Salisbury

Salisbury FC is a semi professional football club from the cathedral city of the same name in Wiltshire, eighty five miles west of London that was formed in 2015 following the liquidation of Salisbury City FC.

An original club called Salisbury City played between 1905 and 1939 and competed in the Southern and then the Western League. The second coming of 'City' was formed in 1947 as Salisbury FC and are of no relation to their predecessors.

The council owned Victoria Park, former home of Salisbury City

'The Whites' soon won promotion to the Western League Premier Division as a record crowd of 8,902 flocked to Victoria Park to see them draw in the championship decider against Weymouth. The club were crowned as Western League champions in 1957-58 and 1960-61 before they progressed to the Southern League in 1968.

Over the next twenty five years Salisbury remained primarily in the second tier before having a short spell in the Premier Division. In 1985 Geoff Butler became the team manger for a reign that would last another seventeen years. 

Victoria Park still with original railings around the pitch

In 1993 the club changed its name to Salisbury City FC after they were denied promotion to the Premier Division after ground grading issues at Victoria Park. They were remedied and two seasons later City took their place at the top table of the Southern League.

However, it was obvious that the homely ground in a public park was not suited to modern day football, so in 1997 City moved to a new ground three miles out of town where the original city was located at Old Sarum and named it The Raymond McEnhill Stadium after their Chairman of the time. It became more commonly known as The RayMac as time evolved.

In 2002 The Whites were relegated and off the field troubles saw the departure of Butler. The club suffered from severe financial problems, but a consortium was put together by a sponsor of the time Neville Beal to save the day. He convinced former Southampton favourite Nick Holmes to come back from the USA to manage the team.

With the help of the re-organisation of non league football City were promoted at the end of the 2003-04, but they were placed in the Isthmian Premier League. However, after just one season they returned to the Southern League. City won the title in the 2005-06 season and were promoted to Conference South. 

The following season they reached the FA Cup second round. After drawing at home to Nottingham Forest, Salisbury went out in the replay, with both games been shown on live TV. That achievement was topped by beating Braintree Town in the Play Off Final to reach the Conference National division.

The promotion caused further financial worries are the money coming in did not cover the playing budget, which led to players being released. The club was put up for sale for £1 to try to attract new investors, but non were forthcoming. In September 2009 Salisbury City entered into administration. 

The club was fined and deducted ten points. Throughout the season the administrators looked for a solution but the Conference board relegated The Whites two divisions back to the Southern League Premier Division, despite a failed appeal from the club.

By this time Holmes had moved upstairs and was replaced by Tommy Widdrington, but they moved on when a new consortium led by the new Chairman William Harrison-Allan took over. Star striker Matt Tubbs was sold to Crawley Town for a reported £70,000. Darrell Clarke took over the reigns on the pitch as Player Manager.

Despite having a young side and many new faces City reached the FA Trophy quarter finals and won the play off final 3-2 against Hednesford Town to climb their way back to Conference South for the 2011-12 season. 

That season was one of consolidation in the league leading to a creditable tenth place finish, but the FA Cup brought great rewards. Arlesey Town and then Grimsby Town were dispatched after a replay for the club to reach round three for the first time, where they were defeated 3-1 against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Clarke made several new signings for the 2012-13 season, which produced dividends as City reached the play offs once again. After beating Chelmsford City, Dover Athletic were defeated in the final at the RayMac to secure promotion back to the Conference National.

However, Clarke departed in the summer of 2013 to become assistant manager of Bristol Rovers. Mikey Harris was appointed as the new boss as the club announced that they had left administration in December 2013 after five years of financial troubles.

This did not satisfy the board of the Football Conference who relegated the club to the Conference South at the end of the 2013-14 season before being expelled for a failure to clear all outstanding debts.

A new club; Salisbury FC was formed; moving into the Raymond McEnhill Stadium and being placed in the Wessex League for the 2015-16 campaign; going on to be crowned as Wessex League Premier Division champions in their inaugural season under manager Steve Claridge.

