Aldershot's double vision

The FA Trophy Semi-Finals

There could be no more fitting club badge for Aldershot Town FC.

Since its formation following the demise of Aldershot FC, which folded 12 years ago today, the Hampshire club has kept rising like a phoenix from the flames.

The latest chapter in the fairytale story is the club reaching the semi-finals of The FA Trophy, which get underway with the first leg on Saturday.

On March 25, 1992, the town lost its football club when Aldershot FC became the first Football League team since Accrington Stanley in 1962 to collapse during the season.

Five days earlier, more than 6,000 people had watched the last competitive fixture at Cardiff City’s Ninian Park. It was a moment that Karl Prentice will never forget.

He recalled: "We knew deep down that was going to be the last game. That was the hardest thing to take. There was a big lump in my throat."

The writing had been on the wall for some time when the inevitable happened.

Karl began supporting Aldershot FC regularly in the 1980s. He became more involved with the club, staring out by helping out with match programmes and ending up as a creditor.

"I was right in the mix trying to save the club and looking for prospective people to take over. In the end, it seemed a lost cause.

"I think politics came into it a little bit. Local business people withdrew. Outside sources came in and promised the world. At the end of the day, it became a circus."

In retrospect, he says it was the best thing that happened.

Out of the ashes, Aldershot Town FC was founded in July 1992. Karl is one of three of the original directors still on the board and is in his seventh season as chairman.

He said: "We really did start from scratch and our goal was to bring football back to Aldershot."

The new club started life in the then Diadora Isthmian League. Although five divisions lower than the Football League, the attendance for the first competitive match was higher than the last professional game at The Rec.

Under the guidance of former player Steve Wignall, Aldershot won the championship by 18 points. A further promotion was gained in the following season as well as an appearance in the quarter-final of The FA Vase.

In 1998, the club became First Division champions under manager George Borg. It was not until the fifth time of asking, however, that they gained promotion into the Conference – a feat achieved last season under the guidance of Terry Brown.

Brown had taken over as manager on March 20, 2002 – ten years to the day that Aldershot FC had played its last ever league fixture.

Karl said: "Terry was appointed manager to the actual day and almost to the actual time when that game had finished ten years before.

"It was quite peculiar. We sometimes wonder who is watching down on us."

He may well think that. Since Brown arrived from Conference side Hayes, the club has been transformed. With an experienced squad assembled, he steered Aldershot Town to the top of the table by the November of his first full season in charge and The Shots went on to win promotion to the Conference.

Karl reflected: "It’s the dedication from the supporters and the enthusiasm from the board of directors that has driven us to where we are.

"We have had 1,500-plus supporters that have stuck with the club from the start. We as a board are all supporters anyway.

"We managed to steam roll through the league in the first season which gave us the momentum. Getting from Division One to the Premier was the hardest challenge.

"From there, we were shrewd in picking a new manager and he has taken us into the Conference."

The club is on course to make the Conference play-offs this year, as well as a very healthy profit, according to Karl. To top it off, they are just two games away from reaching the final of The FA Trophy at Villa Park.

Karl admitted: "I do have to pinch myself to be so near to the Football League in our first year in the Conference and to reaching the final of The FA Trophy.

"This is what you dream about. It’s just fantastic to be in the semi-finals of The FA Trophy. It’s the non-league FA Cup – what more can you say?"