Their Stay Was a Brief One (G-I)

The fourth part of looking at clubs whose tenure in the Southern Football League was brief.

Godalming Town is a relatively `new` club, having only been formed in 1950 and has endured plenty of ups and downs since then!

The club has its origins as Godalming United FC, formed in 1950 by ex-pupils of Godalming Grammar School.

Between 1950 and 1971, the club played at the Recreation Ground. However, in 1970 Surrey Senior League side Farncombe collapsed, leaving their ground in Meadrow vacant.

Godalming took over the debts and tenancy, changing their name to Godalming & Farncombe FC, playing in the Surrey Senior League, and the ground to Wey Court in the process.

The club was accepted into the Combined Counties League for the start of the 1978 season, and a year later the name was changed again, to Godalming Town FC.

In 1985, another local club, Addlestone & Weybridge, was disbanded and, before their ground at Liberty Lane was demolished, Godalming purchased the stand and perimeter fence for £225 and £50 respectively. The stand was re-erected at Wey Court, with seating and fascia added.

The next development came in 1992 when the Guildford Football Appeal (formed in an attempt to return the town`s name to senior football, following the collapse of Guildford City in 1977) donated a sum of money towards floodlights, and in return the name of the club was changed again to Godalming & Guildford FC.

Season 2005/06 season saw the side take the Combined Counties League championship and League Cup. Godalming Town were then accepted into the Isthmian League following extensive ground improvements.

At the end of a tough season, Godalming found themselves at the bottom of a very competitive division. However, events elsewhere meant that Godalming were reprieved from relegation and were transferred into the Southern League’s South & West Division for the 2007/08 season.

In 2007/08 Chuck Martini replaced Roger Steer as manager in October 2007 and G`s were moved back to the Isthmian League for the 2008/09 season and eventually finished in another record high position of ninth.

The close season saw Godalming moved to a third different league in as many years, this time to the Southern South & West Division.

With divisional change came a managerial change as Jon Underwood and Neil Baker left Godalming to join Slough Town, taking the majority of the squad with them.

Andy Hunt was appointed manager in June 2013 but 2013/14 was probably one of the hardest seasons the club has dealt with. Hunt was given the task of putting together a squad that will compete in the league and secure Step 4 football.

At Christmas 2013 the clubhouse, kitchen and changing rooms were ruined by flood water.

Godalming finished the season in 18th position but were moved into another division again – the Southern Central Division for the 2014/15 campaign.

In 2015/16 Godalming finished in 10th position in the league and reached the Surrey Senior Cup final for the third time but lost 4-0 to Merstham.

Ahead of the 2016/17 season, the G’s were transferred back to the Isthmian Division One South but ended the season bottom of the table and were relegated back to the Combined Counties League.

Worse was to follow as, after just one season, the Gs finished 20th out of 22 teams and went down to Division One where they currently stand.

Great Wakering Rovers was originally formed in 1919 by soldiers demobbed after the First World War and finding employment in the local brickfields.

Rovers first played in one of Southend's oldest leagues, the Southend & District League, where they stayed until 1982.

A move into the new Third Division of the Essex intermediate League came in 1989 before winning promotion to Division Two and then joining the Essex Senior League in 1992.

After finishing second in 1998/99, Rovers were promoted to the Isthmian League`s Division Three, again ending in second spot in their first campaign at that level behind East Thurrock United but ahead of the likes of Hornchurch and Lewes.

Decent performances followed in Division Two and then in 2002, the Isthmian League re-organised and Rovers found themselves in a new-look Division One North, finishing mid-table but more than holding their own in what was a very competitive league.

In 2003 the club were embroiled in a relegation fight, although this was won convincingly as Rovers finished 15 points ahead of the relegation zone.

A further nom-League re-organisation in 2004 saw the club switch to the Southern League Eastern Division.

The first season as a Southern League club was a struggle and, in a division won comprehensively by Fisher Athletic, Rovers ended up third-from-bottom.

Rovers only missed relegation by one point due to Erith & Belvedere being deducted three points.

