THIS postcard showing Andover Football Club is from David Howard’s collection but the photographer is unknown.

A few months ago, I wrote about the early efforts to establish an Andover football club, which in the years between 1864 and 1883 saw many false dawns.

Finally, at a gathering in the White Hart hotel on Monday, September 25, 1883, chaired by the mayor Cllr J Moore, a new proposal to form an Andover club was put to the meeting by grammar school headmaster Revd J C Witton.

The headmaster was a keen sportsman who played and promoted football at the school and became a referee for the new Andover club.

READ MORE: History of Andover Football Club

Some of those present at that meeting would have preferred a rugby team, rather than football but it was felt by the majority that 11 players, rather than 15, would be easier to find in a small town such as Andover.

Various officials were appointed, some of whom were to be players as well.

The club captain was Mr Tanner and each member of the team was required to stump up a subscription of 5/- each.

After a month of practice, the new club played its first competitive match against Basingstoke Engineers at Strides’ field or meadow, which was on the site of today’s Alexandra Road.

The score was 0-0 and it was reported afterwards that the opponents’ bad language had unfortunately marred the game.

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Three years later, the club was able to secure the Walled Meadow as its permanent ground.

During the early days of provincial football, many town, village and works teams emerged and disbanded as early enthusiasm waxed and waned.

Soon after Andover Football Club was established, another team, Andover Red Star, was formed but this amalgamated with its rival Andover team in 1892.

There were also various local leagues and cup competitions and it is noticeable that Andover opted for several different leagues over the years, according to how it assessed its current playing prowess.

Its earliest league participation was in that of the Hampshire and Dorset F A-League.

A few years later, it tried its hand in the Hampshire Senior League but after some poor results, opted for the Southern League in 1898.

This was not a wise move and after playing 16 games, Andover ended the season in bottom place.

All of these leagues were small, comprising only a few teams and it was possible to enter more than one league in any given season.

Typical was the Salisbury League with eight teams in the 1894-95 season – Andover, Guilder Rovers, Fordingbridge Turks, Salisbury Wanderers, Downton College, St Edmunds Salisbury, Sarum Swifts and Wilton Utd.

Indeed, in that year, Andover had its most resounding win ever, beating Guilder Rovers 17-1 and deservedly winning the Salisbury League that year with no defeats.

Another small league was the North Hants May League, with just five teams.

One of Andover’s most successful early seasons was 1907-08, when the club won three league titles -  the Hampshire, the Salisbury and the May Leagues, an achievement that was proudly marked by the commemorative postcard, with the three different cups on display.

(I am grateful to Alan Mussell, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of Andover Football Club helped enormously in producing this article and who was able to supply the names of the players shown above.)