
Chichester
City United FC
Chichester City United Football Club was founded in 2000 following the merger of
Chichester City and Portfield Football Clubs.
The venture had been discussed for many years but it was
only at the start of the new millennium that the pipe dreams
became a reality. The City had always struggled to support
two semi-professional clubs so the merger was seen as the
only option for Chichester to become a force in non-league
football.
Chichester City United spent their first
eight seasons playing at Portfield's ground in Church Road but the local council
sold this off to housing developers in the summer of 2008, with the club
returning to Chichester City's old ground at Oaklands Park for the start of the
2008/2009 season. As part of the deal from the land sale, the council will pay
for a new clubhouse and stands to be built at Oakland's Park which will
hopefully be finished by the summer of 2009.
Season
2000/2001:
The club started their debut season in Sussex County
League Division One with Adie Girdler as manager and Joe Laidlaw as assistant
manager. The club's first ever competitive game resulted in 5-1 defeat at home
to Saltdean United - Roger Moore scoring the consolation goal - closely followed
by a 4-1 defeat at Pagham. Despite the poor start to the season the first team
managed to finish seventh
in the league and were also the highest scorers, with Jamie
Laidlaw scoring 32 goals in 45 games.
The
Reserve team won the Reserve Section West Championship by 10
points from local rivals Oving after going on a 30 league
match unbeaten run - a good performance considering they
lost their first two games of the season 8-2 and 6-4. They
also reached the semi-finals of the Reserve Section Cup
where they lost 1-0 to the eventual Reserve Premier league
winners, Horsham YMCA.
Season
2001/2002:
Chichester City United finished third in the County League
Division One, 23 points behind runaway leaders Burgess Hill.
The best cup run they achieved was reaching the third round
of the John O'Hara League Cup where they lost 7-1 away to
Ringmer, although they did reach the second round proper of
the FA Vase where they lost 4-2 at home to Hallen.
The
Reserves finished 5th in the Reserve Premier League and also
reached the Reserve Cup Final where they lost 1-0 to Premier
League winners Eastbourne Borough.
Season
2002/2003:
Chichester City United finished in fourth place with 69
points from 38 games but one place lower than the previous
season when 67 points was sufficient to gain third place. In
50 competitive matches Chi scored 104 goals with Roger Moore
heading the goal scoring chart with 24 goals. Jamie Laidlaw
contributed 22 goals to bring his tally to 86 goals in three
seasons with the Club. Paul Thomas found the net 14 times
and Neil Murfin and Tony Stephens scored 9 apiece just ahead
of Matt Smith with 8 goals. In total 15 Chi players found
the net with spectacular efforts from James Wills at Wick
and Stefan Wojciechowski against Pagham amongst the
highlights.
Laidlaw missed only one game all season and
Moore and goalkeeper, Ben O'Connor only missed a few games
each. O'Connor came into the side after Lee Preston was
ruled out by a long term injury and performed heroically to
keep a clean sheet as Chi were one of the few sides to beat
Burgess Hill - and even scored in the penalty shoot out
against Lancing. Chi used 43 players in all with many of the
players from the successful Youth team set up getting their
first taste of senior action.
Performance in Cup
competitions was patchy with an early exit from the F.A. Cup
after a replay with Deal Town and defeat at Gosport Borough
in the first round of the F.A. Vase. Shoreham, Pagham and
Selsey ended Chi's interest in the County Cup competitions
but at least the Youth Team won the Sussex County Youth Cup.
The Reserves reached the semi-final of the Reserve Section
cup but underperformed in the Final to be well beaten by
Burgess Hill.
Season
2003/2004:
Chichester City United secured their first major honour when
they were crowned Sussex County League Champions. They
finished with 77 points from 36 games, winning 23 and
drawing 8 along the way with 87 goals for and 47 against.
They also reached the semi-final of the League Cup where
they lost 3-0 to Arundel and the semi-final of the R.U.R. Cup
where they on penalties to Three Bridges after a 3-3 draw
and extra time. In the FA Cup they lost 3-1 to Abingdon Town
in the first qualifying round and in the FA Vase they lost
2-1 to Abingdon United in the second qualifying round. In
the Sussex Senior Cup they lost 6-1 to Oakwood in the second
round.
Chichester Reserves finished fifth in the Reserve Premier.
