History
The club were originally known as Awbridge Albion and spent their early days playing friendly fixtures. Their first known game was in November 1904 when they defeated Landford 4–0. [2]
After the Great War, the club became more organised and began using the Village Hall Field for their home games. In 1923, they were amongst the founder members of the short-lived Ampfield & District League, before joining the Salisbury & District League two years later, where they won numerous trophies. The Thirties saw them switch to the Southampton League where they enjoyed further success. [3]
After World War II, the club reformed as Awbridge and in 1948 returned to the Southampton League where they were placed in Junior Division 4. Significant progress was made; by 1953 they had risen to the Senior section, formed a reserves side and even had their own Supporters Club. [4]
The Sixties were very much a successful period in which they dominated the local football scene. Under the astute management of Wilf Moody, they twice won the Southampton League Premier Division and Southampton Senior Cup (both finals played at The Dell, Southampton) [5] along with a solitary Hampshire Intermediate Cup triumph (played at Dean Court, Bournemouth). These successes were eventually rewarded with election into the Hampshire League in 1968, where they promptly won the Division 3 West title at the first attempt.
On limited resources, Awbridge spent three seasons rubbing shoulders with some big-guns in Division 2 [6] before two relegations within three seasons saw them drop to Division 4, where they continued to struggle. Until this point, the club had used the original Village Hall building, but after receiving an ultimatum to improve their facilities, they embarked on an ambitious campaign to build their own separate pavilion, which was officially opened in 1980.
This saw Awbridge re-emerge as a force. They regained their Division 2 status, enjoyed numerous cup runs and were rather unfortunate not to win any major silverware. In 1986 they were placed in a new-look Division 1 following the formation of the Wessex League and did well to consolidate at this highly competitive level until relegation in 1993. Two years later, the club were back in Division 3, but they again recovered and began challenging for promotion. [7]
The new millennium saw the non-league pyramid restructured with stricter ground grading requirements. In 2002, Awbridge submitted an application to the Village Hall Committee for redeveloping their dilapidated pavilion. Disappointingly, this was rejected by their landlords, and this, along with the high rental costs, forced the club to make the difficult decision not to renew the lease and accept an invitation received from their friendly Southampton League neighbours Michelmersh & Timsbury to temporarily join forces until a solution could be found.
This rather unusual arrangement saw the club renamed M&T Awbridge. [8] Playing at the better equipped Timsbury Rec, they were able to maintain their long held county league status. [9]
However, although they performed steadily on the pitch, they were beset with problems off it - most notably in 2005 when a long running dispute between the parent Sports Club and the Parish Council made them homeless. [10] This briefly raised hopes of negotiating a return to Awbridge, but this was not possible as the (now refurbished) pavilion was being leased to a religious group. [11] After a year playing in exile, the dispute was eventually resolved, but part of the condition was that the club be renamed Michelmersh & Timsbury. With little hope of ever returning to the village, it was agreed to accept the offer and Awbridge F.C. was no more after 102 years. [12]
