Leatherhead

Leatherhead FC is a non-league football club from the town in Surrey of the same name, which is located on the River Mole just south of the M25. The club was formed in 1907 as Leatherhead Rose, playing in local league competition. Another club also existed in the town, Leatherhead United, which played at Fetcham Grove.

Following World War II, the two clubs joined forces and became members of the Surrey Senior League for the 1946-47 season. After being crowned champions for four consecutive seasons, The 'Tanners’ moved to the Metropolitan & District League for the 1950-51 campaign. However, after just one season, Leatherhead became a founder member of the Delphian League.

1958 saw another change in competition with a move to the Corinthian League, where the club won the title in 1962-63, before the league was disbanded, meaning joining yet another league. The Athenian League expanded to two divisions, with Leatherhead winning it at the first attempt, winning promotion to the Premier Division.

The Tanners' cup pedigree was born in 1970-71 as they lost 3-0 in the semi-final of the FA Amateur Cup to eventual winners Skelmersdale United at Burnden Park, Bolton. A year later, the club moved to the Isthmian League, before reaching the last four in the last ever Amateur Cup in 1974, this time losing to Ilford by the only goal at Millwall. Nobby Skinner was the goal-scoring hero of that era, but he was to be outdone soon after.

The 1974-75 season would see Leatherhead make national headlines. After seeing off Croydon, Hornchurch, Dagenham, and then Walton & Hersham, they reached round one of the FA Cup, where Bishop’s Stortford, after a replay, and then Colchester United were beaten at Fetcham Grove. 

A trip down to the coast resulted in a 1-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion, with Leatherhead rewarded with a tie against top-tier Leicester City. The star of the show was the charismatic goal scorer Chris Kelly, who was christened as ‘The Leatherhead Lip’ as he willingly talked up his team. 

The fourth round clash was moved from Fetcham Grove to Filbert Street, where a crowd of 32,000, as well as the Match of the Day cameras, turned out. Leatherhead went 2-0 up, and Kelly had a goal-bound shot scrambled off the line to make it three, before Leicester eventually wore down the non-league resistance to go through 3-2.

To see Kelly’s solo goal at the Goldstone Ground, click here. Further conquests in the FA Cup followed, including further second-round appearances, with Tooting & Mitcham United in 1975-76, and Wimbledon in 1976-77, ending the runs.

The 1977-78 campaign finally saw Leatherhead reach Wembley Stadium. After defeating Spennymoor United over two legs in the semi-final, The Tanners lined up against Altrincham, but lost out 3-1 in front of the Twin Towers.

Gradually, the team dismantled before Leatherhead were relegated for the first time in 1982-83. A further demotion came seven years later. In 1996-97, the club returned to Division One but went back down four years later. Serious financial concerns hit the club in 1999, but supporters rallied to secure a new long-term lease at Fetcham Grove.

Following league reorganisation, Leatherhead were placed in Division One South for the 2002-03 season, before going on to reach the FA Cup first round for the first time in twenty-six years, before bowing out to Torquay United. In 2009-10, the team lost out to Folkestone Invicta in the playoffs.

However, the Tanners were not to be denied for much longer as they went up in May 2011 in a dramatic playoff final against Dulwich Hamlet. Leatherhead were 3-1 down going into injury time before Kevin Terry scored twice to take the game to extra time. Terry completed his hat-trick in the additional period as the club won promotion to the Premier Division.

Unfortunately, their spell lasted just one season before the club returned with Richard Brady as boss to try and win promotion from Division One South. Leatherhead suffered from terrible flooding in January 2014, but soon pulled together to get the show back on the road.

Despite having six points deducted, the Tanners reached the playoffs, defeating Guernsey and then Folkestone Invicta on penalties to win promotion to the Premier Division, where the club consolidated their place with three mid-table finishes.

Former Premier League midfielder Jimmy Bullard took over as team manager in September 2016, taking the team from a place near the relegation places to a safe finish. He was replaced in May 2017 by player-manager Sammy Moore, the former AFC Wimbledon and Leyton Orient midfielder. 

