| Full name | Gosport Borough Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Boro' | ||
| Founded | 1944 | ||
| Ground | Privett Park, Gosport (Capacity: 4,500 (700 seated)) |
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| Chairman | Mark Hook | ||
| Manager | Alex Pike | ||
| League | Southern League Division One South & West | ||
| 2010–11 | Southern League Division One South and West, 13th | ||
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Gosport Borough Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Gosport, England currently playing in the Southern League Division One South and West. The club fields teams from youth football as young as seven through to the senior side and also runs women's and and girls teams.
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Gosport Borough Athletic Club were founded just two weeks after the D-Day landings in 1944 in an initiative to bring back organised football, athletics, swimming and cycling to the town after a break of several years.[1]
In their first season (1944–45), the football section of the Club won the Portsmouth and District League Division One under the guidance of former Southampton player, Stan Cribb.[2] The line-up at that time included Jimmy Scoular and Peter Harris who both went on to become full internationals.
For their second season, the Club were accepted into the Hampshire League and won the Division One title at their first attempt. This feat was not repeated for thirty-one seasons despite being a major force in Hampshire football during that period.
After winning the Hampshire League title in successive seasons (1976–77 and 1977–78), The Boro' were elected to the Southern Football League. In the team's first four seasons they never finished outside the top four and when the League was restructured for the start on the 1982–83 season, Gosport were placed in the Premier Division.
Two years later Boro' lost their Premier Division status and was relegated to the Southern Division. However the next season saw the team bounce straight back after an incredible run of sixteen wins in the final nineteen matches. Boro' still needed to win the final match to be certain of promotion and in front of a home crowd in excess of 1,500 they demolished Salisbury 5–0.
In the 1987–88 season the team were once again threatened with relegation and until the April of that season Boro' had looked odds-on favourites for the drop. However, a run in the Hampshire Senior Cup that took the all the way to the Final at The Dell lifted the players spirits. A thrashing of the favourites Farnborough Town in the Final was followed by a good run of results in the League lifting the team out of trouble to remain in the Premier Division.
The Club enjoyed their highest ever finish in the 1988–89 season when seventh place in the Premier Division was achieved. Unfortunately, a mass exodus of players and a change in the management saw the Club relegated to the Southern Division and two years later (1992) to the Wessex League.
Following relegation the Chairman at the time, Ian Hay, appointed Roger Sherwood as manager. Although Boro' had three good seasons with Roger, the Wessex League Cup in 1992–93 was his only major success.
After the departure of Roger Sherwood at the start of the 1995–96 season, the Management Committee undertook a review of the Club's policies. It was decided to commence a period of financial consolidation and re-structuring. Three former Gosport players (John Hawes, Dave Pitt and Barry Cook) took up the running of the team with a new emphasis on forming a team of locally based players and developing an extensive youth policy.
In 1997, Boro' approached Gomer Football Club, a successful youth club to form an affiliation. Not only did it given the Senior Club the ability to tap into local talent as it emerges through the ranks, but it also gives boys the opportunity to aim for a higher standard of football than they might normally achieve when youth football ended.
Nevertheless, Boro's position in the Wessex League continued to deteriorate. Dave Pitt and Barry Cook resigned in October 1999 after a particularly difficult start to the season. John Hawes became Chairman of the Club but resigned from that position after one year to return to his coaching role. During this period, Ian Hay restructured the Club's finances and implemented a new and relatively unique Trustee Scheme which gave the Club a firm financial base for the future. Dave Taviner (another former player) took over as caretaker manager until former reserve team manager Mick Marsh was appointed as the new first team manager in December 1999.
At the start of the 2000/01 season, Vice-Chairman John Stimpson was elected to the Chairmanship of the Club. He immediately agreed with Marsh that the Club should continue to develop young local players and also look to include a mix of a few more experienced players in the First Team.
Marsh, along with his assistant Gary Lee had five seasons at the helm. In that period the Club's gradual decline was halted and Boro' were once again headed in the right direction. In Marsh's five seasons the Club finished in the top four on four occasions and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Vase in 2003–04.
With Marsh retiring from the game at the end of the 2004–05 season to move to Spain, the Club appointed John Robson his successor but Robson's tenure only lasted a few months and in December 2005 the Club appointed Alex Pike as first team manager. Pike has the honour of being the Wessex League's most successful manager having won league and league cup honours on several occasions with his teams and also winning the FA Vase with Wimborne Town in 1992.
In his first full season in the hot-seat, Alex lived up to his high standards and Boro' lifted the Wessex League championship - their first title in 29 years. The championship was won on the last day of the season at title rivals AFC Totton. Boro' had to avoid defeat by two goals to lift the title and in a nervous afternoon eventually lost 1–0 to win the championship on goal difference only.
With the title in the bag, Boro' officials and supporters waited for the news from the Football Association on their application for promotion. Two weeks after lifting the title, the news came through from Soho Square and Boro' were elected back into the Southern League for the 2007–08 season.
Things started well for The Boro' on their return to the Southern League - at one point sitting third in the South & West table. However, a poor run of results before and after the Christmas period saw Gosport falling off the pace and towards the lower reaches of the table. However, a more balanced side picked themselves up and strung together a solid run of results to lift the team to a creditable 11th by the end of the campaign.
The following season (2008/09), started well and by Christmas The Boro' were loking a good bet for a play-off place by the end of the campaign. However, the board of the club were forced to cut the playing budget when the economic downturn hit some of the club's business partners and sponsorship money failed to materialise. Not wishing to push the club into debt, the board handed Alex Pike a new playing budget of £0 and consequently the last three months of the season were a struggle for all concerned as the side slipped gradually down the table to finally finish 12th.
A better season follow in 2009/10 with the club threatening to achieve a play-off place all season before trailing off in the last few weeks, eventually finishing 8th. But the upward momentum failed to continue into 2010/11. Froum the outset, Alex Pike's side stuttered through their league season - mainly due to an away record that only saw the team record four wins on the road all season. With the side rarely able to put together a run of more than a couple of wins, The Boro' slipped down the table and ended up in 13th position, their worst since rejoining the Southern League.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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2006-07: Extra-preliminary round (lost 1-0 at Carterton)
2007-08: 1st Round Qualifying (lost 1-3 in a home replay against Fleet Town; the original tie was drawn 0-0)
2008-09: 3rd Round Qualifying (lost 1-0 at Dorchester Town)
2009-10: Preliminary Round (lost 1-0 at home to East Preston)
2010-11: Preliminary Round (lost 2-1 in replay at Erith & Belvedere after original tie was drawn 0-0 at Privett Park)
2011-12: Preliminary Round (lost 2-1 at Moneyfields)