East Cowes Victoria Athletic A.F.C.

Infobox Football club
clubname = East Cowes Victoria Athletic


fullname = East Cowes Victoria Athletic
Association Football Club
nickname = Vics
shortname =
founded = 1885
dissolved =
ground = Beatrice Avenue,
East Cowes
chrtitle = Chairman
chairman = Jackie Milroy
ceo =
mgrtitle = Manager
manager = Lee Dixon
league = Wessex League Division One
season = 2007–08
position = Wessex League Division One, 18th

pattern_la1=_red_stripes|pattern_b1=_red_stripes|pattern_ra1=_red_stripes|leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000

pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_thinbluesides|pattern_ra2=|leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=0000FF|socks2=FFFFFF

East Cowes Victoria Athletic AFC are a football club based in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. They joined the Wessex League in 1987 and have reached the 2nd round of the FA Vase twice in their history. They are currently members of Wessex League Division One.

History

East Cowes Victoria Athletic Football Club (The Vic’s) were formed in 1885. The name is the longest registered with the English F.A. The Victoria part derives from the fact that the ground in Beatrice Avenue is part of the crown estate and in the area owned by Osbourne House, the home of Queen Victoria.

The Vics’s were founder members of the Isle of Wight F.A, and played on the Island for the first 30 years. In 1889 the Isle of Wight F.A introduced cup competitions including the Isle of Wight Senior Gold Cup - this trophy is reported to be the most valuable football trophy in the world being made of solid gold. The only drawback is that if you win the Gold Cup you can’t keep it - most clubs insure it for the annual presentation night and return it to the bank. In 1947 the Vics joined Division 3 of the Hampshire League and spent 9 seasons in Division 3, 18 in Division 2, 12 in Division 1, then moved to the Wessex league before being relegated in the 1999/2000 season and rejoining the Hampshire League.

Following relegation the club formed a new Committee and finished 4th in the Hampshire Premier Division. In 2001/2002 the Vic’s had their best season in recent years, when they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Wessex League, finishing runners-up to Alton Town. But they did win the Hampshire Trophy-man Cup Final beating Liss Athletic 1-0. In Season 2003/2004 Vic’s returned to the Wessex League after the Football Associations restructuring of the leagues. Since then the club has been in a rebuilding process and currently has a crop of young players breaking through into the first team squad.

During this reconstruction phase of the club they have played Aldershot in second round of the Hampshire Senior Cup, reached the semi-final of the Isle of Wight Senior Gold Cup and are progressing with the rebuilding of the team. East Cowes Victoria have notably made the signings of top Isle of Wight players (Kurt Butt, Simon Williams, Stephen King, Paul O'Connor and many more) as well as competing with many other Island sides for the top players on the Isle of Wight for the 2008-09 season, East Cowes Vics look to be progressing towards future development and achievements just like the past, with the rebuilding of team and management developing to the highest standard.

Vic’s Reserves play in the Isle of Wight Division 1, and we also have a Veterans side playing in the Isle of Wight Division 2.

The club has a youth policy and has associations with other youth clubs on the Isle of Wight.

Honours

*Wessex League Cup 1988
*Hampshire League Division One 1986, 1987
*Hampshire League Division Two 1948, 1964, 1972
*Hampshire Cup 1893, 2002
*Isle of Wight Senior Gold Cup 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989
*Isle of Wight Division One 1899, 1900, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1995
*Isle of Wight Division Two 1899, 1905, 1907
*Isle of Wight Division Three 1929, 1933
*Isle of Wight Combination Two 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995
*Isle of Wight Challenge Cup 1900, 1901, 1902, 1920, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1953
*Isle of Wight Memorial Cup 1920, 1933, 1983, 1988, 1991
*Isle of Wight Charity Cup 1924, 1926
*Isle of Wight Centenary Cup 1990, 1992
*Brooklyn Cup 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992

Club records

*Best league performance: 8th in Wessex League, 1988-89
*Best FA Cup performance: 2nd Qualifying round, 1945 & 1948
*Best FA Vase performance: 2nd round, 1975-76 & 1988-89

References

*fchd|name=East Cowes Victoria Athletic|id=E-COWEVA

External links

* [http://www.eastcowesvicsfc.co.uk/ Official Site]