VS CROWBOROUGH ATHLETIC
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE | SOUTH EAST DIVISION SATURDAY 11TH OCTOBER 2025 | KICK OFF 3PM
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN FC
The Vistavis Community Stadium College Lane | East Grinstead | RH19 3LS
Tel: 01342 325885
BUZZ FROM THE NEST
A warm welcome to today's game, in particular to our friends from Crowborough - long-standing acquaintances of ours from our respective days in the County League. A bit like Three Bridges, it seems odd not to be hosting (or indeed visiting) The Crows at holiday time, but there we are. There's no denying it's been a poor start to the season. As our long-standing supporters will know, we have never had it easy at Step 4 but this year seems more difficult than ever when you hear some of the budgets of our rivals and the amounts being paid to individuals in this league. In financial terms, it is far from a level playing field. But all we can do is roll up our collective sleeves and give Drew and the lads our support.
COME ON YOU WASPS!
OWNERSHIP STATEMENT
In accordance with the Football Association's Rule 2.13 (publication of ownership) in relation to Step 1 to Step 6 Clubs within the National League System East Grinstead Town FC is an unincorporated association / members club and a Community Amateur Sports Club (reg no CASC 02270).
Followuson:
FROM THE Dugout
Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to the Vistavis Community Stadium for the visit of Crowborough.
Our opponents today have made a good start to life back in Step 4 with four wins out of eight, the latest on Tuesday when they comfortably beat Erith Town 3-0. So we know that it will, as they all are at this level, a tough one for us.
In terms of our own form and results, obviously there is room for improvement. We are approaching ten seasons at this level and this is, I believe, the most competitive the division has been in that time. There are some big clubs with serious budgets and others, like Crowborough and Hassocks, with momentum following promotion.
GREAT TO HAVE GLENN WILSON BACK
Of course our results haven't been good enough but it is not through a lack of hard work, by myself and the management team, or the players. But obviously confidence is low. We got a great result at Hassocks a fortnight ago but then shipped in 13 goals in three games, allbeit with the squad utilised in the cup ties against the two Heaths - Broadbridge and Haywards. Everyone can see that we lack experience, so I am delighted that Glenn Wilson has rejoined us. That is a commodity Glenn has in abundance, and his appetite for the game is undiminished. I am sure his organisation and reading of the game can help us. I also hope to have a couple of other new faces in the line-up today as well.
As I say, we are doing everything we can to turn results around. I would make one appeal to our fans - your loyalty is unquestionable and I share your frustrations. But believe me, by sticking with whoever is wearing the shirt and getting behind the boys you can give everyone on the pitch a lift.
We're not adrift at the bottom by any means and these next two home games are massively important. With a collective effort on and off the pitch I am sure we can get the results we want.
STANDINGS LEAGUE
Crowborough Athletic FC, established in 1894 as a sporting extension of the local athletics club, has a fascinating history intertwined with the community. Initially sharing their name with a cricketing section, the club soon found its footballing identity and joined the Crowborough & District League (CDL) and the Sussex County FA in 1896.
Over the years, Crowborough Athletic FC showcased impressive performances in local leagues and competitions like the Humble-Crofts Cup and the George Dodd Memorial Trophy. They moved from various locations within the town before settling at the Alderbrook Playing Fields in 1953, thanks to the generous land contribution of Mr. George Watson.
The 1970s brought the club to the prestigious Sussex County Football League (SCFL), where they experienced ups and downs but consistently displayed determination. The 2003/04 season marked a turning point, with a promotion to Division 2 and a Division 3 Cup victory. The subsequent years saw continuous growth, culminating in a historic promotion to the Ryman Isthmian League, Division 1, in the 2007/08 season.
Despite challenges, Crowborough Athletic FC's resilience remained steadfast, but they eventually returned to the SCFL Division 1 after one season in the Ryman Isthmian League.
Their transition to the Southern Counties East Football League (SCEFL) in 2014 introduced new competition, where the club continued to progress.
The 2016/17 season saw an outstanding 32-game unbeaten run, nearly earning promotion back to the Ryman Isthmian League. Though they missed out on promotion, the Crows continued their upward trajectory, finishing third in the 2017/18 season.
Amidst challenges in subsequent seasons, including the impact of the global pandemic in 2019/20, the club remained proactive in ensuring the sustainability of football at the Crowborough Community Stadium. Major groundworks and new LED floodlights were installed through grants from the Football Foundation.
In the 2021/22 season, Crowborough Athletic FC focused on developing pathways from youth to senior football, achieving a commendable 10th place finish in the league and reaching the League Cup final. At the end of the season, they were moved back to the Southern Combination Football League (SCFL) by the FA.
In the 2022/23 season, the club continued its progress, finishing 6th and reaching the Peter Bentley Challenge Cup final, and in the 2023/24 season, further progress resulted in a playoff place (finishing 3rd in league) and again reaching the Peter Bentley Challenge Cup final (losing to a 94th minute winner from the League Champions).
After a slow start to the 2024/25 season, The Crows improved on 23/24, winning the Peter Bentley Challenge Cup, and finishing 2nd in the League, gaining promotion through the Play-Offs this time to return to the Isthmian South East League at Step 4. The season ended with an appearance in the League Cup Final for an unlikely “treble” but they were beaten by the newly-crowned Champions.
