New Milton F.C. (1898)

New Milton
Full nameNew Milton Football Club
Founded1897
Dissolved1998
GroundFawcett Fields, New Milton

New Milton F.C. were a long running amateur football club based in New Milton, a market town in the New Forest district of Hampshire.

They ran for 101 years, until 1998 when they merged with AFC Lymington to form Lymington & New Milton.

History

New Milton were formed in 1897 and spent their formative years playing friendly fixtures before joining the New Forest League. [1]

In 1924, New Milton were elected to the Hampshire League West Division and by the end of the decade had progressed to Division 1. At the time, the competition was of a very high standard and they did superbly well to finish 4th in 1931, their highest ever final position. However, after this they frequently struggled and eventually left in 1936 to join the less demanding Bournemouth League. [2]

After World War II, the club reformed (as New Milton Arygle until 1950) and returned to the county league in 1946.[3] They very much became main-stays in the third tier, as apart from two seasons in Division 2 (1972-74), they would remain here for the next 40 years. [4]

Following the creation of the Wessex League in 1986, the Hampshire League was consequently restructured and New Milton were placed in revised Division 2.[5] Again, they consolidated and after a series of encouraging seasons they were promoted in 1992.

A year later, the club became known as New Milton Town after accepting an offer from the local council to use the newly opened sports ground at Fawcett Fields. Here they had the main enclosed pitch with impressive facilities that would enable them to progress to a higher level.[6] However, despite this the club found it difficult to attract quality players and were relegated in 1997. [7]

A year later, New Milton merged with ambitious neighbours AFC Lymington to form Lymington & New Milton, taking the 'Linnets' place in the Wessex League and playing at Fawcett Fields. [8]

However, the move was not universally popular amongst both sets of supporters. [9] Lymington Town was immediately reformed, whilst the previous New Milton first team continued for the following season before disbanding.[10] The name of the merged club was later changed back to New Milton Town. [11]

Honours

  • Bournemouth Football Association
    • Senior Cup Winners 1990/91
    • Junior Cup Winners
  • Bournemouth League
    • Division 1 Champions
    • Division 2 Champions
  • New Forest League
    • Division 1 Champions
    • Division 2 Champions

Hampshire League Career

Former players

New Milton had many fine players over the years - most notably Bill Kitchener and Neil Prosser.

Ground

Until 1993, New Milton played on the Recreation Ground in the town centre.

They then relocated to the newly opened and better equipped Fawcett Fields, Christchurch Road, New Milton, Hampshire. BH25 6QB. The ground remains is use today. It has a large pavilion and is enclosed with a large stand, permanent pitch barrier and floodlights. [12]

The 'phoenix side' played the 1998/99 season at near-by Milford-on-Sea.

Local rivalries

New Milton enjoyed a healthy rivalry with number of New Forest clubs such as Brockenhurst, Sway,[13] Bashley, Ringwood Town, Pennington, Wellworthy Athletic and Lymington Town. [14]

Successor club

References

  1. ^ Association Football in Hampshire until 1914 by Norman Gannaway
  2. ^ A History of Bournemouth Football Association & League 1920-95 by Norman Gannaway
  3. ^ https://fchd.info/NEW-MILT.HTM
  4. ^ A Tabulated History of the Hampshire League by Stephen Farmery
  5. ^ Hampshire Football Association Centenary History 1887-1987 by Norman Gannaway
  6. ^ History of the Hampshire League 1896–1996 by Norman Gannaway
  7. ^ https://fchd.info/lghist/hants1997.htm
  8. ^ https://www.newmiltontownfc.com/history
  9. ^ https://footballgroundsinfocus.com/NLFPDHistory.htm
  10. ^ https://fchd.info/lghist/hants1999.htm
  11. ^ https://fchd.info/LYMINGNM.HTM
  12. ^ https://pitchfinder.org.uk/map/site/1011501/
  13. ^ Sway FC 75th Anniversary 1908–84 by Les Castle
  14. ^ A History of Lymington Town Football Club 1876-1984 by Norman Gannaway
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