Season
2004/2005:
In remarkable contrast to the previous season, Chichester
struggled to maintain their division one status, finishing
just 16th with 43 points, just 2 points above the relegation
zone. Despite their low finish, they still managed to
maintain a positive goal difference with 63 goals scored for
and 62 against. Scott Tipper topped the club goal scoring
charts with 29 for the season. Chichester tasted their first
cup triumph after beating Ryman League club Horsham on
penalties in the Brighton Charity Cup Final. They also
reached the semi-final of the R.U.R. Charity Cup where they
lost 1-0 to Ringmer.
After being in trouble for much of the season, Chichester Reserves staged a
late recovery to finish 7th in the reserve Premier League
with 47 points from 30 games. James Wills was the Reserve's
top goal scorer with 29 goals for the season.
Season
2005/2006:
The 2005/2006 season will always be remembered for the death of first team
player Steve Bernard, who tragically lost his life in a car accident in
November. The majority of players attended Steve's funeral in Bournemouth before
returning home to play Selsey in a League Cup match that evening. Nomad-Online
also organised a charity match to honour Steve's memory and £2500 was raised,
which Steve's family donated to the schools he attended.
The rest of the season was insignificant for Chichester but they did manage to
retain the Brighton Charity Cup
after beating Ringmer 2-1 at
Horsham FC thanks to goals from Adrian Brockway and Alex Ward. First Team Manger
Aidie Girdler dedicated the victory to Steve Bernard. Chichester finished 8th in
Division One on 60 points (W 17 D9 L12 F 61 A 55), and were knocked out of both
the FA Cup (East Preston) and FA Vase (Colliers Wood United) at the first
hurdle. Scott Tipper topped the scoring charts on 22 goals with Scott Murfin and
Adrian Brockway next best on 13 goals. Scott Tipper also made the most
appearances, featuring in 47 matches, with captain Alex Ward close on 40. Aidie
Girdler used 41 different players during the season.
Chichester Reserves finished 5th in the Reserve Premier and were knocked out of
the Intermediate Cup, Vernon Wentworth Cup and Reserve Cup in the early rounds.
Dave Kelly stood down as Reserve Team manager at the end of the season after
being offered the post of First team manger at Midhurst FC.
Season
2006/2007:
After spending ten years at the helm of the club, Aidie Girdler stepped down as
manager in October 2006 due to personal commitments and took up his new backroom
role as Director of Football. He first joined Chichester City FC in 1996 and
helped push through the amalgamation with neighbours Portfield FC in 2000 before
steering the newly formed Chichester City United to the County League
Championship in 2003/2004.
Mick Catlin and Ian Saunders took over team affairs for the rest of the
2006/2007 season and their ambition and drive created a close knit squad and a
positive atmosphere at the club under difficult circumstances. Chichester only
managed to finish eleventh in Division One with 49 points (PL 38 W 14 D 7 L 17 F
59 A 58) but they won the RUR Cup, beating Whitehawk 2-1 in a pulsating final at
Culver Road in March and also reached the final of the Brighton Charity Cup
where they lost 5-2 a.e.t to Ryman League side Horsham FC. The cup success more
than made up for the fact that the club were not entered in the FA Cup or FA
Vase due to administration error at the start of the season.
Steve Boston took the top goal scorer award with an amazing haul of 15 goals in
18 games, Neil Murfin won the coveted Player's Player award, Manager's Player
went to Paul Jones and the Young Player of the season went to Mike Turvey who
scored a spectacular goal in the RUR Cup final.
Andy Probee took over as Reserve Team Player Manager following the departure of
Dave Kelly to Midhurst FC and the team started the season back in the Reserve
Section West to cut down on travelling for the young squad. Despite limited
resources and a very young team, Andy steered the Reserves to fourth place in
the league and created a good foundation for the future - Andy stepped down at
the end of the season to take over as First Team Manager at Sidlesham FC.
Season
2007/2008:
The club were rocked by the resignation of Mick Catlin in early June who decided
to take up the vacant manager's post at Wick, with Ian Saunders following him
out of Church Road. The club quickly appointed Joe Laidlaw and Louis Savage as
joint managers - who had previously worked together at Wessex league side
Fareham Town - and the club got off to an excellent start with 4 wins and a draw
from the first 7 games taking them to second place in the league.
