AFC Totton
VENUE: Alrebury Park, The Avenue, Alresford, Winchester, Hampshire SO24 9EP
JIMMY BALL’S TEAM will continue their defence of the Southampton Senior Cup title they won at St. Mary’s Stadium last May, when they make the short trip to the other side of Winchester to take on troubled Wessex League Premier Division side Alresford Town.
The Magpies are currently staring up at the other 19 teams from the foot of the Step 5 table, having won only one game in the league all season, with no draws and 22 defeats contributing to an overall goal difference of minus 72 at the time of writing, and a daunting 17-point gap between them and Pagham in the relative safety of 18th position.
If the ever-increasing threat of relegation was not enough to contend with, according to recent local press reports the club has also been subjected to moves from within the local town council to have them evicted from their Arlebury Park ground. The Hampshire Chronicle reported that the New Alresford Town Council had an agenda item listed for their 24 January council meeting to discuss evicting the club at the end of this season, and opening up the currently segregated land to the neighbouring public park.
In the wake of an overwhelming tide of support from fans, local residents and many others within the community of Hampshire football and the Wessex League as a whole, the council subsequently backtracked and removed the item from their agenda. That won’t be the end of the story, but hopefully the club, which this year celebrates the 125th anniversary of its formation in 1898, will triumph over those within local politics who want to deprive the local community of a highly-regarded town asset.
At least the Southampton Senior Cup has been a source of some joy for the long-suffering fans of The Magpies. After a bye saw them through to the 2nd Round, Alresford won 5-3 at home against AFC Netley before putting the kibosh on a would-be Totton Derby between The Stags and The Millers by beating Ben Hillman’s Totton & Eling by a single goal, in a 3rd Round tie that was re-arranged twice before finally going ahead after having been switched to Miller Park.
AFC Totton and Alresford Town last met in September of 2021, in the 2nd Round of the Hampshire Senior Cup when The Stags ran out 4-1 winners thanks to a virtuoso display by Brett Williams. The striker, who is now with Gosport Borough, bagged all four to take his tally for the season at that point to 11 goals in just 5 starts under Glenn Howes.
READY, FREDDIE, GOAL!: Midfielder Freddie Read scores AFC Totton's second goal in the Southampton Senior Cup Final against Folland Sports at St. Mary's Stadium in May 2022.
Speaking after his team's 3-0 Southern League Div.1 South victory over Melksham Town at the Snows Stadium on Saturday, Jimmy Ball admitted the tight turnaround between the Alresford game on Thursday night and the long trip to Devon to take on Willand Rovers in the league on Saturday would require him to shuffle his squad:
"We will certainly take Thursday’s game seriously and do our best to win and progress in the competition, but we have to be realistic and responsible with the players. We had two come off with knocks today and there are one or two others who might have featured on Thursday who won’t be able to, either because they’re injured our cup-tied. We’ll still be putting out a strong side, though, and I’m looking forward to it.”
TICKET INFORMATION
Venue: Arlebury Park, The Avenue, Alresford SO24 9EP
Tickets: Adults £5
Concession & Students 16-18 £3
Children 12-16 £2
U12s Free Entry
Southampton Divisional Football Association
Saturday Senior Cup 2022/23 - Results to date
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Image courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
