Dorking

Dorking FC was a non-league football club that represented the Surrey market town, which is located twenty-one miles south of Central London. The club was formed in 1880, becoming the second oldest in the county. The club folded at the end of the 2016-17 season.

For many years, Dorking played friendly matches and in local competition before entering the Surrey County Senior League as founder members in 1922. ‘The Chicks’ took their nickname from the town's cockerel emblem, which played its games at Pixham Lane, before moving to a new ground at Meadowbank in 1956.

Later that year, Dorking moved to compete in the Corinthian League, before progressing to the Athenian League in 1963. In 1974, the club merged with their homeless neighbours, Guildford City, to form Guildford & Dorking United FC while remaining at Meadowbank.

The merger didn’t work, leading to the club folding mid-season a couple of campaigns later. A new club, Dorking Town were quickly formed to complete the fixtures before they dropped down to the Surrey Senior League for the 1977-78 season. By 1983, the club secured a place in the Isthmian League and reverted to its Dorking FC title.

In 1988-89, Dorking won the Isthmian League Division Two South championship, going on the following year to reach the final of the Surrey Senior Cup for the first time in 104 years, but they were defeated in the showpiece.

The 1992-93 season saw the good times continue at Meadowbank as The Chicks fought their way to an FA Cup First Round appearance. Peter Shilton’s Plymouth Argyle side left Surrey with a 3-2 victory. Dorking also won promotion to the Premier Division at the conclusion of the season.

However, the club then hit a downward spiral. Relegations in 1993-94, 1994-95, and 1996-97 saw the club back in Division Three, which was consequently renamed Division Two upon reorganisation.  

In 2003-04, Dorking finished as runners-up and won promotion, but went back down the following year. By 2006, the club went further down the pyramid to join the Combined Counties League. Things turned worse a couple of years later when they were relegated to Division One of the competition.

The club regrouped and regained its Premier Division place at the first attempt. However, they found themselves at the lower grade once more in 2013 after finishing bottom of the table. 

Worse was to follow as Meadowbank was shut down by the local council due to health and safety concerns during the 2013-14 season, leaving the club to use several venues as ‘home’ grounds to enable The Chicks to complete the season.

At this point, a new consortium of businessmen and local football people took over the reins of the club and set it up as a Community Interest Company run on an entirely voluntary basis, ensuring that any profits would go back into ventures to benefit the community. This ensured free football and coaching for local juniors and the redevelopment of Meadowbank.

While work took place, Dorking agreed a groundshare to play at The New Defence, home of neighbours Horley Town, for the 2014-15 season as the team reverted to their original colours of green and red stripes with former coaching staff re-joining while local businesses began sponsorship.

While the new stadium to replace Meadowbank was being constructed, the Dorking Football Development Alliance, formed in 2016 between Dorking FC and Dorking Wanderers FC, announced that Dorking FC was to fold.

It was decided that the town would be better served by just one non-league club representing them. While clubs were not merging, those at Dorking FC very much supported the decision and would back Wanderers.

Dorking FC folded after finishing the 2016-17 season in fifteenth position in Division One of the Combined Counties League.

My visits

Friday 3rd November 2006

With the day off work, I decided to get into the mood for the following day when I was travelling north to watch Scarborough play at Droylsden by visiting some new venues.

Having missed my intended train from London Bridge, I relaxed before catching the 10am service to Dorking. A ten-minute brisk walk through the pretty town saw me at Meadowbank, where a club official was working on the ground.

It was an impressive venue, if showing signs of age. The entrance side had an old Main Stand with red tip-up seats, with changing rooms on one side and other facilities on the other. A small cover further up the touchline offered protection to standing spectators. 

The far end had a long, low cover right along the goal line. The other end had a couple of steps in the open with grass beyond. The final side had another low cover in the centre, with the dugouts in front. Open standing was on either side.

Rather than taking a train back towards the metropolis, I found that a bus service ran from near the railway station to drop me very close to Leatherhead FC, my next destination.

Meadowbank certainly had something about it, and I fully intended to return on a match day.

At Horley Town FC

Dorking 4 Epsom Athletic 5 (Friday 1st August 2014) Combined Counties League Division One (att: 150)

Studying the Non League Paper for future possible fixtures, I was delighted to see that the opening Combined Counties fixture of the season had been arranged for Yorkshire Day.

After completing some very handy overtime at work on my usual day off, I enjoyed a fine tea and a beer at Baker Street and a cat nap in the sun of Grosvenor Square before catching the train south to Redhill.

The no.100 bus dropped me outside The New Defence within twenty minutes, where I paid my £6 admission, which included an A4-sized free glossy programme. It was a very warm and humid evening, following the fashion of the previous few months. 

