ANDOVER NEW STREET HISTORY
Andover New Street Football Club was started in the early 1890’s by the vicar of St. Mary’s church Rev. (later Canon) E.R. Braithwaite. The initial name was St Mary’s Youth, before becoming New Street FC in 1897.
New Street in those times was the working class part of Andover with the team’s first pitch on Farmer Dance’s field, which is now called Dances Close of New Street.
Rev. Braithwaite a keen temperance man was looking for a way to keep the young men of New Street out of the several pubs, ale houses and bottle shops found there. He came up with the idea of a football team and the only qualification required was that the player had to live in New Street.
The team was successful and lasted until the 1950’s when unfortunately it folded and New Street FC was reformed by Mr Bob Bryden, who was the landlord of the Bishop Blaize pub in 1961. Even back in those old days, the club has always had a swift in its emblem. They played in the Andover & District League, before moving up to the North Hants League.
In 1976 the club joined Division Four of the Hampshire League, which they won at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division Three. The club went on to win Division Three the following season and were promoted to Division Two.
When the Wessex League was formed in 1986, several clubs left the Hampshire League and New Street were promoted to Division One. They finished bottom of Division One in 1989/90 and were relegated to Division Two.
The following season saw the club relegated again as they finished second-from-bottom of Division Two. However, they were Division Three runners-up in 1991/92 to secure an immediate promotion back to Division Two. The club finished as runners-up in Division Two the following season and were promoted back to Division One.
Division One was renamed the Premier Division in 1999, and in 2001 the club was renamed Andover New Street. They were Premier Division runners-up in 2003/04 and also won the League Cup.
However, it was the final season of the Hampshire League, as it merged into the Wessex League, with the club becoming members of the new Division Two, which was renamed Division One in 2006. The club continued to battle near the bottom of the league for several years until the celebrated campaign in the 2017-18 season that saw Manager John Smith and assistant Iain Meechan guide the Street to promotion and so nearly crowned champions of Division One, only to lose their final two matches and finish runners-up to Christchurch but still earning promotion to the Premier Division.
The Street did achieve a cup double that season by winning the North Hants Senior Cup and Andover Open Cup. The club also won Programme of the Year for Division One.
The following season saw New Street in the Wessex Premier for the first time in their history and the club also entered the FA Cup for the first time and they progressed to preliminary qualifying round by defeating Romsey Town 4-0.
New Street also welcomed Portsmouth to Foxcotte Park in the Hampshire Cup and in front of a record crowd of 532, progressed to the next round with a 2-1 victory. Despite the club getting relegated at the end of the season, there was further success as the club retained both the Andover Open Cup and the North Hants Senior Cup after a thrilling final against Alresford Town, played at the Camrose.
The 2019-20 season saw the club start slowly but then go on an impressive 12 league game winning streak that put them in strong position for promotion until the global pandemic resulted in the season being stopped and called null and void.
The club have had a few grounds, sharing the Walled Meadow with Andover FC, Taskers Sports Ground, Andover Road Sports Ground and Charlton Sports Centre before settling at their present base of Foxcotte Park in 1992. In the same year, a local youth club GVM Arken was invited to become the club’s youth section and New Street Youth F.C. came into existence.
Recognition of the club’s commitment to the local community came when in April 2005 the club were granted F.A. Charter Standard Community Club status the highest accolade a football club can achieve. In 2012 and 2016 the Street were named as Hampshire’s F.A.’s Community Club of the Year.
Andover New Street FC has a long history of providing football specifically for Girls with a Ladies’ team starting in 1995. In 2012, Footy4Girls was created, a football group that was for any girl that wanted to play. The group grew steadily during 2012 with around ten 8-11 year olds attending on a regular basis. Footy4Girls has continued to grow with each week seeing 40 plus girls training and playing matches, with four sides in the Winchester Leagues.
Always community minded in 2005, a few number of our coaches went into Icknield School, a facility for children with severe learning difficulties, to run weekly coaching sessions. These were so enjoyable and successful that our inclusive group Streets Ahead was formed two years later, to enable youngsters or adults with physical or learning difficulties, who love to play football, but are unable for a variety of reasons to take part in mainstream clubs, to participate in the game. Gradually the club has developed in size and has become a leading force in providing football experiences for all.
The club now looks forward to the challenge of earning promotion back to the Wessex Premier Division.
