Eastleigh Athletic F.C.
| Full name | Eastleigh Athletic Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Railwaymen |
| Founded | 1890s |
| Dissolved | 1977 |
| Ground | Eastleigh |
Eastleigh Athletic F.C. were a long-running amateur football club, formed by local railway workers, who for many years were Eastleigh's leading football club.
Eastleigh Athletic became one of the eight founder members of the Hampshire League in 1896 and were league champions in 1897–98, a season in which they also entered a side in the Western League where they also flourished. During the course of the AGM on 26 July 1897, it was mentioned by the Assistant Hon. Secretary, William Powley, that the colours of the club would be changed to chocolate and blue. The club then spent 1898–99 in the Southern League Division Two (South West section), finishing fifth out of six clubs, but on the scrapping of the South West section they returned to the Hampshire League in 1899. In 1903 the league was divided into regional sections with Eastleigh in the South Division where they frequently struggled although they were the first club to lift the Southampton Senior Cup in its inaugural season 1908–09. Also during this time the club proudly lifted the Hampshire Senior Cup on three occasions, in 1898, 1909 and 1911.
The early Twenties saw Eastleigh yo-yo between the league's two divisions, winning the West Division title in 1922–23 only to withdraw during the following season to join the less demanding Southampton League. Here the club started to find their feet again as they won the Junior 3 and Junior 2 titles in 1927 and 1928.
In 1930 the club returned to the Hampshire League Division 2 under the name of S.R. Eastleigh Athletic (S.R. stood for Southern Railway, the owner of the locomotive works in Eastleigh) and the team soon re-established themselves as they pushed for promotion and after several near misses they won promotion as champions in 1938–39 only to have their progress halted by the outbreak of World War II.
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