Sing When We're Fisher

Fisher  3  Kennington  2

Southern Counties East Football League  – Premier Division

Admission / Programme - £8 / £2

I’m getting to a stage now where I think me getting to a game at Hanworth Villa is jinxed!

My first planned visit in October went belly up because of a re-arranged game, then with pre-booked train tickets to London for early December, a heavy frost saw my next attempt aborted and a trip to Sutton Common Rovers take it’s place.

Of course we had the other week when I arrived at the ground just as the game was being called off due to waterlogging, and then, with Guernsey due in town for the first Saturday in April, my thoughts were that surely nothing could go wrong?

We were down for the weekend, driving down to London on the Saturday morning and then staying overnight in Covent Garden, before returning home on Sunday. Mrs H was going to the theatre on the Saturday afternoon to see James Norton get his kit off, while I was going to jump on the train to Hanworth and finally get a game in.

It all looked good, until the preceding two days when the rains fell, and as soon as Hanworth announced they were having a pitch inspection on the Friday night due to Guernsey having an early flight, I knew full well the game was going to be off.

So, noting all of the above, I needed a game within the boundaries of the M25, accessible easily by public transport, ideally on a plastic pitch because of the weather and the forward forecast, and, it needed to be a new venue for me.

Some nifty research pointed me in the direction of a few options, I started by looking at Broadfields United who were playing Egham Town in the Combined Counties League, and that was happening on the plastic at Rayners Lane, an easy one to get to. I also found Park View v Wivenhoe Town in the Eastern Counties League and that was taking place at the River Lane Sports Stadium on White Hart Lane. An easy one to get to in terms of the train, but a bit of a walk to the ground.

The one that really caught my eye though was the game that turned out to be not much more than a twenty minute tube ride from Covent Garden, and then a short fifteen minute walk from Canada Water to the St Pauls Sports Ground on Salter Lane. Fisher v Kennington in the Southern Counties East League, or the Kent League as it was formerly known.

Yes, that ticked the boxes on all levels, plus, Fisher are the new incarnation of the club that once sky rocketed through the leagues in the late Eighties called Fisher Athletic. That therefore gave me an opportunity to do some research into the clubs intriguing history, but more on that later.

After leaving Mrs H in a queue for the Harold Pinter Theatre just off of Leicester Square, it was up to the tube for a short journey along to Green Park where a Jubilee Line train would take me South of the river via Waterloo and London Bridge into the heart of the docklands at Canada Water.

Canada Water is a sizeable place it appears, in fact the train, bus and underground station is a bit of a beast in itself. Located within the area of Rotherhithe, almost in the centre of it in fact, and North of Surrey Quays, then with Bermondsey further West along the Thames, it’s an area that looks to have been hugely redeveloped from it’s days of being, well, a dock I guess. And now it’s all about commerce, retail and of course housing. The name Canada Water is actually derived from a lake, called guess what? Anyway, I then had to take a fifteen minute walk to the ground.

Twenty minutes later I was getting somewhat annoyed with myself, for some reason I found myself walking round aimlessly on a housing estate, finding road names on my phone but not seeming to be able to compute them with what I could see in front of my eyes. To cut a long story short, I decided to take a breath, then work out my bearings and plan a route, it worked, and at ten to two I was crossing over Salter Road to the St Pauls Sports Ground.

Taking a map view of the location of the Fisher FC ground, the old Surrey Docks Stadium that the clubs former incarnation played it was on the other side of the road and a couple of hundred yards or so to the West. In simple terms, they've moved across the road! I never went to the old ground, but I do recall reading about a crowd of over 4,000 being in attendance for a game against Barnet, in the season when the North London side were on the way to promotion to the Football League.

So what's the story then of this unique football club?

I'll be honest, I genuinely thought in a somewhat ignorant fashion that the name 'Fisher' was in some way linked to the docks and fishing. Turns it that's got absolutely nothing to do with it, Fisher Athletic were formed in 1908 by a schoolmaster who wanted to create a sports club for the underprivileged children of the Bermondsey area. The club were named after the Catholic martyr Saint John Fisher, who himself had nothing to do with the fishing industry, and in turn became one of the very few clubs in the World named after a person.

Playing in the local leagues for many years, the club joined the London Spartan League in 1975, winning it twice in 1981 and 1982. The second championship saw them elected to the Southern League Southern Division, which was won at the first attempt, and then as a Southern League Premier Division side they reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in 1985 losing 1-0 at home to Bristol City.

The Premier Division title was won in 1987 and with it came promotion to the top flight of non-league football, the Conference. Bristol Rovers received a visit in the clubs next foray into the FA Cup proper, but by 1991 the club were relegated back to the Southern League Premier Division, and then a year later, another drop came back to the Southern Division. 

The early Noughties saw an upturn in the clubs fortunes, and they did find themselves back in the Conference South at one stage, however in May 2009 the club were wound up the High Court with significant monies owed (£250,000 the reported figure). However, a new club was formed, playing at Dulwich Hamlet's ground, and the newly named Fisher FC started life in the Kent League, which eventually became the Southern Counties East League. The move to the St Pauls Sports Ground took place in 2016.

It is also worth pointing out that Fisher FC is actually the fourth name that the club(s) have had since it's formation. The Fisher Athletic name changed to Fisher 93, in err, 1993, but by 1996 they had become known as Fisher Athletic (London). 

The ground is tidy. Once through the turnstiles to the right you have a seated stand sitting on the halfway line, while next to it running right the way up to the corner flag to your left is the dressing rooms and clubhouse complex, which was selling cans of locally brewed beers. Behind the West goal is a small area of terracing while the rest of the ground is open hard standing. If you look out behind the East goal you do get magnificent views of the towers in Canary Wharf, which provide a pretty spectacular backdrop.

I must also say what a superbly friendly bunch they were too, from the turnstile, to the bar, everyone wanted a chat. The club reminded me a little of the experiences I had at places like Corinthian Casuals, Whitehawk and Dulwich Hamlet, where enthusiastic and passionate volunteers went the extra mile to make visitors welcome. The supporters were also a very passionate bunch, loving a good sing song while surrounded by a fine array of flags.

We were treated to a very good game as well. In front of a crowd of 157, the visitors took the lead somewhat against the run of play just before half time when Liam Whiting scored with a header. The hosts equalised just after the break through Darnelle Bailey King who volleyed home, but with twenty minutes to go Kennington took the lead for a second time when Rajan Sahni scored with a low shot.

Fisher upped the ante and equalised almost immediately through Isaac Thompson who curled home a beauty from outside the box, and then as we moved into the final minute the comeback was complete when Thompson found the net again for the winner with a calm far post finish.

The journey back to Canada Water was a lot more straightforward, this time walking past Mayflower Park which is the site of the former Surrey Docks Stadium (nothing remains). The tube connections were fine and by 5.45pm I was walking out of Leicester Square station.  

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at a club with quite a story, and had it not been for the bad weather and Hanworth's dodgy pitch, I might never have got the chance to pay them a visit.