By Nathan Jackson
August 3 2008

Aldershot Town formed in 1992 and have risen very quickly. Five promotions in sixteen years is one of the fastest rises in footballing history, and their trophy cabinet has also been growing very quickly with numerous Hampshire County Cup wins and last season's Conference League Cup. Aldershot Town FC reformed in 1992 following the dissolvement of Aldershot FC. They began life in the Isthmian League Division Three, five divisions below the Football League. In a bizarre incident, Aldershot Town's first home fixture saw a higher crowd than Aldershot FC's last home crowd. It didn't take long for the Shots to climb up the non-league, winning the title by an 18 point margin in their first season.

A second successive promotion followed as part of a League and Cup double, winning the FA Vase in 1993/4 before Steve Wignall left the manager's chair, taking charge of Colchester United. Steve Wigley took over and almost guided Aldershot Town to a third successive promotion, missing out on goal difference. They did eventually win the Isthmian League First Division, taking the title in 1997/8 under George Borg.

Borg continued to bring success to the club and won the Ryman League Cup, two Hampshire Senior Cups and a second placed finish in the Isthmian League Premier Division. However, Borg's time at Aldershot was over soon after the fickle fans criticised him for a brief bad spell of form. Terry Brown took over and won the title in 2002/3, as well as two Hampshire Senior Cups.

The club had won promotion to the Conference and immediately got off to a good start, reaching the Playoff Final in their first season. Despite only being a semi-pro outfit, they took full time and professional Shrewsbury Town to extra time in the final at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium. The game was close until the shoot-out. The different was immense at Shrewsbury scored all three of theirs, Aldershot missing all three and the Shrews returned to the League at the first time of asking.

A few weeks later and Aldershot Town confirmed that they would be going professional for the first time and 2004/5 saw another Playoff campaign. They faced Carlisle United and took a 1-0 lead to Brunton Park. However, their advantage didn't even last until half time in the second leg, finding themselves 2-1 down on aggregate. They appeared to be heading out before a goal in stoppage time and the game went to penalties. Aldershot's general rubbishness from the spot cost them again, losing the shoot out in sudden death.

The following two seasons were both midtable finishes and Brown resigned. Gary Waddock took over just in time for the 2007/8 season and the Shots stormed through the division and set a new Conference record. They gained 101 points from their 46 games, winning promotion in mid-April and that was coupled with another League and Cup double, securing the Conference League Cup by defeating Rushden and Diamonds in the final at the Recreation Ground.