Longfleet St Mary's F.C.

Longfleet St Mary's F.C.
Full nameLongfleet St Mary's Football Club
Founded1887
Dissolved2004
GroundWhitecliffe Recreation Ground, Poole

Longfleet St Mary's F.C. were a long running amateur football club based in Longfleet, a suburb of Poole — a coastal town and seaport in Dorset.

In existence for over a hundred years, the club were long standing members of the Dorset League and Dorset Combination, and prior the outbreak of the Great War enjoyed much success.

History

Longfleet St Mary's were formed in 1887 as the football team side of St Mary's Church.

They spent their early days playing friendly fixtures before becoming founder members of the Bournemouth & District League, winning the title in 1903 and performing well in the Dorset Cup competitions. This then saw them progress on the Hampshire League, which at the time was organised on a regional basis. 'The Saints' were placed in the West Division and were champions on four occasions.[1]

During this time, Longfleet also began entering national competitions, and in the FA Cup they twice played future Football League clubs. In 1904 they lost 0–8 against Swindon Town[2] and then four years later when they met Exeter City. They surprisingly held 'the Grecians' to a 1–1 home draw[3] before losing the replay 1–10.[4]

In 1908, the club celebrated their 21st anniversary and produced an impressive souvenir brochure to mark the occasion, listing all their achievements.[5]

After World War I, Longfleet then had spells playing in the Bournemouth League[6] and Dorset League before war broke out again in 1939.

Once the conflict had finally finished, Longfleet reformed and in 1946 they won the Dorset Senior Cup after defeating Portland Dockyard with the final played on Dorchester Town's ground. They then spent a solitary season in the Hampshire League[7] before returning to the Dorset scene where they continued challenging for silverware. There was another memorable FA Cup run during the 1948–49 campaign,[8] progressing through three preliminary rounds before going down 0–4 to a strong Weymouth side in front of a large crowd.[9]

In 1957, Longfleet became founder members of the Dorset Combination (now known today as the Dorset Premier League).[10] They were twice runners-up in the mid sixties and were beaten finalists in the 1972 League Cup - each time coming second best to the all conquering Parley Sports side.[11]

By the early eighties, Longfleet were struggling to retain their long held status and in 1981 they were relegated after finishing bottom of the table.[12] A return to the Dorset League saw further struggles which eventually forced them to disband.

A few years later, Longfleet reformed as a Sunday side and played in the Bournemouth League. Here they won a number of trophies and were regular entrants in the national FA Sunday Cup[13] before eventually calling it a day in 2004.

Honours

  • Dorset Football Association
  • Dorset Combination
    • Runners-up 1963–64 and 1964–65
    • League Cup Finalists 1971–72
  • Dorset League
    • Division 1 Runners-up
    • Division 2 Runners-up
  • Hampshire League
    • West Division Champions 1903–04, 1905–06, 1907–08 and 1908–09. Runners-up 1904–05
  • Bournemouth & District League
    • Division 1 Champions 1902–03

Playing Records

League

FA Cup

FA Amateur Cup

Ground

Longfleet St Mary's played at Whitecliff Recreation Ground, Poole, BH14 8DU. The venue is owned by BCP Council and is still in use today.[14]

It is believed that their high profile home FA Cup matches were staged at better equipped grounds of neighbours Poole Town and Hamworthy United.

Notable players

Longfleet St Mary's had many fine players over the years. Most notably left-half Alf Weeks who provided "yeoman service" to the team and George Brown, who was born in the area and played for the club before and after signing for Southampton.[15]

Memorabilia

A collection of the club's artefacts and publications still exist and are on display at Poole Museum.[16]

Local rivalries

Longfleet St Mary's had a number of local rivals, most notably Poole Town, Hamworthy United and Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic.[17]

Successor club

Longfleet FC was formed in 1988 and over the years has steadily grown into a well-established club running many teams from boys through to adults.

They are an accredited club and are affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association. The men's Saturday side are members of the Dorset League, whilst the Sunday side were long standing members of the Bournemouth League until 2025 when the competition was taken over by the Dorset League.[18] The club also run a successful ladies team, known as the Longfleet Lionesses who are members of the Dorset Women's League and enter national competitions.[19]

With numerous teams, Longfleet use various pitches in the area for their home games. In 2025 they teamed up with Poole High School to transform the local pitches for the benefit of the community after receiving a generous grant from the Football Foundation.[20] [21]

References

  1. ↑ A History of the Hampshire League 1896–1996 by Norman Gannaway
  2. ↑ "TownEnders.com - Swindon Town FC - Match Centre". townenders.com.
  3. ↑ "1908-10-17 - FA Cup 2nd QF Longfleet (Poole) (a) - Reserve Friendly St Jude's (h)". grecianarchive.exeter.ac.uk.
  4. ↑ "1908/09 All Results and information". Image and description from Maurice Golesworthy, Garth Dykes and Alex Wilson, Exeter City: A Complete Record 1904-1990 (Derby, 1990) p. 118. 1 August 1908.
  5. ↑ 125 Not Out – A History of the Dorset County Football Association 1887–2012 by Norman Gannaway
  6. ↑ A History of Bournemouth Football Association & League 1920–95 by Norman Gannaway
  7. ↑ Tabulated History of the Hampshire League by Stephen Farmery
  8. ↑ The FA Cup Club by Club Record Since 1945 by Tony Williams
  9. ↑ "Previous Seasons 1948/49 – The Terras".
  10. ↑ "History". Dorset Premier Lg.
  11. ↑ "League and Cup History". Dorset Premier Lg.
  12. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Dorset Premier League History". fchd.info.
  13. ↑ "Football Club History Database - F.A. Sunday Cup 2001-02". fchd.info.
  14. ↑ "Whitecliff Recreation Ground play area". BCP.
  15. ↑ "George Brown | SaintsPlayers.co.uk".
  16. ↑ "Anonymous postcard".
  17. ↑ "Branksome Rec, The Gasworks and Cowpats". 14 June 2020.
  18. ↑ "Dorset Football League to take over 'financially unsustainable' Sunday League". Bournemouth Echo. 20 November 2024.
  19. ↑ "Longfleet Lionesses make history with first FA Cup qualifying win". Bournemouth Echo. 9 September 2025.
  20. ↑ "Grass pitch transformation for football club and school". Bournemouth Echo. 11 March 2025.
  21. ↑ "School and grassroots club work together to get their pitches match fit | Football Foundation". footballfoundation.org.uk.
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