'The response has been crazy': Ambitions revealed as Waterlooville Football Club resurrected after 27-year absence
Waterlooville FC disappeared in 1998 when it amalgamated with Havant Town to become Havant & Waterlooville
Waterlooville Football Club is to be resurrected after a 27-year absence - and the man behind it insists the local community’s overwhelming response has blown him away.
Lee Stainton is overseeing the creation of Waterlooville AFC, with a three-year groundshare agreement already in place with AFC Portchester.
Waterlooville disappeared from the area in 1998 following the formation of Havant & Waterlooville, with their Jubilee Park home, in Aston Road, subsequently built upon.
Now Lee, the son of the late ex-Waterlooville chairman Ray, is the driving force behind reforming the club, pencilling in a return to the footballing calendar for 2026-27.
The 54-year-old from Hayling Island has also secured official permission to use the name Waterlooville AFC, while he believes the club could be handed a place in the Hampshire Premier League.
Former Hawks and Pompey Academy striker Harvey Bradbury is also on board as director of football, while other plans include the creation of a youth set-up to be based at The Cowplain School and Jubilee Park, although the search for a manager is ongoing.
And Stainton admits he has been stunned by the positive reaction from the community since his vision was made public at the end of October.
‘I knew it would be big, but I’m surprised at the level it’s going at’
The Waterlooville AFC owner told The News: ‘The response has been crazy, I’ve had supporters asking me about coaches from Waterlooville town centre to Portchester. They are taking it as we’re the old club, which we basically are.
‘In six weeks, we’ve managed to get more social media followers than some Wessex League sides who have been around for 100 years. I knew it would be big, but I’m surprised at the level it’s going at.
‘From the moment I wake up in the morning half asleep I am on my phone. Until the moment I’m ready to go to sleep with my eyes half shut, I’m still messaging somebody.
‘This is a massive community, probably one of the biggest outside of Pompey, it deserves something, it’s something they need, it’s something they have always needed.
‘Dad was Waterlooville chairman, I grew up around the club, and it was a massive part of a community which has doubled in size since. The pyramid wasn’t as big as it is now, it was quite small back then, so Waterlooville were a big side in a small pyramid.
‘We’re hoping to get into the Hampshire League Premier, purely on our size. We are a new club, but we’re not actually a new club, so we won’t be starting in Step 9 in the Mid-Solent League.
‘I have a full media team, I have physios, I have photographers, people are battering my door down to get involved. Baffins came to me in the first week asking for a pre-season friendly next summer.
‘Portchester have been really welcoming, they are as excited as me, while we’ve probably made £10,000 through sponsorship so far, with 3-4 small businesses in Waterlooville showing their support.
‘This is definitely the right time to bring Waterlooville back.’
26-year-old Harvey Bradbury handed director of football role
Certainly last week’s unveiling of Bradbury as director of football attracted plenty of attention.
The 26-year-old recently left the Hawks and moved to Southern League South Division side Shaftesbury, where he scored in his most recent outing in a 2-0 success over Brixham AFC at the weekend.
His dad, former Pompey favourite Lee, is currently manager at Dagenham & Redbridge, who are 14th in National South.
Now Harvey is taking his first tentative steps in a role off the pitch, albeit still continuing with a football career which took him into the Football League with Oxford United and Morecambe.
‘A lot of clubs are going to be shocked’
Stainton added: ‘I think a lot of clubs are going to be shocked by the level of signings we’re going to be making. Bringing Harvey on board was also massive for me.
‘I’ve known him for years and he's someone who wants to go into management, so it seemed like a really good opportunity. A lot of people want to come in and develop as a club.
‘As director of football, he’s finding players, talking to players, he has plenty of contracts with youth development teams across the area as well. Every day he’s excited, like a kid at Christmas. We all are!’
To contact Waterlooville AFC for sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]
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