‘A good day all round for local football – Moneyfields chairman Seiden on his club’s record crowd for Wessex League thriller against AFC Portchester

A remarkable 1,012 were at Westleigh Park on Bank Holiday Tuesday to see Moneys come from 0-2 and 2-2 down to become only the second team this season to take Premier Division points off the Royals.

Moneys’ previous best crowd was the 507 at Dover Road last January for the Portsea Island derby with Baffins Milton Rovers.

Tuesday’s attendance was also more than Hawks had recorded for the previous day’s game against Eastbourne Borough from three tiers higher in the pyramid - 984.

‘People were telling me beforehand it could hit that (number),’ Moneys chairman Pete Seiden told The News.

‘But you’re never quite sure. I was thinking around the 500-600 number we’d have had if we’d played someone like Baffins.

‘I think that number (1,012) was wrong as well, I’m told there were about 60 more who came in after our secretary had been given the figure.

‘There were around 200 Havant fans there, and some of them might come back when Havant are away to watch us.

‘It was a good day all round for local football - people weren’t working, the weather was kind, and who doesn’t like a 3-3 draw?

‘I imagine some people came to see Brett Pitman, and he didn’t disappoint – there were some good goals, it was feisty, competitive, exciting.

‘We had five players out – Tom Cain, Steve Hutchings, Franko (James Franklyn), Dec (Seiden), Jack Chandler – who would normally be in the 16. That’s a big five and to put a team out and still be competitive against the best team in the league bodes well.’

The chairman added: ‘It was great for us, and great for Havant as well. We take the gate money but they take everything else, which is how it should be.

‘There were long queues for the tea hut all game and the bar (in the neighbouring Westleigh pub) was rammed all day.

‘Havant’s staff were brilliant. They had to open an extra gate as I’m told at five to three there were still 350 people outside queuing to get in.’

Tuesday’s attendance was by some margin the highest in the Wessex Premier this season - easily eclipsing the 552 who saw Portchester beat Bemerton in October at a time when both clubs still possessed 100 per cent records.

The second highest crowd of 2022/23 had also been recorded at Portchester, with 407 watching the win over Alresford.

The Moneys v Portchy figure was the highest Wessex crowd since 621 watched Portchester come from 0-2 down to beat ‘El Creekio’ neighbours Fareham Town at Cams Alders last January – the same day as 507 watched Moneys v Baffins.

In fact, it was the highest Wessex crowd since December 2015 when Salisbury defeated city rivals Bemerton in front of 1,485 at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium three days after Christmas.

The Whites - whose predecessors Salisbury City had been playing in the top flight of non-league football prior to being liquidated - averaged 707 that season, the biggest average in the division since records were kept in 2004/05.

The next best were Fareham’s 271 last season and Poole Town’s 262 in 2009/10, though Moneyfields are now averaging 478 after just three games at Westleigh Park!

Their previous two matches - both of which had taken place on a Friday - had attracted gates of 155 (v Blackfield & Langley) and 267 (against Horndean, albeit on a freezing cold evening).

Prior to Salisbury’s involvement, meanwhile, the biggest Wessex crowd since 2004 was the 660 who watched the final day title decider between AFC Totton and Gosport Borough in April 2007.

The Moneys v Portchy crowd, meanwhile, was higher than all but one of the Boxing Day fixtures in the Southern League Premier South.

It was way better than the 685 gate for Poole’s 3-0 home Dorset derby victory over Dorchester.

The only higher attendance was the 1,385 recorded for Plymouth Parkway’s 3-3 draw with tenants Truro City at Bolitho Park.

In the Southern League Central South, the only higher gate than Moneys v Portchy was the 1,263 who saw Stourbridge draw with Bromsgrove.

Moneys’ next game is another PO postcode derby at Westleigh Park, against US Portsmouth on January 3.

Again, Hawks season ticket holders can gain admission for £5 - £2 cheaper than the usual adult price for a Moneys home fixture.

Moneys are having to use Westleigh Park as a base for the rest of the campaign due to work on the John Jenkins Stadium at their former Dover Road ground running well overdue.

Seiden said the new timescale he has been given is ‘13-15 weeks from the start of January’.

‘You’re looking at some time in mid-April,’ he remarked. ‘I’ve wasted too much time thinking about it. So long as we’re in for pre-season.’