Jeff Stelling

Winchester City  1   Swindon Supermarine  6

Southern Football League  – Premier Division South

Admission / Programme - £11 / £2

Every once in a while a football club comes along that flies through the leagues at a pace, and in turn leaves people asking two very pertinent questions.

“How far will they go?” and “When will it all come to an end?”

The first question is a fair and reasonable one, the second question perhaps slightly unfair albeit borne out of a natural cynicism based on previous experiences.

I remember it well, it would have been the early 2000’s and Winchester City were happily trundling along in the Hampshire League, the second tier of that competition I might add. I did find that slightly unusual based on the fact that Winchester is quite a sizable place and I would have expected it to be the home of at least a Wessex League club, if not a Southern League club given the respective population.

Following a merger with neighbours Winchester Castle, and by now in the top flight of the Hampshire, they won promotion from the Premier Division at the end of 2002-03 season and with it gained an elevation to the aforementioned Wessex League. The ambitious new board at the club were determined to take the club forward.

The pace continued, they won the Wessex at the first attempt, but not only that, they shot to national prominence by beating AFC Sudbury in the FA Vase Final at Birmingham City. It was at this point that people were starting to sit up and look at the club, and wonder just what might be about to develop.

Promotion to the Southern League didn’t arrive though, the ground didn’t meet the requisite grading, so the following season they went again, this time finishing runners-up to Lymington & New Milton. Not to worry though, the following year they did clinch the top spot once again and with it were elected to the Southern League in readiness for the 2006-07 season.

It was at this point that things started to wobble though, with many thinking they might go on again and push for a further promotion, two mid-table finishes and a bottom place in 2008-09 saw them back in the Wessex League…..the cynics were now crowing! Financially things were also looking a little ropy.

It took three more seasons, but they returned to the Southern League, this time going straight back down again, finishing bottom having conceded over one hundred goals. So as we moved into the 2013-14 season, once again, it was Wessex League football. However, with a new board in place, financially things were looking much more stable.

By 2015-16 they were back again, and this time they’ve stayed, producing better league table positions each year for three seasons until Covid hit, but, with a fourth placed finish last year, they won 4-1 at Cirencester in the Play Off semi final, before another 4-1 victory in the final, this time at home to Bristol Manor Farm.

So, we are in the 2022-23 season and Winchester sit at Step 3, a level that many would have thought the club would have got to some years before now, but these things take time, and money of course. It’s been a rollercoaster, and in fairness, those who cast a cynical eye over the club and wondered if a boom and bust period was about to envelop the club, were probably right to a certain extent, although thankfully the bust was more of a significant blip than full scale implosion.

I’ve had Winchester City on the radar all season, but now was the time to pay them a visit, it was a pretty benign day on the weather front, and with play-off contenders Swindon Supermarine in town, I thought it might be an interesting encounter.

The journey was completely hassle free, the A34 ran perfectly all the way down from the M40 and the Northern edges of Winchester were hit in less than three hours from blighty. The ground itself is on Hillier Way in the Abbots Barton suburb of the City on the Northern edges, so sadly you don’t get to pass through what I understand is a very attractive centre with it’s cathedral and all things historical. Jeff Stelling lives in Winchester apparently?

The approach to the ground takes you through an area of housing until finally after a few left and right turns you find yourself on the approach road which is shared with the Rugby Union club. Plenty of parking can be had at the ground, which from a footprint point of view, is quite a size.

Once through the turnstiles, which sit behind the North goal, you have the dressing rooms and a clubhouse immediately to your left. Moving round in a clockwise fashion you’ve got a tea bar, a club shop and then a seated Atcost style stand on the half way line. You cannot access the area behind the South goal, but moving round to the East side a shallow area of flat covered standing sits behind the dug outs, and looks to be remaining from the old Hampshire League days.

Finally, behind the North goal, just before the turnstiles, is a small area of covered terrace, which again looks to come from the stable whereby it arrives on the back of a lorry readily constructed and has to be then lowered into place!

So onto the game then. It didn’t go very well for Winchester to be fair, in fact it went pretty disastrously if I’m honest.

James Harding had put the visitors two goals up inside the first seven minutes before Conor McDonagh made it 3-0 just after the ten minute mark. The game was now effectively done and a shell shocked Winchester managed to get through to half time without conceding any more goals.

The hosts started the second half quite brightly and pulled a goal back through Warren Bentley, but then Tyrone Duffus scored on 57 minutes while Harding completed his hat-trick two minutes later. The sixth and final goal came a few minutes after the hour mark from James Edge.

247 paid to watch the event, with a decent number having journeyed over from Swindon. They won’t have many easier away days this season, if at all. Also watching the game was former Leicester City, Pompey and Cambridge United striker Steve Claridge, presumably taking a break from his BBC punditry duties, or, going a week too early in terms of supporting Gary Lineker!

Winchester still have a bit to do to secure Step 3 status for another season, but for now, they are probably quite happy to be competing at this level, a level that looked a given all those years ago, but proved to be a lot tougher to actually get to than many first thought….