AFC Totton
This is the re-arranged match following the postponement of the original fixture due to a waterlogged pitch on New Year's Day.
Sholing Football Club was founded in 1960 as Vosper Thornycroft FC, as a work’s football team for the shipbuilding company of that name, although “The Boatmen” can trace the Club’s roots via Woolston FC and a team called Woolston Works all the way back to 1878. For a while, they were known as VTFC but when the parent company folded in 2010, they reverted to Sholing FC in recognition of the area of Southampton in which their home ground, The Mackoy Stadium, is located on Portsmouth Road.
Since 2000, Sholing have enjoyed regular honours in league and cup competitions alike, including eight Southampton Senior Cup titles, three Hampshire Senior Cups and the 2013/14 FA Vase when they beat West Auckland Town from County Durham at Wembley Stadium, with a single goal from Marvin McLean who still plays for the Club. Their most recent league title was the Wessex League Premier Division in 2018/19 to win promotion back to the Southern League Div.1 South.
This will be the first league meeting between AFC Totton and Sholing this season, although the Stags did triumph 4-1 on the other side of the Itchen Bridge in the Southern League Challenge Cup on 12 October. The Boatmen are scheduled to be the last team to visit AFC Totton for this season’s league campaign, when they come to the Snows Stadium on the Bank Holiday Monday of 18 April 2022.
If the season continues to go as it has for both teams, that could be a winner-takes-all encounter, whether in relation to winning the title or securing a place in the promotion play-offs. Because while Sholing have not matched Totton’s cup exploits this season, they have been going well in the Southern League Div.1 South. The 1-1 draw at Highworth Town on 18 December brought an end to a run of five consecutive league victories, including an impressive 3-0 away win at Larkhall Athletic, where the Stags’ FA Trophy run came to an unwelcome end.
The originally scheduled New Year's Day fixture was one of three matches that Sholing have had postponed since Christmas. The only games they have actually played were the 5-2 win at Lymington Town and a 1-1 draw at home to struggling Bideford on 08 and 15 January, respectively. Consequently, they have fallen behind the other title and promotion challengers in terms of the number of games played but if they were to win all of their games in-hand, beginning with Tuesday night's visit of the Stags, the Boatmen could put clear water between themselves and the chasing pack.
Depending on whether he's selected, there could be one player with a foot in both camps on Tuesday night. Diminutive striker Nathan Gray is regularly named among the substitutes for the Sholing first team, as he was for the Southern League Cup match in October and he was due to be included in the squad on New Year's Day. Nathan maintains his match fitness by turning out for the AFC Totton Sunday team managed by ex-AFC Bournemouth and Southampton Academy player, Sam Conway.
SHOLING – LAST 5 MATCHES (All Competitions)
Sat 27 Nov 21 Evesham United H Southern League Div.1 South W 1-0
Sat 11 Dec 21 Bristol Manor Farm H Southern League Div.1 South W 2-1
Sat 18 Dec 21 Highworth Town A Southern League Div.1 South D 1-1
Sat 08 Jan 22 Lymington Town A Southern League Div.1 South W 5-2
Sat 15 Jan 22 Bideford H Southern League Div.1 South D 1-1
AFC TOTTON vs SHOLING – Previous Meetings
These two teams have been frequent competitors over the course of a shared history in the Wessex League and Southern League. Since the 2004/05 season, there have been 23 meetings of which Sholing won 14 against Totton’s 8, with just one draw.
Mike Gosney was a frequent scorer of goals during that period, notching a total of 9 (including one penalty) against the Boatmen between 2006 and 2011. He was on target in the Final of the Hampshire Senior Cup in 2011, when a brace from Michael Charles saw the Stags run out 3-1 winners to lift the trophy before a crowd of 1,384 at St. Mary’s Stadium.
Sholing got their own back a couple of years later by putting paid to Totton’s ambitions of an FA Cup-run with a 1st Qualifying Round knockout by a 0-4 thrashing. And the Boatmen won 3 of the next 4 meetings, until goals from Brett Williams, Ethan Taylor and a late Jordan Ragguette double saw the Stags on their way to that handsome 4-1 away win in October.
By Ben Rochey-Adams and Malcolm Tombs, Historian
