We are the HawksA brief history of Havant and Waterlooville FCRevised August 2010The Past
Of course the story doesn’t start with the June 1998 merger; the origins of the club’s predecessors date back over 100 years. Local football in the borough started back in 1883 with the formation of Havant FC. The team plied their trade in the Portsmouth Football League and in the 1950s produced Chelsea and England forward Bobby Tambling. In 1969 the club merged with Leigh Park FC; Sunday League upstarts from a Havant suburb formed in 1958 who that season had won the FA Sunday Cup. Havant and Leigh Park FC topped the Portsmouth League at their first attempt, and moved into the Fourth Division of the Hampshire League in 1970. Rapid promotions continued, and in 1977 the team reached the First Division. A spartan home at their Front Lawn pitch inhibited further progress, and the club acquired the site for Westleigh Park in 1980. It took two years for the ground to be levelled, drained, enclosed, and a clubhouse built, but eventually in August 1982 the renamed Havant Town FC moved into their new home.
Waterlooville FC meanwhile came into existence in 1905, and progressed through the Waterlooville District, Portsmouth and Hampshire Leagues to take up residence in the Southern League twenty years before Havant in 1971. The league reorganised itself in the late 70s after the formation of the Football Conference, and Waterlooville narrowly missed winning the Southern Division in 1981, despite putting together a 31 match unbeaten run. Waterlooville yo-yoed back and forth between the Southern and Premier Divisions through the 1980s and in 1987 won the league cup with a 2-1 victory over Hednesford Town. In 1993 the team finished in 11th place in the Premier, their highest ever position, but in the following years relegation and money problems made further title bids impossible. It was these financial woes that led Waterlooville into considering a merger with rivals Havant Town, who were trying to overcome problems of their own in 1997 after the unexpected departure of Manager Tony Mount to Newport Isle of Wight with many of the team’s key players. Joining Forces
Shrewd player purchasing meant the 2002/03 season saw the most impressive side the club had fielded to that date, reflected in an FA Cup First Round appearance at Dagenham and Redbridge followed by a tremendous FA Trophy run that took the Hawks past Billericay Town, Sutton United, Colwyn Bay and Hayes before the game of the season at Forest Green Rovers. To be in the quarter final of the FA Trophy was something no Hawks fan would have dared dream about; the side having only previously made it as far as the third round. Rovers took an early lead, but with an astonishing second half performance the Hawks made a superb comeback to win 2-1 and go on to bow out to league leaders Tamworth in the semi-final.
Leworthy’s tenure ended suddenly in November 2004 after a poor sequence of results and club director Ian Baird was installed within a week as his replacement; the ex-Southampton, Portsmouth and Leeds striker having been a candidate when the position became vacant eleven months earlier. Uncertainty remained in the side as Baird began to make changes, and the Hawks continued to drop down the table to find a new first in February 2005 when they found themselves propping up the bottom of the league. A rapid turnover of players followed as Baird tried and failed to find a winning formula over the following two seasons, resulting ultimately in the side’s fourth place finish in May 2007. A two legged playoff semi-final against Braintree followed, in which the Iron eventually triumphed on penalties in front of their home crowd. Prior to the 2006/07 season the club announced a three-year six-figure sponsorship deal with brewing giants Carlsberg, now extended to six, backed by a total rejuvenation of the clubhouse at Westleigh Park, which has now taken its place in the local community as a fully functioning public house. Gale’s Wind of Change
His first real task in the job was to overcome Fleet Town in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup as the Hawks looked for a second consecutive first round appearance, having lost 2-1 to Millwall at Fratton Park the season preceding. With mission accomplished, the astonishing FA Cup run went on and on past Leighton Town, York City and Notts County until the Hawks began to gain national prominence with a Third Round tie against League One leaders Swansea City. A two legged affair followed, with Rocky Baptiste’s equaliser at the Liberty Stadium setting up a replay at Westleigh Park watched by 4,400 fans in which the Swans were outplayed and sent back to Wales with a 4-2 defeat, much to the delight of the media. Cup fever gripped the town when the Fourth Round draw handed the Hawks a trip to face European giants Liverpool, and 21 coaches helped move 6,000 Hawks fans to Anfield on January 26th 2008. An attendance of 42,566 watched as the non-league minnows shook the Kop and took the lead twice against the Reds before the inevitable defeat that seemed almost irrelevant after the magical journey the cup run had created.
In the same season the Hawks also beat Conference Premier sides Lewes and Crawley Town to reach the quarter finals of the FA Trophy, where York City took revenge for their 2007/08 dismissal from the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory at Kit-Kat Crescent. Behind the scenes the club has continued to improve its facilities and standing in the local area. The Community programme, which involves local schools and children in football, has gone from strength to strength, and in financially uncertain times, the money generated from the FA Cup runs has helped to ensure the club now stands debt free. Improvements to Westleigh Park continue through every summer, and the ground now boasts new conference suites and a hospitality room overlooking the pitch. The main stand has also been extended, taking the seated capacity of the ground to 642. Disappointment with performance in the league at the end of the 2008/09 season led to a major clearout of players over the following summer, leaving the Hawks with a leaner side bolstered by tried and tested Conference Premier signings that included Sam Pearce, Manny Williams and Mustafa Tiryaki.
New signings in the Spring brought the steadying hand of former Arsenal midfielder Ian Selley in from Dorchester, Jon McDonald from Hampton and Richmond, and the dynamism of Aldershot’s Bobby Hopkinson – helping to resurrect a side that then lost just three of their last 21 games. Ultimately the Hawks finished one point shy of a playoff place, surprising many other sides in the league. With his side very much in the ascendancy, Shaun Gale was reluctant to interfere with a winning formula and during the summer added just one new major signing in the form of former Portsmouth midfielder Sammy Igoe. The Hawks continued to bowl over opposition in the pre-season when they hammered Doncaster Rovers’s first team 5-0 in the Joma South-West Cup, and went on to play newly promoted Premiership side Blackpool in the final, narrowly losing 3-2. Having missed the playoffs by one win three times in the last five seasons, as well as having reached the semi-finals once, the Hawks have become seen as perennial underachievers in the Blue Square South. This season however the side will pick up directly from where they left off in April, looking once and for all to prove themselves the title contenders they have always aspired to be. |