Due to administration error the previous season, Chichester were once again not entered into the FA Cup and
they were soon knocked out of the FA Vase after a 7-0 thumping away to Greenwich
Borough in the first round. They did reach the third round in the John O'Hara
League Challenge Cup and RUR Cup where they were knocked out by Shoreham (2-1)
and Pagham (5-1) respectively, but they were less fortunate in the Sussex Senior
Cup and Brighton Charity Cup where they were knocked out at the first hurdle by
Wealden (2-0) and Steyning Town (L 3-0).
Joe Laidlaw was sacked in February 2008 following a bad run of results which
left Chichester in danger of relegation and Louis Savage decided to follow Joe
out of the door. Club Director Aidie Girdler came to the clubs' rescue and
eventually steered the first team to safety by winning the last two league games
of the season. Chichester City United also said goodbye to their temporary home
at Church Road on 19th April 2008 (the land being sold off for housing
development and Chichester returning to Oaklands Park after an 8 year absence)
and signed off with a 5-4 victory against Three Bridges where Darren Hickman was
also presented with the Player of the Season award.
The Reserve team had a credible season considering all the comings and goings
at the club and ended up in fifth place in the league although they didn't
enjoy any cup success.
Club Honours
RUR Cup Winners (2006/2007) Runners-Up (2004/2005)
Brighton Charity Cup Winners (2004/2005)
(2005/2006), Runners-Up (2006/2007)Norman Wingate Trophy - shared with Arundel FC (2004/2005)
Sussex County League Champions (2003/2004)
Reserve Section Challenge Cup Runners-Up (2001/2002)
Youth Section League Cup Winners (2001/2002)
Youth Section West Champions (2001/2002)
Reserve Section West Champions (2000/2001)
CCUFC club history in
word.doc
format
Chichester
statistics courtesy of the Football Club History Database
Portfield FC
Portfield Football Club started life in 1896 as a group of local lads
without a permanent pitch, a club in name only and formed, organised and
supported by local business people. Meetings and team selection took place in
the Wheatsheaf Inn, a local Public House. Where now stands a set of traffic
lights on the A27, Arundel Park Estate and St James Square, were all in their
day, home for the 'Field'. Then came a new home ground called 'Downers'.
A cow pasture upon which they were permitted to site an old railway carriage
for use as changing rooms, but not allowed to mow, prompted the teams nickname
of the 'Field'. Long wet grass where the cows hadn't grazed, and other hazards
where they had, made the old leather ball somewhat heavy and difficult to
control, and to head it was risking concussion.
The 2nd World war interrupted organised football of course, but 1945 saw
the return of most of the lads from the armed forces, and Downers, resplendent
with the ex-army camouflage nets on the goals, were to witness the winning of
the Sussex Junior Cup closely followed by the West Sussex League championship.
Memories of those days include the sight of Billy Hunt and Fred Bennett
trundling their wooden box cart toward the ground on Saturday mornings, their
mission being to ensure that the cows had been moved elsewhere, and to remove as
much evidence of their presence as possible. Hanging the nets and carrying a
bucket of cold water from the big house a quarter of a mile away, were also on
the match day agenda.
Despite being well outside the City at a time when very few people had
cars, they enjoyed good support, but the biggest crowds usually occured when
they played hosts to Graylingwell Mental Hospital because it was practice to
walk a supervised party of patients to the match for exercise. They always made
plenty of noise and seemed to enjoy themselves even if there were doubts among
them as to who the competing teams were. Happy days, but they were poor
relations to the likes of Chichester FC who were enjoying the luxurious
facilities of one of Chichester's main recreation areas, Priory Park.
In the mid fifties the ever growing need to quarry gravel from around
the City's outskirts eventually claimed 'Downers', and they were forced to move
to a local recreation ground, Florence Road, which itself had been a quarry some
years before. Whilst closer to the City's population and the Wheatsheaf Public
House, the infilling of the quarry had not had sufficient time to settle and all
manner of sharp flints, metal etc. were often found on the surface. In those
days there were also no changing facilities.
