Altrincham v Eastleigh FA Trophy Round 5 - Matchday Programme
ALTRINCHAM FOOTBALL CLUB
The J Davidson Stadium, Moss Lane Hale, Altrincham WA15 8AP
Company Number: 176333
CLUB OWNERSHIP & BOARD
Significant interest (i e > 10% shares) Club Director, Albert Valdes owns 10 19% of the football club
Co-Chairmen
Bill Waterson & Lawrence Looney
Directors
John Coyne, Samantha Mackenzie, Scott Burton, Albert Valdes, Mark Luby, Neil Faulkner
OFFICIALS
First Team Manager
Phil Parkinson
Assistant Manager
Neil Sorvel
Coaching Staff
Ross Speight & Ethan Ross
Sports Therapists
Tommy Uda & Thomas Cadman
Strength & Conditioning
Matthew Fox
Analyst
Mark Bushell
Club Secretary
Mark Lockyear
PROGRAMME TEAM
Editor
Alex Birch
Photographers
Jonathan Moore, Sean Walsh, Freya Richards
Contributors
Phil James, Simon Dow, Erin Carroll, Alex Birch, John Edwards, Brian Flynn
CLUB HONOURS
2x FA Trophy Winners (1978 & 1986)
2x National League/Conference Champions (79/80 & 80/81)
2x NPL Premier Division Champions
An FA Cup record 17 Football League clubs knocked out by a continuous non-league club
A WELCOME FROM OUR CO-CHAIRMAN
We welcome the players, staff, officials and supporters of Eastleigh to The J Davidson Stadium for this afternoon’s Isuzu FA Trophy Fifth Round fixture.
The two clubs meet at the last sixteenstageofthecompetition and the winners of today’s tie will be only two games from Wembley Honours are even between the Robins and the Spitfires this season with our visitors winning 1-0 here at the beginningoftheseasonforour only home league defeat to date and Alty returning the favour with a recent 2-1 victory at the Silverlake Stadium But thisiscupfootball,soanentirely differentkettleoffish
ThisisthefourthtimeEastleigh have reached this stage of the competition but it is difficult to be definitive about this as the FAchangethenomenclatureof
of the rounds every couple of years Current practice is that the National League National Division clubs join the competitionintheThirdRound, which is the last sixty-four. But gobackonlyadozenorsoyears and NL clubs joined in the First Round,stillthelastsixty-four
Eastleigh’s first appearance at this stage of the competition was a home tie against Dover Athletic in 2013-14 which the Spitfireswon3-2beforeahome defeat against Cambridge UnitedintheQuarterFinals.
In 2019-20 our visitors went down2-0ateventualwinners
Harrogate Town in the last sixteen Their other appearance was a 4-0 home defeat to MaidstoneUnitedin2022-23
Altytookawhiletogetgoingin the FA Trophy, with only one win in the first three seasons in the competition and it awaited my O Level year (GCSEs for our younger readers) 1976-77 for Altytomakeamark
That year we reached the Semi Finals,whichinvolvedfour
Eastleigh’s first appearance at this stage of the competition was a home tie against Dover Athletic in 2013-14
BILL WATERSON
gamesagainstScarboroughbeforewebowedout Scarboroughwentontoliftthetrophyforthethird (andfinal)timethatseason,defeatingDagenham(longbeforeRedbridgewasathing)atWembley The followingseasonsawtriumphant–a3-1winatWembleyoverLeatherheadmarkingourfirstvisittothe homeofFootballandthroughtheeightieswemaintainedaregularpresenceinthelatterstagesofthe competition,returningtoWembleytwicewithasecondsuccessin1986witha1-0winoverRuncorn
After many frustrating years without a Trophy run, we were heavily bitten by the bug once more, two seasons ago A thrilling run to the Semi Finals saw stoppage time heartbreak here at The J Davidson
ItfeelsliketheroadtotheTwinTowerssortofArchthingisopeningupforAltysinceourlastvisit39years ago.Butofcourse,Eastleighwillhavealottosayaboutthat!TheFATrophyhasaproudhistoryasnonLeagues primary cup competition, second only to the National League (since 1979) as our foremost tournament Tosomeextent,theholdingoftheNationalLeagueplay-offfinalatWembleydoesperhaps diminishthetournamentsomewhatbutmysoftspotfortheTrophyremains.