To cool down, I sampled a pint of Fosters for £3 in the upstairs bar, where patrons were watching the Commonwealth Games.

The ground hadn’t changed since my previous visit, which can be viewed here, and I decided to have a walk to the far side. The match got off to a very lively start with Athletic wasting two glorious chances before The Chicks went ahead. 

Richard Wetton had a good shot saved, but for some reason, Epsom's keeper Dominic MacKenzie failed to pounce on the ball, allowing Glen Wright to finish. Within eight minutes, Epsom were level as Robbie Burns was left unmarked to chest down a clever pass and finish neatly.

MacKenzie pulled off two amazing stops, while the profligate defending continued after twenty-nine minutes as Epsom striker Wayne Cathcart bulleted home a header unmarked at the near post from a corner. I joked with a couple of visiting fans and a member of the Dorking coaching staff that the game could easily end 5-5 at the rate it was going.

Before the interval, the scores were level as MacKenzie clumsily brought down a forward to concede a penalty, which Kieren Lunn calmly put away. I caught my breath with half of the cider in the relative cool of the clubhouse during the break.

The action quickly cranked up again upon the restart. Within three minutes, Cathcart restored Epsom’s lead with an identical goal to his opener, much to the annoyance of custodian Hodel Murphy.

MacKenzie in the opposing net suffered a real goalkeeping nightmare a minute or so later. He came out to collect full-back Zach Powell’s seventy-yard free kick, only to let the ball bounce over him and trickle into the empty net. I was sitting down by then and shared in the loud laughter from those around.

The hilarity increased. It appeared Murphy felt sorry for his fellow goalkeeper as he completely misjudged a long cross from the impressive Taylor Mollatt to allow Burns to tap into the unguarded goal. Athletic made it 5-3 when Cathcart completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

Dorking were not finished as they found a second wind following a couple of substitutions. Lunn scored his second of the game to make it 4-5 as his weak shot beat the slow-diving Mackenzie. The Chicks continued to pour forward and had one goal disallowed by the excellent referee Stefan Malczewski, as well as hitting the post.

Epsom held on for a victory in a game that had been a credit to the competition and non-league football in general.

At full time, I walked around a mile instead of waiting for the bus before catching it back to Redhill station. A train arrived soon after, allowing me to get back and toast the day with a couple of pints before closing time back in Kingsbury.

Friday 30th December 2017

My good pal Steve Walker needed some provisions delivered out to Bangkok after the package had initially been returned. His mate, colleague, and our mutual friend Mark Dunmall was over from Thailand in his hometown of Dorking.

As I was on nights, I took the opportunity to have a ride into deepest Surrey and to also grab a look and see how the redevelopment of Meadowbank was going on. I went there first while there was still some light.

It was certainly very much a work in progress, but at least it was ongoing; something the football supporting public of the town deserved. I had my doubts as to whether it would be ready for the commencement of the 2017-18 season.

It was good to see Mark, albeit briefly. I also got the chance to have a brief look at the attractive little town centre, and promised myself an early arrival to try out some promising-looking pubs before attending a match.

Little did I know at the time, but when I would get round to seeing a game at the revamped Meadowbank, Dorking FC would be no more, and it would have to be for a Dorking Wanderers match. At least the situation appeared to be amicable.

Whyteleafe

Whyteleafe FC was a former non-league football club from the pretty large village of the same name in East Surrey, around eighteen miles south of central London.

The football club was founded in 1946 to offer recreation to the villagers after the ordeal of World War II, replacing the former club, Whyteleafe Albion. The new club played in local league football before joining the Surrey Senior League in 1958, when they moved to their Church Road home ground.

The ground was formerly farmland, with the club utilising former buildings for changing rooms and a clubhouse. The Leafe were crowned league champions in 1968-69 before moving to pastures new in 1975 in the shape of the London Spartan League.

For the 1981-82 season, the club switched to Athenian League football, before progressing to the Isthmian League for the start of the 1984-85 campaign as members of Division Two South. 1988-89 saw Whyteleafe promoted to Division One as runners-up under former Crystal Palace legend Steve Kember.

The 1999-00 season saw The Leafe embark on a fine FA Cup run, beating the likes of Croydon and Bognor Regis Town to reach the first round proper. Chester City were the visitors in a 0-0 draw in front of a gate of 2,164. Whyteleafe went down 3-1 in the replay at Deva Stadium.

The league was reorganised in 2002-03 as the club was placed in Division One South. At the end of the 2011-12 season, they were relegated to the fifth-tier Kent League, after finishing bottom of the table.

