Gosport Borough - Privett Park

Gosport Borough FC

Privett Park
Privett Road
Gosport
Hampshire
PO12 3SX

023 9250 1041
Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 421
Tuesday 14th October 2014
Gosport Borough 3-0 Maidenhead United
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round Replay

GOSPORT BOROUGH FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1944 and was known as Gosport Borough Athletic up until, 1966 when they dropped the 'Athletic' part of their name. Their first season saw them win the Portsmouth & District League before they joined the Hampshire League and won that at the first attempt in 1946. After a long gap, they won the title again in 1977 and 1978 after which they joined the Southern League. They had a great first season, finishing 3rd in Division 1 South before establishing the Alliance League (modern-day National League), which saw the league reduced to two regional divisions at the Premier level. This remained in place for three seasons with Gosport finishing 4th in all which remains their best finish in the pyramid to date. They then spent a couple of seasons in the Premier Division before relegation in 1984. However, Gosport bounced back immediately, finishing as runners-up to Basingstoke Town to get back up. Despite a 7th place finish in 1989, they finished bottom of the Premier Division in 1990 and then bottom of the Southern Division in 1992 to suffer a double relegation.

From 1992 until 2007, Gosport Borough played in the Wessex League. In 2003 they finished as runners-up to Eastleigh before winning the title and promotion back to the Southern League in 2007. Five seasons were spent in the Division 1 South & West before a 3rd place finish in 2012, followed by playoff wins against Sholing and Poole Town in the playoffs saw the team win promotion. It was a double celebration as the following season saw a 5th-place finish in the Premier Division before another set of playoff wins against Stourbridge and Hemel Hempstead saw them promoted to the Conference South. Four seasons were spent at this level with a high of 6th in 2015. However, by 2017, financial issues saw a bad end to the season and Gosport Borough were relegated back to the Southern League.  Those issues continued on into the following season and they finished second-bottom in the Southern Premier, only spared relegation due to expansion at step 3 of the pyramid. It has taken them a while to get back on their feet but last season saw a 4th place finish, their best since relegation. They then lost to the eventual playoff winners Salisbury in the semi-finals.

After reaching the 4th Qualifying Round in 2012, Gosport Borough enjoyed their best run in 2014. They beat Larkhall Athletic, Maidenhead United and Williand Rovers before a 6-3 loss to Colchester United in the 1st Round. They've seen good runs in the other FA competitions too, reaching the Trophy Final in 2014 where they lost to Cambridge United at Webley Stadium. They've also twice reached the FA Vase Quarter Final. The FA Amateur Cup produced their record attendance in 1953 when 4,770 turned up to watch them play Pegasus. Local cup wins include the Wessex League Cup in 1993, the South Western Counties Pratten Cup in 1978, two Hampshire Senior Cups and three Russell Cotes Cups.

The town of Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite the city of Portsmouth, to which it is linked by the Gosport Ferry. It has a population of around 70,000 for the town of 82,000 for the wider district. Gosport is still home to HMS Sultan and a Naval Armament Supply Facility, as well as a helicopter repair base. The Gosport peninsula has 17 miles of waterfront on Portsmouth Harbour and The Solent. The pebble beach at Stokes Bay slopes steeply into the sea and offers views of the shipping going in and out of Portsmouth and Southampton and the many pleasure craft from the many marinas along The Solent and the Isle of Wight. The area has another Non-League football club Fleetlands who play at Lederle Lane Stadium. RMLI Gosport F.C. were a former team to represent the town winning the 1910 FA Amateur Cup. The most famous person to come from Gosport is Mike Hugg of 1960s pop ground Manfred Mann. He also co-wrote the theme tune for the 1970s sitcom 'Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads'. Current residents include TV and radio's Mike 'Porky' Parry.

MY FIRST VISIT

Like Saturday I wanted to do an FA Cup game, this would now be 9th game of the season in that competition. There was a choice of 2 potential games - either Warrington Town against Colwyn Bay or Gosport Borough v Maidenhead United. I spoke to Anwar and we both agreed to opt for the latter, seeing as it was nearer. It would also mean that in the past 2 games I had completed the Conference South in terms of groundhops, adding it to the 92, the Conference Premier and the Southern League D1 Central in terms of leagues completed. I could only hope that the traffic would be kinder to me than it was on Saturday and made up my mind to allow extra time for any problems that may crop up. It was my day off as usual, so I spent the day chilling at home. I went down to Wycombe with my Dad to kill time and also to see about repairing the PS3 console I bought recently. I took it into Snowies, who have a reputation for being pretty crap. The fears proved to be correct, they wanted £70 to repair my PS3 Blu-Ray and didn't seem that interested anyway. In the end, I ordered a secondhand one from CEX online, at least that comes with a 12-month guarantee and I should get back the £25 that I spent on the old one with a bit of luck. I also got drinks and snacks for tonight, before going home and having lunch. As is often the case, I was restless in the afternoon, just wanting to get out and go to the game, and so I was glad when 3.15 arrived and I could make my way to Aylesbury to pick up Anwar. I got to Anwar's at 3.40 and checked Facebook while I waited for him to get ready. Soon enough we were on our way, with minimal delays forecast. It turned out to be an hours delay, thanks to the rush hour traffic.

