Eastleigh FC,
The Silverlake Stadium,
Stoneham Lane,
Eastleigh
SO50 9HT

Eastleigh FC was founded in 1946 by Derik Brooks and a group of friends at the Fleming Arms pub in Swaythling, Southampton.

The club’s rise began with promotion to the Hampshire League in 1950 after two seasons in the Southampton Senior League (West). Just a year later, they topped Division Three (West) and lifted the Hampshire Intermediate Cup.

By the 1955/56 season, the then-named Swaythling were competing in Hampshire League Division One. In 1957, they moved from Southampton Common to Ten Acres — now known as the Silverlake Stadium. After a brief spell in lower divisions, they returned to Division One in 1970 as Division Two champions.

In 1980, the club changed its name to Eastleigh FC, and six years later became founder members of the Wessex League. Success followed in 2002/03 when they won the Wessex League and earned promotion to Division One East of the Southern League. A rapid rise continued through the Isthmian League and eventually to the Conference South.

During nine seasons at that level, Eastleigh twice came close to promotion to non-league’s top tier but narrowly missed out. They also won the Hampshire Senior Cup in 2011–12. Their breakthrough came in 2014 when they claimed the Conference South (then Skrill South) title and moved up to the National League.

Now in their 12th season at that level, Eastleigh have built a reputation for punching above their weight, enjoying several strong FA Cup runs — reaching the third round proper three times in the last decade, and taking Bolton Wanderers and Newport County to replays in 2015/16 and 2023/24.

Promotion to the National League in 2014.

Where It All Began – The Fleming Arms, Southampton

Eastleigh is located in Hampshire, between Winchester and Southampton, although the football ground is some way outside of the town itself. It is a journey of about 100 miles from Nailsworth, taking around two hours by road if all goes smoothly.

By Supporters Club Coach – this is by far the cheapest and easiest way to travel. For information about Away Travel, including precise details of pick-up locations – look here. For this match, the departure times are Stonehouse Brunel Way – 11.15am, Sainsbury’s Dudbridge – 11.30am, The New Lawn – 11.45am.  

The prices for coach tickets to this match are as follows (Supporters’ Club members get a £3 discount): Adults £29, U-16 £17, U-11 £8

To book a seat with the supporter’s club discount, please call 0333 123 1889  on Monday, Thursday, or Friday at 11am to 2pm.  Please try to book early.

By Car

From the Stroud area it is about 100 miles to Eastleigh and by road the journey should take about two hours.

Supporters wishing to park at the Silverlake Stadium on a match-by-match basis can park in the Lower Hardmoor car park which is in the field behind the south stand and a road entrance on Stoneham Lane. Although there are about 600 places, most of these are booked for the whole season. Thus, there are only about 100+ places available on a first come first served basis. After the match, the car park will be closed for 10 minutes to allow supporters on foot to leave the car park. In order to avoid undue congestion, all cars are to turn left when exiting the car parks.

Blue badge holders should contact tickets@eastleighfc.com to reserve a space in the main stadium car park.

Click Here for Accessibility Information – Accessibility – Eastleigh FC

Another alternative is to park at Southampton Airport Parkway railway station, which is about a 30-minute walk away,  and walking from there. There are 900 parking spaces here, and the rate to park on a Saturday is £10.10 (or £4 per hour).

By Train – it is possible to travel from Stroud to Eastleigh FC (using either Southampton Airport Parkway station – which is a 30-minute walk away, including sections along a busy country road without a pavement and on an unlit footpath, or Eastleigh station, which requires an onward bus ride) and back by train in a day. The train journey typically takes between two and three hours, with changes required at Reading and Basingstoke, and sometimes elsewhere too or instead of those. If you go to Eastleigh Station, BlueStar bus route 2 (destination Southampton) leaves every 15 minutes outside the railway station. It’s about a 15-minute journey to the stop at Trojan’s Sports Ground, just after the football stadium. The last train back from Eastleigh station with a connection to Stroud leaves at 8.14pm (with changes at Winchester, Reading and an hour-long wait at Swindon). The undiscounted return ticket price to either Eastleigh or Southampton Airport Parkway (valid for up to one month) is about £61, but this price can be reduced a little using advance and/or split tickets.

