampshire Senior Cup in 1888, but became involved in controversy after they were knocked out of the competition by Woolston Works. During this match, a Glasgow–based player called J. Kesson played for Woolston in their victory. Andover protested that Kesson should be disqualified on the grounds of residency—although he had played for Woolston Works earlier that season, he had since moved back to Glasgow. Woolston's appeal rested on the fact that Kesson had left some items of clothing at his lodgings in Woolston, and this should be interpreted as his intention to return. The Hampshire FA upheld the appeal, allowing Woolston to progress through to the next round and eventually win the inaugural competition.

Andover joined the newly formed Southern League Second Division South West section in 1898. They won just two of their ten games at this higher level and finished bottom of their six-team division, which also included Cowes, Ryde and Eastleigh. After just one season, they moved back down to county league football along with the majority of teams in that division.

Until the First World War Andover played in the Hampshire League North Division (the Hampshire League at this time was composed of a number of regional divisions instead of the present-day hierarchical structure), and their first major honour came in 1913–14 when they won that division. Competition was suspended during the war, and upon the restart they rejoined the Hampshire League in the North Division before moving to an enlarged County Division in the 1920–21 season. It was while in this division that they won their most prestigious title to date, the league championship in 1924–25.

Division One of the Hampshire League was formed at the start of the 1929–30 season, and Andover were almost permanent members of that division, winning their first title in 1934–35. The only slip was in 1936–37 when they were relegated, but they returned the following year after winning promotion from Division Two. The club remained active during the Second World War, winning the Hampshire League title in 1944–45.

Andover had a certain degree of success in county cup competitions during this period. They reached the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup twice, in 1931 and 1933, losing to Winchester City and Newport (IOW) respectively. They also won the Russell Cotes Cup four times and reached the final a further three times.

Andover continued playing in Division One of the Hampshire League after the war. They had success during the period between 1948 and 1951, winning two more Hampshire League championships as well as winning the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first two times in the club's history. In 1960–61, Andover won the Russell Cotes Cup for the sixth time, while the reserves were champions of Division Two and won the County Intermediate Cup for the second successive season. The following year saw the first team win their eighth Hampshire League championship and retain the Russell Cotes Cup, while the Reserves were champions of Division Two again. Ian Henderson broke his own goalscoring record set the previous year, scoring 62 goals.

In 1962, the club followed Salisbury and stepped up to the Western League. This proved to be quite a different challenge—whereas before they had only competed against local teams in league competition, they now faced opposition from teams as far afield as Somerset and Devon as well as the reserve teams of league clubs such as Bristol Rovers, Bristol City and Torquay United. They generally fared well, only failing to finish in the top half of the table twice during their time at this level. Their first season in the Western League saw the club reach the first round proper of the FA Cup for the only time in their history after defeating Hendon 5–4 in a fourth qualifying round replay. On 3 November, Fourth Division side Gillingham came to the Walled Meadow and won 1–0 in front of 3484 spectators, a figure which would remain as the club's largest attendance for a home game. In the league Andover finished fourth, but that was their highest placing until 1969–70 when they finished as runners-up.

This was repeated the following season, and so in 1971 Andover took another step up and joined the Southern League. Now competing against teams from an even wider area spanning almost the entire width of the country (ranging from Bideford in the west to Bury Town in the east) and in some cases with a larger budget and fanbase, competition was always tough with the club generally finishing in the bottom half of the table. The highest position the club reached at this level was the sixth place reached in 1987–88 and again in 1991–92.

In 1989 the Walled Meadow was sold for redevelopment and the club moved to the brand new Portway Stadium, which is located on the West Portway Industrial Estate. A crowd of 1,100 watched the official opening match against Leicester City, with the league team coming away with a 10–1 victory. After much deliberation over the cost and distance of travel involved in Southern League football, the club voluntarily stepped down the pyramid ladder to join the Wessex League in 1993–94.

The first season saw them finish runners-up, but the club's management declined to apply for promotion back into the Southern League and so they remained in the Wessex League. In the following three seasons they were placed seventh, ninth and sixth, but 1997–98 saw the club finish runners-up again, winning promotion back to the Southern League. Returning after a five-year absence, it was not long before the difference in quality between the two leagues became evident, and the club soon realised that it was unable to compete financially with the bigger clubs in the division. At the beginning of the year the club announced its intention to return to the Wessex League for 1999–2000, a decision taken because it was felt it would be better to play in a league in which it could compete financially and successfully.