He took the side to the second round of the FA Cup in 2017-18, eventually going out away to Wycombe Wanderers. Nikki Bull was appointed to replace Moore in the summer of 2018. The team was relegated in 2021-22 following the arrival of new manager Luke Tuffs, who almost salvaged a desperate situation.

With the Tanners in the South Central Division of the Isthmian League, Hayden Bird was brought in as manager early in the campaign, narrowly missing out on a playoff place. He departed to be replaced by former Arsenal star Ian Selley, who led his charges to eighth place in 2024-25, before they were promoted to the Premier Division as champions a year later.

Leatherhead FC will play in the Isthmian League Premier Division in the 2026-27 season.

My visits

Friday 3rd November 2006

With the weekend off work and heading to Droylsden v Scarborough the following day, I decided to get out and about and see some new places and football clubs on a bright winter's day.

After calling at Dorking’s Meadowbank ground, I caught the no.465 bus to Leatherhead. I found the ground easily enough as the bus went past the lane to the entrance. The ground was open, so I could go inside and take some pictures.

Fetcham Grove was a smart venue, though a little less underdeveloped than I had expected. Two low stands with seating and standing accommodation ran down the length of one side, with the clubhouse and changing rooms behind. 

There was another small cover behind the near end goal, but the rest of the ground was open, hard standing with grass, some of which sloped towards the pitch beyond. Once I’d finished, I walked to the railway station and took a bus in a westerly direction to my next port of call, Chessington & Hook United.

Leatherhead 2 Horsham 1 (Wednesday 26th February 2014) Isthmian League Division One South (att: 245)

I’d had my eye on heading to Fetcham Grove for some time for a game. Just a couple of weeks earlier, I’d been thwarted by the weather as the match had been called off because of a waterlogged pitch. The club had been terribly hit by flooding at the turn of the year, so they’d done really well to have any games staged for some time.

It was my day off, but my adventures at the Carshalton v Dulwich game the night before had left me extremely jaded. Eventually, I dragged myself up and got to Waterloo to take a packed surface towards the Surrey commuter belt for the second night running.

I’d read that Chapeltom, another regular poster on the invaluable Non League Matters Forum, was heading to the game. His posts also revealed he enjoyed a real ale or two, so I got in touch with him on Twitter. We ended up meeting in the rather posh Wetherspoons Assembly Rooms in Epsom, where my Sambrooks Wandle Bitter was in top order.

We arrived at Fetcham Grove after negotiating several awkward crossings in a town where there didn’t appear to be a speed limit. Because of the backlog of fixtures, Leatherhead reduced admission to a very welcome £5, with the decent programme setting me back another couple of quid.

Tom headed round to the grass bank on the far side while I went in search of much-needed nutrition. The two ladies in the snack bar were surprised by the size of the queue, which meant a bit of a wait, but they sorted it with good humour. The cheeseburger and chips were excellent for £4.

Following the food, I had a look along the main side. The three covers had been cleverly placed so that everyone, including those in the seats, had a full view of the pitch, which had a few yards of turf up to the wall at the front. The rooms on either side of the toilets showed terrible signs of the floods. The cleaning process had begun.

The atmosphere created by both sets of fans was friendly, but they also got behind their side. One home fan gave a resigned groan as the referee pulled over the Tanners' manager, Richard Brady, for his feedback. 

I got the impression that this was not an unusual occurrence. Predictably enough, the ref gave the away side most close calls, and who could blame him? Horsham deservedly took the lead as they were making a mockery of the league table. 

The Hornets were towards the bottom of the table. I’d seen them concede five at Worthing a couple of weeks previously. Leatherhead were in second place and hoping to put pressure on leaders Peacehaven & Telscombe.

The goal came through some fine football in eighteen minutes as Jamie Cade gave and received a return ball before smashing home. The Hornets created plenty of other scares to go with it and missed a really good opportunity to double their lead, while Leatherhead huffed and puffed without getting too far.

I met up with Tom, who’d kept a close eye on proceedings. His impression was that the game was of good quality, but lacking in goalmouth action. At the interval, we walked round and took up a position on the covered terrace near the end that the home side hoped to attack.

