Bedford Town It Seems an Eternity Since We Last Played
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HARTLEY WINTNEY FC HISTORY Hartley Wintney Football Club History Hartley Wintney Football Club was founded in the North Hampshire village of Hartley Wintney in 1897 and played in an area adjacent to the village's golf and cricket clubs, the facilities not quite being up to today's standard, with only a horse trough or the pond to remove the heavy mud from a sub-standard pitch. The Club's nickname of 'The Row' comes from 'Hartley Row', a former hamlet within Hartley Wintney. In 1953, the club moved to its present ground in Green Lane, known as 'The Memorial Ground'. A pavilion was erected and the team played in the Basingstoke League and, later, in the Aldershot League. In 1973, an influx of players under new manager Glynn Howell put the club firmly on the local football map. In his six year reign, the team won the Aldershot Senior League three times in succession, and the Aldershot Senior Cup. After several seasons in the Aldershot Senior League, Hartley were admitted to the Combined Counties League (previously Surrey Senior League). After the first couple of seasons and two changes of management, the club appointed Ian Bedford, and once again an influx of senior players brought Hartley success. Within his three years in man- agement, they gained trophies including the League Title (1982-1983) and Runners Up (1981-1982), Aldershot Senior Cup Winners (1980-1981), and George Allen Cup Win- ners (1981-1982). They were also Runners Up in the League Cup (1982-1983) and Al- dershot Senior Cup (1981-1982). The club gained promotion from Division One of the Combined Counties League in 2007-08 under manager Mike Scott, but 08-09 began poorly and, despite a change of management, the season ended in relegation by a narrow margin. Under the manage- ment team of Pete Gray and John Condon, the first team rallied in 09-10, finishing 5th in CCL Div. 1, and 7th in season 10-11 under manager Louis King after Pete Gray had stepped down for family reasons. The 2011-12 season under manager Neville Roach, Assistant Mick Wollen and Coach Scott Tarr was a notable one for the club as they again achieved promotion to the Com- bined Counties League Premier Division, as well as having a fine FA Cup run that took them to the Third Qualifying Round. However, end-of-season celebrations were damp- ened when the coaching staff left to join Thatcham Town. The entire squad bar two players departed, so new manager Dave Tuttle was faced with the task of rebuilding a squad competitive enough for the CCL Premier. A string of poor results led to a second change in management in less than 4 months, with 24 year-old ex-Hartley player, Ben Dillon, given his first managerial position already deep into the 2012-13 season. Once again there was an almost total outflow of players from Tuttle's squad, and Ben, with assistants Jason Minton and Joe Lawler, set about rebuilding the squad, but by this time with Hartley set well adrift at the bottom of the table. The introduction of a talented group of players restored the spirit around the club, and in what became known as the club's 'Great Escape' season, Hartley Wintney's place in the CCL Premier was secured against all the odds after a truly remarkable second half of the season. HARTLEY WINTNEY FC HISTORY Ben further strengthened the squad for 2013-14, with Steve Saunders and player/coach Dan Brownlie brought in to the coaching setup alongside Jason and Joe. The season started well and there were notable wins in the FA Cup on a run that took the club to the 4th Qualifying Round for the first time in its history. The cup run took its toll on league form but the club finished a creditable 7th in the Premier Division. After a comfortable 9th place finish in 2014-15, Ben Dillon stepped down and Dan Brownlie and Anthony Millerick were appointed Joint First Team Managers, alongside coaches Joe Lawler and Luke Tuffs. With strong additions to the playing squad, it was an eventful 2015-16 season. After a memorable 1-0 win away at Southern League Mer- thyr Town in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, Hartley took Conference South Eastbourne Borough to the wire, losing out to an injury time winner. In the FA Vase, a longstanding club record was broken by reaching the 5th Round Proper played in front of a sell-out 1,300 at Green Lane against the eventual finalists, Hereford FC. And de- spite the cup commitments, the club topped the CCL Premier Division for most of the season and claimed the 2015-16 league title. Promotion, however, was denied due to ground grading issues. Faced with huge challenges on and off the pitch - to achieve back-to-back title wins and put in place the necessary ground improvements to take advantage of any