The only way is Wessex – Clanfield hoping to boost PO postcode numbers after applying for promotion

They are one of only two Hampshire Premier League clubs to have applied for promotion to the 10th tier of English football this summer.

Stockbridge, who withdrew from the Wessex midway during the 2013/14 season, are the other club hoping to escape county football.

Clanfield’s ground sharing agreement with National League South club Havant & Waterlooville - in place since the start of 2020/21 - is key to the club moving up the non-league pyramid.

Previously, they played at Peel Park with no chance of being granted permission to install floodlights - integral for Wessex League admission.

‘It’s no secret that the Wessex is the level we want to get to,’ Clanfield boss Lee Blakeley told The News.

‘Everything is in place off the field, hopefully we can do the business on the pitch now.’

To stand a chance of promotion, Clanfield must first finish in the top five of the HPL Senior Division this term. They are currently seventh in a congested top half - just seven points behind leaders Andover New Street Swifts with a game in hand.

Their promotion prospects would also be hugely boosted if they could finish above Stockbridge, who are also seven points ahead of Clanfield at present having played a game more.

Of the 89 clubs who have applied for promotion nationally to step 6, five could conceivably play in the Wessex League.

Yateley United (Thames Valley Premier League), Devizes Town (Wiltshire Premier League) and Trowbridge Town (Wiltshire Premier League) are the others.

Of those, Devizes and Trowbridge would be more likely, due to geography, to be placed in the Western League. Yateley - 100 per cent in their league this season - could find themselves in the Combined Counties League. Ascot, just 14 miles away from Yateley, are currently in the CCL.

The bottom three clubs in this season’s Wessex 1, under FA rules, are all liable to be relegated.

‘The structure is in place,’ said Blakeley. ‘We’ve got an under-23s and a reserve team now. We’ll need a bigger squad if we go up.

‘The club is in a great position, probably the best it’s been in for a long time.

‘When I first took over (in the summer of 2019) we only had seven players, and that was for the first team and reserves. We’ve come on massively in the last few seasons.’

Less than a decade ago, the likes of Baffins Milton Rovers, AFC Stoneham and Hamble Club were all on Clanfield’s HPL fixture list.

Now all three are well established Wessex Premier clubs, while Fleetlands and Millbrook (formerly Bush Hill) have proven themselves competitive after stepping up from the HPL in the last two years.

‘There’s a few teams that had the ambition, and we’re no different,’ Blakeley insisted. ‘We want to become a big club in the local area.

‘We’ve taken a lot from what Fleetlands have done, and hopefully we can do the same.’

Clanfield were held 2-2 by Harvest at Westleigh Park yesterday.

After trailing at the interval, they hit back to lead through two goals in quick succession from full-back Joe McClean.

Harvest grabbed an equaliser to make it back-to-back 2-2 home draws for Clanfield, having been held by Sway previously.

Having started at left wing-back, McClean was moved to right wing-back following an injury to Alex Bartlett.

Former Moneyfields Reserves and Fleetlands defender Brandon Rogers came on at left-back for his Clanfield debut.

‘It was disappointing,’ reported Blakeley. ‘We weren’t at the races. We didn’t play as well as we can.

‘Credit to Harvest, they are a good outfit - they were well organised, sat deep, stopped us playing. Not a lot of teams will take four points off them, as we have.’

‘We haven’t been at our best in the last two home games, but we haven’t lost. I still think there’s some levels to go up yet.’