FLEET SPURS HISTORY
Fleet Spurs Football Club started in 1948, shortly after World War II, when a group of young footballers began playing friendly matches in the Fleet and Aldershot area. Opponents included the Royal Medical Corps, Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, Royal Army Service Corps, Parachute Regiment, and Wellington Press. Tradition holds that Fleet Spurs FC was formed as a reaction, or an alternative, to the long-established "semi-professional" Fleet Town FC. The purpose was to provide an amateur football club for local players with a strong social environment.
The first club badge was a cockerel on a ball, and was the same as for Tottenham Hotspur FC, one of the rising stars of English football at the time. The Fleet Spurs cockerel has altered over the years, notably a few seasons ago when the London club threatened legal action if the Fleet club didn’t change their logo. Financial might triumphed, and a new logo was designed. Sadly, bullies don’t always lose. The original club colours were black and white, similar to Tottenham’s navy & white. Subsequently, they changed to red and black stripes, like AC Milan, and eventually to the present dark blue and red.
In 1951, Fleet Spurs FC joined the Aldershot and District League. They progressed through that and other local leagues, winning many honours along the way, notably becoming champions of the Aldershot Senior League four times. In 1991 they joined Hampshire League Division 3. By this time, they also fielded three Aldershot League teams - the Reserves and the A & B teams.
Up until 1997, the club had played at various grounds in the Fleet area. In the 1997/8 season, they finally established a home at Kennels Lane in Southwood, part of neighbouring Rushmoor. At the same time, the first team was promoted to Hampshire League Division 2 and became champions in 1998/99 and so was promoted to Division 1. They played two seasons in that division, finishing in sixth position, but were immediately relegated to Division 2. This was done not for football reasons, but because they failed to meet the new standards set by the league for Division 1 grounds.
After a reorganisation of local football, the club moved into Wessex League Division 3 in 2004/5. Following further reorganisations, including the renaming and renumbering of the divisions, it moved to Wessex League Division 1, which was, and still is, at Step 6 in the English Football League Pyramid. This necessitated significant ground improvements, including the installation of state-of-the-art floodlights. These improvements were supported by grants from the Football Foundation’s Football Stadia Improvement Fund, the Hampshire Playing Fields Association, the Mike Ritchie Sports Fund and donations from club members. Over the period up to 2016/7, the club remained in Wessex League Division 1, where their fortunes fluctuated. Their most successful season was 2010/11 when after losing eight of their first 11 games, they narrowly missed promotion, finishing third in the table.
In 2017/18, Fleet Spurs moved into the Combined Counties League, remaining at Step 6. This move was instigated by the FA with the intention of helping the club and in particular having the effect of halving the average distance they had to travel to away games. The move had the other benefits that accrue from playing against many local teams – ease of recruiting players, bigger average crowds etc. Four seasons later, the FA switched Spurs back into the Wessex League as part of a much wider reorganisation of Step 5 and Step 6 football. The move has the major disadvantage to the club of doubling the distance they must travel to away league games. On the positive side, it has been pleasant to renew relationships with old friends and to make new friends, and the club is looking forward to continuing to enjoy being members of the Wessex League.
The change of leagues has led to wholesale changes in the club hierarchy, including a new chairman and managers. John Haddock, whose background in Fleet Spurs is in junior football, took over as chairman. The new joint managers, Scott Kemp and Suj Khera, are both UEFA B Licensed Coaches. They have experience in youth and adult football at all levels of the game from grass roots to professional with particular emphasis on player development. In 2021/22 season, they built from scratch an entirely new squad. After the inevitable slow start, what was mainly a young squad climbed to safety, and were delighted to remain in the Step 6 Wessex League. By the end of the season, they were playing a decent standard of football. The club is confident that, under Scott’s and Suj’s wise guidance, this will continue and that the enforced brinkmanship of last season will be a memory of the past.
In 1991, Fleet Spurs FC had formed an association with Fleet Youth FC. The youth section then added the word Spurs to its name, but for almost 30 years the senior and youth sections continued to operate separately. In 2020 – bad timing for any major change, and of course accidental – the club began to operate as a single entity. It now provides football ‘from cradle to grave’. The cradle is the Under 6 academy, and the grave contains our two Veterans teams. Neither group is likely to be happy with those descriptions. The club now has 37 teams - four senior teams, including the Vets’ teams and the Reserves, the reigning champions of the Aldershot & District Football League; 31 youth teams, including one Under 19 team and three Under 18 teams; and two girls’ teams - as well as the academy.
