Whatever Happened to….Fleet Town?

Continuing the series on former Southern Football League clubs.

Fleet Town FC was officially formed in 1890 when the club was simply known as Fleet FC, making it the oldest sports club in the town, although some believe a football team existed in Fleet before then.

The Centenary was celebrated in 1990 with a Centenary Scroll being presented by the FA to the club, together with a commemorative plaque from Hampshire FA.

In the early days Fleet played at the bottom of the Views and later they moved to Watsons Meadow in Fleet Road. It was during this time that a young, future Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, played for the club, his aunt living in a house that backed onto this original ground!

In 1923 Lord Calthorpe of Elvetham Hall made available the site of the present ground in Crookham Road, and the club moved to its new home in March of that year, playing their first match on 3rd March 1923.

The ground was subsequently bequeathed to the District Council with the proviso that it would continue to be for the use of Fleet FC, so Calthorpe Park was born, the same name now used for the large park/recreation ground behind the club.

From 1923 up until World War II Fleet FC ran two Saturday teams and a Wednesday XI in the Aldershot and Basingstoke Leagues. During the war the club competed in the War Emergency League before returning to the Aldershot and Basingstoke Leagues when hostilities ceased. Fleet FC started to play matches in light and dark blue strip in the mid-1920s and this has remained the club colours ever since.

A supporters` club was formed in 1953 and this was instrumental in laying a new pitch, the building of the pavilion and finally getting floodlights installed.

On the pitch the club entered the Hampshire League in 1961 and in 1963 changed its name to become Fleet Town FC.

This move obviously inspired all concerned and the team went on to win Division Three of the Hampshire League with 50 points from 30 games, scoring more goals than any other team in the three divisions (113).

From then on Fleet Town gradually moved through the divisions, finally winning promotion to the Athenian League in 1977.

The next few years were a poor spell in the club's history as it struggled to meet Athenian ground regulations and drifted into other minor leagues.

At this time Fleet Town could have disappeared without trace until a new chairman arrived and revitalised the club culminating in it being accepted in the Wessex League for the 1989/90 season.

After six years of steady progress the club gained promotion to the Southern League as Wessex League champions, in the 1994/95 season.

Then followed four seasons in the Southern League where the club struggled at the wrong end of the table, although during this time it won the Russell Cotes Cup and the Aldershot Senior Cup.

Unfortunately, in 1999/00, its fifth season in the Southern League, the club were relegated back to the Wessex League.

The first season back in the Wessex League, under the management of Wayne Wanklyn, saw a steady performance with the club finishing in a creditable fourth position.

Wanklyn has a wealth of Football League and non-League experience, having previously worn the shirts of Reading, Aldershot, Basingstoke Town and Wycombe Wanderers.

After a poor start to season 2001/02, Steve Beeks was appointed manager in October 2001.

Beeks managed 3 League appearances for Aldershot in the early 1990s and went on to play for the likes of Staines Town, Aldershot Town, Basingstoke Town and Fleet – moving on to manage Molesey and Finnish women`s side Aland United.

Beek`s arrival at Fleet heralded a change in fortunes for the first team who only lost two games through to the end of the season.

Fleet finished runners-up in the League Cup and League competitions and gained promotion back into the Southern League.

The 2002/03 season, the club's first back in the Southern League, saw Beeks resign before the end of September, due to a poor start in the league and elimination from the three major cup competitions.

Former Birmingham City and Southampton full-back Mark Dennisand professional cricketer Adi Aymes took over as joint managers and Fleet eventually finished 14 points clear of a relegation place, and again won the Russell Cotes Cup.

Capped three times at under-21 level by England, Dennis was a no-nonsense full-back with 250 League appearances for Birmingham City, Southampton, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace.

He has since spent time as assistant manager at Eastleigh, was a presenter on 107.8 Radio Hampshire and acted as director of football at Winchester City.

The 2003/04 closed season saw another change in management with Mick Catlin taking over, having been reserve team manager at Havant & Waterlooville.