Brady made a couple of smart halftime changes; in particular, bringing on Theo Fairweather-Johnson up front on the right. He immediately livened up the play and gave the Horsham rearguard something to think about.

The equaliser came on sixty-three minutes as Fairweather-Johnson exchanged passes with Kev Terry to fire home from just inside the box to the joy of the ageing locals alongside us. Soon after, he scored what would turn out to be the winner as his first touch set him up to send an angled volley past Kieron Thorp in the visitors' net from the edge of the box.

Horsham nearly snatched a late leveller, but defender Jerry Nnamani hooked the goal-bound effort off the line. The full-time whistle was met with cheers as The Tanners closed the gap at the top of the league to just one point.

We headed into town for a post-match pint in Wetherspoons Edmund Tylney outlet, before dashing off for the train back to the metropolis. It had been a decent night out for the second evening in a row, again enhanced by being in good company.

Leatherhead 1 Hendon 2 (Wednesday 25th April 2018) Isthmian League Premier Division (att: 449)

What a night! I’d enjoyed myself no end the previous evening seeing Scarborough Athletic more or less secure the runners-up spot and promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division, and the night in Leatherhead more than matched it.

I met Steve Barnes at Kingsbury station to take the tube down to Waterloo, where we met Gerry, my voluntary colleague at Silver Jubilee Park and Neil, the long-term Hendon and Middlesex supporter. The 4.39 train got us to our destination in around 40 minutes.

We’d done some research in advance of the potential pubs, starting off in The Penny Black. This was a lovely old building with modern décor inside and plenty of attractive young people. It appeared to be the trendy place in town.

Despite that, we fitted in and enjoyed a reasonable couple of pints of TEA from the Hogs Back Brewery, albeit at high prices. Simon Cope and then Lee Cousins and his drinking mates soon joined us, along with other Dons fans. We headed down the hill to The Running Horse, which was a historic old building with a fantastic selection of ales. 

The Ranmore from Surrey Hills Brewery and a rare southern chance of IPA from Clarks of Wakefield were given the thumbs up. We left for the short walk to Fetcham Grove over the River Mole in good time. Admission was £10 with the programme a further couple of quid, once I’d located someone selling them. 

A good turnout of Hendon fans was in the bar and on the terraces for this huge game.

Leatherhead desperately needed a win get into the playoff spots, while Hendon needed just one point. However, if they won their final two matches and Folkestone Invicta failed to win their final match at Billericay, it would lead to a home semi-final.

Simon and I decided to go behind the goal the Dons were attacking, but went all the way around when it was possible to go out of the back of the clubhouse and around to the cover at that end. The walk probably did us good! The venue had been added to since my previous visits, with the addition of the extra cover behind the top goal. 

The whole ground was neat and a proper non-league football ground. The excellent visiting support was soon in good voice when a ball came into the area and into the net via Sam Murphy’s knee to make it 1-0 after eleven minutes. This was a great start in a game that the majority of our end would settle for a draw from.

The Tanners pressed forward, but passing and controlling the ball was difficult on a poor playing surface, which had plenty of grass but bobbles as well. Both teams saw many potential attacking moves come to nothing. The Dons looked good on the counterattack, but it was the hosts who had the majority of the play. 

Hendon conceded lots of corners and free kicks but defended like heroes from them, with Arthur Lee and Rian Bray in belligerent moods. It looked like Leatherhead had equalised when Tom Lovelock made a stop, but the ball had escaped him before he landed on it. The home fans celebrated as they thought the ball had crossed the line. 

My Soccerway App indicated a goal before correcting itself. Once again, the Don's keeper had come to the rescue. The pressure continued, but I was pretty confident that Hendon would break away and score again. Not everyone was as convinced. My beers had quelled any nerves. I tried a Pale Ale on keg from the bar just to make sure during the interval.

We headed down to the far end after the break, passing quite a few Hendon fans in the seats. Fetcham Grove did look well as the sun dropped, with the trees in full bloom surrounding the arena. However, the floodlights were not the brightest.

