R-Roulette

Raynes Park Vale  1  Marlow  4

Isthmian League – Division One South Central

Admission / Programme - £10 / £3

The frozen tundra’s of the UK were starting to thaw, but it was to be a race against time, would the increase in temperatures happen quickly enough to impact the football pitches? It wasn’t looking great to be fair come Friday afternoon, games in the professional ranks were already being called off, and with pitch inspections being called early on the Saturday, you did think the weather Gods were going to be the winners again.

Thorpey (Mark from Alfreton) phoned me Friday teatime to ascertain my plans, only the Alfreton Town v South Shields match had gone by the wayside, and whatever I was planning on doing, he wanted a piece of it. I told him to leave it with me, this needed careful consideration.

I had two games on the agenda initially, Redbridge v Brentwood Town and Raynes Park Vale v Marlow in the Isthmian League, both on grass, both inside the M25 but in opposite directions once you left the M1. Both were a risk of course, so if I was going to go for it, I needed a safe back up. Rayners Lane v Chalfont St Peter, on plastic, and a home club looking good for promotion to Step 4. They played in Harrow, so whereas the first two matches would have involved either a left or right at the M25 junction of the M1, Rayners Lane in taxi speak was ‘straight on’.

So that was the plan, I left my call to Thorpey until Saturday morning and ran through my suggestion, we head down the M1, knowing we had the plastic, but if we got an affirmative from the grass ranks, we would go for it. Thorpey was up for it, and his ATFC supporting mate Callum was joining us.

Callum was on pitch inspection alert, we got an affirmative from RPV as we passed Northampton, and as we closed in on the M25 having passed Luton, nothing was forthcoming from Redbridge, but then the call came, it was game on, so we had two on grass. A quick decision had to be made, RPV v Marlow was two sides in the play-off mix, and according to the sat nav the difference in journey time was only fifteen minutes, so the decision was made, plus, RPV did come across as very confident. We went Westbound.

The sat nav lied, the exit at the A3 and the roadworks that currently welcome you took a bit longer to get through than first suggested, but not to worry, we were soon parking up in close proximity to the Cavern pub in Raynes Park, you see Thorpey was equipped with the Good Beer Guide! The local roads were on best behaviour, and within a few minutes of leaving the pub we’d sorted the one way system, gone past Raynes Park Station, and were heading down Grand Drive to the ground. At ten past two we were parked up at the side of some outer pitches being used by the junior sides.

Raynes Park Vale Football Club are at Step 4 this season after winning the Combined Counties League Premier Division South last season, at a canter to be fair, winning 32 of their 38 games. The club have been punching at the higher end of the table for a few years now having been stalwarts of the competition since they arrived in the CoCo back in 1995.

When I say 1995, RPV is the result of a merger between Raynes Park (a Surrey Combination side) and Malden Vale who at the time were members of the Isthmian League, plying their craft in the lower reaches of the competition.

The ground on Grand Drive was originally the home of Malden Vale, and located close to the edges of Wimbledon, it’s set in a large expanse. The pitch itself slopes slightly from South to North, which when stood on the South side gives you excellent views looking North towards Wimbledon.

In terms of facilities, the ground is currently a work in progress. The clubhouse and dressing rooms are located outside of the ground behind the East end goals, where the turnstiles are, and once through the gates having received the friendly welcome, to your left are two small covered areas behind the goal, both looking like they’ve been in situ for a good number of years. The only other cover on the ground is the seated stand on the South side, which does look like it’s had a recent refurb in terms of the seating and the cladding.

The club talked in the programme about the improvements they are doing to the ground to both maintain Step 4 status, and indeed get it up to Step 3 status which from a performance point of view is the place they want to get to.

One part of the ground that doesn’t need any improvement work is the pitch, considering the weather, it was in superb nick, and while players were slipping at times, no way was it ever going to be called off.

