Sholing F.C.

{{short description|English football club}} {{More citations needed|date=October 2023}} {{Use British English|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox football club | clubname = Sholing | image = Sholing_FC_logo.png | fullname = Sholing Football Club | nickname = The Boatmen | founded = 1960 | ground = The Mortgage Decisions Stadium, [[Sholing]] | capacity = 2,500 | chairman = Mick Budny | manager = Paul Doswell | league = {{English football updater|Sholing}} | season = {{English football updater|Sholing2}} | position = {{English football updater|Sholing3}} | pattern_la1 = _blackborder | pattern_b1 = _whitehalf | pattern_ra1 = _blackborder| | leftarm1 = FF0000 | body1 = FF0000 | rightarm1 = FFFFFF | shorts1 = 000000 | socks1 = FFFFFF | pattern_la2 = _navyborder | pattern_b2 = _thinnavystripes | pattern_ra2 = _navyborder | pattern_sh1 = _redbottom | pattern_sh2 = _yellowbottom| | leftarm2 = FFFF00 | body2 = FFFF00 | rightarm2 = FFFF00 | shorts2 = 000080 | socks2 = 000080 }} '''Sholing Football Club''' is an [[List of football clubs in England|English]] [[Association football|football]] club based in [[Sholing]], [[Southampton]], [[Hampshire]]. Formerly known as Vosper Thornycroft FC and later VTFC the club changed its name in 2010 to Sholing FC. In 2013–14, they won both the [[FA Vase]] and the [[Wessex League]] Premier Division and have three times been runners up in the Wessex Premier, in 2007, 2009, and 2016. They are currently members of the {{English football updater|Sholing}}. The club has twice won the [[Hampshire League]], in 2001 and 2004. Sholing are also eight times [[Southampton Senior Cup]] Winners.

==History==

=== Vosper Thornycroft FC === Sholing FC have a long fragmented history. They were re-formed in 1960 as '''[[Thornycrofts (Woolston) F.C.|Thornycrofts (Woolston)]]''' - successors to the previous club which had folded several years earlier, although teams from the [[Woolston Works F.C.|Woolston Works]] had competed as early as 1878 under various names.<ref>Association Football in Hampshire until 1914 by Norman Gannaway</ref> During one remarkable season in [[1919–20 FA Cup|1920]], they held [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]] to a 0–0 draw in the [[FA Cup]], losing the replay 0-5. <ref>Hampshire Football Association Centenary History 1887-1987 by Norman Gannaway</ref>

In its post-1960 incarnation, they initially played in the [[Southampton Football League|Southampton League]] - becoming '''Vosper Thornycroft''' in 1970.<ref>A Century of Southampton Local Soccer 1908-2008 by John Moody</ref> After a number of successful years, they were promoted to the [[Hampshire League]] Third Division in 1991, rising to the Second Division the following season, followed by the First Division in 1998.<ref>A History of the Hampshire League 1896-1996 by Norman Gannaway</ref> A year later, they were relegated when the competition was re-organised, but at their first attempt, they won promotion to the new Premier Division.<ref>A Tabulated History of the Hampshire League by Stephen Farmery</ref>

In 2003, Vospers were renamed as '''VT FC''', after their parent company, and in their first season under their new name, they were champions and won promotion to the [[Wessex League]]. After winning the Wessex League Cup in 2005, VTFC were league runners-up in 2008 and 2009. VTFC arrived in the Southern League Division One South and West for the 2009–10 season when they finished 4th. They lost in the subsequent play-offs to [[A.F.C. Totton|AFC Totton]] and the Southern League Cup to [[Cambridge City F.C.|Cambridge City]].

=== Sholing F.C. === [[File:Sholing-fa-vase-final.jpg|thumb|right|Sholing won the FA Vase in 2014.]] In June 2010, the club changed its name to Sholing F.C. as the parent company VT Group no longer existed. The change also reflected the district of Southampton in which the club is based.

After four years in the Southern League Division One South and West, where they finished runners-up in 2011 and reached the play-offs in all four of those campaigns, the club resigned from the Southern League in 2013 for financial reasons and stepped back into the Wessex League Premier Division.

During the [[Wessex Football League|2013–14 season]], Sholing won the [[FA Vase]] for the first time in their history, beating [[West Auckland Town F.C.|West Auckland Town]] in the final at [[Wembley Stadium]], with Marvin McLean scoring the only goal in the game in the 71st minute.