The pressure was cranked up by the hosts after the restart, with the Dons struggling to retain possession. The defence was holding firm, but the number of balls going into the area was increasing all the time. Being confident that they could hold out, I was disappointed when the leveller came. Another cross went across the Hendon box where Jack Midson headed home on sixty-three minutes. 

Lovelock pulled off two more top stops as nails were being bitten among the away following. Gary McCann rang the changes for Hendon to try and firm up the midfield that was in danger of being completely overrun. The Head continued to pour forward as the vocal fans increased the noise and offered feedback to us at the other end.

A major characteristic of a fantastic Hendon season was the character of the team and how they had belied their age by showing the strength of veterans. They never knew when they were beaten and scored many late goals. This was to be another occasion. Niko Muir hadn’t stopped working all night up front, and he put pressure on a central defender in the last minute of normal time. 

Josh Walker capitalised to win the ball and slot it past keeper Manny Agboola. It was absolute bedlam behind the goal. Strangers were jumping around and hugging each other. It was an amazing moment and matched Walker’s debut winner in stoppage time away to Dulwich earlier in the season.

It knocked the stuffing out of the home side and their supporters, who were offered return observations. Hendon saw out the four minutes of injury time without much worry. That said, the final whistle was still greeted wildly by fans and players alike. We gathered after giving the players a deserved ovation. 

Elation was high, and Steve and Simon were more than happy to continue the evening. Gerry wasn’t used to drinking, so he headed back to the station with the other fans. Steve had bumped into an old friend from speedway at the game, so we reconvened in the Running Horse for more fine ale and conversation with Andy and a Head and Leyton Orient fan. The locals were fantastic all evening.

We left for the ten-minute walk to the station and came across the jubilant management of Hendon with a few players in the Leatherhead Grill takeaway, which led to lots of noise and more celebrations. It was a fantastic moment. Fortunately, Simon remembered the way through the park, and we found the station with a few minutes to spare before the last train, with Lee and his gang cutting it even finer. 

We chatted with a couple of really nice Head fans for a few stops who’d also enjoyed a few beers. It was as well that Steve had travelled with me, or I could well have ended up at the northern end of the Bakerloo or Jubilee line if my mate hadn’t given me a couple of nudges. It had been a brilliant and memorable evening.

Whitehawk

Whitehawk FC is a non-league football club from the Whitehawk district of Brighton on the Sussex coast, who were formed in 1945 as Whitehawk & Manor Farm Old Boys FC, playing games at Brighton Corporation pitch No. 2 in East Brighton Park.

Initially, Whitehawk competed in the nine-team Brighton Junior Cup before they joined the Brighton, Hove & District Football League after one season. The club sailed through the four divisions, winning leagues and cups along the way.

This led to permission being given to occasionally ‘enclose’ a pitch in East Brighton Park in 1950 for the first time. The Hawks were admitted into the Sussex County League in 1952-53, for which grounds had to be enclosed for every match. Brighton Corporation gave permission for the club to move permanently into a new ground at the north end of the park, adjacent to the Sheepcote Valley campsite, in 1954. 

The Enclosed Ground was created. Young defender Derek Tharme was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in 1956 before the club changed its title to Whitehawk FC in 1961 after finishing as runners-up of the league in three consecutive seasons.

‘The Hawks’ lifted the league title in 1961-62 under manager Billy Thew as Billy Ford banged in the goals as the team completed a treble with cup victories, leading to a civic reception, open-top bus tour, and the construction of a grandstand at the Enclosed Ground. Whitehawk regained the title in 1963-64 after the previous campaign had been abandoned because of bad weather. 

Manager Thew departed a year later for Newhaven, taking several players with them. The 1966-67 campaign saw Whitehawk relegated to Division Two under Ron Pavey before regaining their Division One status a year later as they lifted their league title with Billy Miller in charge of the team.

