VS DEAL TOWN
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE | SOUTH EAST DIVISION TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2025 | KICK OFF 7.30PM
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN FC
The Vistavis Community Stadium College Lane | East Grinstead | RH19 3LS
Tel: 01342 325885
BUZZ FROM THE NEST
Good evening everyone, in particular to those of you who have made the long trip from East Kent with our visitors from Deal Town.
A new era started at Sheppey on Saturday when Grant and Andy took charge of the team for the first time. It was a much changed XI to that which lost narrowly at Faversham a week ago and we couldn't get the result we'd all hoped for. It is no doubt going to take time for the squad to settle down as more additions are made so patience over these next few weeks will be important. It would be remiss not to thank Drew Cooney and his staff for their hard work. Drew put his heart and soul into the job for more than three years and, because of his long association with the club, he knows he will always be welcome here at the club. Finally, please come down on Thursday if you can and support the U18s when they take on Lancing, kick off 7.30pm. The first team return on Saturday to take on Hastings United before a trip to Broadbridge Heath a week tonight.
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
It’s an absolute honour for us to be appointed as East Grinstead Town's first team managers. We are fully aware of the tough job ahead, and we are doing everything within our capabilities to improve the squad.
We have been associated with East Grinstead for many years in various roles and also as committee members. We fully understand what makes the football club tick and we are aware of what we need to do to enable us to get out of the relegation zone and move towards safety.
We ask for your full support and backing and maybe some patience too, as Rome wasn’t built in a day.
We are working very hard behind the scenes to improve the quality of the squad. We have identified areas where we can get better and will shortly be adding to the new faces - some of whom are familiar to our supporters - who have come on board in the last week.
Andy and I, and our coaching staff are very much looking forward to the challenge ahead, one that we are fully committed to and we do not take lightly. There will be a few bumps in the road but we are very confident that we can climb the league and get ourselves out of trouble.
We would like to thank all the supporters for their continued commitment and backing of the team. We look forward to turning the results around and with your help we can all make this happen.
Grant and Andy.
Grant&Andy
DEAL TOWN TheAwayEnd
THE HOOPS' HISTORY
Originally known as Deal Cinque Ports FC the club was formed in the early 1900s, changing its’ name in 1920 to Deal Town FC. Deals’ first matches were played in the Thanet League and the East Kent League.
After a long period of unrest, season 2015/16 saw Deal finish in ninth position in the SCEFL table which was a top half finish and an improvement on previous seasons. For the majority we had struggled as a bottom-half team for over ten years. We had a very good run in the FA Cup, finally bowing out 2-1 to St Albans (away) in the second qualifying round. Along the way we had beaten Horsham and Whitstable Town. We also had a good run in the FA Vase, before losing to a strong Kidlington side in Oxfordshire. All in all a good season both on and off the pitch, with our new clubhouse also now up and running.
The 16/17 season was slightly disappointing in that we finished in 13th place, four places lower than the previous season, although it looked as though it was going to be significantly worse. The 4-2 home defeat to Erith Town at the end of January left the Hoops in 18th position in the table and facing a relegation battle, but the players responded by losing only two of their remaining 15 league games to ensure another mid-table finish. 2017/18 saw improvement and a seventh-place finish before finishing 11th in 2018/19. The following season ended early due to the Coronavirus pandemic but not before The Hoops were able to embark on an impressive FA Vase run that only ended at the fifth-round stage. For those that were there to see the penalty shoot-out win at Binfield, the memories will long live on.
RETURN TO STEP 4
The 2020/21 campaign also ended before it really got started, as Covid once again curtailed another season. In 2021/22 the Hoops finished fourth, but the club also began building its infrastructure. For the first time we introduced a women's side to the club and, ahead of the 22/23 season our reserve team was reintroduced. It was immediate success for the women, being promoted within the Southeast Counties League. At this same time, Derek Hares then stepped aside from the first team and Steve King took over the reins, leading the club to third place in 22/23, just one point off Phoenix Sports in the second-placed play-off position; impressively we were only three points off champions Erith & Belvedere. Not only did the 22/23 season see the relaunch of our U18 side too but the reserves enjoyed a League and Kent FA Intermediate Cup double, both of which they retained the following season. With an average crowd of 630 now coming through the Charles Ground in 23/24, we experienced one of our best seasons to date. Having started poorly, with just one point from a possible nine, Deal Town went on to clinch the SCEFL title at home to near neighbours Lydd Town with a 3-1 victory (and four games to go). The turning point undoubtedly being our 4-2 away victory over preseason favourites Faversham Town, just before the turn of 2024. Notwithstanding an impressive FA Vase run which saw us defeat Bridgewater United on penalties, we took more than 400 supporters to Lincoln United. Unfortunately, we lost the quarter-final on penalties but performed heroically on the day. Impressively, the club broke it's home league attendance record three times this season: 1,086 vs Glebe, 1,422 vs Lydd Town and finally for the last game of the season as we welcomed 1,598 against Stansfeld
A return to Step 4 for the first time since 1963 and a seventh-place finish last season.