So they won the CoCo last year, beating last weeks blog victims Badshot Lea to the title, and this time around they are nestled in the play-off places, having lead the table at one point a month or so ago. Having spoken to my mate Dave from Leatherhead, who has local knowledge, it seems part of the driving force behind the club is the Gallagher family. When I say family, Conor Gallagher who plays for Chelsea and England, well he has four brothers, three of whom are involved at RPV. Josh is the Manager, Jake plays in Midfield while Jordan plays upfront and gets all the goals (he was suspended for today’s game). In case you were interested, the other brother, Dan, plays for Dorking Wanderers.

RPV v Marlow, on paper it looked tasty, and over 300 turned up to watch it. But to be fair it was effectively game over with just over twenty minutes played when a clinical visiting side created three chances and put all of them away with some aplomb.

Naheer-Omar Nawaf opened the scoring in the tenth minute before the evergreen Dave Tarpey netted twice in a seven minute spell. Tarpey was recently at Leatherhead, but previously had prolific spells at Maidenhead United and Barnet.

Nathan Lewis pulled a goal back ten minutes before the break, and despite RPV having plenty of territory and possession in the second period, Marlow were happy to soak it up without ever really feeling under any great pressure in front of goal.

Any modicum of doubt was washed away as we moved into injury time when Joshua Broom ran free from the half way line to score a fourth and final goal for the away side.

To be fair though, it had been an entertaining game, between two very decent sides who you expect will be in the mix come the end of the season. The journey back was a veritable doddle, back through the door just after 8pm, it had been a calculated gamble well worth taking. 

Not A Bad Shot

Badshot Lea  4  Guernsey  2

Isthmian League – Division One South Central

Admission / Programme - £10 / £2

The weather Gods for once were smiling down on us, it was one of those days where barring an unexpected incident of Phoenix Sports proportions, you could quite literally take your pick of games and be confident of seeing ninety minutes action.

I’d got a plan, a plan that would mean a slightly earlier start to the day, but an arrival back home at a more reasonable hour. You see, I’d spotted over the past couple of seasons that when Guernsey played an away game, they tended to kick off early to link in with the flights to and from Gatwick.

The game at Badshot Lea was bought forward an hour to 2pm, that suited me fine, and given I’d set off before Christmas to go to a game at Badshot, only to end up at Horsham due to waterlogging, it felt like the time had come!

I don’t know whether this was down to pure luck, or the fact setting off an hour earlier than normal makes a difference, but every single motorway behaved impeccably. Luton was actually quite pleasant, the M25 not once came to a standstill, and the lesser travelled M3 was also in fine form.

Badshot Lea then, where is it?

Well, the village of Badshot Lea involves a run down the Eastern edges of Farnborough and Aldershot, and can then be found just off the A31 before you get to Farnham. Which is fine, except the football club don’t actually play in Badshot Lea! You have to carry on a bit further, past Farnham, and then head South to the village of Wrecclesham. The club only moved to their home in Wrecclesham at the start of the 2019-20 season, having not been able to develop their home at Badshot Lea Recreation Ground, a venue that they left in 2007. In between times they have been somewhat nomadic, sharing at the likes of Farnborough, Ash United, Camberley Town and Godalming Town.

As I said, the journey was a breeze, and after calling at a local Morrisons for a chicken sandwich and a duo of hard boiled eggs, I was soon in the car park, surveying the scene. Two hours forty five minutes was the journey time, and being honest, I was a touch early!

As much as the Westfield Lane home of Badshot Lea is a new ground as far as the football club is concerned, if you weren’t in the know then you would have no idea that the venue is as new to the round ball game that it actually is. The clue is in the round ball, you see Westfield Lane was once the home of Farnham Rugby Club, and I suspect much of what is in-situ, certainly from a buildings perspective, dates back to the oval ball game.

The car park sits at the end of a track, just off the main road that runs down through the village towards the A3 which it joins at Petersfield. The turnstiles are behind the goal, as are the dressing rooms, clubhouse and tea bar, while a few yards in front of the said buildings is a small area of covered terracing that sits in the North East corner, while some scaffold and metal sheeting provides additional cover behind the goal, albeit with no back or sides.