John Marchant had a spell as manager before a further demotion was suffered in 1976-77. A clubhouse was erected in 1980 before the team was crowned as Division Two champions in 1980-81 with Sammy Donnelly as manager. A third league title was secured in 1983-84 before youth player Ian Chapman was signed by Brighton & Hove Albion in 1986 on his way to a fine Football League career. 

Steve Brown was another club youngster who made the step up, joining Charlton Athletic.

Whitehawk ended as league runners-up in 1986-87 with another youngster, Darren Freeman, departing in 1992 before progressing to a fine career in the League. Whitehawk came second in the league in 1993-94.

Chapman returned to the club in 2002 as manager, as the Hawks ended as runners-up in 2002-03 and 2006-07. Russell Bromage was in charge of the team as, once again, the side were just edged out for the title in 2007-08. Freeman returned as manager to oversee a fourth Sussex County League title in 2009-10, with promotion to the Isthmian League coming as a reward. 

The same season saw the team go all the way to the semi-final of the FA Vase before going out to Wroxham. With the help of wealthy backers, Whitehawk were denied promotion in their debut season as they went out in the playoffs to Leatherhead at the semi-final stage. However, the 2011-12 campaign saw the Division One South title being secured as well as a Sussex Senior Cup triumph.

Whitehawk applied to use Withdean Stadium for the following campaign while the Enclosed Ground was being developed, but their application was blocked. The team won the Isthmian League in 2012-13 to reach the Conference South. The Enclosed Ground installed the temporary seating from Withdean as an application was made to change the club's name to Brighton City FC for the 2013-14 season. 

The FA turned down the request. Further finances were spent on the playing squad, with Craig Brewster, a former Scottish league forward and manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dundee United, coming in as Assistant Manager to Freeman.

The club was embroiled in controversy as former players Michael Boateng, Hakeem Adelakun, and Moses Swaibu were charged with conspiracy to defraud as part of an investigation into match-fixing around Christmas 2013. Freeman was dismissed as manager in January 2014, with the team in the relegation places, as Steve King replaced him. 

The Hawks reached the playoffs of the renamed National League in 2014-15, defeating Basingstoke Town before losing to Boreham Wood. Whitehawk reached the first round of the FA Cup in 2015-16, defeating Lincoln City before going out in a home replay to Dagenham & Redbridge in a game shown on live TV by BT Sport.

A further application to change the club name to Brighton City was made in December 2015 before being withdrawn a few months later as cash continued to aid the team. Pablo Asensio took over from King, leading the team to the play-offs once again. Ebbsfleet United ended any hopes of promotion before Asensio was replaced by Richard Hill after eight games of the 2016-17 campaign. 

The new man’s spell was short-lived, with Alan Payne and Paul Reid taking over as joint managers. The appointment didn’t work out, leading to Andy Woodman arriving as boss as the side narrowly avoided relegation. Star player Sergio Torres departed along with the manager at the end of the campaign, with skipper Jimmy Dack taking over.

King returned for a second spell in charge in September 2017, but he couldn’t save Whitehawk from relegation back to the Isthmian League. The club’s youth manager, Jude Macdonald, took over team affairs. The team continued their slump as they were relegated to Division One South East at the end of the 2018-19 season, as the board kept faith with Macdonald. 

In November 2020, Ross Standen was appointed as Hawks manager, who was succeeded by Shaun Saunders in April 2022. In 2022-23, Beckenham Town and then Hythe Town were defeated in the playoffs as Whitehawk returned to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League. 

Saunders took the side to ninth place on their return before short managerial spells under Ross McNeilly, and then David Altendorff ensued. Saunders was reappointed in November 2024.

Whitehawk FC will play in the Isthmian League Premier Division in the 2026-27 season.

My visits

Thursday 25th September 2008

It was a lovely September early morning with Yorkshire playing Sussex on day two in the County Championship and looking in real bother with relegation a real possibility. I headed down to the coast and decided to have breakfast at the Wetherspoon outlet, The West Quay. It was a delight to sit and overlook the sea, and it put me in good form for the day.

