In the 2010–11 season, the club finished twenty-first out of twenty-one teams, and was dissolved in July 2011 due to continuing financial constraints.
[4] Andover Football Club was formed in 1883 and played their first game on 27 October at Stride's Field, Weyhill Road, a friendly match against Basingstoke Mechanical Engineers.
Andover protested that Kesson should be disqualified on the grounds of residency—although he had played for Woolston Works earlier that season, he had since moved back to Glasgow.
The Hampshire FA upheld the appeal, allowing Woolston to progress through to the next round and eventually win the inaugural competition.
They won just two of their ten games at this higher level and finished bottom of their six-team division, which also included Cowes, Ryde and Eastleigh.
The following year saw the first team win their eighth Hampshire League championship and retain the Russell Cotes Cup, while the Reserves were champions of Division Two again.
[1] On 3 November, Fourth Division side Gillingham came to the Walled Meadow and won 1–0 in front of 3484 spectators, a figure which would remain as the club's largest attendance for a home game.
[1] Now competing against teams from an even wider area spanning almost the entire width of the country (ranging from Bideford in the west to Bury Town in the east) and in some cases with a larger budget and fanbase, competition was always tough with the club generally finishing in the bottom half of the table.
In the following three seasons they were placed seventh, ninth and sixth, but 1997–98 saw the club finish runners-up again, winning promotion back to the Southern League.
They also reached the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time in 35 years, losing 1–9 to Aldershot Town in what is the Shots' record win in their current incarnation.
In addition, they won the Hampshire Senior Cup for the fifth time in the club's history, beating Havant & Waterlooville 2–0 at The Dell.
[19] The 2003–04 season brought success in the FA Vase competition, when Andover reached the quarterfinals for the first time in their history, before losing to Hampshire rivals Winchester City.
[24] Andover's home match against Uxbridge, played towards the end of that season, was the club's thousandth game in the Southern League.
The season itself saw Andover have their best run in the FA Trophy to date, eventually losing 0–3 at home to Newport County in the third qualifying round.
[26][27] The start of the 2010–11 season was disrupted due to damage caused to the Portway Stadium pitch by rabbits, leading to a number of home league games being postponed.
[31] The Lions were unable to recover and struggled throughout the season, failing to win a single home game and finishing bottom of the division with eleven points after conceding more than 100 goals.
There is hard standing around the entire perimeter of pitch, along with a turnstile block and a gate opening out onto the stadium car park for ambulance access.
in 2011, the stadium was unused for 2 years until the newly formed Andover Town won the lease for its use and, after a major facelift, regular football returned to the venue with the newly established outfit gaining direct entry into the Wessex League First Division where they gained promotion after their first season.
Since then, the average attendance at Andover's matches has remained at approximately 140, although this figure dipped below 100 in the 1999–2000 season following their last relegation from the Southern League.
Their rivalry quickly grew and was at its closest during that season's FA Vase competition, in which the two clubs were drawn against each other at the quarter-final stage.
When promotion to the Southern League was gained in 1972, the team's colours were changed, this time to red with a single white stripe.
For the 2008–09 season, a plain red kit was introduced to commemorate the club's 125th anniversary—this was worn for the first time in the pre-season friendly against Salisbury City.
Andover's badge depicted a lion standing under an oak tree, which mirrors the design used on the town coat of arms.
The most famous of these in recent times is Nigel Spackman, a local player who began his career for his home town before moving to AFC Bournemouth in 1980.
He joined Southampton in 1919 where he enjoyed a successful career scoring 175 goals in 327 league appearances, making him their third all-time goalscorer behind Mick Channon and Matthew Le Tissier.
Dick Rowley was signed in September 1922 by Andover whilst serving at nearby Tidworth army base.
One of the most notable of these in modern times is Matt Crossley, who ended his career with the Lions after playing more than 100 matches for Wycombe Wanderers.
After leaving Andover in 2001, Crossley later became assistant manager at Woking where he gained notoriety in December 2006 after he headbutted an opposing player who had tried to break up a fight.
[51] Maurice Evans is another former professional who, after briefly taking over as Andover's player-manager in 1967, went on to lead Reading to the Fourth Division championship, and Oxford United to Milk Cup victory.
His cup final team-mate David Peach also played for Andover, this time in the 1983–84 season when he scored five goals for the club.