After a season of consolidation, the leagues in the southeast were restructured and retitled as Whyteleafe ran away with the renamed Southern Counties East League title in 2013-14 to return to the Isthmian League with John Fowler in charge of team affairs.

In the summer of 2014, a new 3G pitch was installed on the main pitch and in the training court. The club continued to be a fulcrum to the greater community with venue hire and its football academy set up.

The play-offs were reached in 2014-15, with Folkestone Invicta proving too strong in the semi-final. Fowler departed in October 2016 to be replaced by Leigh Dynan, who lasted a year in the position. Joint bosses John Scarborough and Paul Dale were installed as the new management team.

Their spell lasted until May 2018, which was followed by the appointment of Harry Hudson. The team was placed in Division One South East on league re-organisation for the 2018-19 season, finishing in eighth place for the second successive campaign.

The new managers’ spell was one of frustration with the Covid-19 pandemic abandoning two consecutive seasons before Hudson resigned in March 2021, at a time when the club had far bigger issues to concern itself with.

Irama Sport, a Singapore-based company, bought the Church Road ground in a half-million-pound deal from Astrosoccer 4 U Ltd, the previous leaseholders. The new owners activated a break clause to terminate the club’s lease and leave it homeless.

Whyteleafe considered all options before the board decided to call it a day in July 2021. A phoenix club, AFC Whyteleafe, was quickly formed, as they started out life in the Surrey South Eastern Combination, while an agreement was signed to play at Church Road.

My visits

Thursday 22nd November 2007

With a day off work, I went wandering into Kent, south London, and Surrey to get some exercise and visit some venues that I hadn't previously been to. My previous ground had been Selhurst Park, where they’d kindly let me inside to take some photos.

I then walked to Selhurst station and took the train down to Upper Warlingham before enjoying a late lunch from Salisbury's Fish Bar on Station Road on a clear but cool day. 

I walked around to the Church Road ground and took some photos, which, in time, I misplaced on my computer. I did consider a further ride to seek out Chipstead FC, but tiredness and the closing light led to a sensible decision of heading home instead.

Whyteleafe 2 Tooting & Mitcham United 0 (Saturday 27th December 2014) Isthmian League Division One South (Att: 301)

My spell on night shift continued at work, so I wanted a relatively easy game to get to, and with the weather forecasts being a little worrying, I decided upon the security of a game on an artificial surface.

The tubes were packed owing to the influx of lines being partly shut for engineering works, tourists, people travelling home from Christmas, and locals, once in a blue moon, deciding to take in London’s Christmas ‘experience’ along with all the family. It was hard work.

I was most delighted to get on a train at Victoria, but even that journey was marred by parents seemingly more interested in playing on their smartphones and neglecting their kids, leading to them getting bored and misbehaving, which in turn led to the lazy parents shouting at their offspring. What chance do the poor children have? It was quite sad.

Whyteleafe South was the nearest station to the ground, but the walk was very uphill and without footpaths on country lanes. I decided to get a surge on to try and walk off some of my festive excesses, to little avail.

Within five minutes, I was paying my £8 admission along with a further £1.50 for a decent programme. I later found out that the turnstiles once stood at the old Victoria Ground in Stoke before the Potters relocated to the Britannia Stadium.

It was interesting to see that there seemed to be some kind of link up with the Brighton & Hove Albion Academy, with Whyteleafe being very much in the territory of bitter enemies Crystal Palace, as well as many former links through past managers with The Eagles.

The venue was more or less as I remembered, apart from, of course, the new 3G pitch. Down one side were sections of open terracing with a neat, small seated stand on halfway and a small cover for standing support further along. The Railway End had a low cover with flat standing. 

The far touchline had another small shelter. The main facilities were behind the Church Road End goal. The natural slope at that end had a stand built into it with raised seating and room to stand at the rear. Nearer the corner flag were the changing rooms, toilets, and the burger bar.

A steward kindly pointed me towards the bar. It was outside, over the car park! Popping back out was no problem, and I was soon inside the warm and welcoming clubhouse. I was cheered by a choice of two real ales on offer at £3.50 a pint. 

I tried both the St Edmund's hoppy offering and the Rocking Rudolf from Hardys and Hansons. Both beers were under the expanding Greene King portfolio, but were in good nick, even though the pleasant young staff were having a real struggle with the lighter offering.

Once back inside the ground, the queue for food was horrendous. Being extremely hungry with just a banana for breakfast, I needed solids. The gateman let me out once more so I could get pie and chips from the now-empty bar and take them back inside the ground.

There was plenty of good football on offer from the visitors, who were backed by their usual noisy following. One visitor used language that would have made Bernard Manning wince in offering feedback to the players and officials, but as ever, the vast majority were witty in their appraisals and songs. 

