The original club called Aldershot were formed in 1926 as Aldershot Town. Aldershot Town joined the Eastern Section of the Southern League in 1927, finishing 7th in their first season. In 1930, they won the Eastern Section title and then beat Western Section champions, Bath City 3-2 in a play-off to become Southern League champions. The following season, they just missed winning the Eastern section, just missing out on goal average to Dartford. In 1931, the club reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time before losing 1-0 to Bradford Park Avenue.
In 1932, they dropped the ‘Town’ and in that the same year they were admitted to the Third Division (South) of the Football League. In their first season in the league, the club finished 17th. The club also reached the 5th round of the FA Cup before going down 2-0 to Derby County. In 1934, they reached the 3rd round before losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace and reached the 3rd round again the following season before losing 3-1 to Reading after a replay.
They did not come close to promotion in those early years, their highest position being 11th and in 1936/37, they finished bottom of the league. In 1937/38, they did, though, reach the 3rd round of the FA Cup again before going out, 3-1 to Notts County. However, by the outbreak of the Second World War, their performances had improved and in 1938/39, the club achieved their highest position, finishing 10th.
When football resumed after the end of the war, the Shots reached the 4th round of the FA Cup before losing 7-1, over two legs, to Brighton. In the league, Aldershot struggled to get out of the bottom half of the table and had to seek re-election to the league, due to finishing in the bottom four, in the first four seasons after WW2. The club had two FA Cup runs, reaching the 3rd round in 1949, losing 3-1 to Gateshead and in 1951, losing 5-1 to Bristol Rovers.
In 1951/52, they achieved their only post war, top half finish in this division, finishing 12th. In the FA Cup, the Shots reached the 3rd round again in 1956 before losing 2-1 to Barnsley, and again in 1958, losing 5-1 to Portsmouth, but that same year, when the 3rd and 4th divisions were formed, Aldershot had to settle for a place in the bottom tier after finishing 18th in the Third Division (South).
Worse was to follow, as the club had to seek re-election the following year after finishing 22nd in the new, 4th Division. In the FA Cup, Aldershot reached the 4th round in 1961, taking Stoke City to two replays before losing 3-0 and in 1964, reached the same stage, going out 2-1 to Swindon Town. However, the club’s fortunes improved and in 1962, the club achieved their best placing so far, finishing 7th.
In 1970, the club finished 6th, but went a little bit better three seasons later, finishing 4th to champions, Southport and gaining promotion to the 3rd Division, their first ever promotion in league football. That season, they reached the 4th round of the FA Cup again, losing 4-1 to Carlisle United after a replay.
Their first season in the 3rd Division was a good one, with the club achieving a very respectable finish of 8th, but the following season, the Shots only escaped relegation on goal difference and, in 1976, they finished 21st and were relegated back to the 4th Division.
In their first season back in the bottom tier, the Shots struggled finishing 17th, but in the following two seasons, they just missed out on promotion finishing 5th each time, an achievement they replicated in 1984. In the FA Cup, they reached the 5th round in 1979 for only the second time in their history, taking Shrewsbury Town to a replay before going down 3-1. The Shots had been only seconds from reaching the quarter finals for the first time in their history in the original match against Shrewsbury at the Recreation Ground, Shrewsbury equalising in injury time. In 1985, the club had their most successful season in the League Cup reaching the 3rd round before losing 4-0 to Norwich City after a replay.
In 1987, the club finished 6th, under manager Len Walker and reached the play-offs. In the play-offs that season, the teams finishing 4th, 5th and 6th in the 4th division were joined by the team finishing 21st in the 3rd division, the winner of the play-offs either getting promotion or staying up.
Aldershot met the 3rd division side in the semi-final, who were Bolton Wanderers (how times have changed!!) and Aldershot won 3-2 on aggregate to reach the final where they met Wolves (another current Premiership club). Aldershot won 3-0 on aggregate over two legs to gain promotion for the second time in their history. The club also reached the 4th round of the FA Cup, losing 3-0 to Barnsley after a replay.
