Basingstoke Town FC is an English football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, currently competing in the Southern Football League Premier Division South, which is at the seventh tier of the English football pyramid. The club plays its home matches at the Winklebury Football Complex. Founded in 1896, the club has a long non-league history, with its most successful period coming in the late 1990s and early 2000s when it reached the Conference National (now the National League), the fifth tier. That era, under manager Ernie Howe, represents the club's peak. The modern era has seen the club stabilize in the Southern League after some financial and relegation challenges. The team, nicknamed the 'Stoke' or 'Basingstoke Town', is supported by a committed fan base. Basingstoke Town remains a historic non-league club with a proud past and ambitions for future success.