Local football can be traced as far back as 1883 in the Borough of Havant, when Havant FC was formed, playing in the Portsmouth Football League. In the 1950’s Bobby Tambling made the large jump from playing for Havant FC (youth team) to join Chelsea, followed by International recognition with England.

On retirement Bobby returned to the Havant area opening a local sports shop. In 1969 Havant FC merged with local side Leigh Park United winning the Portsmouth Football League at their first attempt.

This witnessed a boom time in the Club’s history as they joined the 4th Division of the Hampshire League. Between 1970-1977 the team progressed through to the 1st Division of the Hampshire League. This meant their home ground at Front Lawn would be unsuitable if the Club was to progress any further.

The current home of Westleigh Park was acquired in 1980 and after two years of hard work and considerable cost opened in August 1982. The new club was rebranded Havant Town FC.

1986 saw Havant Town FC as founder members of the Wessex League. They finished runners up on three occasions before finally winning the title and moving into the Southern League in 1991.

Meanwhile Waterlooville Football Club, who were established in 1905, had become firm fixtures in the Southern League since 1971. They too had slowly progressed from humble beginnings moving through Waterlooville District, Portsmouth and Hampshire League Divisions.

With the formation of the National Conference, the Southern League re-organised themselves. In 1981 the side from Jubilee Park nearly won the Championship but narrowly failed despite going 31 matches without defeat. Waterlooville then spent a lot of years proving too good for the Southern League but not quite up to the grade of the Premier one. 1993 witnessed an 11th place finish in the Premier, their highest ever placing.

Relegation and rising costs meant that the Club struggled to remain competitive and the talk of a merger with their fierce rivals was first mooted. Havant Town FC had their own problems as well. In 1997 Club Manager Tony Mount had left unexpectedly, taking the core of his talented squad with him. June 1998 saw the two rivals join forces. Jubilee Park was sold and the newly renamed Havant & Waterlooville FC was created.

A NEW ERA BEGINS:

On the 22nd August 1998, the new look team beat Chelmsford City 2-0 to begin a new era in the Club’s history. The team duly won the Southern League Southern Division, earning promotion to the Premier Division at their first attempt. With success came more financial backing and £500K was spent to bring the ground up to Conference standard.

The Club had now improved both their Stadium and fan-base as the local community flocked to see their local heroes in action.

In 2004 the Club were part of the new restructuring of the Conference South. They have remained in the Division ever since.

Season 2006-2007 witnessed the highest placing for the Club, earning a play-off spot. A hard fought Semi-final against Braintree Town ended with the Hawks remaining in the Division.

Season 2011-2012 witnessed excitement of a different kind as the Hawks escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth, an extra time 93rd minute goal was badly needed to ensure that Conference football remained at Westleigh Park.

The last 16 years have seen the Club consolidate as an established member of the Blue Square South. With the game of football changing in the past few years, mainly due to financial matters being tightened up at all levels, the business side of all Clubs has become paramount. Fortunately the Club has been very prudent in this area and any money that has been made has been carefully re-invested in the Club as a whole; not just on the playing staff.

The Club can now boast a public house, The Westleigh, situated next to the ground. The stadium still retains its Conference 'A' Standard and is often viewed jealously by visiting directors. The Club is working towards making the Club fully self funding with long-term security the ultimate aim.

The philosphopy of the playing squad has changed over the past couple of seasons. Younger talent was sought out, backed up by some quality experienced Older heads to help establish growth of the squad year on year. 2005-2006 saw the Club Launch its Academy in conjunction with South Downs College.

It is the Clubs impressive Cup exploits that has really captured both local and National attention as we have earned the un-official title of ‘Cup Specialists’.

THE CUP RUNS

2000-2001 Gave a taste of things to come for Hawks fans, when the team qualified for the first round proper of the F.A.Cup (gaining their first real national recognition). A vast crowd of 1118 turned up to witness a 1-2 loss to their Conference based rivals Southport.

2002-2003 Was the season that the Clubs pedigree as a cup side really started to get established with runs in both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy. This time in the FA Cup they had to travel to Dagenham & Redbridge where they fought bravely but lost 3-2.

In the FA Trophy they really excelled themselves, getting as far as the Semi-Finals. A two legged affair that saw the Hawks go out 2-1 on aggregate to Tamworth.

2006-2007 Witnessed another dual attack on honours, with both the League and FA Cup providing major excitement. A first round draw against Millwall had the gloss taken off it a little when it was decided that the tie would have to be played at nearby Fratton Park. A huge crowd of 5793 turned out to see Millwall beat the Hawks 2-1.

By the end of the season a play-off place had been won. Both legs of the play-off against Braintree finished 1-1 and the Hawks had the heartbreak of their season ending courtesy of a penalty shoot out.

2007-2008 If the previous Cup record had been impressive, this season the Club was to go on an adventure of truly epic proportions. The qualifying campaign saw off Bognor Regis Town, Fleet Town, and Leighton Town. The first round proper and the Hawks were drawn away to York City.