Good afternoon everyone and a warm welcome to The J Davidson Stadium for what promises to be a special FA Trophy occasion.
PhilandI,andtheplayers,need noremindingofhowimportant the Trophy is to everyone connected with Alty, and preparing the lads the best we can has had our full focus ever since the final whistle against Wolves under-21s in the National League Cup on Tuesdaynight We are desperately keen to make our mark on this competition,anditranklesabit that, other than going so close to Wembley in the semi-final against FC Halifax Town a couple of years ago, we haven't done as well as we would like It's high time that was remedied,andnowmatchdayis
here,weareallraringtogoand ready to give everything we've got for the prize of being in the last eight come five o'clock this afternoon
Eastleigh will have something to say about that, and it's interesting that we go into the tie having played them in the Vanarama National League at theirplaceonlyafortnightago We came out on top with a well-taken winner from Tom Crawford, but, before anyone reads too much into that, they won by the odd goal at Moss LanebackinAugust
Soit'shonoursevenintermsof
As ever, support from the sidelines is going to have a significant bearing on the outcome.
league points, but one benefit you can derive from having played your opponents so recently is you get a good handleonwhattheyareabout, rather than having to rely on watchingthemonvideo.
You get a better grasp of what you are up against, but, of course, that works in reversethey've had a close-up of us as well. We are under no illusions aboutthetaskfacingus
Asever,supportfromthesidelinesisgoingtohaveasignificantbearingontheoutcome Thecloseryou get to the ultimate prize of stepping out at Wembley, the greater the sense of excitement and anticipationamongfans,andIjusthopethatisreflectedthisafternooninthesizeofthecrowdandthe atmospherethatisgenerated.
I'vesaiditbefore,butitbearsrepeating,thatvocalbackingfromourfansatthesortoflevelweheardat Eastleightwoweeksagomakessuchadifferencetotheplayersandgivesthemareallift. It'slikelytobe a tight, fiercely-contested encounter, so let's have that same fervour from you all from start to finish, drivingusoninourquesttogetovertheline
Last Saturday, it was an equaliser that knocked us back, but it was still hard to take after the way it unfoldedinstoppagetime,justaswelookedsetforadeserved1-0win Ideally,youneedasecondgoalin thosecircumstancesbecause,infootball,anythingcanhappen,aswehaveseensooften,butitwasstill incrediblyfrustratingthewaytheballpinballedaroundinourareaandfellforoneoftheirladstoscore.
We felt hard done by after working so hard for a win that would have been merited, so it came as somethingofasurprisetodiscovertheirmanagerfeltaggrievedaswell.Histakeonthegame,inapostmatchinterview,wasthatthevisitorshadbeen"thebettersidebyamile"
KacperPasiekshowedalotofattackingflair,whichiswhywebroughthimhereonloan,andhepacked arealpunchwiththeopeninggoal,ashothitwithsuchvenomthatIdon'tthinktheirkeepersawit He isadynamicfull-backwholikestogetforwardanddeliversagreatballintotheboxfromwideareas,and helinkedupreallywellwithKahrelReddinontheleftinthesecondhalf
You'vegottotakeyourhatofftohim,though-hispaceoftengothimintothosepositionsbyleavinga defender trailing and, undeterred, he kept going and continued making life a nightmare for anyone tryingtomarkhim Heisanabsoluteflyingmachine,arighthandful,andthere'snodoubthecarriesa massivethreatforus
The club’s rise began, as Swaything Football Club, when they were promoted to the Hampshire League in 1950 after two seasons in the Southampton Senior League (west)
The club’s name changed to Eastleigh FC in 1980, and they then became founder members of the Wessex League in 1986. Eastleigh won the Wessex League in 2002/03 and were promoted to Division One East of the Southern League. They went on to earn promotion to the Isthmian League eventually earning promotion to the Conference South
Over nine years in the Conference South, Eastleigh twice came close to earning promotion to nonleague’s highest tier but narrowly missed out on both occasions In 2014, The Spitfires were the Skrill South champions, gaining promotion to National League and are now in the tenth season competing at this level.