Away supporters are mostly housed on the East side of the Mackoy Community (South) Stand at one end of the stadium. This all-seated stand is covered and is of a good size, having a capacity of over 2,000, although the normal number of seats made available to visiting fans is around 500. The stand is quite tall and so you generally get a good view of the playing action, however it does have a couple of large supporting pillars at the front of it, that could get the way of your sightlines. In addition, away fans are given a portion of the covered East terrace (towards the South Stand) so visiting supporters have a choice of standing or sitting. There is normally a good atmosphere generated inside the groundAway fans are now allowed to freely move around the stadium to access other facilities such as toilets.

Turnstiles open at 1:30pm and the away end is accessible only through turnstiles 1-4.

Away supporters are mostly housed on the East side of the Mackoy Community (South) Stand at one end of the stadium. This all-seated stand is covered and is of a good size, having a capacity of over 2,000, although the normal number of seats made available to visiting fans is around 500. The stand is quite tall and so you generally get a good view of the playing action, however it does have a couple of large supporting pillars at the front of it, that could get the way of your sightlines. In addition, away fans are given a portion of the covered East terrace (towards the South Stand) so visiting supporters have a choice of standing or sitting. There is normally a good atmosphere generated inside the groundAway fans are now allowed to freely move around the stadium to access other facilities such as toilets.

Turnstiles open at 1:30pm and the away end is accessible only through turnstiles 1-4.

Ticket prices (which include a £1.20 booking fee regardless of the time or place of purchase) are as follows:

Adults (21-64): £19.20 in advance/£21.20 on the day

Concession (65+) and Students (17-21): £15.20 in advance/£17.20 on the day

Junior (7-16): £6.20 in advance/£8.20 on the day

Child (Under 7): £4.20 in advance/£6.20 on the day

NB “on the day” ticket prices apply from 00:00 on the matchday, including those purchased online before kickoff

The Spitfires visited The New Lawn most recently on the Bank Holiday Monday in August 2025. Although Rovers had many chances to score, after ninety minutes the scoreline remained 0-1. It was only in stoppage time that Tom Knowles found the back of the net to give Rovers a victory.

Scott Bartlett –  a familiar face to Rovers’ fans – was relieved of his role as Manager of Eastleigh in late February, after lowly Morecambe issued the club a clinical 4-0 thrashing, with Eastleigh at that point being only six points and three league places clear of the relegation zone. The club have deferred appointing a new permanent new manager until after the end of the season, with Richard Hill to take charge on an interim basis in the meantime. Hill is a known quantity at the Spitfires, having managed the team on three earlier occasions, in 2012-15 (gaining them promotion from the Conference South), 2017 and 2023-24. He has also had spells managing Whitehawk and, back in their Conference days, Stevenage Borough.  He has also held backroom positions in Aston Villa and Sunderland and served as the technical adviser to the Ethiopian national team, and has been assistant manager at FC Kairat in Kazakhstan.

Prior to going into management, Hill played in a midfield position for a handful of teams, including Northampton Town, Watford and Oxford Utd.

Eastleigh FC Forum – Spitfires Unofficial

Eastleigh’s current crest, introduced in 2020 and designed by Christopher Payne (also behind Yeovil Town’s new badge), reflects the club’s nickname — The Spitfires. The name, chosen by fans some years earlier, pays tribute to the town’s aviation heritage: the iconic aircraft was designed and built in the town, and was first flown from Eastleigh Aerodrome (now Southampton Airport). The badge also features the club’s custom typeface, Eastleigh Sans.

Not as well as they had hoped for, really. In fact, let’s be blunt, hanging on. Prior to his departure from the club, Scott Bartlett described the team as being in a relegation fight.   A 1-1 draw in November with high-flying Carlisle might be the most appreciated result so far this season, while the 4-0 defeat by Morecambe (hot on the heels of a 4-1 defeat by  Aldershot Town) that was Bartlett’s final match in charge might be the least, but a recent 2-0 defeat by Sutton wouldn’t have been welcome, either.

Although Eastleigh is located on a Roman road, the current town owes its existence to the coming of the railways, and the subsequent development, from the 1890s, of the town as a major centre of locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair. The town was expanded to become a home for railway workers at the plant. The Eastleigh Works  later became the principal works for the Southern Railway and continued to construct steam locomotives, such as the Merchant Navy class, until 1950. The Works remained in use until 2006. During the Second World War, the railway works were also used as part of the effort to create Horsa Gliders to be used on D-Day. The Spitfire aeroplane was manufactured nearby, in Southampton, and first flew from Eastleigh Aerodrome – now Southampton Airport.