2025/26 will see the First Team compete at Step 4 for only the second time in its history, while the club as a whole continues to develop new initiatives in the community, ready to face the new challenges ahead.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
9 Aug A Whyteleafe
12 Aug H Three Bridges
23 Aug A Sittingbourne
13 Sep H Hassocks
20 Sep H VCD Athletic
27 Sep A Hassocks
30 Sep A Broadbridge Heath
4 Oct A Beckenham Town
7 Oct H Haywards Heath Town
11 Oct H Crowborough Athletic
Sat 18 Oct H Ashford United Isthmian South East
Tue 21 Oct A Faversham
South East
Sat 25 Oct A Sheppey United Isthmian South East 3pm Tue 28 Oct H Deal Town Isthmian South East 7.30pm
Sat Nov 1 H Hastings United Isthmian South East 3pm
Tue Nov 4 A Broadbridge Heath Isthmian South East 7.45pm
Sat Nov 8 A VCD Athletic Isthmian South East 3pm
Tue 11 Nov A Three Bridges Isthmian South East 7.45pm
Sat Nov 15 H Merstham Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat Nov 22 A Margate Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 29 Nov H AFC Whyteleafe Isthmian South East 3pm
DECEMBER
Sat 6 Dec A AFC Croydon Athletic Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 13 Dec H Herne Bay Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 20 Dec A Eastbourne Town Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 27 Dec H Jersey Bulls Isthmian South East 3pm JANUARY
Sat 3 Jan A Sevenoaks Town Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 10 Jan H Erith Town Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 17 Jan H Broadbridge Heath Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 24 Jan A Crowborough Athletic Isthmian South East 3pm FEBRUARY
Sat 7 Feb A Deal Town Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 14 Feb A Ashford United Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 21 Feb H Sheppey United Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 28 Feb A Hastings United Isthmian South East 3pm
MARCH
Sat 7 Mar H VCD Athletic Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 14 Mar A Herne Bay Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 21 Mar H AFC Croydon Athletic Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 28 Mar A Erith Town Isthmian South East 3pm APRIL
Sat 4 Apr H Sittingbourne Isthmian South East 3pm
Mon 6 Apr A Jersey Bulls Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 11 Apr H Faversham Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 18 Apr A Merstham Isthmian South East 3pm
Sat 25 Apr H Margate Isthmian South East 3pm
TEAM LINE UP
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN
Rex Porter (GK)
Neo Wooster
Alex Andrade Filipe
Dan Cadman
Tom Cadman
Matt Weaire
Jay Richardson
Ollie Deurell Benito
Luke Harrison
Matt Daniel
Omar Folkes
Ollie Rawlins
Mason Saunders
Zhechko Zhelyaskov
Dawyd Przybylo
Callum Corbin
Jed Borders
Glenn Wilson
Alfie Hilden
Damian Niemcyzcki (GK)
ATHLETIC
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN HISTORY
PROGRAMMES FROM THE PAST BY LESTER MEDCALF
We’re going to have a look at a couple of programmes for games played in the past on today’s date. I’ll start with a Sussex County League division one match - East Grinstead v Shoreham on Saturday 11 October 2008.
The front cover of the programme shows who I think is our 2025 team manager Drew Cooney heading the ball in one of our corners.
The programme uses lots of colour and has been produced by Lee Quinn and Bruce Talbot - Bruce is still looking after the programme today. Their club notes tell us that as well as having got into the second round of the FA Vase on the previous Saturday a couple of our players had been selected for the Sussex County team - Dave Gellatly and Simon Funnell (though Simon was injured and had to pull out of the Sussex team.) And 17-year-old David Major had been selected for the Sussex Schools team.
Team manager Steve Norris was pleased with the performance in the FA Vase match but thought the “second round draw could have been kinder” as it was sending us to Aylesbury. He was also hoping that our team’s injuries would soon improve themselves.
And of course, the programme had a match report on that Vase win against Rye United. A couple of first-half goals from Alex McEwan and Dave Gellatly looked good, but Rye were level by half-time. We were back in front early in the second half through Mannie Neville and with a few minutes left Nick Sullivan scored to give us a 4-2 win.
Richard Tramontin’s chairman’s notes welcome the visitors from Shoreham with “both sides have had disappointing starts to their league campaigns.” It had been five years since we last played each other and Richard recalls that we had then won both matches. 1-0 at home and 5-1 at Shoreham. The programme’s league table shows us fourth from bottom and Shoreham one place lower. And it was a good day for Shoreham as they went home with a 3-0 win. It started a run for us of eight games without a win.
STUNG BY THE HORNETS
Next we have East Grinstead v Horsham on Tuesday 11 October 2016 in the Isthmian League. In our game on the previous Saturday against Three Bridges we had won 4-0 - to make it our third consecutive win. And therefore, it is no surprise that the various articles in the programme are very positive. Manager Matt Longhurst in particular talks warmly about a number of our younger players who were contributing to these performances - with the hope that they would make more progress in the next few weeks.
Richard Tramontin welcomes our visitors and reminds us that they had spent the previous season in the Sussex County League following relegation from the Isthmian League. (Of course he wasn’t to know that a few years later Horsham would have moved to a new ground and had progressed to the second tier of UK non-league football).
And no surprise that the programme includes a report on that recent 4-0 win in the FA trophy against Three Bridges - the result never looked in doubt with our keeper a virtual spectator. Our goals had come from Noal Mbo, Marcus Elliott, Tash Kwayle and Travis Gregory.
The programme’s league table shows us in 20th place out of the 24 teams in the league with Horsham three places above us. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it a fourth consecutive win as Horsham took the lead after some 60 minutes followed by another couple of goals in the last few minutes to go home with a 3-0 win. (Though we did go on to win both of our next two games.)
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