A.F.C. Netley


A.F.C. Netley are a long running amateur football club based in Netley, Southampton, Hampshire.
Formerly known as Netley Central Sports, they are affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association and are currently members of the Hampshire Premier League Division 1.

History

The club were established in 1901 as Netley Sports and originally played friendly matches before becoming founder members of the Southampton League in 1908.
Netley enjoyed great success during the fifties, most notably winning the Southampton Senior Cup three years running, along with the Hampshire Intermediate Cup twice.
In 1957, Netley began their long association with the Hampshire League and back-to-back title wins saw them quickly reach Division 1. At the time, this level was of a very high standard, and in 1965 they finished in 4th place for what was their highest position.
The club became known as Netley Central Sports in 1970 - showing the link with the local Sports & Social Club. Apart from a couple of brief spells, they remained top-flight regulars for many years until the late nineties, when a decline in fortunes resulted in successive relegation's down to the basement division.
In 2004, the original Hampshire League was absorbed into the expanding Wessex League, with Netley joining the short-lived third division, but unable to meet the strict ground criteria, they left two years later to join the Hampshire League 2004, where they twice won the league and cup double.
It was the end of an era in 2011 when Netley dropped out of county soccer, but after a successful spell of rebuilding in the Southampton League, they returned to the competition in 2014, which had since become Division 1 of the Hampshire Premier League.
In 2020, the club was re-branded as AFC Netley.

Honours

1st Team

  • Hampshire Football Association
  • *Intermediate Cup Winners 1953/54 and 1957/58. Finalists 2012/13
  • Hampshire League
  • *Division 2 Champions 1958/59 and 1972/73
  • *Division 3 Champions 1957/58
  • Hampshire Premier League
  • *Division 1 Champions 2017/18
  • Hampshire League 2004
  • *League Champions 2008/09 and 2009/10
  • *Trophyman League Cup Winners 2008/09 and 2009/10
  • Southampton Football Association
  • *Senior Cup Winners 1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1971/72, 1972/73 and 1998/99. Finalists 1964/65, 1967/68 and 1989/90
  • Southampton League
  • *Premier Division Runners-up 2012/13
  • *Senior Division 1 Champions 1923/24, 1954/55, 1955/56 and 2011/12
  • *Senior Division 2 Champions 1953/54
  • Other
  • *Eastleigh Bi-Centenial Trophy Winners 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1993

2nd Team

  • Hampshire League
  • *Division 3 Champions 1966/67
  • Southampton Football Association
  • *Senior Cup Finalists 1970/71
  • *Junior 'A' Cup Finalists 1954/55
  • *Junior 'B' Cup Winners 1935/36
  • Southampton League
  • *Premier Division Champions 1964/65 and 1965/66
  • *Senior Division 1 Champions 2010/11
  • *Junior Division 1 Champions 1954/55
  • *Junior Division 2 Champions 1950/51
  • *Junior East Division Champions 1932/33, 1948/49 and 1950/51
  • *Senior League Cup Winners 2010/11

Ground

AFC Netley play their home games at Station Road Recreation Ground, Netley Abbey, Southampton, SO31 5HY. The venue has one enclosed pitch with an adjacent pavilion and plenty of car parking.

Notable players

A number of former Southampton players have also turned out for Netley; these include Manny Andruszewski, Mick Earls, Tommy Hare, John Hollowbread, and Bill Beaney, who was also manager for a spell. For the 1989-90 campaign they were coached by David Armstrong.
More recently, locally born Danny Ings briefly played for Netley before proceeding to play professionally with a number of clubs.
Former player Bob Crompton gave over 60 years service to the club and went on to hold positions with both the Southampton Football Association and the Hampshire League 2004.

Local rivalries

There a vast number of clubs from the east side of Southampton and AFC Netley regard neighbours Sholing, Hamble Club and Folland Sports as their main rivals - although with these all now playing at a higher level, meetings are not as frequent as they once were.
Older rivalries have been lost as Sholing Sports, Bitterne Nomads, Netley Athletic and Mullard Sports are all now defunct.