AFC Totton
Formed in 1891, our next opponents were originally called Winchester Swallows FC, until changing to Winchester FC – a name that had been in use by another club from 1884 to 1893 – before settling on Winchester City in 1907.
They enjoyed modest success throughout the 20th Century but the majority of their silverware has been won during the last 20 years, including three Wessex League titles, a second Hampshire Senior Cup to add to their success in 1930/31, the Southampton Senior Cup and the FA Vase in 2003/04 when they beat AFC Sudbury 2-0 at Birmingham City’s St. Andrew’s stadium, when the new Wembley was under construction.
This season, the Citizens have struggled for consistency but remain in touch with the play-off situation by virtue of having two games in-hand over Paulton Rovers, who are currently 5th, with just one point separating them. A 4-0 victory at Rovers in early December stands out as one of their more impressive results of the season, as does a home win over Slimbridge by the same score at the end of October.
Winchester’s top goal-scorer in the league is striker Simba Mlambo, who is joint 6th in the list for the Southern League Div.1 South with our own Ethan Taylor, who will miss this match due to suspension. It was Mlambo who levelled the scores at 2-2 in the first meeting between these two sides at the Snows Stadium in mid-September.
That match also marked the return of long-time AFC Totton favourite Craig Feeney to his former club, having found himself frozen out of the team under Glenn Howes and James Wood. Since returning to The City Ground, Craig has notched 6 goals, including the first in that defeat of Paulton Rovers.
WINCHESTER CITY – LAST 5 MATCHES (All Competitions)
Sat 27 Nov 21 Cirencester Town H Southern League Div.1 South L 1-3
Sat 04 Dec 21 Paulton Rovers A Southern League Div.1 South W 4-0
Sat 11 Dec 21 Larkhall Athletic H Southern League Div.1 South L 2-4
Sat 18 Dec 21 Mangotsfield United A Southern League Div.1 South W 4-2
Sat 01 Jan 22 Lymington Town A Southern League Div.1 South W 1-0
AFC TOTTON vs WINCHESTER CITY – Previous Meetings
Since the 2003/04 season, AFC Totton and Winchester City have played each other 28 times. The Citizens have the better of the head-to-head record with 12 wins to Totton’s 8, and 8 draws. The Stags have not won any of the last 6, dating back to 2018.
Two goals from Mike Gosney helped Totton on their way to a 3-0 away win in an FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round match in 2008, which would have gone some way to compensate for two 0-4 home defeats to the Citizens during the earlier part of the decade.
Then a brace from Michael Charles on 08 March 2011 sent the Stags through to the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup with a 3-1 win. Wayne Shaw, he of the infamous Sutton United “Pie Gate Scandal”, kept goal for the Stags that day.
Earlier this season, on Tuesday 14 September, an exquisite free-kick in the opening minute from Ollie Balmer got the Citizens off to a flying start at the Snows Stadium. The Stags recovered to take the lead thanks to two goals from Hisham Kasimu but, just past the hour mark, Simba Mlambo equalised with a close-range bullet header. Totton were reduced to 10-men with the late dismissal of defender Stephane Zubar but held on to take a point with a 2-2 draw.
By Ben Rochey-Adams and Malcolm Tombs, Historian