I enjoyed the “You thought you had scored, so did we, so did we” as a Whyteleafe effort went close. Sadly for the Terrors fans, all their teams’ possession only created one clear-cut chance, which was blasted over and onto the stand roof by their cumbersome centre forward. 

Leafe played more on the counter and, through this, went ahead with a fine individual goal from veteran performer Roscoe D’Sane after twenty minutes. At the interval, I caught up with fellow Middlesex follower and Tooting fan Mark Turner in the packed bar while we tried to get warm. The temperatures were dropping all the time outside. 

The second half followed the same pattern as the first period. Tooting had the vast majority of the play but lacked a cutting edge. The home defence and midfield were excellent. They looked dangerous on occasion on the break as their choir-like vocal support urged them on. They really did have a fine set of voices!

With a minute or so to go, I decided it was time to go at the same time as some other fans, as I really needed to catch the 4.57 train. Halfway to Whyteleafe station, I found the news on Twitter that Kurtis Pykes had added a second goal.

For those who had not yet gone to a Whyteleafe home game, I recommended it highly. In my opinion, it's just about the perfect Step three or four setup. There is plenty of cover and terracing and excellent views behind the goal at one end. 

The clubhouse was warm and friendly and had a choice of real ales. It was nice to see volunteers of all ages on duty. The only slight fault I could find was that they could perhaps have done with extra help at the tea bar and behind the bar with the large crowd, but show me a club that wouldn't want more help! As I know only too well, that’s easier said than done.

The tubes and crowds were murder once back in town as people wanted to return home, only now they were carrying shopping as well. There was no way I could get downstairs at Victoria. Instead, I took a bus to Green Park and then trains to Warren Street, where I walked to Euston Square. 

On arrival at Baker Street, trains were forced to terminate because of a signal failure. I was getting desperate for a much-needed siesta before work. The crowds were increasing and getting angry, so I reverted to Plan B.

An empty train was about to travel to check if the tunnel was clear. I spoke to the driver and showed my staff pass. She invited me into the cab with the engineer, and I got my first-ever ride up front all the way to Wembley Park. As a train buff, this rounded off a brilliant afternoon.
Working for TFL certainly had some huge bonuses, despite the unsociable hours!

Waltham Abbey

Waltham Abbey FC, who were formed in 1944, is a non-league club who come from the picturesque market town of the same name, around fifteen miles north of London. When the club was formed, the team consisted of former players from Tottenham Hotspur juniors and Waltham Abbey Youth Club, who had used the Capershotts group during World War II.

The side reached a decent level in local football and reached three Herts Junior Cup finals. Waltham Abbey United emerged in the late 60s as a new clubhouse was built at Capershotts. 

The Abbey church in the pretty town centre

In 1974, the club merged with Beechfield Sports before dropping their name from their title in 1976 as the 'Abbotts' gained senior status and reached the premier division of the Essex Intermediate League within a year.

Floodlights were installed in 1990, and the pitch was levelled as Abbey moved across to the Essex and Herts Border Combination in 2001 to allow them to progress up the non-league pyramid. They were elected to the Essex Senior League a year later. 

Abbey finished the 2004-5 season in third place, as well as lifting the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy and the League Cup. The club was promoted to the Isthmian League Division One North in 2006 and went on to reach the Premier Division in 2009 following a playoff victory over Concord Rangers after earlier defeating Brentwood.

Their stay lasted just one season before returning to their previous status. Mark Stimpson became the Abbots team boss in May 2018, as the club was placed in Division One South Central of the competition.

Stimpson departed in November of the same year when Michael Spencer and Billy Holland were put in temporary charge of the team, before being appointed as joint managers in January 2019, with Holland later being left in sole charge.

The club was transferred to the Southern League Division One Central at the start of the 2021-22 season. The playoffs were reached in 2023-24, as AFC Dunstable were defeated on penalties before Bedford Town ended any dreams of promotion. The playoffs were reached once more in 2024-25, ending in a semi-final defeat to Bury Town.

Abbey reached the playoffs in 2025-26, as an Isthmian League North Division side, losing their home semi-final tie against Stanway Rovers before being given a lateral move to Division One Central of the Southern League.

Waltham Abbey FC will compete in the Southern League Division One Central in the 2026-27 season.

My visits

Friday 11th January 2008

I had been home for a few days at Christmas, and my team, Scarborough Athletic, had run a raffle. Two of the prize winners lived in North East London, so I helped out on saving cash for the club by volunteering to hand deliver the prizes. This also allowed me to take in a couple of grounds and take photos.