Catlin was a familiar and popular player with the likes of Portfield, Waterlooville, Andover, Fareham Town, Gosport Borough, Petersfield United, Horndean and Chichester.City.

He went on to manage Petersfield United, Chichester City, Andover, Gosport Borough and AFC Portchester

A disappointing season saw Fleet finishing bottom of the Eastern Division of the Southern League, although by a stroke of good fortune, the non-League Pyramid re-structuring for 2004/05 season meant that the club retained their status at Step 4 and were switched to the Isthmian League.

Season 2004/05 - the club's first in the Isthmian League Division One - saw yet another change in management, with Catlin being replaced by Paul Holden in November.

Holden was a vastly experienced coach having been director of football for The Gibraltar FA as well as academy director for Crystal Palace.

He has also coached or managed Boston United, Corby Town and Stamford AFC.

A rollercoaster season ended with the club's Division One status only assured on the very last day of the season as Fleet finished in 19th position.

Off the pitch saw an extensive refurbishment of the clubhouse and the links between the senior teams and the colts' and girls' teams becoming stronger than before.

Fleet started the 2005/06 season with a new management team of ex-England international Andy Sinton assisted by Steve Mellor, inspiring the dub to make dramatic strides both on and off the pitch.

Capped 12 times at full international level by England as well as having represented England Schoolboys, England B and the Football League, Sinton made over 600 appearances for Cambridge United, Brentford, QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burton Albion.

He later managed AFC Telford United for three years.

The Blues were in the running for a play-off place right up until the end of March when results dipped in the final run.

That said, the first team had their highest ever finish in non-League football (14th), crowds were up by 20%, the team went the furthest ever in the FA Cup (a 2-0 defeat to Bishop`s Stortford in the Second Qualifying Round) and the season was concluded with a 2-0 success over Andover to win the Basingstoke Senior Cup for the first time.

Season 2006/07 brought a lot of optimism to the club as Sinton and Mellor moved into their second year as a management team.

A stronger squad saw the Blues were top of the table at Christmas before they finally finished in fifth place.

In a pulsating play-off semi-final, they lost 2-1 to Tooting & Mitcham United.

The team also reached the final of the Hampshire Cup (losing 2-1 to Aldershot Town but did gain some cup success to win the Russell Cotes Cup (1-0 v Gosport Borough). So, for the second year, history was made with not only the highest league placing ever but three cup finals.

For season 2007/08 the FA moved the club to the Southern League South West Division.

It didn't take the Blues long to adjust and they again had a record-breaking season.

Right up until the last few games they were in with a chance of automatic promotion but eventually had to accept second spot behind Farnborough.

This, however, was their highest ever non-League placement and again played in front of record crowds (averaging just under 200).

It was heartbreak in the play-offs though as the team again lost in the semi-final, this time a stoppage time penalty that gave Uxbridge a 2-1 victory.

Fleet did, however, reach four cup finals, winning three - Russell Cotes, Aldershot Senior and Basingstoke Senior Cups.

They also went the furthest so far in the FA Cup before losing 2-1 at Havant & Waterlooville in the Third Qualifying Round – the Hawks going on to play Liverpool at Anfield later in the competition!

Fleet were subsequently moved back to the Isthmian Division One South for the 2008/09 season.

A third-place finish resulted in another play-off campaign, in which they lost 1–0 to Metropolitan Police in the semi-finals.

The season also saw them win the Hampshire Senior Cup with a 1–0 win over Wessex League side VT FC in the final.

In 2011 the club were transferred once more to the Southern Division One Central and finished in the relegation zone but were reprieved after Bedfont Town resigned from the league.

In 2013 they were moved to Division One South & West, and finished in the relegation zone in 2013/14, receiving another reprieve from relegation.

They were transferred back to Division One Central in 2015 and at the end of the 2017/18 season the club were again transferred to Division One South.

However, a poor 2018/19 campaign saw them win only five and draw one of their 38 games, finishing bottom of the table on 16 points – a whopping 14 below the safety mark.

So, it was back to the Wessex League which, of course, has seen the last two seasons declared null and void due to the global pandemic.