The only other area of cover on the ground sits astride the half way line on the South side of the ground where a small seated stand is placed. Otherwise it’s open hard standing round the remainder of the ground.

The visitors from the Channel Islands arrived via a plane into Gatwick, from where a bus ferried them to the ground, and in fairness to them, they had a good number of supporters at the game, although I sensed one or two were mainland based.

Badshot Lea joined the Hellenic League in 2003-04 season, starting in Division One East, where they remained until 2007 when they won promotion to the Premier Division. After a single season in the top flight of the Hellenic they were laterally transferred to the Combined Counties League, and other than a single season when they were relegated and bounced straight back, they have been residents of the top flight, culminating in a second placed finish last season which earned them promotion to the Isthmian League. They’ve never won the FA Cup, Trophy, or indeed Vase, so we can swiftly move on from analysing that, and start to focus more on what happened in the game against the Green Lions.

I’ll be honest, as much as Badshot Lea deserved the three point from the 4-2 victory, I did feel a little bit sorry for Guernsey. Jonathan Sanchez opened the scoring for the hosts after ten minutes with an effort that eluded everyone in green to find the bottom corner, before Matt Loaring equalised when he closed down a complacent Harry Cawdron in the Badshot goal and the cleared ball deflected off of him and into the back of the net.

Anuar Ceesay rattled home a second for the hosts but then the first moment of controversy came when the visitors had a an equaliser chalked off thanks to a linesman’s flag and a referee’s whistle which was blown as the ball left his foot on the way to the back of the net.  I think the decision that was given was offside, but the man who found the back of the net certainly wasn’t! Trouble is, when the whistle blows, the games dead, whether the call is right or wrong.

The second moment of controversy came on the hour mark when Guernsey’s Thomas Dodds was sent off for a challenge. My initial thoughts were that it was very harsh, and judging by the sympathetic comments from the Badshot Lea faithful, I think they felt the same way. As Dodds walked to the dressing rooms he looked perplexed that he’d seen red, and having seen the video evidence since, I can understand why.

That was kind of it then, Kareem Akinibbi made it 3-1, Charlton Gauvain pulled it back to 3-2, but  Akinibbi got his second and Badshot’s fourth to seal the victory and the three points. Guernsey boss Tony Vance cut a frustrated figure at the end of the game, and I completely get why, but, Badshot march on and are proving more than a handful in their first season at Step 4.

Within a few minutes of leaving the ground, I could see the floodlights glaring at nearby Farnham Town, who were losing to Bridgwater United in the FA Vase. They are a club with a 100% record in the Combined Counties League currently, so it’s only a matter of time before I’m back in the vicinity.

Otherwise, the journey back was all very comfortable, and I’m not sure who got home first, me or the Guernsey….but as for Badshot Lea, their new home is proving to be a happy one.

Tarts

Bakewell Town  1  Mayfield  2

Central Midlands Alliance League – Premier Division South

Admission / Programme – No / £2

The first Saturday in January is a joy.

What should be the day when you can relax and reflect on that painful first week back at work, is far from that in our business. You see, since we were acquired a couple of years back, we’ve had to fall into line with what is termed the ‘Flying Start’ campaign, and as part of that the first Saturday in January is something that is termed ‘All In Saturday’.

Doesn’t take a genius to work out what that means, but in short, for one day a year, on a Saturday, I have to go to work. But, in our business, on a Saturday, we have varying closing hours, depending upon the branch. I mean, if I happen to go to a branch that closes at 1pm on a Saturday, and I don’t have a key, what do I do?

I’d got it carefully planned, I was going to be able to get away and watch football, not in and around the M25 as per normal, it would have to be local, but, as it’s January, planning anything is fraught with danger. As it turned out, the weather on the day wasn’t too bad, and the only games falling by the wayside seemed to be pitches that had been underwater for several days, including my first choice at Sowerby Bridge that was indistinguishable from the River Calder it seemed!

