Nursling & Shirley F.C.

Nursling & Shirley F.C. is an amateur football club based in Lordshill, Southampton, England.

Formerly known as Q.K. Southampton, the club is affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association and run numerous sides from U8's upwards and also have a ladies section. The Men's 1st Team are members of the Hampshire Premier League.

History

Queens Keep established in 1972 as part of the sports and social club section of the Southampton Inland Revenue. The name was adopted after the building where they worked.

Upon their formation, the team enrolled in the Southampton League and started at the very bottom in Junior Division 10.

For many years, Queens Keep played the Civil Service Sports Ground - located in the Shirley area of Southampton, which they shared with fellow Southampton League side Ordnance Survey.

It was not until the eighties that 'the Tax-Men' started making proper progress. Four successive promotions were achieved, with the 1986/87 campaign being their most successful after they won the Junior Division 1 title and Southampton Junior 'A' Cup double. The club continued to make steady progress in the Senior section, reaching the Premier Division in 1991. Here they consolidated and after finishing third in 1996, they made a successful application to join the Hampshire League Division 3.

Queens Keep quickly found their feet in county football and finished sixth in their first season before winning promotion, after finishing runners-up a year later. However Division 2 proved to be much harder and they were relegated straight back.

After the Civil Service ground was closed in 1999, both clubs were relocated by Southampton City Council to an enclosed section of Lordshill Recreation Ground, although co-tenants Ordnance Survey later moved to Stoneham. After this, the club became known as Q.K. Southampton and gradually began to develop the site.

In 2004, the club joined the expanded Wessex League when they were placed in the competition's short lived third tier, but struggled to make any impact, and when the division was dissolved in 2007 they then became founder members of the Hampshire Premier League.

QK Southampton enjoyed a series of decent final placings, finishing runners-up once and also a number of extended cup-runs. In 2011 they reached the Southampton Senior Cup final at St Mary's Stadium but were beaten 1-2 by Team Solent.

In 2025 the club merged with local youth outfit AFC Southside and were re-branded as Nursling & Shirley.

Honours

• Hampshire League
  • Division 3 runners-up 1997-98
• Hampshire Premier League
  • Senior Division runners-up 2011-12
  • Division 1 Champions 2021-22
• Southampton Football Association
  • Senior Cup Finalists 2010-11
  • Junior 'A' Cup Winners 1986-87
• Southampton League
  • Junior Division 1 Champions 1986-87

League career

Ground

Nursling & Shirley play at The Hive, Redbridge Lane, Lordshill, Southampton, SO16 0XN.

This is an enclosed area of Lordshill Recreation Ground, which over the years the club have developed. The pitch has a fixed barrier with changing rooms adjacent.

Notable former players

Queens Keep have had many fine players over the years. For the 2001/02 season Neil Prosser was player-manager.

Stalwart Don Campbell has given over 50 years service to the club.

Local rivalries

Neighbours Millbrook and AFC Shirley are considered as their main rivals.

Previously, whilst playing at the Civil Service Ground, the club enjoyed a long running rivalry with co-tenants Ordnance Survey, but that has diminished after their relocation to Stoneham and progression up the pyramid.

Other local rivals such as Brendon, Millbrook & Maybush and Nursling are all now sadly defunct.

External links

• Hampshire Premier League website
• Queens Keep at the Football Club History Database
• QK Southampton at the Football Club History Database
• Nursling & Shirley at the Football Club History Database
• QK Soton Reserves at the Football Club History Database
• Hampshire Soccer Archives
• Hampshire League Final Tables