In 1958 Portfield were given permission to use the pitch that existed in
Church Road (the current temporary home of Chichester City United). D. Rowe and
Co., the local car garage were then leasing the ground from Chichester City
Council for the firm's sports club, and since their Managing Director's first
love was cricket, a wicket square dominated the centre of their ground, with a
football pitch running at a right angle of that of today. Three years later,
Rowes gave up the lease on the ground which Portfield then acquired.
The team built their first clubhouse in 1969 which housed dressing rooms
for both teams and match officials, showers, toilets, clubroom and bar. Separate
changing room facilities were added in 1983 followed by floodlights in 1987 and
other facilities - the stand and hard standing area around the pitch - have
progressively improved.
Club Honours
Sussex County League Division Two Winners (1973/84)
Sussex County League Division Two Invitation Cup Winners (1971/73)
Chichester City FC
The first Chichester Football Club was formed in October 1873 and added
the title of City to it's name in 1948. The club's original home was in Priory
Park but established it's present head quarters in Oaklands Park in the early
fifties.
The club was represented in the inaugural meeting of the Sussex County
F.A. in September 1882 and competed in the first ever Sussex Senior Cup
competition in the same year when they lost to Storrington 5-0 on 2nd November.
In 1896 Chichester became members of the newly formed West Sussex League
and remained there until they became founder members of the Sussex County League
in 1920.
The first major honour was achieved in 1926 when they won the Sussex
Senior Cup for the only time. Inter-war success was limited and most of the
club's achievements have been in the post-war era.
In 1960 Chichester clinched their first Sussex County League title and
the following season proved even more successful. City retained the League
championship, shared the Sussex R.U.R Cup with Brighton & Hove Albion after a
2-2 draw and reached the first round proper of the F.A. Cup before losing 11-0
away to Bristol City. See Report
Success returned to Oaklands Park in 1968 when City recaptured the
league title and reached the 4th qualifying round of the F.A. Cup finally
succumbing 3-0 to Guildford.
In the 1970's Chichester's fortunes were mixed; the high point being
another League Championship in 1973 and a good run in the F.A. Amateur Cup which
was finally halted by cup holders Hendon.
That success was only short lived though and after several seasons of
struggle, City were facing relegation for the first ever time early in 1979.
However, the appointment of ex-Plymouth and Portsmouth player, Ritchie Reynolds,
as Club Manager sparked off an amazing revival which saw City claw their way to
safety. The following season was one of City's best ever as Reynolds
masterminded an outstanding League Championship win (City's fifth and last
championship). A late run of nine successive victories left Chichester needing
only a draw from their final match; a result that they duly achieved on a
memorable May evening, with the home side missing a late penalty.
A spell of mid-table security followed but the club were eventually
relegated for the first time in 1983 after a dismal season. City finished sixth
in their first season in Division Two but promotion and a Division Two Cup
success followed in 1985.
However, this time the stay in Division One was short lived and they
returned to the Second Division for the 1987/88 campaign. Promotion proved
elusive for two seasons despite being amongst the pacesetters each time although
the Division Two Challenge Cup was won once again in 1988.
Then in the summer of 1990 Steve White took over as Club Manager and the
side enjoyed another promotion campaign with a third Division Two Challenge Cup
success after beating Stamco. The club struggled for several seasons in the
County League top flight before again being relegated to Division Two in 1994.
In 1996, City finished in the promotion places behind Selsey and
Saltdean United but were denied promotion by the absence of planning consent for
floodlights. In the same year a financial crisis threatened the future of the
club - but the club survived and Aidie Girdler was appointed club manager in
July.
In 1997, City returned to the top flight after finishing runners up to
Littlehampton Town and permission was finally granted for floodlights at Oakland
Park. City remained in Division One up until the merger with Portfield FC in
2000.
Club Honours
Sussex County League Champions (1960/61/68/73/80)
Sussex County League Runners Up (1951/62/66/67)
Sussex County League Division Two Runners Up (1985/91/97)
Sussex Senior Cup winners (1926)
Sussex R.U.R Charity Cup Winners (1961/64)
Sussex County League (Invitation) Cup (1948/55/57/64)
Sussex County League Division Two Challenge Cup Winners (1985/88/91)
P.G. Cunningham Sportsmanship Trophy (1983)
Sussex Youth Cup Winners (1989)
Sussex Youth League West Section Winners (1989/1990)
Sussex Intermediate Cup Winners (1967)

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