Dorking Wanderers F.C.

Dorking Wanderers Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Dorking, Surrey, England. Affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association,[1] they are currently members of the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play at Meadowbank.

Dorking Wanderers
Full nameDorking Wanderers Football Club
Nickname(s)Wanderers
Founded1999
GroundMeadowbank, Dorking
ChairmanMarc White
ManagerMarc White
LeagueNational League South
2019–20National League South, 7th of 22
WebsiteClub website

History

The club was formed in 1999 and initially played in the Crawley & District League.[2] After their first season in the Crawley League they switched to Division Four of the West Sussex League, winning the division at the first attempt.[3] In 2001–02 the club finished as Division Three runners-up, earning a third consecutive promotion. After winning Division Two in 2003–04 they were promoted to Division One, and a third-place finish in Division One in 2005–05 saw them promoted to the Premier Division.[3]

In 2006–07 Dorking won the West Sussex League's Premier Division, winning the title with a win on the last day of the season.[3] As a result, the club were promoted to Division Three of the Sussex County League.[4] They went on to win Division Three in 2010–11, earning promotion to Division Two. A third-place finish in Division Two the following season was enough to see them promoted to Division One.[4] However, the league initially denied them entry to the division as their ground was not deemed to meet the necessary requirements.[5] However the club appealed against this decision to the Football Association, who over-ruled the decision after an independent ground grading visit confirmed that the ground reached the mandatory standards for Division One football.[6] Although the team initially struggled in Division One, finishing third-from-bottom in 2012–13, they finished second in 2014–15, earning promotion to Division One South of the Isthmian League.[4]

In Dorking's first season in the Isthmian League they finished as runners-up in Division One South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, going on to lose 2–1 to Faversham Town in the semi-finals.[4] The following season saw them finish second again; in the play-offs they beat Hastings United on penalties in the semi-final after a 1–1 draw, and then won again on penalties against Corinthian-Casuals in the final following a 0–0 draw, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2018–19 the club won the Premier Division by a margin of 22 points, earning promotion to the National League South.

Reserve team

In 2015 the club's reserve team were promoted from the Suburban League to the Combined Counties League.[7] However, they left the league at the end of the season as the club were set to groundshare with Dorking during the 2016–17 season.[8] The reserve team rejoined the Combined Counties League at the start of the 2018–19 season.

Ground

The club initially played at Big Field Brockham, before moving to the Westhumble Playing Fields on London Road in 2007.[2] The ground had a small seated stand and covered standing on one side of the pitch, with the remainder being uncovered;[9] Floodlights were installed in 2012. In July 2018 the club relocated to a refurbished Meadowbank ground,[10] which had previously been home to Dorking F.C. prior to their disbanding.[11] Their first game at Meadowbank was a friendly match against Sutton United on 17 July 2018.[10]

Meadowbank had become the home ground of Dorking F.C. in 1953.[10] A 200-seat stand was built on one side of the pitch around 1956,[10] with a covered standing area built on the other. Another covered standing area was installed behind one goal, with the other end left open.[12] However, they were forced to leave the ground in 2013 after it was shut down for failing to meet health and safety requirements.[10] Prior to Dorking Wanderers moving to the ground, it was upgraded to include a 300-seat stand, two covered standing areas and an 3G pitch as it was converted to a community sports facility at a cost of £5m.[10] The Surrey County Football Association also moved their headquarters to Meadowbank when it reopened.[10]

In February 2020 the club announced that planning permission had been granted to upgrade Meadowbank Stadium to a Grade B status [13]

Current squad
As of 29 July 2020.[14]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK  SVK Slavomir Huk
— DF  ENG Ben Dyett
— DF  ENG Sami El-Abd
— DF  ENG Isaac Philpott
— DF  ENG Ed Harris
— MF  ENG Niall McManus
— MF  ENG Dan Gallagher
— MF  ENG Matt Briggs
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  ENG Jerome Beckles
— MF  ENG Sam Beard
— MF  ENG Jake Gallagher
— MF  ENG Luke Moore
— FW  ENG James McShane
— FW  ENG Giuseppe Sole
— FW  ENG Jason Prior
— FW  ENG Alfie Rutherford [15]

Honours
  • Isthmian League
    • Premier Division champions 2018–19
  • Southern Combination
    • Division Three champions 2010–11
  • West Sussex League
    • Premier Division champions 2006–07
    • Division Two North champions 2003–04
    • Division Four North champions 2000–01

Records
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gollark: Nope!
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See also
  • Dorking Wanderers F.C. players

References
  1. Dorking Wanderers manager praises Surrey FA as 'fair and responsible' This is Surrey, 28 March 2013
  2. History Dorking Wanderers F.C.
  3. A History Of Dorking Wanderers F.C. Dorking Wanderers F.C.
  4. Dorking Wanderers at the Football Club History Database
  5. League secretary slams Wanderers Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine This is Surrey, 27 April 2012
  6. Champagne corks fly as Wanderers Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine This is Surrey, 12 July 2012
  7. Dorking Wanderers Reserves at the Football Club History Database
  8. Groundshare ends Membership for Reserve Side Combined Counties League
  9. The Ryman League South Guide 2016/17 Lewes F.C.
  10. "Return to Meadowbank", Groundtastic, Autumn 2018, pp28–33
  11. Dorking's 137 year old football club is closing down leaving just one senior team in the town Surrey Mirror, 16 February 2017
  12. Dorking Pyramid Passion
  13. https://www.dorkingwanderers.com/meadowbankstadium.html
  14. "First Team Squad". Dorking Wanderers Official Site.
  15. https://www.dorkingwanderers.com/alfierutherford.html

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