My other reason for my choice of location was the chance to visit Whitehawk for some photos. The walk up to Wilson's Avenue was longer than I thought. The lane down to the ground was certainly a surprise, with the steep banking and pitches of East Brighton Park on one side and the hills of the South Downs on the other. Brighton Racecourse was at the top of the hill, looking down on proceedings.

The gates to the ground were locked, so I continued past the camp and caravan site and eventually found a way in at the top end. The Enclosed Ground was a basic venue, with one stand containing seats in the middle, on either side of the players' tunnel, and standing flanking them.

The rest of the ground had a hard-standing walkway around it. The side opposite the stand appeared to be out of bounds. The clubhouse was down in the far corner. The pitch sloped down to that end and again in the corner.

I made my way back and caught a bus to Hove, where David Wainwright and Adil Rashid performed a miraculous comeback batting for Yorkshire, eventually declaring on 400-9 after being 80-6 at one stage! The sun shone, I got a deckchair, and the bar sold real ale from the wood. It was a perfect day!

Whitehawk 3 Staines Town 3 (Tuesday 7th January 2014) Conference South (att: 126)

The weather was so different from my previous visit to Whitehawk. My list of possible fixtures was diminishing one by one, so I had a decision to make. I’ve never shirked away from an opportunity for a ride down to Brighton, and with me having the week off work and Twitter confirming the match was definitely on, my mind was made up.

I took the train from West Hampstead and changed at King's Cross for a fast service to the coast. The rain that was blighting the area had stopped, and it wasn’t too cold. The evening’s entertainment got underway in the Evening Star near Brighton station. 

The Hophead was excellent as ever, but steep at £3.30. The pub, while good, was heading up in the pretentious stakes; in my humble opinion, anyway.

I decided to change scenery and take a bus down to the Marina. I was armed with my CAMRA Wetherspoons vouchers, offering me 50p off a pint of real ale. I considered this offer at £23 a year, with £20 returned in beer vouchers, to be wonderful value, and I never tired of using the discounts!

However, there is a downside. The West Quay is a grand pub, but it was busy with shoppers and those down there for pre-entertainment refreshments. There was not enough staff to deal with the hordes, so I left after just one pint to seek out the clubhouse at The Enclosed Ground instead.

The lane down to the ground was unlit, so I had to use the torch on my phone. The turnstiles seemed extremely narrow as I paid my very reasonable £10 entrance fee. Well, either that or Christmas excess had caught up with me? 

I headed straight to the bar to read the reasonable £2 match programme. The bar had a selection of bottled real ale. I ordered a Snecklifter from the cheery barmaid, which cost £3.40.

A decent gathering of Staines fans had made the journey south to cheer on their side, making themselves heard all evening. A few minutes before kick-off, it was time to go outside to survey my surroundings.

The Enclosed Ground had received some poor reviews the previous season from visiting Isthmian League clubs as temporary seating was installed, but I wanted to see it properly for myself. Many a bitter fan over the years has been unfair after seeing their team defeated.

The original stand was now all seated, but still stood back from the pitch. There was hard standing nearer the pitch on either side, out in the open. The far side was still banked and out of bounds to fans, but offered great potential in the future. 

Both ends had great semi-temporary banks of seating previously used at Withdean Stadium when Brighton & Hove Albion had been in residence. The clubhouse end had some covering over the centre, but the scaffolding holding up the roof restricted some views. The far end had a gap between the two sections. 

The structures had seen better days, and the floorboards creaked badly in places. It did the job, but looked really strange. This added to the severe contortions and undulations of the pitch made it look like a venue that Picasso would have been proud to design.

The playing surface was OK, but it cut up at an early stage. The rain that began to fall after around thirty minutes added to the already slippery surface and added to the errors and excitement.

Whitehawk started the game in the relegation zone, but with signs of recent good form. Indeed, they started the evening in fine style against mid-table Staines. The home side took charge in the first sixteen minutes as goals from Tommy Fraser and David Da Silva put them 2-0 up. 

It could and should have been more, as the Staines defence looked in total disarray. The home fans were cheered on by half a dozen fanatics behind the goal open to the elements, including one blowing a hunting horn.

