Fawcetts Field
Christchurch Road
New Milton
Hampshire
BH25 6QF
Ground Number: 1589
Saturday 19th September 2026
Saturday 19th September 2026
New Milton Town 1-0 AFC Stoneham
Wessex D1
Wessex D1
NEW MILTON TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
Despite an official formation date of 1998, the club can trace its roots back to a hundred years previously, when New Milton FC were established. They played recreational football up until the end of the Second World War, when they were renamed New Milton Argyll for a few years before reverting to their original name. They later joined the Hampshire League and spent around two decades in its lowest tier, earning promotion to Division 1 with a third-place finish in 1992. The following year, they changed their name to New Milton Town and remained in Division 1 until 1997, when they were relegated, continuing to struggle for a couple more seasons, the latter of them as the leftovers of a merger before folding the following year.
The club has reached the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup on three occasions. On the last occasion in 2004, they took Woking to a replay, drawing 1-1 at home before losing 4-2 in the replay. They also reached the FA Vase Quarter Final in 1999, beating Wellington, Hungerford Town, Mossley and Duston Federation Brewery before losing 3-1 to Taunton Town. Their record attendance of 1,500 came for the 2023 playoff final game when they played Petersfield Town and drew 1-1 before losing on penalties. Famous players to have played for the side include former Southampton striker Nicky Banger and left back Paul Hardyman, who played for Wycombe Wanderers, amongst others. The latter also managed the side during the 2010/11 season. The town of New Milton has a population of around 20,000 and is located in Hampshire. To the north is the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. It is equidistant between Lymington and Christchurch. Neil Moss, the former Southampton & AFC Bournemouth goalkeeper, was born in the town.
MY VISIT
It has not been the greatest of times since coming back from Hamburg. The upset stomach that started on Saturday morning was still there, so much so that I rang NHS 111, who sent me to the chemist for hydration sachets. They advised me to take Wednesday off work, and I began to worry about my upcoming trip to France and Malta. It only seemed right not to go to Wycombe Wanderers v Chelsea U21 in whatever the Football League Trophy is called nowadays. Having had a poor night's sleep, I dozed off at 8.10, a few minutes into the second half. I woke around 1 am to discover that Wycombe had won 2-1. To console myself, I ordered a new phone, a Pixel 11 Pro. Having been happy with my two previous Pixels, it made good sense to go again. The standout deal was on GiffGaff, so I went for that, around £35 up front and £40 a month over two years. On Thursday, I went to the doctor, and they advised me not to travel, citing the issues if the problems got worse. I started to draw up new plans and got all my cancellations in. Also, not in the happiest of moods, I treated myself to a cider, which gave me the same buzz as three or four usually do, given how little I'd eaten. I started to finalise the final steps of my migration to a new phone, which was more work than it should be, in my opinion.
It had not been a great week for 1990s goalkeepers. Earlier in the week, Ludek Milkosko, the legendary West Ham keeper, passed away. I remember him especially for his part in the 1995 shutout by West Ham that denied Manchester United and handed the title to Blackburn Rovers. He was kind enough to give an autograph and have a brief chat with a 15-year-old me at the start of that year at the Wycombe Wanderers v West Ham United FA Cup game in January of that year. Around the same time, the well-travelled keeper Kevin Miller died at the young age of 57. He had played against Wycombe for Watford in some games around 1996 or 1997. My body still hadn't sorted itself out, so I dropped my sample off at the doctor's for further investigation. What a job that is, by the way; talk about going through the motions. I did consider going to Ledbury on Friday, but it was such a rubbish route along crappy country roads; I decided to save it for when I was in better condition. Bad roads had put me off many trips, especially when I have tonight. Colin had said to me he was happy to come to New Milton, so I headed home on the bus to double-check some details. My appetite was still shot, so I hadn't been eating much and, aside from Friday, hadn't got my daily 10k steps target in.
New Milton Town had proven a bit tricky to visit. Their Wednesday midweek day never really suited me, with me being up for work at 3 am either side of the game. Even when I worked an hour later, it seemed as if the weather thwarted every attempt, and I'd tried a few times. I'd usually resisted on a Saturday too, as I like to use public transport at weekends and there wasn't enough around to make it a good day and justify the cost for me. So this Saturday, when my body was not at its best was perfect. I got a decent night's sleep for once, waking at 8.30. I had breakfast and pottered around for a few hours before it was time to leave. PuffPuff was up in Scotland once again, but without his Dad, who had to turn around at Stansted Airport due to illness. Having just lost a weekend abroad due to illness, I had sympathy with him. Colin told me what bus he was on, so I was able to track it and pick an appropriate time to start getting ready to go. I got in my car and realised that I'd not got a holder for my new phone yet. Also, it was not set up with the car Bluetooth. One of many things in a long list of things to sort. I met Colin at the bus stop. It was going to be a poor journey, thanks mainly to the M4 being closed near Reading. It meant having to use a longer route and the M25, which was of course delayed. It must have been around 45 minutes added to the journey, and we got to the ground at 2.30. It was a lot better than I was expecting, although Colin, having whined that I didn't want to revisit Lymington Wetherspoons on the way despite a diversion, whined that there were no pin badges. It was a fair price of £7 to get in, plus a fiver for chicken nuggets and chips. It was a good portion, and the chicken nuggets were super tasty. It was nearly time for kickoff, so I went outside and got pictures.
New Milton were top of the league and had won six, drawn one and lost one. They had not won in a couple of league games, losing 2-1 to Romsey Town and drawing 2-2 with Lymington Town at home. In between, they had won on penalties at Baffins Milton Rovers in the FA Vase. Dandhurst Town were 5th and had won four, drawn two and lost two so far. They were on mixed form and had lost 5-3 to Carterton in their last game. It was fairly even and open early on. Sandhurst's defending was poor as a ball over the top found Luca Lane, who finished well on 11 minutes. There was very little quality up front, with New Milton especially wasteful with what they got. There was the ludicrous situation of us having drinks breaks despite it only being 20 degrees. Moreno was easily the standout player for Sabdh, and if something was going to happen for them, he would be the architect with his mazy runs. Both sides came close, firing wide around 80 minutes. It was a reasonable game, though Sandhurst were more concerned with not conceding when defending corners, rather than breaking away and leaving men forward. They gave it a go near the end, forcing a goalmouth scramble and a corner, but nothing came of it. In the end, the visitors didn't do enough to warrant a result. We left just after 5, thanks to plenty of added time. The journey back was better, but there was no using the M25 without delay, amounting to 20 minutes. I dropped Colin off at 7.15 and got home myself at 7.30. I was glad I'd used a Saturday to do it, given the length of the journey.
THE GROUND
FAWCETT'S FIELD is a setup that feels like that it should be far higher than step 6. The ground itself is fairly solid; the only covered accommodation is a 262-seater stand on the halfway line. The rest of the ground is open. It is with the other facilities that the club really shines. A spacious bar offers a decent range of drinks, including Thatchers ciders. There were also club cups. Food-wise, there is a good selection. I enjoyed my chicken nuggets and chips for a fiver, but the sauce selection could have been better. There are paper tickets and printed programmes available. The merch was the weakest aspect: only hats, and none of the hoppers' favourite pin badges and for me personally, fridge magnets or keyrings. Parking is plentiful, but it does fill up due to outside pitch users. The town and railway station are 25 minutes walk away.
