AFC Totton
Next up for AFC Totton is the final of the Southampton Senior Cup against Folland Sports at St. Mary's Stadium on Thursday 05 May.
Kick-off will be at 7:30pm - you can buy your tickets from the Southampton FC ticket office using the QR code in the graphic above.
The St. Mary's ticket office will be open on the night until half-time. St. Mary's Stadium is now a cashless environment, so you will need a credit or debit card to make any purchases on the night.
AFC Totton’s opponents in the Southampton Divisional Football Association (SDFA) Saturday Senior Cup Final are Wessex League Division One side Folland Sports.
The Planemakers were formed in 1938 as Folland Aircraft by workers from the Hamble-le-Rice aircraft factory, and they soon took off by winning the Hampshire Senior Cup in 1941.
They originally changed their name to Folland Sports in 1948, but by 1990 they had switched to Aerostructures S&S. After winning the Wessex League Cup in 1998, they became known as Hamble ASSC and in 2011 they adopted their fifth different moniker, GE Hamble. Just two years later, they reverted back to Folland Sports Football Club.
The club’s historical honours include a Wessex League Division One title in 2009/10, plus the aforementioned Wessex League Cup in 1998; back-to-back Hampshire Division Four and Division Three titles were achieved in 1979/80 and 1980/81; they won the Hampshire Senior Cup in 1941 and have enjoyed three Southampton Senior Cup successes in 1945, 1985 and 1987.
Folland will be looking to use the showpiece final at St. Mary’s Stadium as an opportunity to overcome the disappointment of losing this season’s promotion play-off final. After a 36-game season, in which the Planemakers were one of four clubs in their division to score more than 100 goals during the regular campaign – averaging 3.19 goals per game – their total of 115 was bettered only by Andover New Street who managed five more. A 4th-placed finish in the league was enough to qualify them for a play-off semi-final in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, against 3rd-placed Newport on Wednesday 20 April. The match was a 2-2 draw after extra-time, so it went to a penalty shoot-out. The Port emerged triumphant, successfully converting all five of their penalties (however, they lost the final three days later, to Laverstock & Ford).
While Folland Sports Reserves took part in the 1st Round of this season’s Southampton Senior Cup, the Planemakers’ first team didn’t feature until the 3rd Round – courtesy of a bye and then a walkover when Bemerton Heath Harlequins were unable to fulfil the 2nd Round fixture. Grigg Lane was the venue for their first involvement in the competition, where they beat their hosts Brockenhurst 3-2, which they followed up with a 2-1 quarter-final win at AFC Stoneham Reserves.
Hythe & Dibden’s Clayfields ground was the neutral venue for their semi-final against Fawley AFC. The cup tie pitted teammates from the AFC Totton Sunday side against each other; striker Nathan Gray plays for Folland while centre-back Tom Rafferty and wide midfielder Tom Munday both play for the Oilers, for whom Totton resident James Clifton was also on duty. Fawley arguably had the better of the earlier exchanges and missed a good chance to take the lead early in the second half. But Folland became the more dominant side the longer the game went on and secured their place in the St. Mary’s final with two late goals from Jake Long and Nathan Gray, left winger Fabio Manuel heavily involved in creating both.
Nathan Gray was part of the Bush Hill side from Millbrook that fought back from 0-2 down to embarrass a full-strength AFC Totton with a penalty shoot-out elimination at this stage of the competition two years ago. On that occasion, the first COVID-19 lockdown caused the final to be cancelled. Dual-registered with Sholing (he was on the bench for the Boatmen when Totton visited the Mackoy Stadium in the Southern League Cup on Tuesday 12 October), the diminutive striker will be looking to collect a pair of Southampton Senior Cups in the space of a week by helping Folland Sports to triumph on Thursday 05 May before donning an AFC Totton shirt for the SDFA Sunday Senior Cup final at the Snows Stadium on Tuesday 10 May, against Empire FC from Sherfield English, near Romsey.
Folland Sports wear red-and-white halved shirts – reminiscent of the Dutch club Feyenoord and Poole Town – with red shorts and socks.
FOLLAND SPORTS – LAST 5 MATCHES (All Competitions)
Sat 26 Mar Millbrook H Wessex League Div.1 W 9-0
Tue 29 Mar Fleet Spurs A Wessex League Div.1 W 4-0
Sat 09 Apr Verwood Town H Wessex League Div.1 W 5-0
Tue 12 Apr Fawley AFC N SDFA Saturday Senior Cup W 2-0
Wed 20 Apr Newport (IOW) A Wessex League Div.1 – Play-Off, SF D 2-2
-- Lost 4-5 on penalties
AFC TOTTON vs FOLLAND SPORTS – Previous Meetings
Our records account for 42 meetings in all competitions between the Stags and the club now known as Folland Sports, since the 1989/90 season. Totton have won 18 of those encounters, compared to 12 wins for the Planemakers; there have been 12 draws.
The biggest single win for either side was Totton’s 6-0 win at the old Testwood Park ground (near Totton town centre) over Hamble ASSC in August 2001. Stuart Willes scored a hat-trick, adding to goals from Martin Cornwall, Martin Whiddett and Steve Jones. The highest total scoring game was a 5-3 win for Hamble ASSC at the same venue, a little more than two years later.
The last league meeting between the two sides was in October 2007, when a brace from Faoud Hamodu helped the Stags on their way to a handsome 6-1 home win. Club legend Nathaniel Sherborne was also on-target, along with Matthew Troon and Ian Richardson, with an own goal making it a half-dozen.
But the Planemakers won the most recent meeting in November 2015. By now known once again as Folland Sports, the Hamble-le-Rice club triumphed in the 1st Round of the Russell Cotes Cup with a 2-1 win at Folland Park against a much-changed Totton team, featuring several youngsters and squad players. The hosts led at half-time from Jamie Barren’s 20-yard strike. Then, Matt Burt doubled their lead, smashing home Jake Long’s free-kick from close range. Joe Maxwell pulled one back for Totton in stoppage time, but it was too little too late for the Stags.
By Ben Rochey-Adams and Malcolm Tombs (Historian)
with reference to match reports written by Sean McGlead