THE MANAGER
Kelvin Davis made over 600 appearances during his playing career at various clubs On the south coast, Davis is known well having made 300 appearances, in goal, for Southampton FC and with the Saints made many Premier League appearances
In April 2024 Davis was offered fresh terms with Eastleigh after securing 20 points from 13 games and keeping five clean sheets, four of which came in consecutive away wins
KELVIN DAVIS
SCOTT QUIGLEY
FORWARD
Quigley is going into his second season with Eastleigh after making 36 appearances for the Spitfires last season.
The striker was the National League’s top scorer in the 2019/20 season, during his time at Barrow
He has been part of two sides that have earned promotion out of the National League in Barrow and Stockport
In the early stages of his career, Quigley made an appearance in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round against SK Slovan Bratislava.
Maguire signed for the Spitfires at the start of the 2023/24 season and played a key role from the get go
In the 47 games he played that season, he tallied up 22 goal contributions. His free-kick against Hartlepool earned him the clubs ‘Goal of the Season’ award
The midfielder’s previous clubs include Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Sheffield Wednesday, Bury, Sunderland and Lincoln City, making over 600 senior appearances since 2008
Eastleigh started the season on fire in the Vanarama National League, hitting the top of the table in August after four straight wins
Their form since has been patchy, with just five league wins from the last 24 matches
In the FA Cup Southend United knocked the Spitfires out in the fourth qualifying
LAST TIME
Eastleigh 1 Altrincham 2 Saturday, January 18, 2025
After Alty beat Runcorn 1-0 on Aggregate, in the two legged semi-final, Alty defeated Leatherhead 3-1 at WembleythankstogoalsfromJeffJohnson,JohnRogers,andJohnKingtowintheirfirstFATrophy
After Alty beat Enfield 3-1 on Aggregate, in a two legged semi-final, Alty won their second FA Trophy at WembleybybeatingRuncorn1-0thankstoaMikeFarrellygoal.
1990/91 Semi-Final 1st Leg (Att 5,248) - Wycombe 2-1 Altrincham | 2nd Leg (Att 3,500) Altrincham 0-2 Wycombe
2022/23 Semi-Final (one legged at Altrincham, Att 4,771) - Altrincham 1-1 FC Halifax (Alty lost in penalty shootout)
ALTRINCHAM FC
LEWIS BAINES
The Filson Family
Alan Ryan Holmes & Watson Alty Ability Officer
The Rose Family Anthony Booth Phil & Gill
PLAYER SPONSOR ENQUIRIES
CARROLL’S CORNER
Article written by Women’s Team Social Media Manager, Erin-Beau Carroll
Altrincham Women's FC secured their place in the next round of the Challenge Cup after what was considered one of their best performances of the season against Stockport County Development in what was manager Alex Hilton-Slee’s final game in charge of the Robins.
The game was played at Marple High School, the original fixture having to be postponed because of the cold snap earlier in January The Robins went into the game having been narrowly defeated by AFC Crewe the previous week In the previous meeting of the two sides County came out on top, winning 2-0 earlier in the season, before Altrincham began their impressive run of form in the league, so this was a chance for Altrincham to gain some revenge The Robins took the lead early on in the first half through captain Natalie Lowe, who broke the deadlock on the 18-minute mark. Altrincham then proceeded to double the lead fourteen minutes later as midfielder Grace McArdle added another goal to her impressive tally this season
It wouldn’t be long before Altrincham got their third of the game, this time through leading scorer Kira Saycell as she registered her fourteenth goal of the league and cup campaign Going into halftime, the Robins seemed to hold a comfortable lead of three goals to nil. However they certainly were not finished there Grace McArdle again found herself on the scoresheet for her second of the afternoon before Brogan Walsh got in on the action to score Altrincham’s fifth goal.
Stockport County tried vainly to mount a comeback in the latter stages of the game; however, they only managed to secure two goals as Altrincham ran out 5-2 winners to progress to the next round of the Challenge Cup
It was a memorable victory for Alex on his last game, and he had this comment to make about the game and his time at Altrincham: “The team played really well, and I couldn’t have asked for more from them. Leaving with a win and a performance like this gives me immense pride and shows how far this group has come.