The Shots struggled in the higher division and finished 20th in their first season, escaping relegation by just a point, but, in 1989, the club finished bottom and were relegated back to the 4th division. The club fell into decline after relegation, finishing in 22nd and 23rd place in the next two seasons and had serious financial troubles and soon the writing was on the wall. In 1992, the club had to resign from the league having failed to meet the bills of their creditors and the club folded. Their last match was away at Cardiff City on the 20th March 1992.
In the second part of this article, we will look at the resurrection of Aldershot as a new club with their old name of Aldershot Town
The new club, named Aldershot Town, came into existence on the 22nd April 1992 and on the 16th June the club were admitted to the Diadora League Division Three (now the Ryman League), five divisions below the football league.
The new club’s first match, under new manager, Steve Wignall, was at home to Clapton, on the 22nd August 1992 and the team made a terrible start going 2-0 down, but they recovered to win 4-2 with two goals apiece from Mark Butler and Steve Stairs. The shots went on to win their first ten league matches and at the end of the season they were champions by a margin of 18 points, remaining unbeaten at home all season. Nearly 6,000 fans attended a Hampshire Senior Cup match against Farnborough Town, who were then a Conference side.
The following season saw them in the Diadora Division Two and the Shots were promoted again after finishing third. The club also reached the quarter finals of the FA Vase before going out 2-0 to Atherton Laburnum Rovers after a replay. However, the club lost Wignall who moved to take over Colchester United. Steve Wigley became manager and the club only just missed out on promotion from Diadora League Division One at the first attempt, missing out to Chertsey Town, on goal difference and finishing 4th.
In the end, it was to be three years before Aldershot made it into the Premier Division, winning the Division One title in 1998 by 11 points from Billericay Town.
Two years later, the club finished as runners up in the Premier Division to Dagenham & Redbridge, but were 24 points behind and only the champions were promoted to the Nationwide Conference. That season, the new club also made it through to the later stages of the FA Cup for the first time, reaching the 2nd round before losing 2-0 to league side, Exeter City.
Aldershot finished 4th and 3rd respectively in the next two seasons, before finally achieving promotion to the Conference by winning the, now renamed, Ryman Premier Division in 2003, finishing 13 points ahead of runners up Canvey Island, under manager, Terry Brown.
The club were now just one promotion away from returning to the football league and they nearly achieved it in their first season in the Conference, reaching the play-offs after finishing 5th. In the semi-finals, they defeated Hereford United, but lost the final to Shrewsbury Town. In the FA Cup, the club reached the 2nd round again, before losing 1-0 to Colchester. The Shots also reached the semi-final of the FA Trophy before losing 3-1 on aggregate to Hednesford Town.
In 2004/05, Aldershot reached the play-offs again after finishing 4th, but lost on penalties in the semi-final to Carlisle United, who went on to win promotion alongside champions, Barnet. The Shots reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup again before losing 5-1 to Hartlepool.
2005/06 was a disappointment, the club only managing to finish 13th, though the Shots did reach the 2nd round of the FA Cup again, going down 1-0 to Scunthorpe United.
In 2006/07, the club reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time since the reestablishment of the club in 1992. They eventually went out 4-2 to Blackpool.
In 2008, the club finally achieved their aim of league football for the town of Aldershot, winning the, now renamed, Blue Square premier by a massive 15 points and ending up with 101 points. The new club had risen from the depths of the Diadora League Division Three to League Two of the football league in just 16 years.
The Shots made the play-offs in 2009/10.
However, in 2012/13 the club finished bottom of League Two and were relegated back to the Conference and later went into administration, incurring a 10 point penalty which they then started the new season with. Last season, Aldershot finished 19th,ony just avoiding a second successive relegation on goal difference.
Barnet have met Aldershot Town, and the club’s predecessor, Aldershot FC, on 19 occasions, 12 times in the league, once in the Autoglass Trophy and six times in the Conference. Barnet have won 8 matches, Aldershot have won 8 and 3 have been drawn with the Bees scoring a total of 29 goals and conceding 29.