The team also embarked on a fantastic FA Vase run, going all the way to the semi-final where they went out to fellow reformed club Hereford FC over two legs. Promotion was achieved however to the Southern League Division One South & East.

The Whites finished as runners-up in 2016-17 but missed out on promotion after losing 2-0 at home to Tiverton Town after defeating Evesham Town in the semi-final. Salisbury would not be denied in the 2017-18 season.

The team once again ended as league runners-up, but on this occasion it proved to be enough to secure automatic promotion as non-league football was restructured. In 2018-19 the side reached the play-offs but were defeated by Metropolitan Police in their semi-final clash.

A couple of abandoned seasons owing to Covid-19 ensued, which was followed by a disappointing finish. The long serving Claridge was replaced by Brian Dutton in October 2022.

Salisbury FC will play in the Southern League Premier Division South in 2023-24 season.


My visits

Salisbury City 3 Dover Athletic 2 after extra time (Sunday 12th May 2013) Conference South Play Off Final (att: 3,408)

The 2012-13 season was drawing to a close, but with me having the day free I was keen to grab a little more action. The play offs were bound to create an atmosphere and attract good crowds. I had a choice of the game at Salisbury, or the Conference North final between Brackley Town and FC Halifax Town. 

Brackley had made their game all ticket and collections had to be made by 1pm on match day. As the nearest railway station was at Banbury, a forty minute bus ride away, I didn't fancy the early start as I knew my Saturday night could be fluid!

On the Wednesday before the game I picked up my train tickets, using £14 of refund vouchers from previous cancelled trains to subsidise the day. The journey from Waterloo was most pleasant with a fair sprinkling of Dover fans aboard for what must have been a very long day for them. We arrived at our destination at about ten to one.

I was unsure whether a bus ran out towards the ground on a Sunday, so I walked through the aesthetic city centre and along Castle Road as I had another port of call in mind along the way.

Victoria Park was across the other side of the city's ring road but I was keen to have a look. The original pitch from City's days was still intact along with the railing around it. It was obviously still in use, which was nice to see. A modern changing room block was on the far side, but none of the old structures were there. The excellent park also contained a playground and plenty of tennis courts.

I walked onwards uphill and had a brief chat to away fan who had decided to make the walk to try and lose some weight. He was going a bit slow for me, so I marched on past Old Sarum Castle and out of the town. There was plenty of signs pointing the way to the stadium, and it was good to see others walking it. 

About half a mile past the castle, and past fields with some of the largest pigs I've ever seen I reached where the bus would have dropped me off, and there was still three quarters of a mile to go. I had made the right decision.

The crowds were gathering towards the stadium as six coaches of Dover fans were arriving. They seemed to be making plenty of noise and were obviously up for the occasion. The queues to get into the ground were already around fifty long, and it was still over an hour before kick off. I bought the £3 programme, which had been produced by the league, rather than City. 

I was told that the entrance to the bar was inside the ground. Once inside I was getting worried as there was no sign leading to where I could quench the thirst I had built up. A steward assisted me although he did say it was nearly full, and he wasn't kidding. 

I squeezed me way to the far end where there was a bit more space and got served remarkably quickly by the overstretched but excellent staff. The Fullers Seafarers was excellent, despite being on keg. I thought £3 was a fair price.

Entertainment was to be had as the Watford v Leicester City game was being shown on the TV's. As that game came to an end, the visitors were given a really dodgy penalty. Scoring it would have sent them to the final at Wembley. Anthony Knockaert missed the kick and Watford went up the other end to bag the winner, to loud cheers throughout the bar.

Young City fans were singing as the atmosphere built. The terracing could be seen out of the window and was getting very busy. I wasn't too worried. I was in the ground, so I had another pint before going downstairs. The catering queue was long, but again the youths behind the counter were on top of everything. 

Most importantly a team were doing the cooking so that stock didn't run down. I had a cheeseburger and chips for £4.50 and also purchased a couple of sets of hand warmers for my Dad after seeing that they were on sale at a special price.

