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Havant & Waterlooville are a relatively recent creation formed in 1998 when Havant Town and Waterlooville merged.
Havant F.C. were formed in 1882, changing their name to Havant and Leigh Park in 1969 and then Havant Town in 1982. Waterlooville were formed in 1905. Both clubs played in the Portsmouth League before moving up to the Southern League in more modern times before merging in 1998 when Waterlooville were suffering financial woes and Havant had lost a large chunk of their playing staff when their manager moved to Newport IoW. Havant Town were able to claim Chelsea, Crystal Palace and England forward Bobby Tambling as one of their alumni.
The Hawks had a memorable run in the 2007–08 FA Cup, beating Bognor Regis, Fleet Town, Leighton Town, Conference Premier team York City and League Two club Notts County, before causing an even bigger upset by defeating League One side Swansea City 4–2 in a third round replay. In the fourth round, they played Premier League Liverpool at Anfield and caused a sensation by leading twice before eventually losing 5–2. The following season they reached the first round proper again but were beaten at home by Brentford. In 2014-15 they lost to Preston North End in the First Round proper.
They have also had good runs in the FA Trophy, reaching the semi-final in 2002–03 where they lost 2–1 on aggregate to Tamworth. They reached this stage again in 2013-14, losing 3-1 on aggregate to Gosport Borough. In between they reached the quarter final in 2008-09 but were defeated 2-0 away at York City.
In the League, the Hawks started their life in the Southern League Southern Division and were promoted to the Premier Division at the first attempt. In the 2003–04 the club finished 12th in the and thereby qualified for a place in the re-structured Conference South. In 2005–06, the club missed out on a place in the end of season play-offs by a single point but qualified for the promotion play-offs the following season, being beaten in the semi-final by Braintree Town.
In July 2011, the club played a “once in a lifetime” game against La Liga side Real Betis, losing 7–0, after the Spanish club’s original friendly opponents (Portsmouth) found themselves unable to play the game.
In 2014-15 the Hawks finished 5th and made the Conference South playoffs. However, the Hawks lost 4–2 on aggregate to eventual winners Boreham Wood. Despite starting the following season as favourites, the Hawks were relegated on goal difference and were placed into the Isthmian League Premier Division which they won at their first attempt and found themselves back at Step 2 in the National League South. They repeated their success of the previous season, winning this too at their first attempt to be promoted to Step 1 for the first time in their history.
However, The Hawks struggled to adjust to life in the National League in 2018-19 and were relegated with three matches remaining. In the COVID curtailed 2019-20 season they stood second when the season was curtailed. Along with the similarly placed York City of the National League North, they started the #promote2 campaign for play-offs to take place or the second place club to be promoted. Eventually play-offs did take place but the Hawks lost 2–1 to Dartford in their home semi-final.
Carshalton first met a club from the area when they played Waterlooville in the first round of 1969-60 FA Amateur Cup, winning 1-0 away. We next met in the 1982-83 FA Trophy with the Robins once again winning away, this time 2-1 and this was followed up by a third qualifying round tie away where Waterlooville finally got their revenge winning 4-3. Our first and only meeting with Havant Town came in 1993-94 in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup where we won 2-0 at Colston Avenue.
Meetings against Havant & Waterlooville started with a pre-season friendly before the1999/2000 season where it finished all square at 1-1. Upon qualifying for a place in Conference South the Robins and the Hawks met each other in competitive league fixtures for the first time in 2004-05 with Carshalton winning the first encounter 2-1 at Colson Avenue and losing the return fixture 1-4. The following season we were well beaten 1-3 at home and drew 1-1 away. We have met once more since those Step 2 encounters with a pre-season friendly at the start of the 2012-13 season.
Played for both clubs: Matt Gray moved from Havant & Waterlooville to Carshalton in July 2009.
Tickets are available at: https://www.carshaltonathletic.co.uk/tickets
Adults – £11;
Seniors (over 65) – £8;
Under 18s – £3.
Remember you save £1 per ticket by buying online compared with paying at the turnstiles.
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