Aldershot Town Football Club
History
Aldershot Town Football Club was formed in 1926 and was basically brought into being by members of the town council. Given this it is hardly surprising that the club should set up home at The Recreation Ground which is located on one of Aldershot’s public parks.
Within a year of formation the club had gained entry into The Southern League and in 1932 The Shots were elected into Division Three South of The Football League.
There was early excitemnt for the club in the FA Cup as they won through to the 5th round of the competition in 1933 before losing 2-0 away from home to Derby County.
Much of the credit for Aldershot’s early progress goes to Angus Seed who proved himself a shrewd manager for over a decade during the clubs’ infancy.
Angus was a brother of the famous Jimmy Seed, of Sheffield Wednesday and England fame, and exercised a huge influence over the club in its’ formative years.
Having settled down into life in Division Three South the club did little of note either side of the second world war and when the league re-organised by introducing Division’s Three and Four in 1958 The Shots found themselves in the fourth division.
It was not until 1973 that Aldershot were able to win promotion to the third division when they edged Newport County out on goal difference. The following season the club managed its’ highest ever league finish when they ended the campaign 8th in Division Three but in 1976 The Shots were relegated back into the fourth division just one point from safety behind Sheffield Wednesday.
Aldershot came close to promotion back to Division Three on several occasions in the late 1970’s and early 80’s and also enjoyed a good FA Cup run in the 1978-79 season. The Shots knocked out Sheffield United and Swindon Town on their way to the 5th round where they lost to Shrewsbury Town after a replay and extra time.
This cup run was mainly thanks to the goals of John Dungworth who provided eight of the clubs’ eleven FA Cup goals that season and also banged in 26 in the league which remains a club record.
In 1987 Aldershot did manage a return to Division Three after enjoying success in the newly formed play offs. In the semi finals they won through 3-2 on aggregate over Bolton Wanderers with an extra time goal at Burnden Park before beating Wolverhampton Wanderers home and away in the two legged final.
The Shots only lasted two seasons in the third tier before dropping back into Division Four and worse was to follow in 1992 when the club went bankrupt and was unable to complete its’ fixture list.
This led to the club re-forming and having to start life again in Division Three of The Isthmian League. To the clubs’ great credit they made rapid strides forward from this desperate position and won promotion into The Conference in 2003.
Five years later in 2008 Aldershot Town were celebrating promotion back into The Football League after storming to The Conference title with a massive 101 points.
Benchmarks set by players from the original club which those of the new one can aspire to are Murray Brodie’s league appearance record of 461 and the 171 league goals scored by Jack Howarth in two spells with the club between 1965 and 77.