Bashley

June 26, 2011

BASHLEY Football Club was founded in 1947 and joined the Bournemouth League in 1950, progressing through the ranks before leaving in 1983 to join the Hampshire League. In 1986 they became founder members of the Wessex League and won the title for the first three years they took part, 1986/87, 1987/88 and 1988/89. In the 1987/88 season Bashley came to national prominence after an incredible run in the FA Vase, which came to an end they reached the semi-finals, losing narrowly to Emley in the second leg after a draw at Bashley Road.

Following their third Wessex League title, the club were accepted into the Southern League Southern Division and the success continued, winning the title in their first season and gaining promotion to the Premier Division. Things almost got even better the following season as Bash led the table for a long period of time and were in contention for promotion to the Conference but fell away towards the end to finish in fourth place. Sadly the meteoric rise of the club came to an end as a result of relegation two years later back to the Southern Division.

In the 1994/95 season, Bashley reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup for the first time winning 1-0 at Chesham to set up a Second Round tie with Swansea City at the Recreation Ground. Despite losing 1-0, Lee Walker hit the post in injury time and Richie Paskins had a clear chance which wasn't taken as Bash almost caused a huge upset.

More recently, Bash had established themselves as a mid-table Southern Division side until August 1997 when ex-European Cup winner Jimmy Case was appointed as manager and Bash were promotion challengers during the 1997-98 season. Eventually they finished third and just missed out on a return to the Premier Division, as well as having our record FA Trophy run in this season to the last sixteen, losing narrowly at Conference side Hayes.

Bash came to prominence again when their excellent young midfielder Wade Elliott signed for AFC Bournemouth in January 2000 for £5,000, with Bash receiving further money based on appearances. Wade has now progressed to the Championship with Birmingham City and played in the Premier League with Burnley after scoring the winning goal for the Clarets in the 2009 Championship play-off final following his fine spell with the Cherries.

The 2001/2002 season was notable for a superb FA Trophy run, ended only by finalists Stevenage Borough of the Conference with an unfortunate 1-0 defeat. A top six place was achieved in the 2002/03 season, although Bashley were top of the table for a spell in January and February and but for a five game spell in February and March, from which they took only one point, would have been challenging strongly for promotion. The season was capped by a first ever Hampshire Senior Cup final, secured by two memorable victories over then Dr Martens Premier Division side Havant & Waterlooville, in the two-legged semi-final. The night of the final at Southamptons St Mary's Stadium was another superb occasion for the club despite an eventual 2-1 defeat to Conference bound Aldershot Town after taking a first half lead, and no-one who wasn't there will how close Bash came to defeating their illustrious opponents.

The 2003/2004 season was a relative disappointment after the heights of the previous campaign, with Barry Blankley resigning early on in the season and leading players Paul Sales, Craig Davis and Aaron Cook departing for substantial transfer fees. Bashley narrowly missed out on promotion to the Isthmian Premier Division under new manager John Robson and had to settle for a place in Isthmian Division One as a result of FA restructuring.

Robson departed as manager at the end of the season and Geoff Butler was appointed in the summer with Ricky Haysom remaining as his assistant. Bash recovered from losing a number of players in the close-season and made an encouraging start to the new season, chasing a play off spot and playing some attractive football, but lost key players and had to settle for a mid table finish.

Butler and Haysom departed during the summer of 2005 and Dave Wakefield took charge as player/manager for the new season. However, after a poor start to the season, both Wakefield and player/coach Andy Darnton were relieved of their duties with Steve Riley taking over as player/manager following a short spell as caretaker manager with Eddie Harper as his assistant.

An excellent run in the second half of the season took Bash to just outside the play off places, and gave hope that the 2006-7 season would be successful. A number of close season signings gave the Bashley faithful renewed cause for optimism and they were not to be disappointed.

As a result of further FA restructuring, Bash found themselves transferred back into the Southern League South and West Division and enjoyed an unforgettable record-breaking season, winning the league by an incredible 28 points and achieving a rare double century of 102 points and 111 goals, including a spell of 27 League matches unbeaten from October 27th 2006 to March 31st 2007, a run only broken after the league title had been secured.