From the dry at the other end, I saw big striker Louie Theophanous score with a fine finish after some good close control to reduce the arrears. This signalled the time for me to get some nourishment. I had intended to eat at the pub, but the queues were just too big. I settled for a bacon cheeseburger, which was nice but overpriced at £4.20, and a Bovril.

After taking photos up the far end, I settled for a seat in the Main Stand near a fella who looked very much like a coach or scout from another club. The game was a cracker for the neutral as Whitehawk continued to pour forward in search of sealing a vital three points. They continued to miss opportunities, while Staines gradually got into the game. Their boss, Marcus Gayle, made a couple of smart substitutions.

With ten minutes remaining, Theophanous nipped in at the near post to finish a free kick to draw the team level, to the many groans from the home support. The coach and I laughed and reflected on how typical it was that you should continue to miss chances. The away fans really had something to celebrate a few minutes from full-time as substitute Bajram Pashaj fired home to complete a remarkable comeback.

My bus back for a fast train was due, so I departed as the game headed into stoppage time. I missed the equaliser as Sam Gargan rescued a point for Whitehawk. Surely they would have still been disappointed with just one point from a game that they generally dominated?

I climbed the hill past the East Brighton Park pitches and caught a bus that took me on a tour of the area and past the racecourse to bring back some happy memories before dropping me in the town centre. The rain was getting heavy as I got my train back to the capital after another fine evening out in a town I had a lot of time for.

Whitehawk 4 Hendon 1 (Saturday 26th October 2019) FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round (att: 207)

You sometimes have days when you wonder why you bothered choosing your particular game. This was up there, yet things had started out well. I woke fresh and eager, watching an incredible England rugby performance as they dominated New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final.

Fed nicely, I headed to West Hampstead to take the direct train to Brighton. The weather was fine, and I was cheered by a couple of cock on pints of Hophead in the Evening Star, where service was excellent despite the growing crowds before the Brighton v Everton match.

With a one-day bus ticket obtained, I boarded the number 7 bus to the Roedean Road stop before taking a brisk ten-minute walk to the ground. Admission was £10. I was given a receipt which said Sussex County Cup v Pagham. The gent inside told me he’d programmed the machine wrongly!

Grabbing the £2 programme, I joined the other fans in the clubhouse, with the usual suspects from NW9 in attendance. The bar was selling American Brown ale straight out of the barrel from the local Dark Star Brewery.

The “café” looked like a stall on Brighton seafront and sold similar wares. Some were moaning that their fried chicken was taking a long time, so I went for a hot dog, which was OK if a little on the expensive side. I listened to the woes of those who’d travelled on the team coach. One of the windows had inexplicably fallen out as Pease Pottage services. 

It should have been a warning of what was to come. I chatted to the chaps who’d talked me into making the journey after Hendon’s fine performance the previous Tuesday, when I was wavering and considering going elsewhere and ticking off a new ground. Their names were heavily pencilled into my memory!

With the kick-off approaching, the rain started to fall heavily. We took up a position behind the goal under the leaking cover and next to the Whitehawk “Ultras” as the Dons were to play into the wind but down the slope in the first half.

I’d read all about the young vocal support on the Wealdstone forum. The Stones fans were not particularly keen, but I was well aware that they had moments of their own. It had got a bit nasty on a couple of occasions.

The whole ultra phenomenon was wearing a bit thin with me, if truth be told. Maybe it was an age thing, but it all seemed to have a feel of virtue signalling about it. I just want a game of football and to support my team rather than going all political and campaigning.

Sure, it’s fantastic to see increased gates and youngsters taking an interest in their local clubs, but there was something a bit sickly about it all. As I say, it’s probably an age thing. It was certainly the first time I’d seen a disco glitter ball hanging from a stand's roof.

Hendon’s pressing and intense performance against Walton Casuals earlier in the week was soon a distant memory. The lineup had changed owing to unavailability and looked hugely weak in midfield. The large, undulating pitch and smart opponents would soon expose it.

The Hawks came close to opening the scoring in the fourth minute when Connor Tighe latched onto the first of many defensive errors to set up John Paul Kissock, whose shot was narrowly off target. It was a warning that the visitors failed to heed.