After calling in at Cheshunt FC, I took the long walk to Waltham Abbey. It was much further than I anticipated, but it kept me fit!

The ground was locked, but there was plenty of scope to take photos, some from the adjoining sloping cemetery. The changing rooms were behind the goal at the Sewardstone Road End with some additional cover and a few rows of terracing. 

A seated stand was on the far side, nearest to the M25, fully kitted out with sky blue tip-up seats that formerly saw service at Maine Road, Manchester. The rest of the ground was open to the elements, consisting of grass and hard standing. The clubhouse was outside the ground across the car park.

I wandered off and used my common sense, and took a bus to Waltham Cross and a further one to Enfield to drop off the prizes.

Waltham Abbey 1 Heybridge Swifts 2 (Monday 29th August 2011) Isthmian League Division One North (att: 101)

I had an early finish at work, so I gave the Non League Paper some serious attention in choosing my game. After plenty of research on travelling times and availability, I decided on choosing Waltham Abbey as I want to eventually see games at the grounds I'd visited for photos. 

It looked like a tricky journey for a midweek game, when I mainly go to games as a neutral. I took the tube after work across to Liverpool Street, where I had some time to wait before my train to Waltham Cross. 

I was cheered after ringing my Dad to hear he was going to the Scarborough Athletic v Long Eaton United game. I fancied our boys to win, and I wanted my Dad to see the new look side. I was at my destination at just gone 2pm.

I was armed with a list of buses that ran to Waltham Abbey from the station. The stop was out of service, but the company advised customers to take the short walk to the bus station. I was frustrated on arrival to find only one of the five possible services ran on Bank Holidays. 

I saw an old boy waiting, and he told me a bus was due. I checked the timetable for confirmation. The next bus was leaving in twenty minutes, which he confirmed. I get too used to the regular London services. I reckoned I could walk to Waltham Abbey quicker than the bus, so I set off.

Sure enough, I was in the town centre in twenty minutes and I hadn't seen any buses. The walk was pleasant enough, taking me past the Olympic canoeing venue, the Lea canal, and into the county of Essex from Hertfordshire. Capershotts was a further ten minutes down Sewardstone Road.

The first signs were promising as the car park looked fairly busy. I paid my £8 plus £2 for a programme and went inside. Immediately, the main differences between most grounds at steps four and five became apparent. 

There was music playing pre-match and an audible PA system, and the ground had good catering. I settled with a burger and a tea, which I must say were first class as was the friendly service, in the cover behind the goal. It had a few wooden slats bolted onto the top step, so it was comfortable to sit down.

The ground was pretty similar to my previous visit, but an additional cover had been added further up the side from the seated stand. It was a basic construction with the stanchions being scaffolding poles but it added extra welcome cover no doubt needed when The Abbotts had a spell in the Premier Division.

Someone at Abbey obviously had a sense of humour as the teams came out to the music normally associated with a circus. It made me smile. A visiting Swifts fan soon used it as ammo when berating the referee over a debatable decision.

I went for a walk around the ground as I watched a competitive game with both sides threatening without either having any goal attempts. Heybridge took the lead through a mix-up in the Abbey rearguard before I settled behind the goal. 

I had a chat with a local as an amazing long-range shot put the visitors two up. It was agreed it was a little generous for Swifts to be two up, but you have to convert chances to win a game, and they did that with aplomb.

Almost immediately, Abbey found a way back into the match, with a fine curling free kick finding the bottom corner of the net. I could see more goals following in the second half when I adjourned to a reasonably busy clubhouse at half-time, which had attracted all-day customers on their day off.

The second half was scrappier but gradually settled down. Abbey missed an easy chance before Swifts squandered three in rapid succession at the other end. The game was getting niggly. Abbey had a small forward who was like a Jack Russell snapping at the defender's heels. 

The defenders thought he was fouling quite a lot, and I sympathised. He was penalised, but as a defender got up having won the free kick, he stupidly stood on his opponent's leg and was quite rightly sent off.

Both sides made changes, and Abbey made many half-chances, but they weren't getting much fortune. The visitors' keeper made a fine save near the end, which left just enough time for a home player to see red mist and a card of the same colour as Swifts sent their away following home in jubilant mood.

The two players weren't the only ones to see red. My text updates had revealed Boro had somehow contrived to lose 3-1 at home. I was not happy to say the least, especially after my good mate Fred gave me an honest assessment of proceedings.

I had a while before my train, but I didn't bother with a pint as I'd originally intended. Instead, I had the leisurely walk back to Waltham Cross station before heading home. I enjoyed the game and my afternoon out, but unfortunately, my own team put a huge damper on it. That's football!