Redhill

Redhill FC is a non-league football club who were formed in 1894 and represents the commuter town of the same name, which is located twenty miles south of London. The club initially played in friendly games for their first four seasons, moving into their town centre Memorial Ground in 1896, before taking part in several regional leagues before joining the London League in 1922.

Two years later, the 'Reds' gained acceptance to the Athenian League, where they established a name as one of the most highly respected clubs in the south of England. They were crowned league champions in 1924-25 after finishing runners-up the previous season. 

Redhill went on from their success to reach the semi-final of the FA Amateur Cup, before losing 7-1 to Northern Nomads at Highbury in front of 17,000 fans. The team were severely hampered after their keeper was injured early on and they were reduced to ten men. 

The team tried to stem the tide and on several occasions, they kicked the ball out of the ground, to cries of "Redhill" from both sets of supporters. This tradition is still carried on at some grounds when a clearance leaves the ground.

The club's old Memorial Ground
picture scanned from a book

The club ended as league runners-up for another couple of seasons before war broke out. After the conflict, they resumed in the Athenian League. In 1948 a strong Chelsea team was defeated 4-2 in a friendly at the Memorial Ground, and the following year Arsenal came to town after Redhill provided them with the talented duo of Colin Grimshaw and Bernard Sexton.

In 1957-58 Redhill reached the FA Cup first round after seeing off Tooting & Mitcham United before Norwich City put them out with a 6-1 win at Carrow Road. Star youngster Ray Hutchins won a couple of England youth caps while with the club in the early 60's, while the club were relegated to the league's second tier before winning their place back in 1967.

After many years of inconsistency, Redhill won the last ever Athenian League title in 1983-84 before it was disbanded. The club were placed in the London Spartan League for the following season as the club was asked to leave the Memorial Ground and move two miles south to the undeveloped Kiln Brow, meaning a move to a higher league was not possible.

Redhill gradually developed Kiln Brow, but it was a hard slog before they moved to the Sussex County League for the start of the 1988-89 season. In 1994 a competition was held to find an alternative nickname to The Reds which saw the 'Lobsters' being adopted. Two years later the team were promoted back to Division One after an earlier relegation.

Several managers had a go at trying to deliver honours to the club, without ever looking likely to achieving their goals. Meanwhile, off-the-pitch developments continued with the newly seated Alan Thirbeck Stand being erected in 2008 and a new turnstile block followed a couple of years later. 

The work paid off as Redhill were awarded a grade sufficient to be promoted to the next level if the team did their job on the pitch. Former youth team boss Mike Maher was appointed as team manager in February 2012 to replace Simon Colbran in an attempt to bring back the glory days of the club. 

The move proved successful as The Lobsters finished as Sussex County League runners-up in 2012-13 and won promotion to the Isthmian League. However, Redhill's stay at the higher level lasted just two seasons. 

In 2015, former Football League star Gavin Gordon was appointed as player-manager, remaining in the role until March 2019 when he stepped aside and was replaced by Barry Wilde. the 2019-20 season, which was eventually abandoned, in the same way as the following campaign. 

Harrison Williams became manager during that period. The side returned to full action in the Premier Division South of the enlarged Combined Counties League, finishing sixth in 2021-22. In February 2023 Jordan Clark was appointed as manager, with his first full season in charge seeing the team narrowly miss out on a playoff position.

Redhill FC will play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division South in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Thursday 25th October 2012

Having sped past Redhill on several occasions on the way to Gatwick or the south coast, I decided it was time to have a closer look at Kiln Brow. My opportunity knocked after finishing work for what was to be a memorable long weekend in Germany to enjoy the beautiful game, and the wonders that the great country offers.

I was to stay at the Ibis Hotel just south of Gatwick so that I could catch an early flight the next morning, so I alighted at Redhill station on the way and took the 100 bus which dropped me virtually outside the ground.

The club's car park was being used by the nearby East Surrey Hospital and the gates were locked into the ground. I could still see inside from near the clubhouse and after investigation, I found a gap in the fence behind the goal.

Kiln Brow was a decent if unspectacular venue. Down the entrance side, there were various small buildings housing facilities, with the Alan Thirbeck Stand on the halfway line. There was some hard standing all the way around the pitch as well as open grass. The dugouts were on the far side of the pitch. 

Covered standing came by way of a section near to the corner flag which contained a few steps of terracing. There was obvious scope for expansion and further development. I left the ground and with there being a twenty-minute wait for the next bus south, I set off walking before boarding and visiting Horley Town before checking in at my accommodation.

Redhill 0 Tooting & Mitcham United 3 (Saturday 2^nd November 2013) Isthmian League Division One South (att: 158)

Having returned from my fabulous adventure in Thailand and working night shifts, I needed an afternoon out at a non-league game to get back into things. Having already visited Redhill a year or so earlier to take photos of Kiln Brow, I thought it high time I took in a game there.

My train from Victoria dropped me at Redhill around 2.20, just as the 100 bus pulled in opposite the bus station. All was going to plan! It was nice to turn up at a non-league Step 4 venue and see a queue at the turnstiles. Admission was £8, with an extra quid for a decent enough programme.

It was soon apparent that at least half the crowd were supporting the visiting Terrors of Tooting, who were wearing their away colours of blue and white. The sun had come out after several earlier heavy showers. A fan commented that the referee was close to calling the game off. 

Indeed, the pitch was heavy in places, but surely not enough to consider a postponement? I was glad the official in question didn’t ref in the ’70s and 80’s as there would have definitely been fixture congestion.

Tooting started off playing some very neat football, which underlined their recent good run of results, under their young articulate manager; Craig Tanner. It was proving too much for the Redhill rearguard when a tremendous move split open the home defence leading to a foul on Harry Knock and a penalty. 

Some Tooting fans demanded a red card for the offender, but I personally thought that the ref got it spot on with a yellow. Sol Pinnock slotted home the penalty. Within a few minutes, Redhill went up the other end, resulting in the visiting custodian Gareth Williams pulling off a wonder save. 

The ball was cleared and eventually found its way to Cecil Gee who broke the offside trap and went on to blast the ball past Max Hunter in the home net. Redhill’s defenders continued to make some clumsy challenges. 

Kevant Sebony forced the ref to point to the spot once again as he rashly brought down Francis Quarm. Hunter saved his colleague's blushes as he kept out Pinnock from twelve yards. It was fair to say that the home supporters were not massively impressed with their charges

Yet they were to become even more aggrieved when with just thirty-three minutes on the clock, they somehow managed to concede a third penalty. It was difficult for me not to laugh, and even some Redhill fans had entered into dark humour. This time Jordan Cheadle blasted home the spot kick to make it 3-0 as an old boy booted the perimeter fence in disgust.

At the interval, I popped inside the homely clubhouse, but settled for a mug of tea and a cheeseburger from the friendly folk manning the tea hut, once the queues started to diminish. To their credit, the Lobsters came out after the break and gave it a real go to salvage something from the game, as they changed to just three men at the back. 

They managed to create a few half chances, but Tooting held firm, while also creating an occasional chance on the break as their usual vociferous fans continued to bark out support. A couple stood next to me and asked the score as they had just come in for a look after an hour. 

They couldn’t believe it when I told them. It was the proverbial game of two halves, only without goals in the second period. The bus arrived at just past 5pm. I got chatting to a Tooting fan who travelled to matches from his Leicester home. 

Fortunately, the bus got back to the station in time for me to catch the fast 5.18 train back to the metropolis, allowing me a decent shut-eye before my next shift at work. I was back in the swing and any holiday cobwebs had been well and truly blown away.