BETVICTOR SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER SOUTH WWW.HARTLEYFC.COMTHEROW VS POOLE TOWN FC 19th NOV 2019 Official Hartley Wintney FC Matchday Programme: £2 HARTLEY WINTNEY FC CLUB HISTORY Hartley Wintney Football Club was to 1986/87; his other clubs included founded in 1897. The club's nickname of Reading, Portsmouth and Aldershot); 'The Row' comes from Hartley Row, a Richard Walden (1985/86 & 1986/87; former hamlet within Hartley Wintney. In formerly with Aldershot, Sheffield Wed the late 1940s and into the 50s playing and Newport County); and Steve Fin- in the Basingstoke League, the club was nieston (1985/86 to 1987/88; previously successful despite having to play on a with Chelsea, Cardiff and Sheffield Utd). farm field with just a small wooden shed; this was Causeway Farm adjacent Within Ian's three years in management, to the village's golf and cricket clubs. the team gained trophies including the Amongst the villagers who ran the club League Title (1982-1983) and Runners was its outstanding secretary, Fred Up (1981-82), Aldershot Senior Cup Cook, who did every job that needed Winners (1980-81), and George Allen doing. Fred Cook's hand written Cup Winners (1981-82). They were also minutes of meetings covering seasons Runners Up in the League Cup (1982- 1948 to 1964 were discovered after his 83) and Aldershot Senior Cup (1981-82). death and make fascinating reading, including the change of During this period a new the club colours from Clubhouse was opened. blue squares to tange- David Willoughby, then rine in July 1956. Secretary and Treasurer, and Bill Mitchell, the then The club moved to its club Chairman and now present ground in President, devoted excep- Green Lane - The Me- tional hours in the embryo morial Ground - in 1953. stages of this venture. A pavilion was erected and the team continued In 2007-08 under manager to play in the Basingstoke League, and Mike Scott, the club gained promotion later in the Aldershot League. to the Combined Counties League Premier Division, but 2008-09 ended in In 1973, Glynn Howell was appointed relegation by a narrow margin. Under Manager. In his six year reign, the team manager and assistant Pete Gray and won the Aldershot Senior League three John Condon, the first team rallied, fin- times in succession, and the Aldershot ishing 5th in CCL Div 1 in 2009-10. Senior Cup. After several seasons in the Coach Louis King then took the reigns Aldershot Senior League, Hartley were as manager, guiding the team to 7th in admitted to the Combined Counties CCL Div 1 in 2010-11. League, which had replaced the Surrey Senior League. A new management team of Neville Roach, assistant Mick Wollen and After the first couple of seasons and two Coach Scott Tarr took charge for 2011- changes of management, the club ap- 12 and it was a notable season with the pointed Ian Bedford as First Team Man- club achieving promotion back to the ager. Once again an influx of senior Combined Counties League Premier players brought Hartley success. Dur- Division. Hartley also had a fine FA Cup ing the 80's these included several nota- run to the Third Qualifying Round. But ble ex-pros: Mick Travers (from 1980/81 the euphoria of promotion was damp- 2 PROUD HAMPSHIRE CLUB SINCE 1897 ened even before the champagne bub- comfortable 9th, after which Dillon bles had burst, when the coaching staff stepped down and Dan Brownlie and and almost the entire squad left en Anthony Millerick were appointed as masse to join Thatcham Town. Joint First Team Managers, with Luke Tuffs coming in as First Team Coach Ex-Millwall defender, Dave Tuttle, was while continuing as Youth Team Manag- given the summer to prepare a new er. It was a very eventful 2015-16. After squad for 2012-13. However, a string of a memorable FA Cup win away at Mer- poor results led to a second change in thyr Town in the Second Qualifying management in less than 4 months, with Round, Hartley battled back from 2-0 24 year-old ex-Basingstoke Town and down to 2-2 away at Conference South Hartley striker, Ben Dillon, given his first Eastbourne Borough, only to be beaten managerial position. Once again there by a goal struck deep in injury time. In was an almost total outflow of players the FA Vase, The Row broke a and Ben, with assistants Jason Minton longstanding club record by reaching and Joe Lawler, set about rebuilding the the 5th Round Proper. In front of a sell- squad, but by this time with Hartley well out 1,300 at Green Lane, eventual final- and truly set adrift at the bottom of the ists Hereford proved too strong, but the table. Their enthusiasm, belief and the Row went on to top the