Formation and the Isthmian years In March 1992, the town of Aldershot was without a football club after Aldershot F.C. became the first Football League team to fold during the football season since
Accrington Stanley in 1962. The original Aldershot club had been in the Football League since 1932 and competed in the Third and Fourth Divisions. Promotion had been achieved as recently as 1987, but relegation followed two years later and debts well into six figures had almost brought about the club's demise in the summer of 1990. Despite a rescue package allowing the original winding-up order to be rescinded, the club's debts remained high and the club became insolvent just over 18 months later. Aldershot Town was born later the same year, and began life competing in the
Isthmian League Division Three. Despite Aldershot Town playing five divisions lower than the Football League, the attendance for their first competitive fixture was higher than the old team's last home tie, with attendances that season averaging around 2,000 at a level where attendances normally averaged around 100. Ten successive victories were recorded under the guidance of former player
Steve Wignall and Aldershot won the championship by an 18-point margin. A further promotion and an
FA Vase quarter-final placing was achieved in the
1993–94 season. When Steve Wignall departed to take charge of
Colchester United midway through the
1994–95 season, former
Nottingham Forest winger
Steve Wigley took over. The club finished the 1994–95 season with a run of six successive victories, but missed out on promotion by
goal difference. After narrowly missing out during the next two seasons Wigley left in July 1997 to become Youth Development Officer at Nottingham Forest. He was replaced by George Borg, another former Aldershot FC player. Attendances continued to rise during this period and the final fixture of the
1997–98 Isthmian League First Division championship-winning season, at home to
Berkhamsted Town, attracted 4,289 fans to the Recreation Ground – a league record. The success under Borg continued with an
Isthmian League Cup, two
Hampshire Senior Cups and a runners-up spot in the
Isthmian League Premier Division. The club's reserves were reinstated in
2000–01 and entered the Suburban League. The FA Cup in 2000–01 saw Aldershot take on league opposition at The Recreation Ground for the first time since reforming, when
Brighton & Hove Albion visited for a 1st Round tie in November and a record attendance of 7,500 saw the league team win. In the following season's FA Cup Aldershot held
Bristol Rovers to a home draw in the First Round, but again missed out on the Second Round after losing the replay in Bristol. George Borg resigned as manager in November 2001 after pressure from supporters and was replaced by Terry Brown. He won his first game in charge beating
Newport IOW 1–0 in the Hampshire Senior Cup Semi-final Second Leg, taking The Shots on to win the final against
Havant & Waterlooville. In Brown's first full season in charge he overhauled the squad, and by mid-November the Shots were top of the table, a position they did not relinquish for the remainder of the season, winning promotion to the
Football Conference. After just 11 years, four promotions had now been achieved and just one more promotion was required for league football to return to Aldershot. The club also retained the Hampshire Senior Cup with a 2–1 win over
Bashley.
Conference years took over as manager in March 2002. A crowd of 3,680 saw Aldershot's first game in the Conference, a 2–1 win over Accrington Stanley. The club went on to stay in the play-off positions in the league table for all but 3 days of the season. The Shots equalled their best ever run in the FA Cup, reaching the 2nd Round and losing 1–0 to
Colchester United at
Layer Road. The club reached their first
FA Trophy semi-final, losing to eventual winners
Hednesford Town and the average attendance for league matches at The Rec ended on a record high of 3,303. A 1–1 draw against
Tamworth on the last day of the season carried the Shots into the play-offs for a place in the Football League. Over two legs the Shots held their own against favourites
Hereford United, drawing 1–1 at The Rec and 0–0 at
Edgar Street. Extra time finished without any further score and the tie was concluded on penalties with the Shots winning 4–2. The 2004 Conference play-off Final against
Shrewsbury Town finished 1–1 after extra time. Shrewsbury returned to the league with a 3–0 win in the penalty shoot-out. In May 2004 the club officers made the decision to convert Aldershot Town to full-time professional status from the following July. In
2004–05 the Shots once again equalled their best ever run in the FA Cup as they reached the 2nd Round proper, where they lost 5–1 to
Hartlepool United. After a slow start in the league, Aldershot improved their form and reached the play-offs after beating
Scarborough in the last game of the season. The Shots won the first leg against
Carlisle United 1–0 at home, but lost the away leg 2–1, giving a 2–2 aggregate score. Extra time could not separate the sides and the tie went to penalties, with Carlisle winning the shootout. The next two seasons were less successful for Aldershot.
