Telephone Number: 01722 776655
E-mail Address: info@salisburycity-fc.co.uk
Official Website: www.salisburycity-fc.co.uk
Recent History:
Club Information:
The club was founded as Salisbury F.C. in 1947. A previous Salisbury City Football Club existed during the late 19th century, and played in the Southern League Second Division between 1906 and 1911.
The current club immediately entered the Western League and won the Second Division title at the very first attempt. An attendance of 8,902, a figure never beaten, saw the championship decider, a 1–1 draw against Weymouth. Salisbury remained members of the Western League until 1968, winning the championship in 1957–58 and 1960–61, as well as finishing second on four occasions and reaching the FA Cup first round on four occasions and the second round once.
In 1968 the club was elected to the Southern Football League but met with little success until the 1985–86 season when Salisbury finished as runners up to Cambridge City and were promoted to the Premier Division, albeit only for a single season.
In 1993 the club’s name was officially changed to Salisbury City, and in 1994–95 they won the Southern League Southern Division championship. After redevelopment work at the council-owned Victoria Park, the club was able to step up to the Premier Division, a promotion which had been denied them two years earlier due to ground gradings.
Salisbury lasted seven seasons in the Premier Division, but troubles off the field eventually led to the departure of manager Geoff Butler, who had been in the role for more than 17 seasons.
Relegation followed and the club came close to being wound up before being saved by a consortium led by one of the club's sponsors, Neville Beal, who was also able to tempt former Southampton player Nick Holmes, at the time living in the USA, to take over as manager in 2002. In the 2003–04 season, Salisbury gained promotion from the Southern League Eastern Division by finishing sixth, but a re-organisation of the English football league system saw them placed in the Isthmian League Premier Division, although after one season they were switched back to the Southern League Premier Division, which they won at the first attempt to gain a place in the Conference South. On 13 May 2007, they defeated Braintree Town 1–0 in the Conference South promotion play-off final, earning a promotion spot to Conference National.
As well as winning promotion, 2006–07 saw Salisbury embark on one of their most successful FA Cup runs, reaching the 2nd Round for only the second time in the club's history, where they were drawn against Nottingham Forest. In front of a record attendance at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium of 3,100, Salisbury held Forest to a 1–1 draw live on BBC One. The replay at the City Ground saw Forest progress into the 3rd round with a 2–0 victory, which was broadcast live on Sky.
Salisbury's first season in the Conference National saw them finish a credible twelfth after a run of several wins in the second half of the season. This success continued into the 2008–09 season when they hit top spot in early September. However, this run soon came to an end when they suffered many injuries which saw their form slip. Then an appeal to raise £100,000 in two weeks was asked of the fans and the city, but only £33,000 was raised. This was insufficient to keep the club going with the squad they had, which lead to cuts: in October 2008 many of Salisbury City's top players went on loan in order for the club to cut costs. In April 2009 the club was put up for sale for £1 in a bid to attract new investors to help the club survive.
However, the future of the club remained unclear after club announced it has been unable to find a buyer at that price. On 3 September 2009 Salisbury entered administration clearing debts of £200,000.
In the summer of 2009, Salisbury City Football Club faced bankruptcy and in early September the club had slumped into administration. Whilst still functioning as a football team, The Whites were fined and were punished further with the deduction of points. By September, Salisbury City FC were being run by Carl Faulds and Michael Fortune operating as agents and contracting for Portland Business and Financial Solutions.
On 19 May 2010 the club was demoted to the Southern League Premier Division due to a breach of Conference rules. The club admitted that it missed the deadline, but hoped to reach a CVA on 12 June, 5 weeks after the deadline, and appealed against the decision in hope to maintain Conference National status. On 10 June 2010 it was announced Salisbury had lost their appeal and therefore would compete in the Southern League Premier Division for the coming 2010–11 season, two divisions below Conference National level.
A consortium of William Harrison-Allan, Chris Brammall and Jeff Hooper took the club on and bailed them out of administration. What followed was a complete restructure with manager Tommy Widdrington going to Southend United as Assistant Manager in the summer of 2010. Long-serving Nick Holmes followed him out the door, which left Darrell Clarke and Mikey Harris in temporary charge of a depleted squad in the lead up to the season. They managed to assemble a squad of youngsters over pre-season to go with the players that remained at the club. Striker Matt Tubbs also left that summer to join Crawley Town for a club record fee, thought to be around £70,000.
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