Sholing Sports were a long running Southampton based football team who for many years played with great success in the Hampshire and Wessex League's. They folded in 1994 after suddenly losing their ground.

History

It is thought that the club were founded in

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

as Sholing Athletic and spent their early days playing in the Southampton League. In 1919–20 Sholing won the Senior League title and the first of three successive Southampton Senior Cups. This saw them step up into the

Hampshire League The Hampshire League was a football league in Hampshire, England. During its heyday its constitution consisted of four divisions with over 60 clubs taking part - this included a vast number of semi-professional teams and Reserve/’A’ sides of ...

where they promptly won the East Division title. Playing in the County Division (later to become Division 1) Sholing soon settled and after finishing 6th and 5th they proudly won the

Hampshire Senior Cup The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1887 and has been contested every year since, with the exception of 1914 to 1919 when it was p ...

but after two tough seasons the club finished bottom and returned to the less demanding Southampton League. Now known as simply Sholing the club soon re-established themselves as a force. The late Thirties were particularly successful times - in 1937–38 they were Senior League champions and Hampshire Intermediate Cup winners, the following season saw them retain the title and win the Southampton Senior Cup. After World War II the club became known as Sholing Sports and returned to the

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

when they were placed in Division 3 East. Back in county football, Sholing quickly settled and shortly after moving to their Birch Lawn home, they won promotion as champions in 1952–53 before consolidating themselves in Division 2. After some promising seasons, Sholing were promoted to Division 1 in 1961-62 but struggled and dropped straight back down again, and were surprisingly relegated back to Division 3 in 1964–65. The 1970s saw Sholing Sports become a prominent force in the

. In 1969-70 they were Division 3 East champions and in 1971–72 they finished runners-up in Division 2, winning promotion back to the top flight - and this time they were far better prepared. Sholing quickly became one of the top clubs in the league and began entering the national competitions, the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

. They enjoyed several good runs in the latter competition. In 1973–74 Sholing won their first Division 1 title as well as the

. The club remained regular title contenders, finishing runners-up three times before the incredible 1982–83 season when they were deservedly League champions - and they completed a remarkable treble by also winning the Hampshire Senior and Russell Cotes Cup's. The following season saw Sholing retain the league title, but were beaten finalists in the Hampshire Senior Cup. In 1984-85, Sholing were league runners-up and Hampshire Senior Cup finalists, but did gain some compensation when they again won the Russell Cotes Cup. For the 1986-87 campaign Sholing Sports became founder members of the newly formed

Wessex League The Wessex Football League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system. The par ...

, and enjoyed a steady debut season in which they finished a creditable 9th. However, they excelled in that season's cup competitions, reaching the finals of the Southampton Senior, Russell Cotes and the inaugural Wessex League Cup - unfortunately losing all three. The next few years saw the club continue to hold their own but in a more professional environment their fortunes gradually declined - not helped in the early 1990s by increasing uncertainty over their Birch Lawn ground, caused mainly by financial problems at the adjacent Social Club. Sholing Sports battled on until August 1993 when they were evicted from their ground - virtually on the eve of the new season and inevitably this unfortunately forced them to withdraw from the competition. The club continued to operate during the 1993-94 season with just an Under 18's side playing in the Hampshire Youth League but the search for a new home ground was unsuccessful and they inevitably folded.

Honours

Division 1 **Champions 1973/74, 1982/83 and 1983/84 **Runners-up 1974/75, 1975/76, 1981/82 and 1984/85 *

Division 2 **Runners-up 1970/71 *

East Division **Champions 1920/21 *

Division 3 East **Champions 1952/53 and 1969/70 **Runners-up 1950/51 and 1968/69 *Southampton League Senior Division **Champions 1919/20, 1920/21, 1937/38 and 1938/39 *Southampton League Junior 'A' Division **Champions 1913/14 *

Hampshire FA The Hampshire Football Association, also known as ''Hampshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Hampshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its ...

Senior Cup **Winners 1922/23, 1973/74 and 1982/83 **Finalists 1983/84 and 1984/85 *

Intermediate Cup **Winners 1937/38 *

Russell Cotes Cup **Winners 1971/72, 1982/83 and 1984/85 **Finalists 1986/87 *

Southampton FA Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Por ...

Senior Cup **Winners 1919/20, 1920/21, 1921/22, 1938/39, 1961/62 and 1979/80 **Finalists 1986/87 *

Cup **Finalists 1986/87

Playing Records

League

FA Cup

FA Vase

Successor Clubs

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

the famous name was revived by some enthusiastic locals and the new Sholing Sports joined the Southampton League. Like their predecessors, they originally played at Mayfield Park and began clawing their way up through the Junior ranks. By 2009 they had reached the Senior section and were using the Royal Victoria Country Park in Netley for their home matches, but sadly after a tough 2010-11 season the club again ceased to exist. In 2010, successful local rivals VTFC (Vosper Thornycroft) changed their name to

Sholing FC Sholing Football Club is an English football club based in Sholing, Southampton, Hampshire. Formerly known as Vosper Thorneycroft 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 ...

in a bid to attract more local support but they are not connected in any way to Sholing Sports, who remain consigned to the history books and sorely missed.

Famous Players

Over the years many fine players appeared for Sholing Sports. In the early twenties two players moved on to professional clubs; Tom Parker who progressed on to Southampton and the legendary Arsenal team of the thirties and also Sam Meston, who played for Southampton, Gillingham and Everton. Latterly, they had two former professionals as player-managers - Jack Gregory (former Southampton, Bournemouth and Leyton Orient) for the 1965-66 season, and also Tommy Hare (former Southampton and Luton Town) for the 1976-77 campaign.

References

* *{{fchd , name=Sholing Sports (2) , id=SHOLINS2 Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1901 Association football clubs disestablished in 1994 1901 establishments in England 1994 disestablishments in England 2005 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 2005 Association football clubs disestablished in 2011 2011 disestablishments in England Defunct football clubs in Hampshire