second op- portunity for promotion - the 2016-17 season was perhaps the club's best yet, topping the Combined Counties League Premier Division for the entire season, reaching the semi-finals of the Hampshire senior county cup and the final of the Aldershot Senior Cup, and securing the required ground grading to allow the club to take its place in The Evo-Stik (Southern) League South; the first time in its history that the club has made it to Step 4 of the English football pyramid. To top off a wonderful 2016-17 season, our young Youth team won the Hampshire FA Youth Midweek Floodlit Cup, winning on penalties against a strong Aldershot Town U18. Hartley Wintney FC has come a long way, from 'village side' in every sense of the term, to today's 7 days a week modern football club. The football club has established a clear line of progression for young players with the establishment of an U18 Youth setup, currently playing in the Allied Counties Youth League, a Reserve team playing in the Suburban League, and an A Team playing in the Aldershot & District Football League. MEMBER OF: THE EVO-STIK LEAGUE SOUTH THE SUBURBAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE THE ALDERSHOT & DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE THE ALLIED COUNTIES YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE AFFILIATED TO THE HAMPSHIRE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION WELCOME TO HARTLEY WINTNEY FC EVO STIK SOUTH, EAST DIVISION Hartley Wintney v Bedford Town It seems an eternity since we last played. Recent Kick Off: 3.00pm results for the Row have not been too favoura- ble. We managed a 2 all draw away to Uxbridge Saturday 06 January 2018 and suffered a 3-1 defeat at Northwood. Since Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome then our home fixture v Marlow on Boxing Day to the Memorial Ground Hartley Wintney for this fell foul of the weather as did the New Year’s league clash against Bedford Town. To all their play- Day much anticipated derby clash against Fleet ers, officials and supporters we extend a warm wel- Town. come and hope you enjoy your short stay with us Since the last programme issue we have had the here at Hartley Wintney. epic FA Trophy encounter where we just fell Honours were even when the two sides met back in short of causing an upset against Bromley. I October courtesy of a 1 all draw. Hartley’s goal that thought that we were superb as a team and that day was scored by Liam Eagles. Our visitors today are stems from the management through to the currently fourteenth in the league with 28 points players and the volunteers who made the whole from 22 games. A look at their recent results and the day go smoothly. names of their opponents only emphasises the size The day should not be consigned to the annals of our task today. without a huge mention to the Hartley support- Bedford Town current form: ers who turned out to cheer the boys on. The Club appreciate your support as do the players. Dunstable 1 v 0 Bedford 28/11/2017 The Lacey/Dboy choir chirped up in the second half and who knows they might soon be joined Moneyfields 2 v 0 Bedford 02/12/2017 by Matalan Mick Reynolds. Bedford 0 v 1 Hanwell 09/12//2017 Your support for the football team is fantastic. Bedford T 0 v 2 Uxbridge 23/12/2017 Please also support the club house. We are open Cambridge City 5 v 1 Bedford T 26/12/2017 in the week so why not pop in and watch the football on the big screen? Like ourselves Bedford are short of match time since the festive period so today’s game is guaranteed to be com- As always please get behind the boys today. petitive as both sides look to get back into the routine. v BEDFORD TOWN 06 JANUARY 2018 HARTLEY WINTNEY FOOTBALL CLUB CLUB OFFICIALS SEASON 2017-2018 PRESIDENT: William Mitchell VICE PRESIDENT: Nick Vint CHAIRMAN: Luke Mullen VICE CHAIRMAN: Steve Noakes HON. LIFE VICE PRESIDENTS: Dennis Burgess, David Willoughby, Paddy White, Luke Mullen LIFE VICE PRESIDENT: Brian Barnard VICE PRESIDENTS: Derek Ames, Len Ashby, Ian Bedford, Ann Byelong, Mick Clarke, Lisa Collins, Neil Doody, Paula Flanders, Andrew Harris, Frank Kenton, David Lenthal, Margaret Lewington,Bob Major, Mark Porter, Mike Roberts, Janet Richardson, Niall Scott, Linda Scott, Josie Shipman, Ray Shipman, Andy Spiers, Chris Stanley, Roy Stimpson, Trudy Stimpson, Roger Taplin, Babe Trim- mer, Nick Vint, Elizabeth Webb, Anthony White, David Willoughby & Gerry Wykes TREASURER: Colin Charlton HONORARY SECRETARY: Elayne Duddridge MATCH SECRETARY: Gerry Wykes UNDER 18s SECRETARY: Luke Mullen BAR SECRETARY: Paddy White MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: Jeremy Fox/Sue Trimmer SOCIAL SECRETARY: Vacant COMMITTEE: Ann Byelong, Dave Williams, Brendan Devlin, Vicki Ta- plin, James Taplin, Jeremy Fox, Ian Brownlie, Paul Wilkins .