AFC Totton
WHAT BETTER WAY TO BOUNCE BACK from being knocked out of the FA Cup than making the short trip to take on your nearest and dearest local rivals?
Here’s the lowdown on The Boatmen…
THE BASICS
Sholing Football Club can trace their roots back as far as a Woolston Works factory team in 1878 but the modern incarnation of the club begins with the formation of Vosper Thornycroft FC in 1960, taking their name from the local shipbuilding company and abbreviating it to VTFC in 2003. When the VT Group folded in 2010, the club was renamed to reflect the area of Southampton in which they are located. They play their home matches at the 1,000-capacity Imperial Homes Stadium at Gunners Keep on Portsmouth Road.
HOW HAVE THEY PERFORMED IN THE LEAGUE IN RECENT SEASONS?
In 2021/22, AFC Totton and Sholing both missed out on the Southern League Division One South Promotion Play-Offs despite having spent much of the season occupying two of the top three places. Last season, The Boatmen were the early-season runaway leaders at the top of the Step 4 division, while Totton were pre-occupied with cup runs that resulted in The Stags holding games in-hand well into the second half of the campaign.
Despite taking all six points from the home and away meetings between the two clubs in 2022/23, a poor run of form saw them drop 10 points in less than two weeks going into March, throwing the door wide open for The Stags to take the Southern League Div.1 South title with seven points to spare.
Down but not defeated, though, The Boatmen put their initial disappointment aside to secure home wins over Wimborne Town (2-1) and Hamworthy United (2-0) in the Play-Offs, with Daniel Mason scoring in both games, thereby confirming Sholing’s promotion to the Southern League Premier Division South for the current season.
…AND THIS SEASON, IN PARTICULAR?
Sholing began life at Step 3 with an opening day defeat at Hendon, before recovering with back-to-back 3-1 away wins at Winchester City and Plymouth Parkway. And Jake Cope’s 43rd-minute goal was enough to claim all three points at home to Hayes & Yeading on a rare Sunday outing at The Imperial Homes Stadium on 20 August.
But then a 1-2 away loss to Merthyr Town at Penydarren Park heralded the start of a five-game losing streak in the league, which also included defeats to Gosport Borough, Harrow Borough, Basingstoke Town and Beaconsfield Town, before The Boatmen stopped the rot with a 2-1 home win over Salisbury, ending September with a 1-1 draw at home to Hanwell Town.
WHAT ABOUT IN THE CUPS?
The Boatmen’s Emirates FA Cup dinghy sunk at the Snows Stadium when these two sides last met about six weeks ago – more about that in a moment. Sholing didn’t play this past weekend; their last action was their Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying tie at Poole Town’s Tatnam Ground on Saturday 07 October, when The Dolphins won 3-1, despite going behind to an early own goal.
Sholing’s involvement in the 2023/24 Servio Hampshire Senior Cup was over before it began. According to a statement published on Sholing FC’s website, the club withdrew from the competition following a dispute regarding the tie being arranged, postponed and then re-arranged by their opponents and the Hampshire FA without consultation with the Sholing hierarchy. But as the luck of the draw would have it, The Boatmen still have to go to the Stoneham Football Complex this month anyway, to face the same opponents in the Second Round of the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup.
Sholing have won the Southampton Senior Cup on eight occasions since 2001/02, most recently in 2016/17. They were Runners-Up last season, though, beaten 0-3 by AFC Totton.
ANY OTHER RECENT AFC TOTTON vs SHOLING MEETINGS?
Totton won 4-1 at Portsmouth Road in the First Round of the Southern League Challenge Cup in October 2021. Brett Williams took advantage of an under-hit clearance to give Totton an early second-half lead and, although Conor Whiteley equalised for the home side shortly after, Ethan Taylor and two goals from Jordan Ragguette saw The Stags safely through to the next round.
However, when it comes to claiming valuable league points, The Boatmen have proven to be a thorn in the The Stags’ side in recent campaigns. Ethan Taylor was on target again to give Totton an away lead during the first league encounter between the two sides in 2021/22. But ex-Stag Stuart Green had levelled for the home side within three minutes, and Daniel Mason scored the winner 13 minutes from time. The younger of the Mason brothers was at it again, scoring the only goal in the return fixture in April 2022.