They also finished as champions of the Wessex League Premier Division and secured promotion back to the [[Southern Football League|Southern League]] for 2014–15.

Three players retired after the Wembley final and three more moved to other clubs in higher leagues, so 2014–15 was going to be a transition season. The club finished 17th and reached the final of the [[Hampshire Senior Cup]], losing 3–0 to [[Gosport Borough F.C.|Gosport Borough]]. At the end of the season, it was revealed that the club's ground did not meet the new FA Step 4 grading criteria and once again Sholing were placed in the Wessex League for 2015–16.

Sholing finished as runners-up to [[Salisbury F.C.|Salisbury]] in the [[2015–16 Wessex Football League|Wessex League Premier Division 2015–16]]. The Boatmen won 10 of their last 11 games to pip Blackfield & Andover to second place. Dan Mason finished as club top scorer with 39 goals, placing him second in the League golden boot competition.

The Boatmen achieved two cup wins in the space of three days at the end of the 2016–17 season, firstly winning the Wessex League Cup, beating Baffins Milton Rovers 2–1, then lifting the Southampton Senior Cup with a 3–1 victory over Team Solent at St Mary's Stadium. In the Wessex Premier Division, they finished 3rd.

Sholing, once again, finished in 3rd place in the Wessex Premier Division in the 2017–18 season. Despite the runners up, Andover Town, declining promotion, Sholing's Points Per Game (PPG) was less than other clubs in Step 5, so the club was not offered promotion by the FA. The following season, however, the club won the Wessex League championship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/sport/17589001.football-portland-to-host-champions-sholing/|title=Football:Portland to host champions Sholing|work=Dorset Echo|date=22 April 2019|access-date=22 April 2019}}</ref> During the course of the season, manager Dave Diaper reached the milestone of 1000 games in charge of the team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45207478|title=Dave Diaper: Sholing FC manager reaches 1,000 games in charge of non-league club|publisher=BBC Sport|date=30 August 2018|access-date=22 April 2019}}</ref>

The Boatmen currently play in the Southern League Premier Division, following a play-off win over Hamworthy United in 2022–23. Manager Dave Diaper stepped down in October 2023 after 25 years at the helm and 1,210 matches with Paul Doswell taking charge in the dugout, assisted by Ross White and Ian Baird. Sholing finished the 2024-25 season in 11th place, having doubled the average attendance to over 500.

==Ground== Sholing play their home games at The Mortgage Decisions Stadium. The ground has covered seating for 288 supporters and covered terracing for 710. A new 400 capacity stand was opened for the start of the 2024–25 season by [[Levi Colwill]] and [[Matthew Le Tissier]]. In the summer of 2025, a 3G pitch was installed along with further ground improvements. [[File:PangeaStandBackground.jpg|thumb|Pangea Stand at The Mortgage Decisions Stadium, home of Sholing Football Club]] [[File:SholingFCAerialAug24.jpg|thumb|Aerial photograph of The Mortgage Decisions Stadium, home of Sholing Football Club]]

==Current squad== {{Fs start}} {{Fs player||no=1|nat=England|name=Craig King|pos=GK|other=}} {{Fs player|no=2|nat=England|name=Spencer Spurway|pos=DF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=3|nat=England|name=Joe Rabbetts|pos=DF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=4|nat=England|name=Blaise Riley-Snow|pos=MF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=5|nat=England|name=[[Dan Wishart]]|pos=DF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=6|nat=England|name=Harry Taylor|pos=DF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=7|nat=England|name=Jake McCarthy|pos=MF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=8|nat=England|name=Byron Mason|pos=DF|other=Captain}} {{Fs player|no=9|nat=England|name=Dan Mason|pos=FW|other=}} {{Fs player|no=10|nat=England|name=[[Jake Hesketh]]|pos=MF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=11|nat=England|name=Bradley Targett|pos=FW|other=}} {{Fs Player|no=12|nat=England|pos=FW|name=Vinnie Tume}} {{Fs mid}} {{Fs player|no=13|nat=England|name=Charlie Searle|pos=GK|other=}} {{Fs player|no=14|nat=Portugal|pos=MF|name=Fabio Lopes}} {{Fs player|no=16|nat=England|name=Reece Wylie|pos=MF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=17|nat=England|name=Karlos Gregory|pos=MF|other=}} {{Fs Player|no=18|nat=England|pos=FW|name=[[Ricardo German]]}} {{Fs player|no=19|nat=England|name=[[Michael Folivi]]|pos=FW|other=}} {{Fs player|no=20|nat=England|pos=MF|name=Beaux Booth}} {{Fs player|no=22|nat=England|pos=MF|name=Jayvon Colwill}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=England|pos=FW|name=Gio Crichlow}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=England|name=[[Jacob Gardiner-Smith]]|pos=MF|other=}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=England|name=Dan Jones|pos=MF|other=}} {{Fs end}}