Henry Muggeridge was pulling the strings in midfield with skilful play. David Martin crossed low for Tighe, who got in front of Kraig Noel-McLeod to steer his effort past keeper Chris Grace in the seventh minute.

Hendon offered some attacking play, but all too often procrastinated and played as individuals rather than as a unit. Muggeridge made his opposing and overstretched midfielders look leaden-footed.

The hosts made it 2-0 after twenty minutes. Muggeridge was played in through the porous defence. Grace managed to block his effort on the edge of the box, with the rebound falling to Tighe, who scored with a delightful lob into the empty net.

The mood among the away support was not good, and not particularly helped by the taunting by the posse to our right, who I described as the focus group led by Graham Norton’s Father Noel Furlong character on Father Ted.

Their brief chorus of “We hate Wealdstone” raised amusement. It wasn’t hard to understand how those polar opposite sets of fans had disagreed in the past. We definitely needed something to smile about, as there was precious little fun on the pitch as an away fan.

Hendon continued to lose possession in attacking areas or overelaborate when getting a shot away in difficult conditions for goalkeepers would have been a far better option. To be fair, Reece Mitchell went close with a bending effort.

Photo: Derek Beech

We retired to the bar at the break to try and warm up and work out what was happening on the pitch. At least the beer was decent. After the interval, a hardy gathering went behind the open end with the wind and rain in our faces, hoping to see a comeback.

Francis Amartey had a shot saved by Hawks keeper James Broadbent within a few minutes. Tighe came close to completing a hat-trick when Grace made a good stop following a Muggeridge centre. Hendon were definitely still in the tie, but they were stretched without the ball. 

Kissock was having a good game at the base of the host's midfield, which offered additional help to his side. Whitehawk were simply set up better. Hendon’s shooting was all too often inaccurate. With just over twenty minutes remaining, the Dons had a gilt-edged chance to get back into the tie. 

Amartey’s shot was pushed out by Broadbent to Connor Calcutt, who took far too long to put away the chance and saw his effort smothered by a defender. Whitehawk had a goal ruled out for offside shortly after, when Muggeridge put in a delightful centre for the big substitute Duane Ofori-Acheampong to head in. 

Photo: Derek Beech

The visitors went straight up the other end to reduce the arrears when Calcutt steered a cross home. We said that the next ten minutes were vital, but didn’t have to wait that long before Hendon conceded a farcical goal. The referee awarded them a free kick in the right-back position. Keeper Grace passed it to defender Luke Tingey in the area.

Whether he didn’t hear the whistle or just lost track of proceedings, only he would know. He stopped the rolling ball with his hand to take what he thought was a free kick. The man in black pointed to the spot where Martin made no mistake to make it 3-1.

That was about it as far as the Dons were concerned, as any remaining stuffing was knocked clean out of them. Eight minutes from the end, Lewis Unwin saw his twenty-five-yard effort gather pace off the wet pitch and go past Grace to complete the rout.

It was a pasting looking at the scoreline, yet Hendon had more than enough chances to get a draw out of the game with better finishing; even if they did fly on the seat of their pants at times when the Hawks streamed forward. Make no mistake. The better team had won.

It was appreciated that a couple of players and a member of the coaching staff thanked us for our support and apologised before disappearing down the tunnel. I’d had enough and set off to find a bus back into town.

Even that wasn’t without incident as I eventually got back into the centre in a worse state than I left the ground. I was of a mind just to take the train straight back to the capital. However, I gathered myself and decided to find a nice warm pub.

The 3 Jolly Butchers wasn’t cheap, but the Hophead was good; as was the old punk and new wave background music. It must have been alright as I stayed for a second pint before heading back to the Evening Star for a swiftie before the train.

The journey allowed me some shut-eye, so I was ready to go again on alighting. The Railway had a DJ playing 80s, where I inadvertently bumped into my niece Sally. The evening finished in JJ Moons in Kingsbury, where I caught up with the tales from pals who’d been to other games. I certainly rested well the following day!