For most of my life I have lived down the road from The Camrose Stadium, once home to Basingstoke Town for over 70 years. However it wasn’t until I turned 12 that I decided to pop down to watch my local club play, one Saturday afternoon, during the 2014/15 season when Stoke were eyeing up promotion to the Conference (currently the National League). My first game was far from being the most attractive of tossups, but it was certainly a fearsome Hampshire derby between Basingstoke Town and Havant and Waterlooville.
As soon as I entered the turnstiles I was met with a bellow of “We all live in a yellow Submarine” on repeat with drums banging ferociously like a hundred claps of thunder. Unfortunately I witnessed no goals during the 90 minute with the game finishing in a 0-0 deadlock, but from that moment onwards a love affair between me and my local club was struck! I was overwhelmed by the sensational atmosphere, the multitude of chants (some mentionable some not) and the fans not only clapping the players but the players clapping the fans before and at the end of the game for their support. This was not like Premier League football- but better!
Liam Harding in prime form
I went back to watch Basingstoke Town for the remainder of the 2014/15 campaign which saw them qualify for the Conference South play-offs, after finishing third in the table and only four points off sealing automatic promotion and winning the league. On 29th April 2015 The Dragons kicked off their hunt of promotion away at Whitehawk in the first-leg of the semi-final playoff, which saw them still in the tie following a 1-1 stalemate in Brighton. I was confident that the Camrose which would end up witnessing nearly 2,000 people packed into the ground for the final leg would allow Basingstoke to see off The Hawks. On the morning of kickoff I remember on my way to football training a friend of mines dad said “Liam Basingstoke are in the playoffs today,are you going to watch them play?” I unhesitatingly said within seconds “yes definitely, hopefully they’ll win, I’ll see you there later on.” After training was done it was only a matter of hours before I would make my way to watch Basingstoke, who were only 90 minutes away from potentially booking a place in the Conference South playoff final! After an intense 45 minutes the score still stood goalless but at halftime to my disappointment my friend’s dad who had asked whether I was going to the game who seemed fed up with one of Stoke’s biggest encounters in history left the ground with his mates. After witnessing this shock, come the second half, I was praying more so than ever that Basingstoke could serve and deliver with the roar of the fans getting ever louder. With the sky looking as if it was about to chuck it down Whitehawk killed off (1-0) Basingstoke’s dreams of promotion to the top-flight of non-league football for the first time in history. A single strike from local lad Jake Robinson in the final 45 minutes ensured that The Dragons would remain in the National League South for another season.
I felt optimistic for the 2015/16 season and was certain that Basingstoke would surely be even greater favourites to earn promotion to now the National League. However the opposite would prove to be true! Stoke would perform below par, before eventually being relegated from the National League South after 42 games in horrific fashion. It didn’t start too well either, I can remember within just over a month of the season commencing Basingstoke were destroyed 5-1 by Eastbourne Borough in September 2015, as if they were standing still, it was bad enough losing the playoffs on home turf but this was humiliating! I was so upset and ashamed by this shock relegation to the Southern Premier, that I couldn’t pull myself together to go back afterwards for a season…
Image:Liam Harding in middle
One scorching Saturday in August 2017 after I’d gotten over the relegation woes I decided to return to The Camrose to watch Stoke within a couple of games of the 2017/18 season. Since that day I have never turned my back on my local club and accepted that the ups as well as the downs is what it’s all about as a fan, something I’d failed to come to terms with beforehand. Basingstoke was knocked down 3-1 by Frome Town but I was glad to be back finally watching my local club again.
Below image: Liam Harding back at Basingstoke Town FC again!
After having been a regular at The Camrose for nearly a year and a half, whilst I was watching The Dragons beat Kings Langley in the Southern Premier, the late Jim Gould former Basingstoke board member engaged in conversation with me. With both of us standing under terracing, he said the club may go extinct due to the fact that they’d be getting evicted from the Camrose at the end of the campaign, and that they would have little funds going forward to support their survival whilst in their ground sharing hunt for the 2019/20 season.
Future AFC Totton defender Charlie Kennedy playing for Basingstoke Town
I’d never felt so concerned in my experience as a fan, I was aware that Basingstoke wouldn’t have a ground at the end of the season as their once owner would be kicking them out of The Camrose to build flats on, but I didn’t think they could go bust. On the final day of the 2018/19 season to add insult to injury Basingstoke were relegated for the second time in three years after being defeated 2-1 by Taunton Town, in their final match at The Camrose. Once the news got around you could hear the thud of hundreds of Basingstoke fans hearts drop, to this day I have never felt such a depressing atmosphere at a Stoke game. Within a few seasons Basingstoke Town had gone from nearing their ambitions of becoming a non-league level one club to fighting in the fourth tier of the pyramid.
90 minutes before The Dragons were demoted from the Southern Premier in their final match at The Camrose, 28th April 2019
By the start of the 2019/20 campaign Basingstoke had agreed to ground share with Winchester City 19 miles away. With most of the squad disappearing from the previous season Stoke looked like a completely different team who flirted with relegation from the Southern League Division One South, the lowest they’d been for almost half a century!
Before Basingstoke kick-off life down in Winchester
In September whilst watching Basingstoke struggling 1-2 to Cindeford Town the announcer declared that he was stepping down and that the club were asking for someone to take over the position. Within moments my Grandad said “Liam do you fancy doing that? That seems like something which would suit you.” I agreed but felt a bit fearful about speaking to sometimes 400 people plus at games. Within days I sent an email to The Dragons asking whether I could become the next announcer which after discussion they accepted. I was so proud to be able to work for and represent my local club who I had watched fall on hard times. The first time I went into the green garden shed which was the announcing hut at Winchester, I felt so nervous like never before, I started rambling on the tannoy about the history of Bristol Manner Farm who Stoke eventually lost to. One away supporter showing good sportsmanship said to me “well done you’re doing a good job but just remember to take a breath.” I slowly learnt to take my time when reading and in no time had the knack for announcing. I would take up this position for the rest of the 2019/20 season which came to a close in March 2020 due to the global Covid-19 Pandemic which stopped all football at the time! Even though I felt at one with myself in the role, the view wasn’t the best from the hut and it wasn’t always easy to see the action with multiple fans standing in front of me. I’ll never forget that during one shambolic game which saw Basingstoke annihilated 6-1 by Sholing, following a 5-1 New Years Day thrashing by Winchester City. The Boatmen scored three successive goals within minutes; I was unable to move out of my hut in time to work out who had scored all the goals to make the announcement for each one. On another occasion there were a couple of subs who had numbers and not names. In July 2020 I hung up the mic for good.
Above image: 17-year old Liam Harding on the mic at Winchester City FC on Stoke announcing duty
By the end of 2020 Basingstoke were able to return to the Borough to play football once again now at Hampshire FA Headquarters in Winklebury.
Ben Cook waiting to pounce on the ball with his head
This has served them well where now they get double the average attendance of what they had at The Camrose, despite it being a smaller ground. Within the past three years Dan Brownlie’s men have won promotion back to level three of non-league football (Southern Premier) after sealing the 2022/23 Isthmian League Division One South Central. It was also one of the greatest years in the history of the club, after celebrating the Triple which they had never achieved, following lifting the Hampshire Senior Cup and North Hampshire Cup too.
Dan Brownlie’s men clinch the Treble at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park after winning the Hampshire Senior Cup
Currently, Basingstoke are sat third in the Southern Premier where hopefully by the end of the season they will secure playoffs or promotion back to the National League South where they belong!
Basingstoke back at Winklebury in 2024/25 Southern Premier action versus Bracknell Town