The first time these two clubs met was in November 1991 when Barnet won an Autoglass Trophy Preliminary Round match 3-0 at Underhill with goals from Mark Carter, Roger Willis and Nicky Evans. Just over two months later, the two sides met at the Recreation Ground in a division Four match and Barnet won 1-0, the only goal of the game scored by Carl Hoddle, a wonder strike from 35 yards out. In the return at Underhill, in March, Barnet won 5-0, with two goals from Gary Bull, but Aldershot FC went bust before the end of the season and the records were expunged with Barnet losing all four points.
The next time the two clubs met was in the Nationwide Conference in September 2003, when Aldershot Town came to Underhill, having fought their way up through the lower leagues. Barnet took the lead in the 4th minute with a Ben Strevens goal, Barnet went 2-0 just on the hour through Giuliano Grazioli and held on to win despite a late Tim Sills goal for the Shots. The Barnet side that day was, Forde; Rooney, Plummer, Maddix, Yakubu; Strevens, Gamble, Hogg, Williams; Grazioli, Beadle (Taggart). Aldershot’s side included prolific ex Peterborough goalscorer, Aaron McLean now with Hull City.
In the return at the Recreation Ground, the following February, the two sides drew 1-1 with Jude Sterling, also now with Peterborough, grabbing Aldershot a point after the Bees’ debut boy, Matt Redmile, signed from Scarborough, had put the Bees ahead in the first half with a header from Joe Gamble’s corner.
The following season saw one of the classic games of Barnet’s Conference winning season when the two sides met at Aldershot. Grazioli gave the Bees an early lead converting a Liam Hatch header, but Johnny Dixon equalised for the Shots on 15 minutes. Barnet regained the lead in the second half following a wonderful goal from Richard Graham, when he cut in from the wing on a mazy run and then slotted the ball calmly past Nikki Bull in the Shots goal. Nine minutes later and the score was 2-2 when Dixon made it 2-2, but the Bees grabbed all three points when Bull could only punch the ball clear under pressure from Dwane Lee and Simon King smashed the ball home from the edge of the penalty area to make the score 3-2. The day was made even better when news filtered through that Carlisle had lost to York and Barnet had gone 7 points clear. The Barnet team was, Tynan; Hendon, Yakubu, King, Clist; Strevens, Sinclair, Lee, Graham; Grazioli, Hatch.
In the return at Underhill at the end of February, Barnet were 12 points clear but had lost twice in a row to Hereford and Accrington and needed a win to settle their nerves. Goals from Giuliano Grazioli and Ben Strevens gave the Bees a 2-1 win, despite Barnet going down to 10 men following the sending off of Dean Sinclair. Barnet, of course, went on to win the Conference by 12 points.
On Boxing Day 2008, Aldershot beat Barnet for the first time, winning 3-0 at Underhill with Barnet giving, perhaps, their worst performance of the season. Former Bee, Anthony Charles scored for the Shots, their other goals coming from Danny Hylton and Scott Davies. After the match, Paul Fairclough announced that he was standing down after over 4 years as manager of Barnet and Ian Hendon took over as manager following the next game which was at Bournemouth.
The following Easter, the two sides met at Aldershot and played out a 1-1 draw. Barnet had just made sure of League Two safety the previous weekend. Michael Leary scored what turned out to be his last goal for the Bees.
On Boxing Day 2009, Aldershot ran out easy 4-0 winners at the Recreation Ground after another poor performance by the Bees. It was the first time that Barnet had lost at Aldershot. However, in the return fixture at Underhill, in February, Barnet turned the tables on the Shots winning 3-0 with two goals from John O'Flynn and one from Micah Hyde.
In 2010/11, theo sides met at Underhill on New Years' Day and it was a very disappointing performance from the Bees as Aldershot won 2-1. Izale McLeod scored Barnet's goal. After the game, manager, Mark Stimson had his contract terminated.