Bakewell Town jumped out at me, I have been before, many years ago to watch a Hope Valley League Cup semi-final, and on that occasion it was a Plan B situation after myself and Steve had been going to Tideswell United, and upon Steve arriving at the ground he decided it had been called off. It hadn’t been called off it transpired, Steve thought the ground was being used for a cycling event but it turned out to be a mirage, I haven’t forgotten…….

Anyway, since that night in Bakewell when a late decision saw much fun trying to find a parking space, things have moved on for Bakewell Town Football Club. They were courted by the Central Midlands League and did join a few years back, and as much as I’ve thought I ought to go back and have a look, the opportunity hadn’t presented itself. Nowadays, they play in the top flight, Step 7 if you like, and for a town the size it is, they perhaps really ought to be at that level.

The journey from North Sheffield took me through some special little enclaves like Ecclesfield, Chaucer and God’s own home, Southey Green, the location of the famous Southey Social Club which stood out like a temple at the top of the hill, opposite Winchester Cars! The journey moved into the more salubrious parts of the City as we headed South West through Broomhall, Ranmoor and Fulwood, before we found countryside in the form of Froggatt Edge, Calver, Hassop and then eventually Bakewell.

Fook me! I foolishly thought, a cold Saturday in January, it won’t be busy, and while I might not get in the layby at the side of the Rutland Recreation Ground where they play, the town centre car parks will be empty. Wrong! The place was absolutely minging, and by the time I did eventually get a car parking space I’d spent close on half an hour either driving around (slowly) or queueing. Two games were taking place on the Rec today, where all the players and officials dump their cars is anyone’s guess, maybe they have a secret underground location that no one knows about?

Anyway, I must admit to being a touch irritated by the time the very friendly parking steward (yes, they have special stewards in Bakewell to help you park!) showed me to my space. But, one must shake oneself down in these situations, and not even begin to contemplate why one didn’t just go and watch Worksop Town instead….the pavilion was a short work over the little bridge that crosses the swollen River Dove, and once inside it was a chance to chill over a Carlsberg and watch the Rams game at Fleetwood on the TV for a little while.

Describing the home of Bakewell Town is quite easy, it’s a large public expanse set between the main A6 and the river, containing two football pitches that are separated by a busy pathway. The pavilion is set in one corner, a good distance from the pitches, which themselves on a match day are complete with a rope barrier and on the first team pitch which is nearest to the river are a couple of dugouts.

As I said, two games were taking place today, the first team game against Mayfield and the Development side against my old mates from Inter Belper. Precautionary pitch inspections for both games had taken place that morning, and while the pitches were heavy, they certainly weren’t waterlogged.

Since joining the Central Midlands (Alliance) League in 2018, the club have had a third place, second place and a championship winning finish in successive seasons (barring the Covid episode), with the glorious 2021-22 season seeing 14 wins from 16 games as they won promotion to the North Division of the competitions top flight.

Last season saw a creditable 8^th place finish from 15 clubs, while this season a switch to the South Division sees them currently just below the half way mark. The visitors from Ashbourne prior to the game had been struggling with just one win to their name.

If we are being brutally honest, the level they are at is probably as good as it’s ever going to get. I can’t for one minute imagine the club being able to develop the current home to Step 6 standards, and other viable sites in Bakewell aren’t exactly jumping out. But that’s fine, there is no law in football that says a club has to be promoted, well, unless you get to Step 6 in which case you then have no choice!

Anyhow, what was the game like?

It was a close fought contest on a tricky surface with the visitors coming out on top thanks to goals from Thomas Hodkinson and Jake Walklett. The consolation effort for the hosts came from Aarron Maund midway through the second half. There wasn’t an awful lot between the two sides but given the respective league positions before the game I suspect Bakewell would have been disappointed not to have taken anything.

Getting out of Bakewell was a joy, to be fair getting out of the car park was fun enough, and then to compound matters we had roadworks between Cromford and Whatstandwell on the A6 which added a further twenty minutes to my journey home. Next time, I think I might get the bus….