==Honours== * '''[[FA Vase]]'''<ref name="favase">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/11205090.Sholing_win_the_FA_Vase/?ref=twt|title=Sholing win the FA Vase |date=10 May 2014 |publisher=Southern Daily Echo |access-date=10 May 2014}}</ref> **Winners: [[2013–14 FA Vase|2013–14]] *'''[[Southern Football League|Southern League Division One South & West]]'''<ref name="fchd">{{cite web|url=https://www.fchd.info/SHOLING.HTM |title=Football Club History Database – Sholing |publisher=Fchd.info |access-date=5 August 2012}}</ref> **Runners-up: [[2010–11 Southern Football League#League table 3|2010–11]] *'''[[Wessex Football League|Wessex League Premier Division]]'''<ref name="fchd2">{{cite web|url=https://www.fchd.info/VTFC.HTM |title=Football Club History Database – V T F C |publisher=Fchd.info |access-date=5 August 2012}}</ref> **Champions: [[2013–14 Wessex Football League|2013–14]], [[2018–19 Wessex Football League|2018–19]] **Runners-up: [[2007–08 Wessex Football League|2007–08]], [[2008–09 Wessex Football League|2008–09]], [[2015–16 Wessex Football League|2015–16]] *'''[[Hampshire Premier League]]'''<ref name="fchd2"/><ref name="fchd1">{{cite web|url=https://www.fchd.info/VOSPERTH.HTM |title=Football Club History Database – Vosper Thornycroft |publisher=Fchd.info |access-date=5 August 2012}}</ref> **Champions: 2000–01, 2003–04 *'''Wessex League Cup'''<ref name="lcup">[http://www.wessexleague.co.uk/public/Sydenhams%20League%20Cup.pdf Sydenhams League Cup] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023171315/http://wessexleague.co.uk/public/Sydenhams%20League%20Cup.pdf |date=23 October 2012 }} Sydenhams Football League (Wessex)</ref> **Winners: 2004–05, 2016–17 * '''Hampshire Senior Cup'''<ref name="fchd5">"AFC Totton beat Sholing to win Hampshire Senior Cup". BBC Sport. 26 May 2011.</ref> **Runners-up: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15 * '''Southampton Senior Cup''' **Winners: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2016–17 *'''Russell Cotes Cup (Hampshire FA Benevolent Cup)''' **Winners: 2019–20, 2020–21

==Club records== *Best League performance: [[2023–24 Southern Football League|Southern League Premier Division South]] 15th, 2023–24 *Best [[FA Cup]] performance: 4th Qualifying Round, 2020–21 *Best [[FA Trophy]] performance: 1st Round, 2019–20 *Best [[FA Vase]] performance: Winners, 2013–14 *Record attendance : 1,888 ( v Chelsea U19, 26 July 2025 ) *Record league attendance : 1,005 ( v AFC Totton, 13 August 2024 ) *Appearances : Marvin McLean, 801

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.sholingfc.co.uk Official website] *{{fchd|id=SHOLING|name=Sholing FC}} *{{fchd|id=VTFC|name=VT FC}} *{{fchd|id=VOSPERTH|name=Vosper Thornycroft FC}}

{{Southern League}}

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[[Category:Football clubs in Hampshire]] [[Category:Wessex Football League]] [[Category:Hampshire League]] [[Category:Southampton Saturday Football League]] [[Category:Association football clubs established in 1960]] [[Category:Southern Football League clubs]] [[Category:1960 establishments in England]] [[Category:Sport in Southampton]] [[Category:Men's football clubs in England]] [[Category:Works football clubs in England]]