The second campaign Great Wakering fared a little better, finishing 13th as Boreham Wood began their climb up the Pyramid with a goal difference title success, just pipping Corby Town.

For the 2006/07 season, Rovers found themselves in more familiar territory, switching back to the Isthmian Division One North, where they finished 12th.

Two further seasons saw Rovers finish 13th and they stabilised themselves as an Isthmian League club.

That as until 2011/12 when they finished rock-bottom and were sent back to the Essex Senior League.

But in 2014, they won the Essex Senior League title by one point on the final day of the season and were promoted back to the Isthmian League.

Season 2016/17 was probably the most turbulent the club has ever experienced. Seeing two chairmen leave their posts, together with two managers losing their jobs.

In total 71 players were used in the fight against relegation without any success.

As we were finally relegated after two seasons at Step 4, returning to the Essex Senior League once more.

However, under manager Iain O’Connell`s second spell in charge, the club won the league at the first attempt, earning promotion back to the re-named North Division of the Isthmian League where they remain today.

Hanwell Town may be based in the West London suburb of Perivale, but they were formed in the nearby suburb of Hanwell, as their name would suggest, in 1920, by group of exiled Newcastle United fans working in the area.

And it is believed that this explains the black and white striped colours which are still used today.

They soon joined the London League, which saw football of a pretty high standard back between the wars but after the Second World War, the club reformed, playing in the Dauntless League where they climbed up through the divisions earning promotion in four successive seasons.

Whilst remaining in the Dauntless League with a third XI, the club switched allegiance to the Harrow Wembley & District League where they remained until 1969/1970.

During their period in the Harrow & Wembley League, the club reached no less than eight cup finals in various league and county competitions and each time finished on the losing side!

From 1970, Hanwell started their climb up the nom-League ladder by joining the Middlesex County League.

Regular promotions soon saw them battle their way up to the prestigious Spartan League in the early 1980s.

They immediately won the Senior Division to gain promotion to the Premier Division where they remained until the amalgamation of the Spartan League with the South Midlands League in 1997/98.

During this period the club enjoyed considerable cup success, winning the London Senior Cup in 1991/92 and 1992/93 and being losing finalists in 1993/94.

They also reached the final of the Spartan League Cup in 1993/94 and after drawing with Willesden Hawkeye at The Valley - home of Charlton Athletic - they were beaten in the replay at the start of the following season.

In 1992/93 they reached the final of the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup where they lost to Harrow Borough at Uxbridge after extra-time and reached the final of the same competition in 2000/01 when they were again beaten, this time by Ashford Town (Middx).

In 2004/05, the club led the Premier Division for much of the season only to suffer a dramatic loss of form in the final weeks of the season which allowed Potters Bar Town to finish as comfortable league winners with Hanwell in second place.

In season 2005/06, with promotion to Step 4 a key objective, the club managed to finish in third place, just edging out Harefield United on goal difference.

Two-thirds of the way through that season Ray Duffy resigned and was replaced as joint managers by his former assistant Danny Vincent and former player Pat Gavin.

Third place enabled Hanwell to win promotion to the Southern League Division One South & West for the 2006/07 season.

However, their stay in the Southern League only lasted one season as they finished second-from-bottom and were relegated back to the Spartan South Midlands League.

During their stay in the Southern League, Hanwell parted company with the management team of Vincent and Gavin with the reins being taken over by former striker Chris Boothe, who himself resigned at the end of the 2007/08 season.

After up and down seasons back in the SSML, season 2013/14 turned out be the most successful in the club's history as they won the league title by a margin of 14 points over Ampthill Town.

They were beaten just once in their 42 games, drawing 6 and winning the other 35 with a goal difference of 91, having found the net 127 times and conceding just 36.

They also reached the Fifth Round of the FA Vase for the first time in their history, losing 3-1 to league rivals Ampthill after extra-time, having had to play their Fourth Round tie against Ashford Town (Middx) just 36 hours earlier.

