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Club History (to July 2007)
The Past
Hawks support at Dagenham and Redbridge in the first round of the FA Cup. (November 2002) |
Eight seasons on from the joining of neighbouring south coast teams Havant Town and Waterlooville FC, the Hawks have accomplished two promotions and a run last season that saw a place in the Blue Square Premier denied by a titanic two leg playoff semi-final with Braintree Town. But of course the story doesn’t start with that June 1998 merger, the origins of the club’s precursors date back over 100 years.
Local football in the borough started back in 1883 with the formation of Havant FC. The team plied their trade in the Portsmouth Football League and in the 1950s produced Chelsea and England forward Bobby Tambling. In 1969 the club merged with Leigh Park FC, Sunday League upstarts from a Havant suburb formed in 1958 who that season had won the FA Sunday Cup.
Havant and Leigh Park FC topped the Portsmouth League at their first attempt, and moved into the fourth division of the Hampshire League in 1970. Rapid promotions continued, and in 1977 the team reached the first division. A spartan home at their Front Lawn pitch inhibited further progress, and the club acquired the site for Westleigh Park in 1980. It took two years for the ground to be levelled, drained, enclosed, and a clubhouse built, but eventually in August 1982 the renamed Havant Town FC moved into their new home.
Hawks legend Paul Wood takes on Forest Green Rovers in the FA Trophy Quarter Final. (March 2003) |
The team became founder members of the Wessex League in 1986, and were runners up three times before finally clinching the title and promotion to the Southern League in 1991. It was during this spell in the Wessex League that the club attained a record setting attendance of 3,500 against Wisbech Town in the Quarter Final of the FA Vase.
Waterlooville FC meanwhile came into existence in 1905, and progressed through the Waterlooville District, Portsmouth and Hampshire Leagues to take up residence in the Southern League twenty years before Havant in 1971. The league reorganised itself in the late 70s after the formation of the Football Conference, and Waterlooville narrowly missed winning the Southern Division in 1981, despite putting together a 31 match unbeaten run.
Waterlooville yo-yoed back and forth between the Southern and Premier Divisions through the 1980s and in 1987 won the league cup with a 2-1 victory over Hednesford Town. In 1993 the team finished in 11th place in the Premier, their highest ever placing, but in the following years relegation and money problems made further title bids impossible. It was these financial woes that lead Waterlooville into considering a merger with rivals Havant Town, who were trying to overcome problems of their own in 1997 after the unexpected departure of Manager Tony Mount to Newport IOW with many of the team’s key players.
Joining Forces
Alec Masson (gold) fends off Mark Hallam in the First Leg of the 2002/03 FA Trophy Semi Final. (April 2003) |
The union was an obvious one, and after a successful first season the combined team topped the Southern League’s Southern Division and gained promotion to the Premier, from where they challenged for an escape to the Football Conference in 2001/02. On that occasion they ultimately finished third in the table, but the season almost doubled attendance figures as local interest drew in new fans to witness the highest finishing position the club has achieved. Giddy concerns over promotion early that season brought about the rapid conclusion of a £500,000 improvement to Westleigh Park, taking it from its humble Hampshire League origins to Conference National standard.
Shrewd player purchasing in August 2002 brought together the most impressive side the club had fielded, but as the season got underway it was one that still needed time to settle in. Having started 2002/03 as one of the favourites to win the league, a disastrous run left the side with a lot of ground to cover through the winter months. During the season the national cup competitions were a big part of the team getting back on track. In the FA Cup the Hawks overcame Ryman Premier sides Harrow Borough and Billericay Town, and enjoyed a tremendous day out at Dagenham and Redbridge where they made their second first round proper appearance in three years. Fate put them against Billericay again in the FA Trophy, who made more of the second encounter and forced the only replay a run that took the Hawks past Sutton United, Colwyn Bay and Hayes before the game of the season at Forest Green Rovers.
Tim Hambley (left) and James Taylor (right) line up for England National XI duty (April 2002) (Picture Simon Lynch) |
To be in the quarter final of the FA Trophy was something no Hawks fan would have dared dream about, the side having only previously made it as far as the third round. The occasion also gave the team their seventh chance to beat a Conference club in a national competition. Rovers took an early lead, but with an astonishing second half performance the Hawks made a superb record setting comeback to win 2-1 and go on to face league leaders Tamworth in the semi-final. Despite succumbing to another goal from then one of the Southern League’s perennial golden boot challengers, James Taylor, the unstoppable Lambs rolled on after extra time to the final against Burscough.
