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A brief historical look back at Bashley Football Club

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, 987/88

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 of the semi-final after a 0-0 draw at the

Recreation Ground.

Following their third Wessex League title, the club

were accepted into the Southern League Southern

Division and amazingly won the title in their first

season, 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, and

won 1-0 at Chesham to set up a Second Round tie

with Swansea 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

finishing third and just missing 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 then progressed to the Championship with

Burnley and scored the goal at Wembley that took

them into the Premiership and has now moved to

Birmingham City.

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 Southampton s 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 was 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 during the season 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

responsibilities 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. They were not to

be disappointed!

At the last moment a major reorganisation with the

broom firmly brushing many players, staff and

helpers into the past which saw Bashley start

season 2014-15 on a zero budget with a team of new

young players and the return of Andy Darnton as

joint manager alongside Graham Speechley-Price.

Darnton resigned his position as manager in mid-

October 2014 with Graham Speechley-Price also

stepping down to allow Martin Spiers take the reins,

Graham concentrated his efforts in a commercial role

within the club. Spiers role only lasted a few weeks

with Dominic Cuncliffe taking over the hot seat

following Spiers resignation towards the end of

November 2014. Cuncliffe assistant was Paul Morris

who doubled up with Tom Prodomo with assistance

behind the scenes from Graham after Cuncliffe

resigned his position out of the blue in December.

At the start of February 2015 Graham was asked by

the Executive to take over as caretaker manager until

the end of the season which resulted in Prodomo

leaving the club. With the zero budget still in place

Speechley-Price battled through to the end of the

season with Bashley generally playing well but losing

due to small mistakes which everyone will have now

learned from. A mighty effort was needed to finish

away from the relegation zone, although some good

bright performances late on in the season but they

were not regular enough, a bottom of the pile and

relegation was the result.

Meanwhile Bashley Reserves under the guidance of

Andy Howard took the 2014-15 Wyvern League title

in fine style showing there is promise ahead for the

New Forest Club and an exciting 2015-16 season for

the reserves.

The FA gave Bashley a reprieve in May 2015, rather

than a drop down to the Wessex League. Southern

League football continueed at Bashley Road in the

South and West Division for the 2015-16 season. A

new management team was appointed late June

2015 with ex-Chelsea, Millwall and Leyton Orient

player David Stride arrived as manager, assisted by

his brother Glen an ex-Bournemouth player. These

appointments lasted just a month.

Following the Clubs AGM a new Executive

consisting of four life vice-presidents and new

Chairman elected to bring in their own new

management team. This meant a return to Bashley

Road for Steve Riley taking over the first team hot

seat and Damian Locke the reserves.

Following a run of 15 league defeats Riley resigned

his position leaving Bashley to look for a new

manager.

After a brief spell during the 2014-15 season Tom

Prodomo was asked to return to head the first team,

towards the end of November. Several good

candidates were considered but Prodomo’s

appointment by the board was considered the best

for the future of the club.

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, which

was broken only 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

immigrated 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 for the 2012-13

season but the side struggled in the lower reaches of

the division finishing in 17th place and again going

out of all Cup competitions at the first round stage.

2013-14 Major changes within the club structure and

a degree of uncertainty led to Club stalwarts Paul

Gazzard and goalkeeping legend Stewart Kearn

being given the daunting task of re-building the team

which necessitated a series of budget cuts. Alas

results mainly went against Bashley, several players

moved on to pastures new after a mid-season

restructuring which also saw Stewart Kearn step

down from his management position. Shortly

afterwards the experienced John Pyatt from

Brockenhurst FC filled the vacant position to

undertake the hard task with Paul Gazzard trying to

steer the New Forest side away from the relegation

zone, with just a handful of wins the club was

relegated to the South and West Division.

The exit of players together with a lack of club

executives and sponsors put the club in a perilous

position. Bashley, despite the actions of loyal fans

and supporters who contributed to a ‘Save Bashley’

appeal which allowed the club to see out the season

were very close to being wound up.