STANDINGS LEAGUE
FIXTURES & RESULTS
12 Aug H Three Bridges
SEPTEMBER
20 Sep H VCD Athletic
OCTOBER
18 Oct H Ashford United
21 Oct A Faversham
25 Oct A Sheppey United
28 Oct H Deal Town
Sat Nov 1 H Hastings United Isthmian South East 3pm Tue Nov 4 A Broadbridge Heath Isthmian South East
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
Daniel O'Donovan
Joseph Stone
Camron Lawson
Tariq Richards
Callum Donaghey
Luke Leppard (C)
Arron Hopkinson
Scott Faber
Dan Perry
Kieron Pamment
Leo Vowles
Jhon Murillo-Castillo
Tommy Seale
Omar Folkes
Gabriel Darby
Dawid Przybylo
Oliie Rawlins
Tom Cadman
Dan Cadman
TOWN
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN HISTORY
PROGRAMMES FROM THE PAST BY LESTER
MEDCALF
I’m going to share with you a couple of programmes for matches played in the past on today’s date. I will start with a programme produced 30 years ago - East Grinstead v Steyning on Saturday 28 October 1995 - though the programme says it’s 1996. It’s a Sussex County League division 2 match. Bruce Talbot’s notes tell us that we haven’t played Steyning very often with the last game against them having been in 1978/79! (I assume this is correct?). Back then we had drawn 2-2 in the away match but had lost the home match 1-0. We had also played them in that season’s League Cup when they beat us 4-1!
Steyning had gained promotion to division 2 but they were “finding it a bit of a struggle”. However, they had won their most recent match 1-0 on the previous Saturday v Newhaven and had climbed two or three places.
Our own game on the previous Saturday had been at home to Chichester City. A goalless draw meant 10 points from our previous four matches to keep us in touch with most of the top clubs. The programme’s match report tells us that both sides had missed good chances in the first half. In the second half we had a penalty appeal turned down after the ball had hit the arm of a Chichester defender. Chichester came close to a goal in the very last minute when their centre-forward “escaped from Bobby Smith’s shackles” for the only time in the match, but he put his shot over the bar.
A look at the programme’s league table shows us in seventh place with Steyning five places off the bottom. So how did the game go? It sounds as if a neutral spectator would have enjoyed it. Midway through the first half Roger Gualtieri put us in front with Steyning equalising just before half-time. And early in the second half Steyning scored again. It didn’t take us long to equalise thanks to Phil Richardson’s header. But later a defensive mix-up lead Steyning to a third goal. However, another five minutes and Phil Richardson again came to our rescue with another header. And 3-3 was how it ended.
CARSHALTON BEATEN
Moving to our first season in the Isthmian League we have East Grinstead v Carshalton Athletic on Tuesday 28 October 2014 with Drew Cooney on the front cover.
Richard Tramontin’s chairman notes talk about the previous Saturday match away to South Park where we only did 2 things wrong - we didn’t take our chances and our defenders made some mistakes. We lost 3-1 with Freddie Barker scoring our goal in the middle of the second half, putting away the rebound from his saved penalty. We then had a good last 20 minutes but couldn’t take the chances that were occurring.
In his team manager’s column Simon Funnell felt that, with a number of players missing from the South Park game “we gave a much more spirited performance and were perhaps worth a draw.” The league table in the Carshalton game’s programme shows us second from bottom, while Carshalton - somewhat surprisingly - were just a couple of places above us, though we had played a couple of games more. And we were perhaps slightly, but pleasantly, surprised to win the match. I wasn’t at the game and haven’t been able to find out anything about it. I don’t know who scored our two goals in the 2-1 win, or when the goals were scored. If you know please let me know.
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