So, that’s my working Saturday over for another year, personally I think it was very productive, I’ve learned all about the joys of a Saturday afternoon in Bakewell, something I would have been oblivious to otherwise. Bakewell Town are a cracking football club, getting to them is another matter!

Protocols

Phoenix Sports  0  Beckenham Town  0 (abandoned 45 minutes)

Isthmian League – Division One South East

Admission / Programme – £10 / Online

There’s something about New Year’s Day football that I like.

Firstly, there's nothing on the roads which is a real bonus, and that allows for a longer journey that you might ordinarily undertake, but also, it’s something to look forward to before that moment when the 6.15 am alarm goes off to wake you up for the first day back at work!

I’ve done some good one’s over the years, AFC Sudbury, Highworth Town, Westfield and Thame United to name some of the venues further afield, the bulk of which have been done over the past six or seven years. This year, the plan was going to be something similar, I’d very much got a game at Redbridge FC on the radar.

NYE in the Hatt household was a somewhat different affair, it started in the morning when I walked downstairs to be told by Mrs H that she’d booked us tickets to go and watch the Ice Hockey. Nottingham Panthers v Coventry Blaze, and that involved a train, a meal and a few beers before heading back to Belper for a few more beers in the Grapes and a walk home.

It had been different, and very enjoyable, fair play to Mrs H for her blue sky thinking, and there was me thinking I’d smash into a crate of 18 Carling around 4pm and keep going until it was done! Midnight came and went, Jools Holland, Rick Astley, fireworks, Chinese students on the Thames Embankment, before bed, welcome to 2024, the year when I’ve vowed to be exactly the same on every level as I’d been for the past twelve months…..

The weather didn’t look like it had been too bad, so when I saw a Tweet from Redbridge saying that the game was off due to warthogs, I must admit I was a bit surprised, but not to worry, I had a Plan B, and that was in Dartford, where Phoenix Sports were playing a Kent derby against Beckenham Town, a club myself and Steve visited last season and had a spiffing time at.

The journey was a breeze, the M1 and M25 behaved, straight over the crossing and then first exit into the North of Dartford and Crayford, running pretty much along the edges of the river, before cutting back inland and parking in the school right opposite the Mayplace Ground home of Phoenix.

For those not familiar with the manor, Phoenix Sports play almost equidistant between Barnehurst and Crayford train stations, but, and this is the thing, probably only two pitch lengths away from the home of Phoenix, is the home of local rivals VCD Athletic. VCD currently play in the Southern Counties East League, whereas of course Phoenix are a level higher in the Isthmian League, but last season, the positions were reversed, until the Inter League Play Off when Phoenix went to VCD and won! It seems there is no love lost between the two clubs, and having seen the two sides play each other a few years back at VCD, between Christmas and New Year, I can concur that the rivalry isn’t hugely friendly!

I arrived just after 1pm and snaffled the pack up I’d prepared in the car, before trotting over the road and into the ground. It was early, I was one of the first in, which lead to a conversation with the gateman. I explained where I was from, and he subsequently took the time to point out where all of the facilities were, most importantly of course the bar!

I’d not been in the bar long when the Phoenix club secretary came over and introduced himself, the gateman had told him about me, and we had a chat about the club, the play-off game with VCD, the state of football in Kent, and of course the challenges on so many levels when it comes to moving up to Step 4. He bought me a pint, a cracking chap, I’d already got a good feeling about Phoenix Sports Football Club.

What’s the history of this lot then?

Well, they were originally formed in 1935, but didn’t take the name Phoenix until just after the Second World War, with the name itself being symbolic of a club rising from the ashes of the destruction. The club played in local leagues until 1981 when they joined the Spartan League for a ten year spell before returning to the Kent County League.

Phoenix moved between the divisions of the County League until 2011 when they joined the Kent Invicta League in it’s inaugural season. By the end of 2013 the club had won the championship and with it gained promotion to the Southern Counties East League. At the culmination of the 2014-15 season they were crowned champions and with it a promotion to Step 4 and the Isthmian League. Their spell in the Isthmian League lasted first time around until 2021-22 when a last day defeat to Herne Bay saw them relegated.