The RayMac was a well designed stadium, at least for home fans. The seated stand had a two storey building behind it containing all the facilities, as well as a couple of balconies. The home fans covered terrace continued from next to it and went behind the goal to the far corner flag. A raised path went behind it to make access easier. 

The far side was a few steps of open terracing, with two small covered seated stands on the half way line with a scoreboard separating them. The far end was also an open terrace, which was taken up by the Dover fans, with catering and toilet facilities behind it.

Space was at a premium and the stewards and club officials were a little concerned that not everyone could fit into the terracing sections. Many tried to stand on the raised path at the rear, but were moved on. I stood in the raised open corner for most of the first half.

I thought the visitors were slightly the better side in the first half. There was plenty of set pieces around either penalty area, but chances were at a premium. Daryl McMahon looked Dover's best player as he looked to control the middle of the park, while Ricky Modeste was lively on the wing. I was also aware that Salisbury were likely to improve in the second half.

And so my thoughts were proved correct. By now I had got under the cover and found a raised section where the stewards had given up on moving fans. Five minutes after the restart City's Ricky Wellard went on a surging run and was brought down. He dusted himself down and scored with a superb curling free kick to send the place berserk.

It looked like they would hang onto their lead, especially after McMahon had been sent off for a second yellow card with ten minutes left. The excellent turn out of away fans urged their heroes on, but nothing too dangerous was being created. With just a minute or so to go Athletic's Ian Simpempa turned in a free kick at the back post to send the game into extra time.

City played very sensibly and kept the ball and made the ten men work hard. This bore fruit when man of the match Stuart Sinclair was slotted in and he finished with a lovely dink over goalkeeper Mitch Walker into the far corner of the net. The teams turned around for the second half with the rain continuing to lash down with City attacking the home end.

The game looked safe after Jamie White fired a superb half volley over Walker and into the net with 111 minutes on the clock. They continued to create more openings but didn't stick the chances away as Dover's players were run into the ground. 

It would have been cruel on the visitors if they had suffered a big defeat as they had played their part. They then created a tense finale after Bill Bricknell beat home keeper Will Pudd to a fifty fifty challenge and slotted the ball into the empty net.

City kept the ball for the remaining minute or so as the Athletic players were running on empty even when they got it back. Despite several appeals over the PA throughout the afternoon for supporters not to go onto the pitch at full time or there would be no presentation, the full time whistle was greeted with utter jubilation and a large invasion. 

I stayed back for a few minutes and it was lovely to see the utter joy on the faces of fans and players alike. It was also good to see individual players going to find friends and family as they walked round the pitch.

Although it had started out as a cagey affair, the game got better as it went on for a neutral fan. I set off thinking that I was in for a long walk back. I saw a queue at the Beehive stop opposite the park and ride and saw that a bus was due three minutes later, which was perfect timing and a complete fluke. 

I was dropped in Market Square and got back to the station in time for the 6.27 train back to Waterloo. It had been an excellent day out rounded off by a great edition of Match of the Day.

Salisbury 3 Hendon 1 (Saturday 3^rd November 2018) Southern League Premier Division South (att: 731)

For some reason I just knew that the journey to the south west with Hendon would be a tricky one on the pitch and could be a bit tetchy off it. Salisbury had built a bit of a reputation for themselves; not least that of manager Steve Claridge who was known for his incessant berating of officials.

The club wasn’t hugely popular. Some thought that they’d got a bit of a leg up straight into Premier Division of the Wessex League when reformed. I was actually looking forward to it as it’s always good to visit fine venues such as the Ray Mac.

We departed at 11am on a very roomy mini bus from Silver Jubilee Park, with lots of football discussion about the league and Hendon FC along the way. The journey wasn’t quite as quick as anticipated, and it was around 2pm when we arrived.

We were not especially impressed to be charged £1 to park. It wasn’t the price, it was the principle of charging an official away team vehicle. We later found out that some of the players had trouble convincing the stewards of their tales.