Promotion was an all round team effort, Bash having the most prolific attack and the meanest defence in the league. Richard Gillespie finished up with 41 goals, the highest total in any of the Southern League divisions and along the way broke the club all time goalscoring record held by Colin Cummings which had stood for over thirty years.

Bashley acquitted themselves very well in the Southern League Premier Division the following season, and finished in fifth place at the higher level, despite long term injuries to key players. The 2007-08 season unfortunately ended in disappointment with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Team Bath in the play-off semi-final, a result that was particularly harsh on Bashley. Again, Bashley's defence was one of the best in the league, whilst Richard Gillespie and Ryan Moss both finished in the top 10 goalscorers in the division.

Moss moved on to Conference South side Dorchester Town, but manager Steve Riley brought in a number of new signings, which allied to the retention of most of the side who had been so successful in the previous two campaigns, left Bashley quietly confident of mounting another assault at the top of the table. Unfortunately, 2008-9 was to be a very different season. For long periods during the winter, Bash were in the bottom four, although a run of five straight wins right at the end of the season led to a final position of 14th, well clear of the relegation zone.

The summer of 2009 saw the departure of club record top scorer Richard Gillespie to Blue Square South side Eastleigh, having scored 173 goals in 308 appearances. Steve Riley appointed long serving defender Chris Ferrett as player-coach to replace assistant manager Martin Doolan, who had emigrated to New Zealand, whilst the signing of striker Mark Gamble from Farnborough ensured that Bash could enter the 2009-10 season with renewed hope of being competitive in a strong League.

Bashley exceeded expectations in the 2009/10 season, briefly topping the table after a 5-0 win at Tiverton in October. They spent the vast majority of the season in a play-off place, only to surrender their grip on a top five finish on the final day of the season with defeat at Nuneaton. An impressive FA Trophy run saw Bash through to an encounter with Conference National side, Crawley Town, who edged the tie at Bashley Road by the odd goal in five. The campaign provided some tremendous entertainment and although they lost a number of key players at the start of 2010-11, Bash rallied to secure a top half finish by the end of the season meaning that they could look forward with quiet confidence to the start of the 2011-12 season.

After a good start, however, Bash struggled during the middle of the season and suffered losses to lower ranked opposition in all four cup competitions. A solid run towards the end of the season ensured Premier Division survival, although Steve Riley and Chris Ferrett left the club during the summer to take up similar roles with AFC Totton. Bash appointed the former Basingstoke Town management team of Frank Gray and Gerry Murphy in preparation for the 2012-13 season and they presided over another season of survival in the Southern Premier Division, but again Bash were unfortunate in the cup competitions. A proposed merger with local rivals New Milton Town FC, which would have meant Bashley renaming and moving to Fawcetts Field, collapsed in the early summer of 2013 and Bashley’s team of volunteers put in a great effort to ready Bashley Road for the coming season.

With Gray and Murphy leaving the club in the summer of 2013, player-coaches Paul Gazzard and Stewart Kearn were appointed joint managers and under the Chairmanship of Mike Cranidge, have put together a competitive side in pre-season, the trio's first in football management.

Other info:

HONOURS

Southern League Southern Division champions 1989-90

Southern League South and West Division champions 2006/07

Wessex League champions 1986/87, 1987/88 & 1988/89

Hampshire League Combination champions 1988/89

Hampshire League Division Three champions 1984/85

Russell Cotes Cup winners 1985/86, 1990/91 & 1992/93

PREVIOUS LEAGUES

Bournemouth 1950-83

Hampshire 1983-86

Wessex 1986-89

Southern 1989-2004

Isthmian 2004-06

Southern 2006 to date

CLUB RECORDS

Record Attendance: 3,500 vs Emley FA Vase Semi-Final 1st leg 1987/88

Record Win: 21-1 vs Co-operative (a) Bournemouth League 1964

Record Defeat: 2-20 vs Air Speed (a) Bournemouth League 1957

Record Career goalscorer: Richard Gillespie 180

Record Career appearances: John Bone 829

Record Transfer fee paid: £7,500 for Danny Gibbons (Newport IoW, 2002) and David Elm (Dorchester Town, 2002)

Record Transfer fee received: £15,000 (including installments) for Wade Elliott (to AFC Bournemouth 2000), Paul Sales (to Eastleigh 2003) and Craig Davis (to Salisbury City 2003)