Promoted back to the Southern League Central Division, the 2014/15 season proved to be another very successful one for the club as playing at their highest ever level and aware that there only previous season as a Step 4 club had resulted in immediate relegation, they not only held their own but finished in seventh place, just outside of the play-offs.

They also reached the final of the Middlesex Senior Cup for the first time in their history - a penalty in the final minutes proving to be a 1-0 defeat to Harrow Borough.

Unfortunately, manager Ray Duffy tendered his resignation at the end of the season so the club started afresh in season 2015/16 under the managerial reins of Phil Granville, a former player and manager of Uxbridge and more recently manager at Harefield United.

However, things did not work out as expected and Granville was relieved of his duties at around Christmas and Duffy, fresh from his break, returned to take up the reins.

It proved to be a stressful run into the end of the season and only two 1-0 wins in the space of 48 hours against Uxbridge and Ware respectively prevented the club from being relegated.

With the management team having had the time to rebuild the squad over the close season, the 2016/17 season proved to be one in which the club held a relatively comfortable mid-table position throughout, and hopes were high that 2017/18 would see the club finish higher up the table.

However, it was not to be with the club finishing too close to the bottom of the table for comfort.

At the end of the season, manager Ray Duffy, who had been involved in 997 games for the club as either a player or a manager, tendered his resignation and the club commenced the 2018/19 season with joint managers in Chris Moore and Wayne Carter.

They were switched to the Isthmian League South Central Division where they have remained ever since.

Think of Harlow Town and its famous FA Cup runs such as in 1979/80 when the Isthmian League Premier Division club made it right through to the Fourth Round that one recalls.

The Hawks had to start out in the Preliminary Round but wins against Lowestoft Town, Hornchurch, Bury Town, Harwich & Parkeston, Margate, Leytonstone-Ilford, Southend United earned Harlow a Third Round tie with Leicester City at Filbert Street.

Over 20,000 saw Martin Henderson stabbed home from close range midway through the first half t give Leicester the lead but Neil Prosser scored a sensational late equaliser to stun the home crowd and earn the Hawks a money-spinning replay.

Close to 10,000 fans packed into the Sportscentre to see the team pull off a stunning 1-0 victory, courtesy of John Mackenzie, against a Leicester side including the likes of a teenage Gary Lineker and managed by Scottish hardman Jock Wallace.

That earned the club a Fourth Round tie away to Watford.

The BBC `Match of the Day` cameras were at Vicarage Road as Harlow eventually bowed out of the competition, although they went down fighting, losing 4-3 to Graham Taylor’s side with a head-bandaged Mackenzie bagging a brace.

A renowned amateur club in its early days, Harlow are one of the oldest clubs in Essex, having been formed in 1879.

The club moved into the Spartan League in 1932 and were granted senior status in 1937, competing in the FA Cup and Essex Senior Cups for the first time.

At this time Harlow had one of the smallest populations for clubs competing at this level - a far cry from today where the population is over 80,000!

Moves into the London, Delphian and Athenian Leagues followed before they joined the Isthmian League in 1973 in its new Division Two.

Harlow spent four seasons at that level before they were moved into Division One, which they won in 1978/79 with 100 points and 14 ahead of second-placed Harrow Borough.

Harlow had more than their fair share of ups and downs, although that 79/80 season which included that marvellous FA Cup run was a highlight.

Promotion was achieved five times, including lifting the Division One and Division Two (North) titles, whilst the club suffered four relegations and had to sit season 1992/93 out after severe financial problems threatened the club’s very existence.

Apart from that, Harlow were members of the Isthmian League for 31 years until the re-structuring of the non-League Pyramid saw the club switch to the Southern League Division One East in 2004.

The Hawks finished 15th in 2004/05 and 9th in 2005/06 after which time that were placed back in the Isthmian League where they remain today in the South Central Division.

Hythe Town was formed in 1910, although football in the town can be traced back into the previous century.

The club joined the Folkestone & District League and after the First World War had some success, four championships and only once outside the top three in fourteen seasons.