However, a runners up spot last season lead to the previously mentioned play-off game against VCD Athletic, and on the back of that victory we are now back at Step 4 again.

The ground is tidy, you enter in the South West corner behind the goal, and then to your right is the dressing room building, the clubhouse, a small covered area dedicated to a chap called ‘Wing Nut’ and finally the tea bar. The East side and the area behind the North goal are just hard standing, while on the West side of the ground, elevated above pitch level are two seated stands of the Atcost style variety. The pitch itself was in decent nick, and one of the things I had noticed over recent weeks, notably in the bad weather, was that home games for Phoenix Sports, and indeed ground sharers Welling Town, always seemed to be played.

As you will probably have already gathered, the game was abandoned as the second half was about to kick off, with Beckenham captain Harry Gamble vomiting and then collapsing to the floor as the referee was about to get the contest back underway. It was an alarming scene, but medical staff were quick to get to him and after a delay while he was treated and an ambulance called, the game was concluded. Gamble was suffering from concussion, and with the correct protocols in place, and a fifty minute wait for the ambulance advised, both clubs and officials decided it was the right call.

The preceding 45 minutes saw both sides create reasonable opportunities, but it was the visitors who did have the better of opening stages, and were indeed at a man advantage when Phoenix captain Ryan Hayes was dismissed for an off the ball incident. Phoenix, despite being down to ten, did come back into it but the score at the interval remained goalless.

But that all was irrelevant as thoughts turned to health and wellbeing of Gamble, who was thankfully released from hospital later that evening having undergone tests.

We had a choice at the final whistle, collect a ticket to allow free admission to the re-arranged game, or get your money back. I chose neither, as I walked to the exit I said another ‘thank you’, and a farewell to the Phoenix secretary, before arriving home around 7.30pm.

Not quite the New Year’s Day I was planning when I woke that morning, but sometimes you have to be grateful that everyone returns home safe and well after going to a football match, whether you are watching or participating.

Let’s hope Harry Gamble gets back on a football pitch as soon as he is fit to do so. Concussion is a dangerous matter, and it’s good to see it’s finally being taken very seriously, with proper protocols in place.

Not Growing Up

Merstham  1  Lancing  2

Isthmian League – Division One South East

Admission / Programme – £10 / £2

It was Friday afternoon and I was sat in the Crown Inn at Beeston with some of the lads I went to school with, the very same lads I mentioned in a recent blog, that have spent the last thirty years of their lives (me included), wondering at what point we need to grow up!

You see I’d been sat in a car park in Nottingham that very morning when Mark phoned me, he wanted to know what my plans were for the following day, only Alfreton Town didn’t have a game. I told him my plan was to go to Surrey, the game between Merstham and Lancing had grabbed my attention.

Of course, it didn’t really matter where I was going, Mark would have jumped in anyway, but as we were discussing the finer details of the pick-up time the following morning, I happened to let it slip that I had a ticket for the Notts County v Morecambe game that night. Mark then let it slip that they were off down to Nottingham themselves that afternoon for a wee pub crawl, and of course, I was welcome to join them before the game!

So, after getting Mrs H to drop me off for the 2.30pm train from Belper, within the hour I had my first pint in hand, on what was to be a merry little jaunt that would take in four venues in Beeston, before jumping back onto the train and getting through the turnstiles at Meadow Lane ten minutes or so before kick-off.

Without dwelling too much on the Friday, given that this blog is meant to be all about Merstham, it finished up with a 5-0 home win against a side that produced possibly the worst display I’ve ever seen from a professional football team, and don’t forget my professional football watching experience includes a time when Derby County were officially known as the worst team in history! The last train back to blighty was caught, and at around 11.30pm after the uphill walk of calf pain, it was into bed with the alarm set.

Mark was collected at 10.15pm, the weather had been pretty good and with nothing but positive noises coming out of Surrey, we made our way down the M1, which even behaved itself around Luton, before heading onto the motorway version of Russian Roulette, the M25! Yeah, it was rubbish in parts, notably around the M40, for no reason whatsoever it seemed, but even with that, due to our early departure we were leaving the M25 at the Redhill / Reigate exit just after 1pm.