The 2003/04 season started with a high degree of optimism, and while initial league results were encouraging the side rapidly began to lose their way again. Whereas the previous season had offered hope in the excellent cup runs, early exits from the Trophy and the FA Cup at the hands of junior sides left the Hawks going into winter in freefall. Enthusiasm and passion in the players vanished, and eventually the management partnership of Mick Jenkins and Liam Daish, in the role together since May 2000, came to an end when both were dismissed in January 2004.
Dean Holdsworth in action against Weymouth (December 2004) |
At the time the Hawks were fighting for a top thirteen finish, and an automatic place in the new three division conference. With so much at stake, competition in the Southern League was particularly fierce, and the Hawks appointed David Leworthy to take the side forward. Dave had joined the Hawks as a player in August 2000, bringing a vast wealth of experience at league and non-league level with him. He cut his managerial teeth with the Hawks Under-18 side, leading them in 2002/03 to a flawless season. Not only were the side unbeaten league champions, but they also won all three Hampshire FA youth cup competitions. For the start of 2003/04 Leworthy was put in charge of the reserves, and it was 18 games into another impressive unbeaten run that he was called up to manage the first team. His enthusiasm and desire reformed a dying side and lifted them from certain relegation to a place in the new Conference with a dramatic win on the penultimate day of the season.
Leworthy’s start was slow, but some tremendous summer signings including Premiership striker Dean Holdsworth once again made the Hawks seem a formidable side on paper. But the spirit that evaporated through the previous season failed to return, and after another early FA Cup exit and a mediocre league form, Leworthy was suddenly axed from his job in November 2004. Club director Ian Baird was installed within a week as his replacement, the ex-Southampton, Portsmouth and Leeds striker having been a candidate when the position became vacant eleven months earlier.
The Present
Uncertainty remained in the side as Baird began to make changes, and the Hawks continued to drop down the table to find a new first in February 2005 when they found themselves propping up the bottom of the league. A fractious game against play-off candidates Lewes left players and fans both resigned to relegation, but the game proved to be the turning point for a side that has since risen to new heights.
Brett Poate congratulates Rocky Baptiste on his debut goal, the first of 65 in two seasons to date (August 2005) |
New faces were persuaded into the side and an impossible run of games followed, with just two defeats in twelve games taking the Hawks out of the relegation battle and into a mid-table finish. With the summer to continue his re-organisation of the side, Baird approached the 2005/06 season as a fresh start, with a constant re-shaping of the side that saw 35 different players pull on a Hawks shirt that season. Serious injury stopped several impressive players reaching their full potential, but by May the Hawks could boast a committed and enthusiastic side that had suffered only 11 defeats and proved with victories over many of the league’s most dominant sides that they were promotion material. Ultimately though, the Hawks finished one point outside the playoff bracket in sixth place, having proved that on their day they could beat any team in the league.
Missing the playoffs though did little to dampen the spirits of a club again in the ascendancy. Prior to the 2006/07 season the club announced a six figure sponsorship deal with brewing giants Carlsberg, backed by a total rejuvenation of the clubhouse at Westleigh Park, which is now taking its place in the local community as a fully functional public house.
Richard Pacquette during the playoff semi-final defeat at Braintree (May 2007) |
On the pitch, the introduction of further impressive Conference National experienced players to the side launched the club into a new assault on the league’s top spot, and during the first four months of the season the Hawks lost only five games, putting them at one point at the very top of the table.
But a more bumpy run through the winter months saw Histon’s championship position become unassailable, and the focus switched to securing a playoff spot, which the club finally managed on the last day of the season when a 3-3 draw with Fisher Athletic saw the Hawks finish fourth. A two legged semi-final against Braintree followed, in which the Iron eventually triumphed on penalties in front of a home crowd. However, having astutely added to his squad again over the summer, Ian Baird’s reputation and the Hawks’ title challenging credentials have put the side early favourites at the bookmakers to win the Blue Square South this time round.
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