They moved up into the Kent Amateur League in 1936 and were promoted into Division One before the Second World War intervened.

The 1950s and 60s saw little league success but that changed in the early 1970s with three successive league titles and a Kent Junior Cup win.

Hythe were granted senior status and elected into the Kent League in 1977, playing at the newly acquired Reachfields, an old army sports ground on the edge of the town’s firing ranges.

The club were runners-up in the Kent League on three occasions, but it was not until property developer Tony Walton took over as chairman in February 1988 that things really started to happen.

That summer saw the ground developed to Southern League standard and the chairman proved to be a high-profile character who attracted much media attention with his high spending on the ground and team.

Town won the 1988/89 Kent League title by 14 points and set a league record of 133 goals, gaining promotion to the Southern League South Division.

The next season saw another promotion as the main aim, but the club’s great run to the FA Vase semi-finals handicapped their league ambitions, with four games a week at times, and a sixth-place finish.

Hythe lost out to the eventual Vase winners Yeading, winning the home leg 3-2 in front of the club’s record attendance of 2,147, but cruelly losing the second leg 2-0 with the crucial goal coming from a big deflection.

They did win the Eastern Professional Floodlight Cup at their first attempt.

The following season was very similar, topping the South Division table in November but runs in four cups again caused fixture congestion and a final placing of eighth.

Hythe lost out to Trowbridge Town in a Vase quarter-final second replay, lost to Chelmsford City over two legs in the Southern League Cup final, but won the Kent Senior Trophy and retained the Eastern Professional Floodlight Cup and that season the club played an amazing 73 games - 40 in the league and 33 cup ties!

In 1991/92 Hythe again topped the table in the early months but the money was beginning to run out.

With little cup success, the exit from the Vase at Evesham United in February 1992 saw many of the team sold and their replacements could only finish 13th.

Hythe did reach the final of the Kent Senior Cup, losing in extra-time to Bromley at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium.

That match proved to be Tony Walton’s last game, and he put the club into liquidation soon after and the club dropped out of the Southern League and folded.

Supporters rallied round and entered a scratch side as Hythe United into the following season’s Kent County League and negotiated continued use of Reachfields Stadium.

After three seasons the club regained senior status and in 1995 were elected back into the Kent League but the club would struggle for a number of seasons in the wrong half of the table.

In 2001 Hythe dropped the `United` suffix, reverting to `Town` and in November 2002 appointed Paul Fisk as manager.

That proved a turning point and regular top six finishes in the Kent League was followed by a title win in 2010/11 when they were placed in the Isthmian League Division One South.

And, apart from 2014/15 when the team struggled to 16th spot, they have maintained a top ten finish in every season since then.

Ilford are another club heaped in amateur traditions, having been winners of the FA Amateur Cup in 1928/29 and 1929/30 and runners-up in 1935/36, 1957/58 and in its last ever final in 1973/74.

They also had two spells as a Southern League club – albeit some 109 years apart!

The original Ilford club was established in 1881 by a group of teenagers and became founder members of the Southern League in 1894.

However, they only played in the 1894/95 and 1895/96 seasons before becoming founder members of the London League.

And Ilford became founder members of a third league in 1905 when the Isthmian League came into being.

Apart from the two World Wars, Ilford remained members of the Isthmian League until 1979, when the club merged with Leytonstone to form Leytonstone & Ilford.

A new Ilford club was formed and had four years in the Spartan League before switching to the Essex Senior League in 1996.

Apart from the second season in their new surroundings, Ilford finished in the top ten and in 2003/04, they finished runners-up to Concord Rangers and were handed a place back in the Isthmian League Division Two.

The major restructuring of the non-League Pyramid saw Ilford, along with several other Essex clubs, moved to the Southern League in 2005/06.

It proved to be a difficult season as they finished second-from-bottom but were switched back to the new Isthmian League North the following season where they remained until 2012/13 when they ended up rock bottom of the table an d were relegated back to the Essex Senior League where they remain.