Admission was £11. A good programme was a further couple of quid along with an extra £1 for a draw ticket. My fellow passengers followed me as I knew the way to the bar. It was disappointing that there were no nearby pubs, but we weren’t to be let down.

The New Forest Ale straight from the barrel was in excellent nick and fairly priced. The lasses behind the counter certainly added to the décor, with the gent in charge also friendly. They went out of their way to make sure one of our disabled party was looked after all afternoon. We were impressed.

There was a nice moment in the bar as Hendon superfan Alex Barnett took his top off to unveil a T-shirt made for him by a friend which revealed that it was his 500^th consecutive Hendon league match in attendance. That’s some feat!

Hendon manager Jimmy Gray was missing as his wife had sprung a surprise 40^th birthday present on him with relatives heading down from Sheffield. His assistant Mark Boyce was placed in charge of the team for the day.

It was a sunny afternoon and both teams were in the top four before play. All was set for a proper game of football. I grabbed some food from the counter and then headed to join fellow Dons fans behind the goal; where plenty of vocal home fans also stood.

Hendon went ahead within ten minutes. A low inswinging corner from Lee Chappell was touched in by Connor Calcutt at the near post. The pace of Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick was causing the Whites defence no end of problems.

He was taking some real stick, as were other Dons ball players. The home fans were having none of it and accused the players of acting. Some comments towards the black players were borderline at times. Despite that I found the majority of the fans fine; passionate but could also enjoy a laugh.

Whatever, the shouts from fans and the home bench got into the head of the referee. Hippolyte-Patrick latched onto a through pass. His effort flew over the bar but he was clattered at the same time by home keeper Jake Hallett.

I was certain it was a penalty, and even more so on later seeing the highlights. The home fans booed claiming a dive. The referee signalled a goal kick. It was rumoured that the man in black formerly played with Claridge at Weymouth. From his decision making I wouldn’t be shocked.

The Dons looked in full control for the first twenty five minutes. Their stylish forays looked likely to produce more goals, but for all their neat play they didn’t make Hallett work nearly hard enough. Fair play to Claridge and his troops who sorted themselves out and took over the midfield.

Salisbury began to get on top and produced some fine moves as the visiting defence was stretched with keeper Danny Boness making a couple of stops. However, there was nothing he could do when a fine attacking move was finished off by Tom Whelan.

It got worse before the half time whistle for the away support, as a free kick was half cleared to Lewis Benson who fired home from the edge of the box. We were quite shell shocked in the bar as we supped our half time pints but knew that Hendon were far from out of the game.

A couple of decent half chances were missed by the Dons soon after the restart as we congregated on the open end. They would prove to be costly. The stewarding didn’t impress as they made sure nobody stood on a yellow hatched area even though there was lots of space.

I suspect that the club were under the auspice of the local authorities. It certainly did seem a little over the top, similarly to Dorchester a few weeks previously. There were lots of stewards but not a great deal of common sense shown.

This was exemplified when Alan Wood, a regular fan who films games and puts Hendon’s attacks on YouTube was warned and told that he could not film any more. Surely the idea is to promote non-league football? It reminded me of why I’d more or less given up going to Football League games.

The mood wasn’t lightened by events on the pitch. Salisbury were a very capable team who took control as the match went on. Hendon’s skilful players were immediately closed down and not given room to perform.

Caretaker boss Boyce rang the changes, but it wasn’t to be for the visitors. Zack Kotwicka more or less finished off proceedings with ten minutes remaining when he made it 3-1. It could have been worse but for some good keeping, brave defending and wayward finishing.

My luck was better as I cashed out on my accumulator bet to win £60 as the game came to an end. It was a fairly subdued mini bus on the journey home as the post mortem got underway. It was simple in my eyes. The better side won after they tactically did a job on Hendon.

Lee Cousins and I got a lift up the hill from Tom Stockman on our return so we went for a couple of pints in JJ Moons in Kingsbury before I headed home with a take away to watch Match of the Day.