The time for Altonians to show they want to keep thier football club is this Saturday
at 3pm.
AltonTown host Hayling United in the Wessex Premier with the Brewers hoping to beat
their Alton (Bass) Sports Ground record attendance of 500 on support Alton Town FC Day.
with half -price admission on offer it is hoped that a big show of support will help persuade
owner Molson Coors to give the club more time to find a new home.
They have been asked to vacate the Anstey Road site at the end of this season.
Local businesses are doing all they can to help, with the Off The WAll proprietor Mike West
selling Save Alton Town Club Badges to publicise the campaign around the town.
Mr West said: I wish Alton Town all the best in thier efforts to survive, Alton would be a
sadder place without its own football club.
An appeal by Town councillor Terry Eccott to find residents with long term links to the ground
has borne fruit.
Cllr Eccott started the ball rolling with an account of his grandfather Clarence Eccott played there
for Courage and Company (Alton) FC in 1938.
Then Altonian Louis Earl, contacted Cllr Eccott to share his memories of seeing three future stars
cut their footballing teeth on that pitch. Cllr Eccott said:Louis remembers watching Jimmy Dickinson.
Cecil Andrews and his cousin Stan Earl playing there as young men before they all signed for Portsmouth.
Jimmy Dickinson, born in 1925, was in the same class as Louis Earl at St Lawrence School in Alton
before going on to make 764 football league appearances for Portsmouth from 1946-65 and winning
48 England caps from 1949-56.
He won the Division 1 championship – the equivalent of todays Premier League – in 1949 and 1950,
the Division 3 championship in 1962, and played in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups in Brazil and Switzerland.
Stan Earl, born in 1929, played eight league games for Pompey from 1949-53 after signing from the
Alton Town club formed in 1947.
He later played for Leyton Orient, Swindon Town, Yeovil Town and Poole Town.
Cecil Andrews, born in 1930 also went from Alton Town to Portsmouth in 1949. Although he never made
a league appearance before leaving in 1952, he did enjoy substantial league action for Crystal Palace
and Queens Park Rangers before ending his career at sittingbourne.
Louis Earl also saw his father Herbert Victor Earl – better known as Jonah Earl- play at the ground for
Alton FC.
Cllr Eccott said: Alton FC first played behind the old gas works that were on the Whitedown Estate,
before moving up to the Courage ground.
Jonah Earl played for Alton FC from 1921-37, collecting two medals for winning the Hampshire
County Cup and two more for reaching the final, plus two other medals gained in local tournaments.
Louis Earl said he would like to donate these to the Curtis Museum in Alton.
He also possesses an Alton FC team picture from the 1927-28 season.featuring his father and the cup
after their success the previous season.
Cllr Eccott added: Louis is very concerned for the future of Alton Town Football Club and hopes that
some sort of agreement can be made to save the club, not only for it to survive, but also to keep
Alton in the same leauge as it is now.
This Proves once again that the club is a part of the people of Altons lives from generation to generation,
and cannot be allowed to die.
Success is also starting to come back to the club, with the reserves reaching the final of the Aldershot Cup.
As time goes by the support for the club is growing and growing in the town.
I am pleased to say that the old community spirit is still alive and well in Alton, and the campaign is far from
over.
Save Alton Town Badges will be on sale at saturdays game.
Admissionis £3 for adults £1.50 forseniors, teenagers,and children aged five upwards.
Under fives can watch the match free.
Save Alton Town Football Club 