The next few years saw Andover enjoying its most successful spell for many decades. The first season back in the Wessex League saw the club finish third. They also reached the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time in 35 years, losing 1–9 to Aldershot Town in what is the Shots' record win in their current incarnation. The team scored a total of 233 goals in all competitions, including a club record 88 goals scored by Andy Forbes.

Andover won the Wessex League championship for the first time in the 2000–01 season, scoring a club record 153 league goals including a 14–1 win over Swanage Town & Herston, the club's record victory. In addition, they won the Hampshire Senior Cup for the fifth time in the club's history, beating Havant & Waterlooville 2–0 at The Dell. They also retained the North Hants Senior Cup to complete a treble.

They retained the League title the following year, winning the championship by a single point from Fleet Town following a 1–1 draw at Fleet on the last day of the season—this match was played in front of 623 people, a record attendance for a Wessex League match up to that date. The Lions gained another treble by also winning the League Cup and Russell Cotes Cup. The club won the North Hants Senior Cup again in 2002–03, and reached the semi-finals of both the Hampshire Senior Cup and the Russell Cotes Cup. Another Wessex League attendance record was set towards the end of the season when 702 people saw Andover's 6–1 win over Eastleigh.

Despite this period of success, the club failed to attract significant local support. The club was close to extinction during the summer of 2003 after the chairman resigned, and was only saved when twelve supporters secured its future by purchasing the lease for the Portway Stadium from the outgoing chairman. The 2003–04 season brought success in the FA Vase competition, when Andover reached the quarterfinals for the first time in their history, before losing to Hampshire rivals Winchester City. They finished sixth in the league and won the North Hants Senior Cup for the fifth time. The 2004–05 season saw an improvement in the league with a fifth-place finish; the reserves finished runners up in the Wessex Combination East division. The club also won the North Hants Senior Cup for the sixth time.

Under the 2006 pyramid reorganisations, a third-place finish in the Wessex League was good enough for promotion back to the Southern League, along with local rivals Winchester City and Thatcham Town. In their first season back, they finished in ninth place, just five points from the divisional playoffs. They were unable to build on this and struggled to a nineteenth-place finish in the following season, ultimately finishing 29 points above relegation after Slough Town were reprieved following Halifax Town's expulsion from the Football Conference. Andover's home match against Uxbridge, played towards the end of that season, was the club's thousandth game in the Southern League.

The beginning of the 2008–09 season saw the Lions marking their 125th anniversary with a pre-season friendly against local rivals Salisbury City. Prior to the game, it had been announced that the club would also be wearing a new kit design to mark this occasion for one season only—a plain red shirt (a departure from the traditional red and black stripes) was worn for the first time during this game, which Andover won 3–2. The season itself saw Andover have their best run in the FA Trophy to date, eventually losing 0–3 at home to Newport County in the third qualifying round.

The start of the 2010–11 season was disrupted due to damage caused to the Portway Stadium pitch by rabbits, leading to a number of home league games being postponed. An FA Cup match against Chertsey Town was played at Whitchurch United's Longmeadow Ground, and their FA Trophy match against Bideford was played at Winchester City's Denplan City Ground. The Lions were unable to recover and struggled throughout the season, failing to win a single home game and finishing bottom of the division with eleven points after conceding more than 100 goals. However, the club avoided relegation due to the resignation of Almondsbury Town F.C. earlier in the season.

Following the 2010–11 season, a new chairman and manager were appointed by the club. However, the manager resigned shortly afterwards to take up a post at Rotherham United F.C., and the chairman resigned citing continuing financial constraints. The remaining board members formally wound up the club and resigned from the Southern League in July 2011.

A new club named Andover Lions F.C. was formed two weeks later. After gaining clearance from the Football Association and the Hampshire F.A., the club were accepted into the Hampshire League 2004 (where the original club's reserve side had been playing) in time for the start of the 2011–12 season, with home games played at the Charlton Sports Centre. The Lions progressed on the Hampshire Premier League but sadly withdrew and folded midway through the 2016–17 season.