Not unlike some other sides we’ve met, Aldershot Town are following in the footsteps of a now-defunct predecessor. Newport County. Maidstone United. The story is much the same. In the Shots’ case, it was plain old Aldershot (to be honest, they did carry the Town suffix until 1932). The town’s old club went under midway during the 1991-2 Division Four campaign and had their results expunged. The new one? It started life later in 1992; joining the Isthmian League.
After our first encounter delivered a convincing away victory in the FA Trophy, the Shots arrived in the Conference in 2003. On that level footing, however, things were a little more… awkward for Boro’. The Shots won all three of our first league meetings with us – and to nil each time. Things settled down, though. And we both got into the habit of winning indoors. We’ve not won at theirs and they’ve not won at ours since the 2004-5 Nationwide Conference season.
Of course, there have been highlights – George Boyd‘s last outing in a Boro’ shirt, for example. And lowlights, such as the 3-1 hammering we took on telly during our 2007-8 promotion meltdown. The Shots then went onto ‘return’ to the Football League at the end of the 2008-9 campaign; spending five years there until relegation in 2013 took them back into non-league circles. A second return to the Football League, however, isn’t looking likely as things stand.
