The Wedding Cake

AFC Totton  1  Gosport Borough  1

Southern League – Premier Division South

Admission / Programme - £14 / £3

It seems like yesterday, but by my reckoning, it was close on twenty five years ago…….

My Mum and Dad dropped me at Derby Railway Station, and I was about to embark on an adventure, an adventure that hopefully would see the start of a new career in financial services.

I’d decided to make the move from the wholly unpleasant World of the automotive component supply chain, and into the exciting sphere that was becoming a financial adviser. As part of that I had to go on a training course, in Bournemouth.

A week in Bournemouth, in a hotel, paid for by Abbey Life, and of course, they had bought the train tickets. I was still living at home with the folks, so after a hearty Sunday lunch, it was time to go, nervous, but excited……

It proved to be a good move, and despite a couple of early setbacks (like being made redundant by Abbey Life), I remain in the game, having served nearly 24 years with my current employers. But, you might ask, what has this got to do with AFC Totton?

Right, so the train to Bournemouth followed a route that went via Oxford, Reading, Winchester and Southampton. I had a lovely time, looking out of the window at places I’d never seen before, but then as the train pulled out of Southampton, on the final leg of my journey, to my right was a football ground, and the signage on the stand roof made it clear who it belonged to, AFC Totton.

I’ve never forgotten it, and when it was announced that in 2011 the club were to move to a new stadium, it all came flooding back, I may have seen the former home of AFC Totton from afar, but in reality, I was never going to pay it a visit.

My dealings with Southampton have been minimal over the years. I never got to the old Dell home of Southampton, I once got part way on a supporters coach to watch Derby County but it got called off. I made it to St Mary’s in recent years as part of the 92 escapade, while I also got to Eastleigh when post 92, I decided to polish off the next couple of levels, but otherwise, nothing, it was largely unchartered territory.

The road to conquest all of the English pyramid down to the eighth tier is at a stage now where the end is in sight, the number is now below thirty, and pretty much every single one is a three hour or more trip to get to.

I’d been glancing through the fixtures, looking at the map, and trying to work out a destination for the final Saturday in January, weather permitting of course. The weather forecast was indeed a good one, and to be honest, I’ve been getting a little bit fed up of the M1 / M25 runs of late, so I fancied something a bit different.

The AFC Totton v Gosport Borough game jumped out at me for a few reasons. Firstly, it would be change in terms of the journey (and hopefully not as painful), secondly it would be two teams fighting in the play-off zone of the Southern League Premier Division South, but thirdly, most intriguingly, it was a Southampton v Portsmouth clash, or Scummers v Skates is it’s known locally, and would it be as tribal as the main event?

That was it then, the M40, Oxford, Newbury, Winchester and the M27 beckoned, this was very much one to look forward to. The journey was very comfortable it has to be said, every single road behaved itself, and I must admit while I do find the M40 a bit tedious, the A34 is more of an enjoyable drive in terms of scenery and landmarks. Winchester was bypassed nice and easily and within a matter of minutes the M3 was cutting through Eastleigh and the end was in sight just a bit further Westbound down the M27.

Totton is on the Western edges of Southampton, with the next stop effectively being the New Forest. While the old ground was right in the centre of the town (it is a town in it’s own right), the new stadium is on the Northern edges, adjacent to an industrial estate and less than a couple of miles from the motorway junction.

Upon arrival I was directed to the said industrial estate for parking, which to be fair was only a five minute walk at most from the ground, and as it was nice and early, it gave me plenty of time for a little explore of the place. Walking round the perimeter of the Snows Stadium (Testwood Park), the turnstiles behind the West goal were not yet open, but not to worry, a walk into the clubs main entrance adjacent saw me able to gain admission and then make my way into the clubhouse, from where you could get into the ground itself.

The ground is impressive, the club house, offices and dressing rooms sit on the North side of the ground with a tall but relatively narrow seated stand straddling the half way line. Either side of the stand towards each corner flag are areas of open terracing, while again, behind both goals are areas of uncovered terracing running the full width of the pitch.

The side opposite the main stand (South) again has two areas of uncovered terracing, but in between them is a low roofed seated stand with the TV gantry area erected above it. Despite having seen the previous midweek game called off due to a waterlogged pitch, the pitch, after a few days of benign weather, looked absolutely fine. The ground is shared with Southampton FC Ladies and Southampton FC B team, so it does get some wear and tear. Interestingly as well, right behind the ground is another ground on what is effectively the same complex, the home of Totton & Eling who are members of the Wessex League.

What’s the craic with AFC Totton then?

Well the AFC actually stands for ‘Amalgamated Football Club’, because they were formed as a merger between Totton and Totton Athletic, the two having got together in 1975. The new club took the place of Totton who were plying their trade in the Hampshire League.

They remained in the Hampshire League, playing at Testwood Park (the one I saw from the train), finishing either top or runners up in every season from 1980 onwards until they joined the newly formed Wessex League. The Hampshire League success did not translate immediately to the new surroundings, and it wasn’t until the noughties that they became a dominant force again, finally winning the title in 2007-08 and gaining promotion to the Southern League.

The previous season saw them reach the FA Vase Final, only to lose to Truro City as the competition finally returned to Wembley in front of a record crowd for the competition, but the move to Step 4 came with growing momentum. Two consecutive play-off losses in the South West Division saw defeats to Didcot Town and Cirencester Town, but finally in 2010-11 they won the championship and with it promotion to the Premier Division. Incidentally, the promotion season tied in nicely with the move to the new stadium.

A play off defeat to Oxford City the following year saw them miss out on back to back promotions to the National League South, and with that came a gradual slide and two seasons later they were back in Step 4 again.

The club then plateaued somewhat for a few seasons with mid-table finishes, before last time out clinching the South Division title, and with it a return to Step 3 for the current campaign.

A crowd of 1,353 filed into the stadium for the game, with a good number having travelled across the divide. The atmosphere was a good one, boisterous but certainly not threatening, and it was good to see the big City rivalry not to spill over into anything other than banter and chanting.

Gosport took a first half lead through Daniel Wooden when he powered home a header just after the half hour mark, and at that stage the visitors looked to have settled well into the game.

However, the hosts started to gain momentum, and equalised just prior to the hour mark when Samuel Magri fired in a shot from distance that the Gosport goalkeeper should have done far better with. After that it was Totton who were in the ascendancy, and on the balance of play they should really have gone on to win the game, but it wasn’t to be and you felt the visitors were the happier with the point.

The escape was easy, the roads back were fine, and Totton is no longer a memory from the days of travelling to the ‘Wedding Cake’ in Bournemouth (Google it!).