AFC Totton
FORMER SHOLING GOALKEEPER RYAN GOSNEY – who broke Stags’ hearts with his penalty-saving exploits for Salisbury in last season’s Southern League Premier Division South Promotion Play-Off final at the Snows Stadium in May – has joined AFC Totton on a permanent deal.
The 33-year-old goalkeeper spent nine years with Sholing, racking up more than 400 appearances as a mainstay of veteran manager Dave Diaper’s team that followed AFC Totton in climbing up to Step 3 at the end of the 2022/23 season by winning the Southern League Division One South Play-Off final against Hamworthy United.
“My experience at Sholing was fantastic. The people there were always great with me and despite some limitations with the club’s set-up, we had a core group of players and staff who all shared the same vision and sense of determination that helped us to consistently produce positive results on the pitch,” explained Gosney.
“Dave Diaper would do anything for any of his players, but after he left and the playing personnel began to change, the vibe around the club also changed and it got to the point where I just wasn’t enjoying my football anymore, and I needed to leave to rediscover my love for the game.”
Gosney – whose older brother Mike was an AFC Totton legend for several years, operating as a goalscoring winger and was an integral part of the club’s famous run to the FA Vase final at Wembley Stadium in 2006/07 – was given the opportunity to trade a potential relegation dogfight with Sholing for a promotion battle when Salisbury manager Brian Dutton made an approach for his services in March, and it proved to be the right move at the time, as Gosney produced a timely Man of the Match display to ensure The Whites went up to the National League South at Totton’s expense. Despite his arrival at the Snows Stadium, Gosney holds no regrets about how things turned out.
“That was my greatest achievement in my football career, so even though I’m now an AFC Totton player, I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he confessed.
“It was one of those days where everything went right for me. After Ethan Taylor had equalised for 2-2 during extra-time, I had a smile on my face because I always fancy myself in a penalty shoot-out. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting the goalkeeper to take the first one and he struck it very well, to be fair to him, but I guessed the right way and managed to make another save later on to win the tie.”
Having secured Step 2 football for Salisbury, Gosney was surprised to then be told shortly into the 2024/25 season that he needed to go out on loan to gain match sharpness, and he reluctantly agreed to a temporary move to Privett Park to keep goal for Gosport Borough.
“I really don’t think I was performing badly for Salisbury. I wasn’t great but I wasn’t playing bad, either. The manager and I had a difference of opinion about a couple of goals that we had conceded, and I was told to go out on loan. So, I joined Gosport for what was originally to be a season-long deal.
“But then Salisbury told me they had signed another goalkeeper, so I asked for my loan at Gosport to be terminated so I could return to Salisbury and have my contract there cancelled. That enabled me to become a free agent and set about finding myself the right club to continue my football career on my own terms.”
Gosney was the No.1 at Folland Sports prior to joining Sholing in the summer of 2015 as a 24-year-old, via a short stint at Winchester City. During his nine-year spell with The Boatmen, Gosney got his gloves on one Wessex Premier Division title trophy, one Wessex League Cup, one SDFA Southampton Senior Cup and two Russell-Cotes Cups, the most recent of which was won in the 2020/21 season.
Throughout his time at Sholing, Gosney was a constant thorn in the side of AFC Totton, not least during last season’s 0-1 away defeat for The Stags in February 2023, when a stellar display between the sticks somehow kept the more dominant team at bay to ensure that Bradley Targett’s 29th-minute strike remained the only goal of the game and Totton’s unbeaten run of 16 games came to an end. But, despite the intense rivalry between the two clubs, Gosney had no hesitation in agreeing to sign for AFC Totton when the chance arose.
“The situation regarding Gosport and Salisbury wasn’t ideal and I had to think long and hard about what was my best move under the circumstances. But once I had decided to take control of the situation and put the word around that I was available, it soon became clear that AFC Totton was the right club for me.
“Even from the outside looking in, you can see what a great set-up there is here with tremendous facilities and the right blend of players and staff to help you to succeed. I know Paul Masters from way back, when I played for AFC Totton at Under-18s level – that must have been in 2008/09 – and I spoke to him, Mike Carter and Adam Tomasso, who I’ve known since we were youth players and our kids play in the same team. They all had very positive things to say about the club, which encouraged me to really consider it.
“Then Jimmy Ball explained to me what this club is aiming to achieve and how they’re going about it, and it really didn’t take too much to persuade me that this is the right place for me to be playing my football at this point in my career.
“Promotion is the target and everything is geared towards achieving that. I may have played my part in preventing it from happening for this club last season, but I’m here to help deliver it now.”
Gosney’s signing follows on the heels of Joshua Gould’s departure from the club. Also a former Salisbury shot-stopper, a change in his full-time work schedule combined with the amount of travelling involved forced Gould to reconsider his situation.
Stags boss Jimmy Ball commented:
“I totally understand the reasoning behind Josh Gould leaving the club and I fully support the decision for the sake of his welfare. He is an extremely talented goalkeeper who put in some amazing performances during his short time with AFC Totton.
“We aim to replace quality with quality and I believe we’ve done that by bringing in Ryan Gosney. Goz has frequently been a thorn in my side ever since I came to AFC Totton by producing some excellent performances against us, so I’m absolutely delighted to be able to pluck that thorn out and put him in my team.
“He brings loads of experience of playing at this level and above. He’s a local lad who already knows many of the players and knows this league very well. He’s been successful throughout his career and hopefully he can have some more success with us.”
By Ben Rochey-Adams
