The First Team

Our First Team play in the Wessex League Premier Division having won Division One in 2018/19 after spending four seasons in that division after promotion from the Hampshire League in 2015.

During season 2018/19 we not only won the Division One title but also reached the Southampton Senior cup final at St Marys and had a terrific FA Cup run during our first season in the competition.   

We were the lowest ranked team in the competition and our little piece of history brought us both local and national exposure culminating in the famous trophy making a visit to our ground.

2019/20 was our first “season” in the Premier league and we were sitting 2nd when the season was declared null and void. We started the 2020/21 season and played 12 league games prior to lockdown in January 2021. Over the two combined “null and void”seasons we played 43 games and had the 3rd best points per game figures in the Wessex Premier league.

We started the 21/22 season sadly plagued by injuries however recovered well towards the end of September to go on a 15 match unbeaten run. We finished the season in 5th place.

Last season we reached 95 points only to miss out on promotion by goal difference finishing 3rd however we did have the small consolation of winning the Russell Cotes Cup beating Millbrook 3-1 in May.

Development squad and Under 23s

We formed a new Under 23 squad last season for the first time along with our development (reserves) squad. Our U23s play midweek and development squad on a Saturday. Both squads are made up of young players, whom we believe can develop into our first team at some point in the future that either join us from other clubs or ideally move up from our Under 16 and 18 squads.​

The club has developed a very structured player pathway into both squads from our youth teams over the last few years which is now clearly starting to pay dividends.

The teams also allows First Team squad members important game time, especially when returning from injury. The emphasis is very much on young player development and progression

The club played 13 players during the 2019/20 season in our First Team who have played for the club at junior/youth level when we finished second in the Wessex Premier League prior to lockdown. Season 2020/21 after 12 league games we had used 6 such players prior to lockdown.

In our Development Squad last season during the first 12 competitive games the club used 22 players who have also represented the club at junior/youth level of which 17 were still U18 players and of which 10 were 16 years of age when making their Development squad debuts. In addition, 3 of the U16 squad were involved in the U18 FA Youth Cup with a total of 7 having been involved in U18 football at AFC Stoneham during the season.

At the start of last season (21/22) the club decided that many of our second year U18s would form our reserve/development squad thus in effect skipping their second year of U18 football and moving into open age football. This proved very fruitful for their development as they won the Hampshire Development league Premier division, Hampshire Intemediate Cup, Hampshire Combination League Cup and John Stimson Shield during their first full season in Senior football whilst gaining excellent results against higher ranked and more senior teams.

Many of the the squad returned to U18 football in both the FA Youth Cup, narrowly exiting to Eastleigh 3-2, and the Hampshire U18 Floodlit Cup where they beat Aldershot Town 1-0.

Following on from the 21/22 season five of the squad were promoted to our first team squad whilst another 5 or 6 moved away to University hoping that one day they will return to be first team players. Others joined good Wessex League One clubs during the summer which has been another key part of our player pathway allowing players to bridge the gap between our U23/reserves and first team to develop their football journey further with the aim, as we hope it is for all of young players, to stay in the game and aspire to play at the highest level possible.

On the back of last season and with four U16 teams coming through to add to three U18 teams we believe that by having in effect two squads (U23/Development) we are providing more opportunities for young players to progress and develop. This has undoubtedly happened with numerous 16 year olds (first year U18s) playing in our U23 team and development squad.

With the ultimate goal of getting young players into our first team squad we recently finished a Wessex Premier league game with two x 16 year olds, two 17/18 year olds and a 19 year old on the pitch which is now becoming a regular occurrence. Three of the boys were then promoted to the first team squad for the new 2023/24 season.

The Veterans Team

Our veterans team play in the local veterans league and reached the County Cup final last season whilst also gaining promotion to the top division. The teams are made up of many ex-first team and reserve players who play on Saturdays and train on Tuesday evenings.