Egham Town

Egham Town FC is a non-league football club based on the edge of the Surrey town of the same name, which is located twenty miles southwest of central London.

The current club were formed in 1963, but football in the town goes back much further. Runnymeade Rovers were formed back in 1877, before being reformed as Egham FC in 1905. The club had spells in the Surrey Senior League and then the Spartan League, before disbanding upon the outbreak of World War Two.

It took until the 60s before a public meeting decided to form a new club, with the local council offering land for a new ground off Tempest Road. After a season in the Parthenon League, and then a couple in the Surrey Senior League, ‘The Sarnies’ secured a place in the Spartan League.

The 1971-72 campaign saw Egham crowned as league champions, which led to a place in the Athenian League for 1974-75. Town came close to another crown, ending as runners-up in 1975-76. In 1977-79 the club became members of Division Two of the Isthmian League. 

Over the years the Runnymeade Stadium was developed into a fine venue as Egham plied their trade in the lower divisions of the Isthmian League being relegated to Division Three in 1997-98. The goals of  Clayton Whittle helped the side reach a position so that they were allocated a place in Division One South of the Isthmian League for the 2002-03 season.

Following the re-organisation of non-league football, the club were placed in the Western Division of the Southern League for 2004-05. This move was soon reversed after just one season. Unfortunately, the Sarnies were relegated to the Combined Counties League in their first season back. 

Former player Steve Baker took over as manager from Jack McKinlay in 2008-09, with fourth place being achieved in 2009-10 thanks to the goals of John Pomroy, with the performance repeated in 2011-12 after the appointment of John Hansher as manager with Dale Marvell leading the scoring. 

The Sarnies pipped Guernsey to the championship in 2012-13 winning promotion back to the Southern League where they were placed in Division One Central after Lee Passmore was appointed as manager in September 2012. He departed in October 2014 with team captain Luke Muldowney replacing him. He was replaced before the end of the season by Koo Dumbuya.

Coach Trevor Norris and Dumbuya switched roles before Gary Meakin was given the job. In 2015-16 Egham reached the playoffs, losing their semifinal tie with St Ives Town on penalties in a season in which the prolific Brandan Matthew excelled. Chris Moore and Wayne Carter took charge during the 2017-18 season after Meakin departed for Beaconsfield Town.

Towards the end of the campaign, Simon Lane arrived as the new manager before the club was transferred to Division One South Central of the Isthmian League in 2018-19, with Lane departing early in the piece. Assistant Ashley Smith took up the reins before being replaced by Dickson Gill whose disastrous spell led to the appointment of Carl Palmer.

He couldn't save the team, with the Sarnies relegated in 2019-20 to resume life in the Combined Counties League after two abandoned seasons owing to the pandemic. As a Premier Division North side Egham brought in Tony Choules before the club suffered a major setback when saw vandals burn out a stand and the changing rooms.

Fans raised the cash for replacements before Choules resigned to be replaced by Jordan Berry, another former Sarnies player.  The team finished third in 2021-22 and then runners-up in 2022-23, going on to lose their inter-step playoff to Merstham. The duo of Manny Williams and Jay Gasson replaced the departing Berry for 2023-24.

They were soon replaced by Harrison Williams who was succeeded by Ben Peden and Adam Humphries before Berry returned from a spell at Harrow Borough to lead the side.

Egham Town FC will play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division North in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Tuesday 6th September 2006

My day of groundhopping was nearly complete on a pleasant late summer’s day. I had walked plenty of miles and was starting to tire. After calling at Chertsey Town, I alighted from my train at Egham station and walked a further mile onwards under the M25 to Tempest Road.

I had no idea what to expect, so the Runnymeade Stadium came as a pleasant surprise. Although the gates were locked, I managed to get some decent views to take photos.

The Main Stand was a low-seated affair on the near halfway line. Opposite was a long low terraced cover. The Clubhouse End was similar, while a small cover stood behind the far goal. The rest of the ground consisted of open hard standing.

After taking my photos I went on my way. Fortunately, a bus at nearby Pooley Green took me to Staines, which saved another long walk. I was not upset by this!

Egham Town 1 Rugby Town 1 (Tuesday 3rd December 2013) Southern League Division One Central (att:82)

After finishing my set of nights at work I wanted a decent game but also to get back relatively quickly for a beer. After studying the fixtures, the game between Egham and Rugby fitted the bill. The home side were finding life tough at their new level, whereas the visitors from Warwickshire came into the game in second place.

I had previously got lost between the bus and train stations in Staines, so I did extra planning before setting off. This time there were no mistakes. I found the correct bus, which dropped me at Pooley Green for a reasonable £1.70. A quick walk over the park took me to Pond Road and then Wards Place through the large car park to the turnstiles.

Admission was a very reasonable £7, which included a decent enough programme. It was a cold evening but I resisted the tea bar, which was just opening next to the seated stand. The teams emerged from either side, and I took up a position under the cover on the opposite halfway line. The stadium remained unaltered since my previous visit.

An Egham coach was stood nearby cajoling his players from behind the barrier. The standard of play was good, and there were plenty of crunching challenges going in from both sides. The referee was excellent as he spoke to the players like adults and generally helped them through the game.

It was nip and tuck for the first thirty minutes. The Sarnies were holding their own, despite Rugby creating a couple of half chances. Just before the interval, Rudgby’s Alex Gudger tripped home forward Ryan O’Toole as he was going away from goal. The ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. O’Toole dusted himself down and smashed home from twelve yards.

At the break, I treated myself to a beer and a whisky for medicinal reasons in the cosy clubhouse. On my return, it was time for some food. My hot dog and a Bovril set me back £3.50. The older visiting fans stood down the side and gave the linesman some real stick over some decisions. Their bench also joined in, but the ref defused the situation expertly.

The excellent O’Toole had an effort superbly pushed onto the crossbar by visiting custodian Niall Cooper, before coming close with a thirty-yard lob. The Sarnies' defence was snuffing out the previously potent visiting attack.

I departed with a couple of minutes to go, as seeing out full-time would necessitate a long wait for a later bus. Instead, I ran across the park and caught the 9.39 service. As luck would have it, I missed the Rugby equaliser, which was apparently turned into his own net by Arran Taylor-Ives.

Meanwhile, I managed to catch the train towards London, but instead of staying on until Waterloo, I managed a master stroke and jumped out at Richmond to catch the London Overground round to Brondesbury. It saved me some good time, and I was back in the pub in Kingsbury by 11.10.