It was at that point that Mark flicked open the pages of his Good Beer Guide, and bearing in mind his boozing carried on while I was at the game the previous night, he was undeterred, the sat nav was re-set and we were on our way to the Garibaldi in Redhill, a very nice community owned pub in a very nice part of the World.

With a snifter on board, it was time to head back to the edges of the M25 and the small town of Merstham, a town of just over 8,000 inhabitants, and, with it’s rail links to central London, a desirable place to live if you can afford a property that probably retails at about three times the price it would compared to if it were located in Beeston!

The football ground, the Moatside, is a leafy affair. Flanked by trees and tall hedgerows, the approach via the housing estate gives no indication of what you find once you walk through the turnstiles. Parking is tight on the residential streets, and once you exit the clubhouse and pass through the clickers, you can’t help but feel you are at the home of a village club (in the nicest possible sense) with it’s previously mentioned green surroundings, tight to the edges of the perimeter of the stadium.

You enter by the North East corner, with the dressing rooms and tea bar to your immediate right, and the club shop directly to your left. Following the ground round in a clockwise fashion you then have a narrow area of cover running two thirds of the width of the area behind the East goal, with two steps of terracing providing the vantage points. The South side of the ground is flat standing, but then as you get round to the West end of the ground, you have the old Tea Bar in the corner, which now looks to be used as a storeroom, while right next to it is a small seated stand.

More flat standing takes you back round to where the main seated stand lies, straddling the halfway line, with the aforementioned tea bar / fan zone being located to the rear of it. What I liked about the ground was that everything was unique and characterful, the dressing room building has been constructed in a traditional style, while the stands were again, bespoke structures as opposed to being kit formed efforts that arrive on the back of a flatbed lorry!

Merstham, given the size of the club, have a recent history of punching above their own weight. The Surrey and London Spartan League’s were home until 1984 when they made the move to the Combined Counties League. This move culminated in the Premier Division championship being won in 2007-08 season when a record breaking 110 points, 114 goals and only one defeat saw them promoted to the Isthmian League. This coming after finishing runners-up in the previous two seasons.

Isthmian League Division One was a happy home, and following a fourth placed finish in 2014-15, they beat both Faversham Town and Folkestone Invicta in the play offs to earn promotion to the Premier Division and Step 3 football for the first time in their history.

The high point came in the 2018-19 season when a fifth placed finish saw them beat Carshalton Athletic in the play off semi final, before ultimately losing to Tonbridge Angels who took a place in the National League South.

It was downhill after that, Covid struck and then in 2021-22 season they finished bottom and fell back to Step 4. The following season (last season) saw an eighteenth placed finish, which lead to an Inter League Promotion / Relegation game against Egham Town that they won 3-1. The FA Cup proper was reached for the one and only time in 2016-17 when they drew Oxford United at home in the First Round, and on what was a momentous day for the club, the professional side ran out 5-0 winners.

So, today we have a club that are sat in the bottom half of the South East Division, having been laterally moved in the Summer from the South Central Division, and on paper it looks like they are trying to consolidate their status before thinking about another assault on Step 3.

A crowd of 261 rocked up for the game against the Sussex coast visitors, a side who are having a better second season at Step 4 than first time round, which proved to be a struggle. The first half was a period of few chances, but then in the 55^th minute, somewhat against first half balance of power, the hosts took the lead through Tom Collins.

The goal galvanised the visitors who equalised in the 74^th minute through a well placed Andrew Briggs free kick, while on the 80^th minute full back Alex Neil Laing fired home an angled drive to turn things around completely.

And that was it, back to the car and another delay on the M25 up by Heathrow. Having said that, it won’t stop us, we still set out on Saturday morning’s full of enthusiasm and curiosity, knowing damn well that things won’t run as smoothly as we would like.

Mrs H says I’ll grow out of it one day, that will probably be the same day when all of us finally grow up!