Molesey

Molesey FC is a non-league football club that represents the town of the same name in the Borough of Elmbridge on the banks of the River Thames, around thirteen miles southwest of central London.

While the history of the game in the town goes back to the turn of the twentieth century, the club was officially formed in 1953 following the merger of Molesey St Paul's with another local side, Molesey United, moving into a new ground on Walton Road.

 

Molesey won the Surrey Intermediate League in their debut season, to progress to the Surrey Senior League, of which the 'Moles' were crowned champions in 1957-58. The success led to a spell in the Spartan League, before joining the Athenian League in 1973 as members of Division Two.

In 1977 Molesey joined the newly formed Division Two of the Isthmian League, going on to win promotion in 1989-90 under manager Martin Ede, after they had earlier reached the last eight of the FA Vase in 1981-82.

 

The 1990s saw the club at the peak of their powers as they won promotion to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League in 1992-93 and also reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1993-94 which ended in a 4-0 home defeat to Bath City. The run of success would end following the 1995-96 season.

Despite the team finishing outside the relegation places, they were demoted as the Walton Road ground was deemed to be not up to FA standards. In 1998-99 the Moles went back down to Division Two.

 

Clive Walker arrived as manager, while Walton Road was used as a location in the movie “Bend It Like Beckham.” A further demotion to the Combined Counties League occurred in 2007-08 before the club regrouped under manager Steve Webb.

Promotion from the Premier Division of the competition was achieved in 2014-15 as Molesey went up to Division One South of the Isthmian League. Peter Lelliott was appointed as manager in the summer of 2017 before being succeeded by Sean Boothe a year later.

 

Craig Lewington soon replaced the new man but couldn’t save his side from relegation in 2019-20. Worse was to follow after the two abandoned seasons owing to the worldwide pandemic, as the club was relegated to Division One in 2021-22.

Former boss Webb had stepped into the breach before being replaced by Warren Burton in October 2021. He lasted until the following February when Peter Doherty was appointed. His side finished the 2023-24 season in sixth spot, missing out on a playoff place on goal difference.

Molesey FC will play in the Combined Counties League Division One in the 2024-25 season

My visits

Tuesday 6th September 2006

It was a pleasant late summers day and I had the day off work and I was in the formative days of collecting photos of new grounds. The day turned into a great way of exercise at the same time. My previous call was to Metropolitan Police at Imber Court, just over a mile away from the Walton Road home of The Moles.

A gent was working at the ground, but he welcomed me to go through the open gates to collect my snaps. I was most impressed, not least by the raised Main Stand with flat standing in front, and open sections on either side. 

The far end had a small cover over the centre section. The opposite touchline was partly covered by a low roof which backed onto the ground perimeter fencing. The near goal was flat-open standing. 

Once my task was done I headed down some suburban streets opposite to the south bank of The Thames, to continue my day with a long walk along a footpath to the home of Walton Casuals FC.

Molesey 1 Walton Casuals 0 (Tuesday 30th July 2013) Mick Burgess Memorial Trophy (att: approx 100)

I have always found selecting pre-season friendlies quite difficult in terms of finding a game with a competitive edge at a venue where I hadn't previously seen a game. This was to be my first outing of the 2013-14 season. 

I was impressed with Walton Road on my previous call, plus the attraction of seeing the match was for being played for a trophy and having a 7.30pm kick-off, made my mind up about where to head.

The train from Waterloo dropped me at Kingston-upon-Thames from where I jumped on board the 411 bus. My timing was ideal as I arrived to pay my £6 admission, as well as an extra quid for a steady programme around twenty minutes before the start. The crowd was small initially but grew as kick-off neared and even began.

A fine cheeseburger for £3, along with a tea for an additional £1 provided me with sustenance as I clambered up the stairs into the Main Stand to enjoy my feed and read the programme. The match was played in memory of Mick Burgess. 

He had previously played for and managed Molesey as well as assisting Walton Casuals in their early years. He had been mayor of Elmbridge and sounded like an all-round top bloke. The match was played each season at alternate home venues of the two clubs in his honour.

It was a warm and sunny evening as I surveyed the scene. Walton Road was now called The Hand Stadium after a local sponsorship deal. The end to my left was now just flat open grass with hedges and bushes some way back. A small cover had been placed behind the Walton Road goal.

I hope that Mick Burgess had a sense of humour. The ref had blown his whistle to start the minute's silence in his honour. Unfortunately, the PA man seemed unaware as he read out the substitutes. The ref blew his whistle so the silence was given a second go. 

The match was certainly competitive as challenges went flying in. Casuals nearly went ahead on fifteen minutes, but the header went over. They also hit the post after Liam Collins dithered and delayed his shot. Molesey were giving it their best against their opponents from a division above.

At half-time, I went inside the roomy clubhouse, which seemed geared up for getting the community involved for a pint of keg OBB from the Sam Smith's Brewery. It wasn't fantastic, but fair enough at £2.50.

I had noted that the Casuals centre-back Martin Dynan looked to take his clubs name literally, and so it proved just after the break as the impressive Hanif Boyle dispossessed him and fed Matt Baxter who rolled in Ross Chalke to slot the ball home past the visiting custodian Louis Bragg. Tackles increased and the mood became fractious in parts following the goal. 

Molesey should have doubled their lead, but Boyle had his effort turned around the post by Bragg following more shoddy defensive work from the visiting rearguard. Soon afterwards Walton made wholesale changes to their team.

Casuals got their collective heads together towards full-time. A header went just over the home bar, before they had a stone walled penalty appeal turned down. They carried on piling on the pressure and saw a header come back off the underside of the bar and scrambled away.

However, it was to be Molesey's evening. At full time I walked most of the way back up Walton Road before jumping on the bus to Kingston and then the train to Vauxhall. I was back home around 11pm, after having a really good night out. It had been a really good start to the new season.