It was a similar story last season, too. Former AFC Portchester striker Lee Wort struck on 67 minutes, as The Boatmen mounted another smash-and-grab raid in the August Bank Holiday fixture at the Snows Stadium. And then an outstanding display by goalkeeper Ryan Gosney in the return fixture ensured that Bradley Targett’s first-half goal took all three points, again.
Revenge was sweet for The Stags, though. With the Southern League Division One South title and the Champion of Champions Super Cup both already secured, Jimmy Ball’s men produced a vintage display at St. Mary’s Stadium to retain the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup and complete a remarkable treble. Two strikes from Scott Rendell, one of them a penalty, took his season’s tally to 36 goals in all competitions, and Ethan Taylor made it 3-0 with his 25th goal of the season.
ADVANTAGE, STAGS: Charlie Kennedy gets stuck in during AFC Totton's 5-1 Emirates FA Cup First Round Qualifying tie against Sholing at Snows Stadium in early September.
Fans of both sides could be forgiven for thinking ‘Not you lot, again’ when Sholing were drawn out of the pot as AFC Totton’s First Round Qualifying opponents in this season’s Emirates FA Cup. The tie took place at the Snows Stadium about six weeks ago, during a period in which the visitors were going through something of an injury crisis. Alfie Stanley gave Totton the lead on the half-hour, only for Wayne Robinson to level five minutes later, and that was how it stayed until half-time. But The Stags took control of the cup tie within two minutes of the restart, with a goal from Leon Maloney and another from Stanley putting them two goals in front. Buoyed by a jubilant home crowd of 544, The Stags pressed home their advantage with Maloney notching his second of the game and Scott Rendell plundering the fifth with a close-range header to complete a 5-1 rout.
DO WE HAVE ANY CURRENT OR FORMER PLAYERS IN COMMON?
Plenty – and it work take ages to document all of them. But some of the more notable names include Marc Diaper, the Sholing manager’s son and current Assistant Manager for The Boatmen, who was a popular player for The Stags. Forward Stuart Green and midfielder Robin Nicholls, who recently took up a coaching job at Sunderland AFC having previously worked at Southampton’s Staplewood complex, represented both sides with distinction.
Former Winchester City central defender Rob Flooks has had two spells with AFC Totton, most recently during the second half of the 2021/22 season. He joined Sholing upon being released by The Stags, as too have creative midfielder Jake Adams and box-and-box workaholic Charlie Davis, who scored just eight minutes into his Sholing debut at Beaconsfield on Saturday 23 September.
Stags skipper Mike Carter was part of Sholing’s 2014 FA Vase-winning side in 2014, while younger players Ethan Taylor, Luke Hallett and Ethan’s younger brother Leo, currently on loan at Hamble Club, all had spells with The Boatmen as teenagers. Forward Conor Whiteley left Sholing to join Totton early in the 2022/23 season, contributing three goals to The Stags successful title campaign. He is currently at Bashley on loan, where he lined up on Saturday alongside former Totton players Ross Casey, Callum Baughan, Ben Jefford, and Brett Williams, as well as Craig Stanley, who had a brief stint in charge of Totton & Eling at the beginning of the 2022/23 season.
WHO IS THEIR MANAGER?
It was announced during the week that veteran Dave Diaper, who has racked up more than 1,250 matches over the course of 25 years in charge of The Boatmen, will be stepping down as manager of Sholing Football Club on Saturday 21 October.
During his quarter-of-a-century in charge, The Patriarch of Portsmouth Road led the club to two Hampshire Premier League titles, two Wessex League Premier Division titles and to the Runners-Up spot in the Southern League Division One South & West in 2010/11. He also collected the Russell-Cotes Cup on two occasions, eight Southampton Senior Cups and a brace of Wessex League Cups.
But amongst the 17 senior level trophies he has won during his time, the prized possession must be the FA Vase trophy that Sholing beat West Auckland Town 1-0 at Wembley Stadium to lift in 2013/14.
Mr. Diaper will be taking on a new role as Head of Football Operations, with the former AFC Totton player and erstwhile Havant & Waterlooville manager Paul Doswell taking over the reins as First Team boss.
WHEN AND WHERE IS THE GAME?
The match will take place at The Imperial Homes Stadium, Portsmouth Road, Southampton SO19 9PW on the evening of Tuesday 17 October 2023. Kick-off is at 7:45pm. Tickets can be purchased on the gate.
By Ben Rochey-Adams and Malcolm Tombs (Club Historian)
Image courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