 

Eventually, we got to Gosport at 6.50 and parked up in a nearby side street. We had spotted a parade of shops including a chippy and Chinese takeaway. I was erring towards the latter because chip shops are usually rubbish down south but how wrong I turned out to be. This one was run by a Scouse lady and I was delighted to be able to have Haggis and chips which was a large portion and delicious too, and only £3.40. We made our way back to the ground, picking up some stuff from the car on the way. We got in around 7.15 and after paying £13 for entry and £2 for a programme, I ate my dinner. I thought £13 was a bit steep for this level, feeling that around £9 would be more appropriate but it's around the average for this level with St Albans charging a ridiculous £15. At least the programme was a decent issue for the price. Before the game, I had a look around the club shop which again was pricey at £10 for a pennant and no pens which I also like to collect. When I came out I chatted to a steward who did the same job at Wycombe around 15 years ago. I then got some pictures of the ground before taking a seat in one of the stands for the game. Maidenhead had the better of the early exchanges but gradually Gosport started playing some good football. The home side opened the scoring on 37 minutes with a good shot that went in off the bar. Gosport had the better of the game and on 57 minutes it was 2-0 as Dan Wooden got his second goal, the shot was one that the Maidenhead keeper really should have saved. They wrapped it up in the final minute with a great goal that lobbed the keeper from long range.

Having completed the Conference South for groundhops, I was in a pretty good mood as I headed back up the M27, M3 and through Basingstoke. Then the roads went to pot. I attempted to get on 2 junctions of the M4 but they were closed with no warning and no diversion. I took a big detour to get to the second one near Bracknell only to have to come back on myself and go via Maidenhead. Just as I thought my problems were over, there was another closure on the A4010 from Wycombe to Aylesbury. After cutting through some of it by taking a narrow country road I stumbled across a Motts coach being escorted through and just followed that. It was possibly the same coach that took the Maidenhead team to the game, it was that late. I finally dropped Anwar off at 12.15, thanks to the disgraceful state of the roads I'd been delayed by 45 minutes. I got home 20 minutes later but wasn't really in the mood for sleep until 2am, not ideal when I had to be up 2 hours later.

VISIT 2: AFC TOTTON, SOUTHERN PREMIER SOUTH - 08/11/24

0-2, Abandoned on 45 minutes due to power cut

For some while, I had fancied going back to Gosport Borough due to being unsatisfied with some of the photos that I got when I visited over a decade ago. There was also a potential Wetherspoons to tick which I was unlikely to visit otherwise. Fellow hopper Colin was also keen to tick the ground but there was no way I was going to spend a Saturday on a revisit unless it was Wycombe. I was also reluctant to go on a Tuesday night, what with a 4 am alarm for work on Wednesday. The ideal night would be a Friday and we had to wait some time before an opportunity against AFC Totton cropped up. This suited us both and we planned it around a month in advance. I put the finishing touches to the plan on Tuesday, opting to leave early to allow time for traffic.

The day of the game came and it was the standard hectic Friday at work. I still got out at my normal finish time of 1 though and popped home to have lunch and get my washing on. I also had time to rest before leaving just after 3. Colin was there waiting for me and we had a reasonable journey down, arriving in Gosport at 5.30. After parking near the ground, we walked the 35 minutes to Wetherspoons 361, The Star. It was a pretty good one with decent service, I had a shawarma wrap, chips and a bottle of Aspalls for £6.67. I'd tried to get a ticket for the game online, but they were not on sale. Instead, it was 35 minutes walk back to the ground where it was £13 entry. The place was busy, a combination of the local derby and the underutilized idea of Friday night football. The place was buzzing and there was an excellent tribute for Remembrance Day.

 

Gosport Borough were in 15th place having won four, drawn four and lost four of their games so far. Last Saturday, they had won 3-1 at Poole Town. AFC Totton were in 2nd having won nine, drawn four and lost one of their games so far. Last Saturday they won 2-0 at Marlow. The game was fairly even but AFC Totton took the lead on ten minutes, a header from former Premier League striker Charlie Austin, a real cheat code at this level. Former Wycombe man Scott Rendell could only make the bench. Ethan Taylor made it 2-0 on 16 minutes, meaning an uphill battle for Gosport. Totton continued to have the better of the game but in first-half injury time, the lights went out due to a local power cut. The band came back on and kept people entertained but it was to be an early finish. The electric company informed people that due to damage to the electricity supply, it'd not be on until 1 am. A bit of a slap in the face to the near 2000 fans and 900 affected homes after a hard week at work, but the referee did the only thing he could and abandoned the game.

THE GROUND - 2014

PRIVETT PARK is a smart little ground that has seen recent developments to bring it up to Conference South standard. The original stand is on the side you come in, and is elevated, but has pillars as it's quite an old stand. Opposite is a new modern stand, a pre-fabricated one similar to the one at Guiseley. It offers good views and over the 2 stands, there is covered seating for over 100 fans. Apart from a small area in front of the bar, the rest of the ground is open flat standing.

The clubhouse is a smart and welcoming venue with your usual range of drinks and the tea bar seems decent. There is a club shop which does a good range of stuff too. My personal recommendation is to use the nearby chippy, which is probably the best I have seen in the south, with a great range of nice stuff. There are also other shops along that parade, including a bookie and a convenience store, as well as a Chinese takeaway. It's conveniently situated 5 minutes walk from the ground.

GROUND UPDATE 2024

The ground had changed little in between visits but the food and drink seemed to have got more choice. The town of Gosport was around half an hour away and had a good Wetherspoons as well as a range of other outlets including some decent pubs and takeaways.