Two Moves and a Name Change

Sup up, Bashley Bear!

In the absence of any match reports for the past couple of weeks, here's a little local news round-up instead.

Bashley speaker on one of their covered terraces.

Firstly, following on from Alton Town's enforced move, it appears that my fourth-favourite team, Bashley, may be moving as well. This move, however, is voluntary, due to the circumstances outlined in this link.

Executive seating at Bashley.

Not all their fans are pleased with the situation, as evidenced by the halving of their crowds since the announcement was made. The matter is being voted on at an EGM as I write, so we'll see what the outcome is very shortly. There is a Save Bashley FC group on Facebook, apparently (not being on Facebook, I'm not able to view it). Also, some chat board discussion here.

Two steps of terrace at Bashley Road.

I took the opportunity to visit Bashley Road on Tuesday evening for Bash's game against a strong Chesham United side. The ground had the air of a shop holding a closing-down sale - it felt very sad. Nothing like the vibrant, jolly club that I used to visit before my son was born. Even last season against Leamington, it still felt like a happy, lively place to watch a game of footy. Home-made cakes, a tiny club shop selling bright, colourful Bashley souvenirs, cheering, smiling fans... Tuesday night was so gloomy in comparison. However, the ground is still an atmospheric one, especially under lights, so I took a few photos to show you.

The new home of Bashley New Milton.

The club will be moving two miles to New Milton Town's council-owned ground, taking at least one stand with them, and renaming themselves as Bashley New Milton. As far as I can tell, New Milton Town will then fold, leaving a space in the Wessex League (which will be filled by Sholing, who have just resigned from the Southern League). Perhaps a new club will form to play at Bashley Road, starting again at Hampshire League level?

In the meantime, I'm going to need a new fourth-favourite team for next season.

Hythe & Dibden's Ewart Recreation Ground under floodlights...

Could it be Hythe & Dibden? They're another club on the move. Currently at the planning stage, they're due to move out of their quirky recreation ground home soon. If all goes to plan, they will be playing at the Clayfields Sports Centre in a few months.

...moving to the Clayfields Sports Centre soon.

I drove out to Clayfields yesterday lunchtime to see if anything was happening there, but the answer, unsurprisingly, was "no". No floodlights or cover or anything else been erected yet. I'll have another look over the summer...

Bus shelter at GE Hamble.

And finally in this round-up, GE Hamble are changing their name again. They're the club that change their name more often than Blackburn Rovers change their managers. According to a recent programme, they will be known as Folland Sports FC from next season. This name change comes about following "a corporate audit which raised branding issues" - astonishingly, someone was actually paid money to make this decision. In my nightmares, I can imagine being invited to one of their meetings...

Corporate Branding Architecture Manager?! And the Tory press whinge on about public sector "non-jobs"! Gah!

I'm sad to say that Romsey Town took this notice literally in their recent 7-1 defeat at GE Hamble :-(

Match reports will resume after the Easter weekend.