This tie was to prove third time lucky as an unexpected 1-0 victory resulted in the Hawks in the hat for the 2nd round, for the first time in the Club's history.

Another away draw beckoned, this time founder members of the Football League Notts County would be our hosts. They too were despatched 1-0 and the 3rd round allowed the possibility of a ‘major name’ to be our next opponents. Swansea City were pulled out of the hat, followed by the Hawks.

The Hawks had to travel ‘abroad’ for their first match outside of England to face Roberto Martinez and his exciting Swans. A late Rocky Baptiste goal made the scoreline 1-1 meaning that the Welshmen had to make a midweek trip to Westleigh Park. Martinez famously described the Hawks as “a pub team” a remark that would vastly help the Hawks PR campaign at a later date.

The home replay sparked unprecedented scenes in the build up when the winners of the tie were drawn to play the mighty Reds of Liverpool in the 4th round. Media from around the world appeared at the Stadium and Havant Town Centre as news of the potential “David v Goliath” clash was a distinct possibility.

A colossal 4400 crowd packed into Westleigh Park and generated an atmosphere that will probably never be bettered again. The game exceeded anybody’s wildest dreams as the “pub team” ran out fully deserved winners 4-2 and the Welshmen left feeling sheepish.

If the Swansea game had caught the public imagination the away tie at Anfield brought Havant & Waterlooville FC into a complete media frenzy. Club sponsors Carlsberg (who also sponsored Liverpool) pulled off a major PR coup. They marketed the Hawks as “Probably the best pub team in the world”. On the day of the match Havant Town was deserted as 6000 fans made the trip to Liverpool.

The largest crowd the Hawks had ever played in front of, 42,566, witnessed a true classic. The minnows from the Conference South ran out with ‘Probably’ emblazoned across their chests instead on the customary ‘Carlsberg’ logo. The nation then collectively held their breath as the Hawks took a 1-0 lead against the former European Cup Winners.

When the Reds drew level the writing appeared to be on the wall but amazingly on-loan Alfie Potter put the minnows 2-1 in front and the biggest cup shock in history was a distinct possibility. Liverpool drew level just before half-time and ended up 5-2 victors but the men from Havant & Waterlooville drew a standing ovation from all four corners of the ground, not to mention a decent financial injection after a fantastic cup campaign.

2008-2009 Once more the first round of the FA Cup was a reality, Brentford were chosen to play at Westleigh Park. The ‘live TV cameras’ were in attendance as were 1631 Hawks fans. This time the professional Club ran out convincing 3-1 winners and the media circus moved on. Two weeks after the FA Cup tie the Hawks embarked on a good run in the FA Trophy. A Quarter-Final draw saw the Hawks return to York City (whom they had beaten the previous season in the FA Cup).

This time York took their revenge winning 2-0.

2010-2011 The Hawks made their now ‘customary’ appearance in the 1st round of the FA Cup and had a home tie against Droylsden of the Conference North Division. The side from Manchester proved first class both on and off the field of play and ran out 2-0 winners, for once the Hawks were the victims of a cup shock.

2011-2012 The main highlight of this season was a pre-season friendly against La Liga side Real Betis! This came about when local league side Portsmouth got stranded in America and the Spaniards were in town without a match. Within 24 hours the full first team were lined up at Westleigh Park with probably the best looking away support ever witnessed in our short history. The match was a complete lesson in how the game should be played and will live long in the memory. The season did finish on a high when a 93rd minute goal by Joe Dolan, against Staines, saved the Hawks from relegation.

2012-2013 The first qualifying round of the FA Cup witnessed the Hawks limp out of the competion 1-0 at the hands of North Leigh (Oxford). A 3-0 home loss to Weston-Super-Mare in the BSS days later saw Hawks Manager Stuart Ritchie lose his job. A little less than a month later and new Hawks Manager Lee Bradbury lead his side to a Club Record 11-1 victory against United Services Portsmouth in the Hampshire Senior Cup.

2013-2014 Lee Bradbury had a season full of considerable promise as the Hawks campaign promised to be one to remember. After a superb FA Trophy campaign the Hawks went out at the Semi-Final stage to local rivals Gosport Borough. Then despite a multitude of fixture changes due to inclement weather and a good cup run the Hawks moved up the Conference South table from 15th to 6th, missing out on the play-offs on goal difference. The Hampshire Senior Cup also witnessed the Hawks finish as runners up after a 3-2 Extra-Time defeat by Basingstoke Town.

2014-15 In Lee Bradbury's second full season in charge he saw his side take on a Championship bound side, play in the Play Offs and win the Portsmouth Senior Cup. In a FA Cup run which saw the Hawks beat Wingate and Finchley and Swindon Super Marine before crashing out of the competition in style infront of the BT Sports cameras.

The Hawks also entered the Portsmouth Senior Cup for the first time and saw a mix of youth and fringe players win the competetion in front of the Havant and Waterlooville faithful. The Hawks ended the season by losing the Play Off Semi Finals to Boreham Wood who ended up beating Whitehawk in the Final to secure promotion at both the Hawk's expense.