2005–06 saw the team suffer numerous injuries, and they struggled to 13th in the table. The team made it to the 2nd round of the FA Cup, losing 1–0 at home to
Scunthorpe United. In the 2006–07 season the club finished 9th in the reformed 24 club
Conference Premier. Terry Brown resigned, citing the poor health of his wife as the primary reason.
Martin Kuhl took over as caretaker manager. They reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 4–2 at
Bloomfield Road to
Blackpool Promotion to the Football League In May 2007
Gary Waddock was appointed the new manager, with Martin Kuhl reverting to his coaching position. The Shots started the season strongly, losing few games before the turn of the year.
Jonny Dixon was sold to Brighton and Hove Albion in the January Transfer window for a then club record of £56,000. The Shots finished top of the
Conference Premier with a record 101 points, and were promoted to the Football League, for the first time since the club was reformed ending the season on an 18-match undefeated run. Aldershot also made it to the
Conference League Cup Final after a 4–3 penalty shoot out victory over near neighbours
Woking in the semi-final. The final, played at the Recreation Ground on 3 April, was against
Rushden & Diamonds. With the scores 1–1 at full-time, then 3–3 after extra time, Aldershot won 4–3 on penalties.
Football League Sixteen years after the demise of Aldershot F.C., the town of Aldershot had a Football League team again. The club retained much of the
2007–08 promotion winning team, and added several signings, both permanent and on loan. Gary Waddock and Martin Kuhl also committed their futures to the club by signing new three-year contracts.
Joel Grant was sold to
Crewe Alexandra for £130,000, a club record. On the opening day of the 2008–09 season, Aldershot Town won their first league game on their return to the Football League at Accrington Stanley 1–0. This was followed four days later by the club's first ever
EFL Cup game, against
Coventry City at the
Ricoh Arena, which the Shots lost 3–1. The Shots finished fifteenth in League Two in their first season in the Football League. Two months into the
2009–10 season, manager Gary Waddock and assistant
Martin Kuhl accepted offers to join
Wycombe Wanderers.
Kevin Dillon, the former first-team coach of
Reading, was appointed as Waddock's permanent successor in November 2009. Under the new management team Aldershot finished the season in sixth place, qualifying them for the play-offs, where they lost 3–0 on aggregate to
Rotherham United. In January 2011 Kevin Dillon left the club by mutual agreement, with the club lying 20th in League Two, after winning just 6 out of 22 league games. Dillon was replaced by
Newport County manager
Dean Holdsworth. Holdsworth succeeded in removing the threat of relegation, eventually guiding the club to 14th position in a run which included only 4 defeats in the second half of the season. Aldershot finished 11th in the
2011–12. A good run in the League Cup saw Aldershot take on
Manchester United at home, which ended in a 3–0 victory for the Red Devils. Holdsworth was sacked by Aldershot on 20 February 2013 with the team in 20th place in League Two.
Administration and return to Conference . In the summer 2012, a major shareholder suffered a major
stroke, debilitating him and creating a financial insecurity that would prove dangerous come the following year. In May 2013, Aldershot Town announced that they were in financial difficulties, with players' wages going unpaid. The Chief Executive, Andrew Mills, announced his resignation saying that there was no evidence that the major shareholder Kris Machala had the ability to fund the club. Director Tony Knights admitted that the club has been "haemorrhaging money". On 1 August 2013, Aldershot Town confirmed the takeover of the club by a consortium led by former chairman Shahid Azeem. In conjunction, the club announced the agreement of a lucrative deal with
Chelsea to host a significant number of matches played by the
Chelsea Academy and Reserves over the next two years. Aldershot Town were relegated from the
National League in 2019 after finishing 21st. However, they were reprieved from relegation after
Gateshead were administratively relegated. The
2019–20 National League was suspended in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic with the Shots finishing in 18th place based on
points per game. Aldershot Town finished 15th in the
2020–21 season finishing with 52 points. In the
2021–22 season they finished 20th and in the
2022–23 season they finished 18th. In 2024–25, Aldershot reached the
final of the
FA Trophy for the first time in their history, after defeating local rivals
Woking 2–1 in the semi-finals. En route to the final, Aldershot also beat
Sittingbourne,
Boreham Wood,
Wealdstone, as well as an 8–0 away win at
Chertsey Town. In the final, Aldershot defeated
Spennymoor Town 3–0 in their first visit to
Wembley Stadium. On 5 January 2026, a club statement announced that director Deane Wood had taken over the role of chairman and owner, after outgoing chairman Shahid Azeem and another director John Leppard had written off their entire loans to the club and transferred all of their shares to Wood at no cost. ==Recent seasons==