Chertsey Town

Chertsey Town FC is a non-league club based in the commuter town of the same name, which is located twenty-nine km southwest of London. The club were formed in 1890 as Chertsey FC, playing in local county competitions.

The club has played at various locations within the parish; Willow Walk, Free Prae Road, Staines Lane and Chilsey Green, before settling down at their present home of Alwyns Lane in 1929. The suffix ‘Town’ was added to its title some twenty-one years later.

Chertsey accumulated a period of championship wins in the Surrey Senior League, which led to the club turning semi-professional and moving into the Metropolitan League in 1963. However, the costs proved prohibitive so they joined the Greater London League for a season, and then the Spartan League in 1967.

After spells in the London Spartan and Athenian Leagues, Chertsey joined the Isthmian League in 1984. They soon suffered a relegation to the Combined Counties League, but quickly regained their place. 

The 90's saw a fine run which led to promotions all the way to the Premier Division. Gradually the side and indeed the club saw a decline after a couple of seasons at the top, ending in relegation back to the Combined Counties League in 2006.

'The Curfews' gradually improved on the pitch after several seasons in the Combined Counties League. They finished runners-up at the end of the 2010-11 season under the managership of the controversial Spencer Day but were promoted to the Southern League that season's champions, Guildford City didn't meet the required FA ground grading requirements.

Day departed for Farnborough after a promising start to the season, taking seven members of the first team with him. Despite this the team managed a position of safety at the end of the season. After three seasons in the Southern League the side was relegated at the completion of the 2013-14 season and returned to the Combined Counties League.

The Curfews had a succession of three seasons battling to preserve their Premier Division place, with the team completing the 2016-17 season in nineteenth position. Former chairman, David Raynor returned to the club and appointed Dave Anderson in 2018 to oversea a huge upturn in fortunes.

Jake Baxter put away the goals in 2018-19 as the Curfews raced to the CCL Premier Division title but the campaign will be more remembered for the incredible FA Vase run. The likes of Redbridge, AFC St Austell, Irlam, West Auckland Town, and then Northwich Victoria in the semifinal were all defeated.

This led to a final at Wembley against Cray Valley PM who were defeated 3-1. Chertsey, captained by Kevin Maclaren, netted through Baxter, Sam Flegg, and Quincy Rowe. The team then joined Division One South Central of the Isthmian League, but their progress was put on hold owing to two abandoned seasons.

Maclaren was installed as player-boss after Anderson retired after the iconic season before Ian Selby arrived as manager in November 2021. He took the side to the playoffs in 2012-22 where they were defeated in the final by Hanwell Town after earlier defeating Basingstoke Town.

Selby was replaced by Wayne Carter who didn’t last long, leading to Anderson coming out of retirement before the appointment of Mark Harper in the summer of 2023. In his first season in charge, Chertsey lifted the league title to win promotion to the Southern League Premier Division South.

Chertsey Town FC will compete in the Southern League Premier Division South in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Chertsey Town 3 Bishop's Stortford 5 (Thursday 30th December 1999) Isthmian League Division One

I was off work for the Christmas break when a fixture caught my eye. Chertsey Town were to host Bishop's Stortford in an Isthmian League Division One match on Thursday 30th December 1999. The significance of this date meant that it was the last senior fixture to be played in the UK in the last millennium.

I travelled to the pretty town of Chertsey by train and quickly lost my bearings and got lost. A local soon put me right and I was soon enjoying a beer in the clubhouse. There was an above average crowd for the game (around 300) including quite a few couples.

Unfortunately, the visitors had some supporters who found it amusing to shout what they thought to be witty comments at them, like calling out bingo numbers and phrases as they obviously thought that's where they should have been. I got behind the home side pretty soon after that. Chertsey struck me as a welcoming family club and Alwyns Lane was a nice venue.

As I entered in one corner the end behind the goal to my right, The Alwyns Lane End, had a basic roof over a couple of steps of terracing, while opposite it (The Gogmore End) was open standing. The near-side touchline had a lovely Main Stand across the halfway line with good views of the pitch. 

On one side was the clubhouse and on the other, changing rooms, both flanked by a couple of steps of open terracing. The far Cricket Club Side had a bus shelter-like roof over the middle section with open standing on either side. Everything was neat and orderly.

The game itself was excellent, ending in a 5-3 win to Bishop's Stortford. I just missed a train so I had a brief window shop in some quaint shops, one of which sold football memorabilia. It was a cold night so I wasn't upset when the train eventually arrived.

September 2006

I returned on a bright afternoon in 2006 on a whistle-stop tour of many grounds and long walks to take the photos included on this page.