Aldershot Town Club Profile

Aldershot Football Club have endured a complex history involving a number of name changes, with the original Aldershot Town being formed in 1926, then reverting to Aldershot FC in 1932 when they were accepted into the Football League.

As Aldershot FC, the club spent five years in the bottom tier of English football – Division Three South and then Division Four.

One of the smallest towns to support a Football League side, the club’s highest attendance at their Recreation Ground came in 1970, when 19,138 turned out to watch a fourth-round FA Cup replay against Carlisle.

This was followed a year later by an attendance of 18,509 to watch Jimmy Melia’s Aldershot side face Manchester United in the League Cup.

In the FA Cup, the Shots were only seconds away from reaching the quarter finals in 1979 when an injury-time equaliser by Shrewsbury earned them a replay, which they went on to win.

Then disaster struck and, after serious financial problems, Aldershot folded in 1992 but the supporters refused to see the club die and the new Aldershot Town FC were eventually accepted into the Isthmian League Division Three for the 1992-93 season.

Back-to-back promotions followed, and in 2004 the club reached the highest division of non-league football – the Conference.

After a near miss in the play-offs in 2007, Gary Waddock guided the club back into the Football League 12 months later – 16 years after the new club had been formed.

They had a respectable first season back in the Football League in 2008/09. and for now the Shots will be satisfied with mid-table consolidation in League Two.