WCFC V Gosport Borough FC Tuesday 4Th September 2018 Evo-Stik League Challenge Cup
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THE CITIZENS POST WCFC v Gosport Borough FC Tuesday 4th September 2018 Evo-Stik League Challenge Cup Winchester City Football Club is a committee run members club and as such is an unincorporated association. THE CITIZENS POST FROM THE BOARDROOM Good Evening All and welcome to tonight’s game in the Evo-Stik League Challenge Cup. Our visitors this evening are Gosport Borough who make the short journey up the M27 tonight. We would like to issue a warm welcome to the Players, Officials and Supporters that have made the journey from Gosport and we hope you enjoy your evening with us and have a safe journey home. On the pitch since the last time we went to press, City made it four unbeaten in the league this season and five unbeaten as we came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home to Melksham Town. Joe Cook netted his second of the campaign and Simba Mlambo scored the equaliser. Both sides had chances to win the game but after being two goals behind, it was yet another rousing comeback from Craig Davis’ side. The Citizens will travel to Frome Town on Saturday 8th September in the First Qualifying Round. The club is running a coach to Frome and details of this can be found on the following link: http://wcfcfans.proboards.com/thread/3896/coach-cup-frome-town-september Thank-you all for your continued support. The Players, Managers and Officials really appreciate it! #youcitizens THE CITIZENS POST DAVO’S DIARY Good evening and a warm welcome to our visitors Gosport Borough for tonight’s league cup tie, will be great to see their management Craig McAllister and my old mate Matty Tubbs who have done a great job getting them back on track after a tough few years. I wish all their players, staff and supporters a pleasant evening with us. It’s been another eventful weekends football for us, a 2-2 draw with a fellow unbeaten side after being 2-0 down was in the end fairly creditable and the performance after a poor start was at times very good! Our goals came from Joe Cook and Simba Mlambo both of whom have had brilliant starts to the season so was pleased for them to get their goals. All in all it’s been a great start to the season, 10 points out of 12 and safely negotiating a bruising FA cup match, we couldn’t have asked for much more, there is however room for improvement and we will be doing our best to work with the players to bring the very best out of them, they are a smashing group of lads and we will keep pushing them. Tonight’s the first of 2 cup games this week, there is no doubt this game will take on a lesser significance to Saturday’s, we will be making numerous changes as I am sure Gosport will do, however it is still going to serve a great purpose to us with plenty of players getting minutes and a lot of our excellent youngsters getting valuable experience, for that this game will be fantastic for us and we look forward to the challenge. After tonight we have Frome Town on Saturday in the FA cup which is a huge game for us, it’s a tough one against a side who just won 2 on the bounce in the league above, we have watched them though and will be doing our very best on Saturday, any support you can give will as always be greatly appreciated. Enjoy the game tonight and let’s hope for a good performance from the lads. Up the citizens! Davo THE CITIZENS POST TODAY’S VISITORS – GOSPORT BOROUGH FC CLUB HISTORY Gosport Borough Athletic Club as the club were originally known, were formed just two weeks after D-Day in 1944. However, despite their 70-year history, the club have really made a name for themselves in the last 8 years. Despite winning the Hampshire League at their first attempt in 1945/46, dropping “Athletic” in the 1960s, and over the decades being a major force in county football, silverware was rare at Privett Park and the Championship was not realised again until back-to-back titles in 1976/77 and 1977/78. The two Hampshire League titles led to a successful application to join Southern League for 1978/79 and a period of 14 seasons in the (then) upper echelons of the non- league game began. After four seasons at the top end of the Southern League’s Southern Division, promotion was won to the Premier Division for 1982/83-at the time an equivalent level to the later Conference South. The Boro’ spent 7 seasons in the Premier Division before a disastrous season in 1989/90 saw the club finish bottom and relegated. This marked the start of the club’s downturn in fortunes. Despite surviving the following season, Gosport finished bottom in 1991/92 and were related back to county football (Wessex League). The club attempted to compete for a couple of seasons and did lift the Wessex League Cup in 1993 but with the club struggling for money and crowds minimal, a major rethink was required. Then Chairman Ian Hay, set up a trustee scheme which kept the club alive through their darkest days, helping to support the club with fans providing regular income. Nevertheless, it was not until the start of the new century that things started to turn for the better at The Boro’. John Stimpson succeeded Hay as Chairman and he promoted reserve team manager Mick Marsh to the first team. With the club emerging from their financial difficulties, a return to the Southern League was back on the agenda. Marsh chased the dream for 5 seasons, finishing in the top 4 in four of them before he retired in 2005; but the title and promotion eluded him. With the club now focused on promotion, John Robson was appointed but, after a difficult relationship between the boardroom and manager, the club replaced him within two months and in December 2005 Alex Pike arrived. Pike had managerial acumen in abundance at Wessex League level. Given the job of achieving the board’s goal. He guided the team to the title on goal difference in his first season (2006/07). And so, started Boro’s meteoric rise. With the club, back in the Southern League in 2007/08, the board made their intentions clear to continue to climb the Pyramid, but the spark required on the pitch eluded Pike’s squad and a serious challenge never materialised in their first four seasons. However, in 2011/12. Following an average start to the season, the team gelled and they climbed the table-eventually holding on to third spot and a play-off place. The play-offs saw Boro’ dispatch near neighbours Sholing before heading to Poole Town for a final Boro’ were losing until injury time Steve Claridge strike sent the game to extra time. Two goals without replay in the additional 30 minutes saw Boro’ promoted back to the Southern League Premier Division. A poor start to the 2012/13 campaign saw Pike’s men in danger of relegation back to the South & West Division, but a decent FA Cup run was a precursor to an unbeaten run of 23 games which lifted The Boro’ into a play-off place. Boro’ saw off second placed Stourbridge in the semi, before heading Hemel Hempstead Town 2-0 in the final only to concede two late goals before winning promotion on penalties. So the board’s planned rise from county football to Conference South was complete and Gosport started 2013/14 again looking to establish themselves at a new level. Like the season before, Boro’ struggled to find their feet at the new level and after flirting with the relegation zone for much of the season, it took another cup run to gain the belief needed to lift the team clear of danger. An FA Trophy run which started in November, ended with The Boro’ playing beneath the Wembley Arch in a final against Cambridge United in front of over 18,000. The result saw United run out 4-0 winners, but the belief that flowed through the squad as a result of the Trophy run put Gosport back on track and lifted them into a comfortable mid-table place. The club were able to plough the financial windfall from the FA Trophy run back into the club’s infrastructure. During the summer of 2014 a number of improvements were made at Privett Park including the installation of a new hospitality suite/club office building and a state of the art pitch irrigation system. A solid start to the 2014/15 league season saw The Boro’ well placed in the league. The confidence gained from the league campaign helped the club finally make the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time. The Boro’ hosted Colchester United of League One in a tie that attracted over 2,000. Gosport acquitted themselves well in a memorable match, but ultimately lost to the Football League side 6-3. The Boro’ were well placed for a play-off place until a little wobble in March saw them drop just too far off the pace- eventually finishing sixth. But the club did have the consolation of lifting the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time since 1988 and seeing Justin Bennett pick up the award for the Conference Souths leading goal-scorer.