On This Day – 15th April
On this day back in 2008, my beloved Aldershot Town finally secured promotion back to the Football League. The original Aldershot Football Club had folded in 1992 due to financial issues.
A new club was formed in the summer of 1992 going by the name of Aldershot Town. They were accepted in the old Isthmian League Division Three, the fifth tier of non-league.
Promotion to the Conference was secured in 2003 under manager Terry Brown and the club reached the play-offs in their first two seasons in the top tier of non-league.
Brown had to leave the club in early 2007 after his wife became unwell. His replacement Gary Waddock joined the club in the summer of 2007.
Waddock put together a young and exciting team with a couple of experienced players such as Ricky Newman who had made over 400 appearances in the Football League.
The club had a two-way tussle with Torquay United at the top of the table for most of the season. Then on Monday night in March, we visited Torquay away in a game that would have huge significance on the title run in.
Deep into stoppage time at the end of the game, with the scores level at 1-1, Reading loanee Scott Davies latched on to a loose ball before firing into the far corner, winning the game for Aldershot.
Over the coming weeks, Aldershot could have sealed the title but Torquay clung on, winning their matches as Aldershot won theirs. It soon became a matter of time before Aldershot’s points advantage would pay off and it came in on 15th April 2008.
Aldershot faced Exeter City on a Tuesday night. Over 1,000 Aldershot fans travelled down to Devon, knowing that if Aldershot could avoid defeat then the title would be won.
Things didn’t go to plan as the late Adam Stansfield scored on the break after 39 minutes. The visitors didn’t have long to wait for an equaliser as Scott Donnelly scored with a tame shot that City goalkeeper Andy Marriott could only fumble into the back of the net.
In the closing stages, Aldershot goalkeeper made a memorable save, reminiscent of David Seaman’s save for Arsenal from Sheffield United’s Paul Peschisolido in the 2003 FA Cup Semi Final.
Aldershot held on and clinched promotion back to the Football League. The people of Aldershot had waited for 16 long years for League football to return to the town.
In their first season back in the Football League, Aldershot started the season well but form dropped in the New Year. They eventually finished the season in 15th place.
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