Braishfield F.C.

Braishfield F.C. are a long running amateur football club based in Braishfield, a small village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, about two miles northeast of Romsey.

The club has been in existence since 1907 and have played on the village recreation ground for almost as long. They run two adult sides, are affiliated to the Hampshire Football Association and are long standing members of the Southampton League. Like all clubs, they have experienced many highs and lows over the years!

History

Braishfield Football Club were formed in 1907 and spent their formative years playing friendly fixtures against various local opponents. They initially used a make-shift pitch on a field behind the village chapel for home games, where their first known match was an exciting 4-4 draw with Ampfield in November 1907. The local press commented "As time goes on, this newly formed club should give a good account of itself".

After the Great War, the club became more organised - in 1922 they began using the village recreation ground for their home games, and the following year they became founder members of the short lived Ampfield & District League before progressing on to the larger Southampton League. After World War II, they returned in 1948, and apart from a five year sabbatical playing the Eastleigh & District League from 1955-60, they have held membership ever since.

It was not until the formation a highly successful Sunday side in early Seventies that Braishfield won any silverware, but once interest in that team faded, attention rightly switched back Saturdays as their fortunes finally took off. By 1980, they had reached the Senior section for the first time and formed a reserves side. The success continued, and two further promotions saw them promoted to the Premier Division in 1985. With a vastly experienced side, another decent season saw them finish runners-up and their meteoric rise was complete when an application to join the Hampshire League was accepted.

On limited resources, Braishfield did well to consolidate in Division 2, which at the time was of a very high standard. Here they rubbed shoulders with a number of fallen giants such as Alton Town, Winchester City, Cowes Sports and Ryde Sports - an almost impossible thought 10 years previously! The club enjoyed a number of decent cup runs - most notably in 1992 when they reached the Southampton Senior Cup final, where they lost 0-2 against Aerostructures in front over a thousand spectators at The Dell, Southampton. However, a player exodus saw them relegated in 1994 after a disastrous season, in which they were mentioned in the national press after suffering 28 successive league defeats!

Hampshire League record 1986-2000

Season	Division	Position	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Notes
1986/87	Two	8/18	32	10	11	11	46	49	31	2 points for a win
1987/88	Two	13/19	36	13	4	19	48	65	30	Southampton Senior Cup semi-finalists
1988/89	Two	8/19	36	14	9	13	50	63	37
1989/90	Two	10/18	34	13	7	14	46	51	46	3 points for a win
1990/91	Two	9/18	34	14	11	9	42	38	53
1991/92	Two	8/15	28	10	6	12	42	49	36	Southampton Senior Cup finalists
1992/93	Two	14/18	34	10	5	19	39	61	35	Hampshire Intermediate Cup semi-finalists
1993/94	Two	17/17	32	1	1	30	15	177	4	Relegated
1994/95	Three	15/18	34	8	8	18	51	76	32
1995/96	Three	15/18	34	7	13	14	40	61	34
1996/97	Three	14/20	38	12	8	18	43	65	44
1997/98	Three	14/16	30	5	5	20	45	117	20
1998/99	Three	10/19	34	12	7	15	48	53	43	League re-organisation
1999/00	Two	13/14	24	3	4	17	22	68	13	Relegated

The new millennium was a tough time for Braishfield - in 2000 they were relegated back to the Southampton League and this signalled the start of a decline. By 2006 they had dropped back into the Junior section, but thanks to the hard work of a small dedicated and loyal committee, the club survived these lean years and in 2007 celebrated their centenary.

Gradually, their efforts were rewarded as things slowly improved; the opening of an impressive new pavilion coincided with an overdue revival on the pitch and in 2014 they won the Junior Division 2 title. This resulted in a 'double promotion' up to Senior Division 1 where Braishfield enjoyed another great season, here they just missed out on a second successive title, but created a massive shock when they famously won the Senior League Cup after defeating red-hot favourites BTC Southampton in an epic final played at Eastleigh FC.

Initially, Braishfield found life back in the top flight a struggle and were relegated in 2018, but they bounced back at the first attempt and have since become well established at this level. They have twice more reached the Senior League Cup final (both held at AFC Totton), but on each occasion were well beaten.

Honours

1st Team

• Southampton Football Association
  • Senior Cup Finalists 1991/92
• Southampton Football League
  • Premier Division Runners-up 1985/86
  • Senior Division 1 Runners-up 2014/15 & 2018/19
  • Senior Division 2 Runners-up 1980/81
  • Junior Division 2 Champions 2013/14 & Runners-up 1978/79
  • Junior Division 3 Runners-up 1977/78
  • Junior Division 4 Runners-up 1976/77
  • Junior Division 5 Runners-up 1965/66
  • Junior Division 8 Runners-up 1960/61
  • Senior League Cup Winners 2014/15, Finalists 2022/23 & 2023/24
  • Supplementary Trophy Finalists 2015/16

2nd Team

• Southampton Football League
  • Junior Division 2 Runners-up 2018/19
  • Junior Division 8 Champions 1979/80
  • Junior League Supplementary Vase Winners 2003/04

Ground

Braishfield Football Club play at the Recreation Ground, Braishfield Road, Braishfield, SO51 0PN.

Braishfield Recreation Ground

Braishfield Recreation Ground

They have happily done so since 1922 after local resident Mrs King kindly donated the land to the village.

The record attendance is believed to have been 300(ish) in August 1983 when the club played an Ex-Southampton XI in a fundraising fixture. The 'Saints' fielded a strong side that day and won 2-3 with prolific striker Ted MacDougall scoring a hatrick!

The venue has a large car park at the top end, adjacent to the Village Hall and Pantry. The pitch is roped off for all 1st Team matches, entry is free and new supporters are always made welcome.

The pavilion is located the bottom (school) end of the field, and the new modern day version was officially opened by Lawrie MacMenemy in July 2013. The building has a covered area for spectators and a large function room including a licensed bar.

Local Rivalries

The Test Valley area has always been a footballing hotbed and Braishfield enjoy a healthy rivalry with neighbours Romsey Town, Broughton and Michelmersh & Timsbury. There used to be many more, but sadly the recent decline at grassroots level has seen a number of long established clubs either vanish or switch to Sunday soccer.

Further afield, Braishfield is twinned with Crouay, a commune in the Calvados department of Normandy, northern France and for many years the two football clubs enjoyed a very friendly rivalry, frequently playing eachother home and away.

Famous Players

During their long history, Braishfield have had many fine players - a number of whom rightly hold 'legendary status' amongst supporters. The most notable of these is undoubtedly Dave Old, who gave over 60 years devoted service, on and off the pitch. The bar in the clubhouse is known as 'Pokers Bar' in his memory.

The former Southampton skipper Peter Rodrigues briefly played for the club during the 1983/84 campaign.

External links

• [1] Braishfield Bees Youth website
• [2] Pictorial History video
• [3] New Pavilion Project pictorial video
• [4] Football Club History Database
• [5] Hampshire Soccer Archives
• [6] Hampshire League Final Tables
• [7] Village website