CCL Premier for introduction of a talented group of play- most of the season and claimed the ers quickly restored the spirit around 2015-16 league title, finishing 10 points the club. In what became known as the clear on 106 points. Promotion, howev- season of the club's 'Great Escape', the er, was denied due to ground grading. Row's place in the CCL Premier was secured against all the odds after a truly Faced with attempting to achieve back- remarkable second half of the season. to-back title wins and put in place the substantial ground improvements that Steve Saunders and Dan Brownlie would allow progression, the 2016-17 joined the existing coaching setup and season under co-managers Dan Brown- the 2013-14 season started well. There lie and Anthony Millerick, and coach were wins in the FA Cup to set up a Luke Tuffs, was extraordinary. Pro- home tie in the 4th Qualifying Round for pelled by the goals of strike duo Sam the first time in the club's history, losing Argent and Ross Cook, The Row topped out to Daventry Town in front of a crowd the Combined Counties League Premier of over 1,000. The club finished a cred- Division for the entire season, reached itable 7th in the CCL Premier Division. the semi-finals of the Hampshire County Cup and the final of the Aldershot Sen- A new club crest was commissioned, ior Cup, and secured the required designed by Philippa Bell, incorporating ground grading to take their place in the several elements tracing the village Southern League at Step 4 for the first back to the 13th century when known as time. To top off a wonderful 2016-17, Hertleye Wynteneye, meaning "the Luke Tuffs' Youth team won the Hamp- clearing in the forest where the deer shire FA Youth Cup against a strong graze by Winta's island", hence the tree Aldershot Town U18. and stag motifs. The team took life at Step 4 in their 2014-15 saw the club consolidate its stride and 2017-18 was to prove even place in the CCL Premier, finishing a more remarkable. The Row sat within 3 HARTLEY WINTNEY FC CLUB HISTORY the top four for much of the season, nev- zone, but more astute signings stiffened er dropping below 8th despite the loss the defence and a superb late run saw of key players to other clubs. The man- Hartley finish 8th on 63 points, a hugely agement team responded with some impressive achievement. To remain at astute signings. The Row embarked on the level also required another substan- their first FA Trophy campaign, which tial round of ground grading improve- included wins against higher division ments which stretched the club and its Gosport Borough and Farnborough be- volunteers to the limits, but that too was fore going out in the First Round Proper achieved by the required deadline. The to eventual finalists, Bromley FC. efforts on and off the pitch means Hart- ley Wintney can truly consider itself a As the league campaign risked petering Step 3 club as it prepares for its second out, the signing of Nic Ciardini helped to season in the Southern League Premier keep the momentum going. Hugely im- Division. portant was also the strong central de- fensive partnership of Jack Ball and For season 2019/20, Manager Anthony Liam Eagle. Incredibly, a play-off place Millerick takes sole charge of team se- was secured and the Row won the semi- lection with Dan Turkington no longer in final against AFC Dunstable 2-0. Cam- a position to assist in the capacity of bridge City had triumphed at Hayes & joint manager. After his huge contribu- Yeading FC in the other semi. In front of tion over recent seasons, Head Coach a crowd of over 700 at Green Lane, a Luke Tuffs departed at the end of tense game was decided by a single 2018/19 to begin a managerial career. goal scored by Ciardini and The Row Neil Woodyer joins the coaching staff clinched promotion and made it to the for 2019/20, the back room team com- Southern Premier at Step 3. The final pleted with the introduction of Sports season highlight was in lifting the Alder- Therapist Mark Povey. Hartley Wintney shot Senior Cup with a 4-1 win against Reserves begin a new season in the Eversley & California FC. Suburban League under new manager, Sean Hayes, who captained the A Team Having negotiated the steep climb from in clinching the Aldershot & District Step 5 to Step 3 in just two seasons, it's Football League Senior Division champi- fair to say the club was collectively still onship last season. pinching itself as the first game kicked off in the Evo-Stik League South Prem- ier South, 2018-19 getting off to the best possible start with a 3-1 win away at MEMBER OF: THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE, Poole Town.