In the original return fixture in January, at the Recreation Ground, Mark Marshall gave the Bees the lead with a stunning strike from long range before the home side equalised. The score was 1-1 at half time when the referee abandoned the game because of severe conditions caused by heavy fog and Marshall’s goal was, sadly, struck from the records.
In the replayed fixture, the Shots won 2-1, Izale McLeod scoring for the Bees.
In 2011/12, Steve Kabba and Ricky Holmes scored in a 2-1 win for the Bees at Underhill, while in the return, Aldershot crushed the Bees 4-1, Charlie Taylor scoring for Barnet.
Last season, Aldershot completed the double over Bees winning 1-0 home and away. In the game at Underhill, Jon Nurse was sent off for the Bees and a perfectly good goal by Jake Hyde disallowed, a decision which could have been said, ultimately, cost the Bees their league status.
Early last season, the two clubs fought out a 3-3 draw at Aldershot, Barnet coming from 3-1 down to grab a point. Barnet's goals came from Curtis Weston, Harry Crawford and Marciano Mengerink.
The return fixture at the Hive was the first game of the post Edgar Davids' era and Paul Fairclough stepped up again as caretaker manager for this game. The result was a very poor display as the Bees lost 3-1 to a struggling Aldershot side with only a terrific strike from Mauro Vilhete just before half time to cheer up the home fans.
Anthony Charles joined Barnet from Farnborough in January 2005 for £12,000 and helped the Bees win the Nationwide Conference title at the end of that season. He made 60 league starts, plus another 6 as a substitute before moving to Aldershot, initially on loan in 2007. He gained a second Conference winner medal, this time with Aldershot, in 2008. He played last season for Luton Town.
Louie Soares joined Barnet in the summer of 2005 after impressing in trial games. He was previously with Reading. He made 14 starts, plus another 6 appearances as a substitute, scoring 1 goal, away at Shrewsbury, before moving to Aldershot in 2006. He helped the Shots win the Conference in 2008. He currently plays for Hayes & Yeading.
Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz joined Barnet in 2006 but failed to make a first team appearance and moved to Aldershot in 2007. He currently plays for Hayes & Yeading.
Ahmed Deen joined Aldershot in 2005 from Peterborough and made 11 Conference appearances for the Shots. He joined Barnet in the summer of 2009 from Macclesfield Town and made 16 league appearances for the Bees, scoring 1 goal before being released at the end of the season. He currently plays for Dulwich Hamlet.
Anthony Pulis had a loan spell with the Bees last season and made four starts. He was sent off on his Barnet debut in the home match with Torquay. He joined Aldershotl ast summer.
Greg Heald joined Barnet for a record £130,000 from Peterborough United in 1997 and was part of the Barnet side that made the Division 3 play-offs in 1998 and 2000. He was Barnet captain for much of his time at Underhill but left to join Leyton Orient in 2003. He spent a year at Aldershot in 2005/06.
Albert Jarrett joined Barnet in 2009 from Gillingham and made over 50 first team appearances for the Bees, scoring 2 goals including the goal that sealed the club’s League Two survival in 2010. He was voted the club’s most improved player for season 2009/10. He moved to Lincoln City in the summer of 2010. He had a loan spell with the Shots in 2011.
Kieron Cadogan joined the Bees this season and had a spell at Aldershot last season. He made 26 appearances for the Bees before being released at the end of last season.
Dani Lopez had loan spells with both Aldershot and Barnet last season and has recently ended a second loan spell with the Bees. He made 21 appearances for the Bees, scoring 8 goals. At the end of last season, he was released by Stevenage.
Paul Wilson joined Barnet from Barking in 1988 and made his debut against Chorley. He helped Barnet to gain promotion from the Conference to the Football League in 1991 and gain promotion to the third tier of English football in 1993. He later had a loan spell at Aldershot and left Barnet in 2000 to join Boston United.
Other players to have played for both clubs include Andy Pape, Richard Dunwell, Turkan Mustafa and Steve Collis.