VS SEVENOAKS TOWN
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE | SOUTH EAST DIVISION TUESDAY MARCH 25TH 2025 | KICK OFF 7.30PM
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN FC
The Vistavis Community Stadium College Lane | East Grinstead | RH19 3LS
Tel: 01342 325885
FROM THE CHAIR
Good evening everyone and welcome to the Vistavis Community Stadium for tonight’s Isthmian League South East Division match against Sevenoaks Town.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the Oaks’ officials, management, players and supporters as well as this evening’s match referee Jonathon Wilks and his assistants John Pike and Jamie Cogdell. I trust everyone enjoys their brief stay and our hospitality. It was good to see the reaction from the players at Hythe on Saturday following the heavy defeat last Tuesday at Merstham. Connor Tighe’s first half volley was enough to seal the points. The last encounter between today’s two teams was on August Bank Holiday - the Oaks were 2-0 up after an hour but Charlie Harris and Matt Daniel scored for Wasps and the points were shared. Sevenoaks have won their last four matches against Lancing, Eastbourne Town, Littlehampton and Steyning and are currently in eighth place with 53 points from 35 matches. Wasps are in 14th spot with 44 points and have played one less match. A win tonight would see us leapfrog Broadbridge Heath. Looking the other way, the bottom three clubs can’t catch us and we have 15 more points than Phoenix Sports who currently occupy the last relegation place. We are at home again for the next two matches –this Saturday we entertain Littlehampton Town followed by Burgess Hill on Wednesday 1 April rather than our normal midweek Tuesday. Thank you all for coming along this evening and whatever the outcome of the match, I trust everyone enjoys their visit to East Court and I wish you all a safe journey home.
OWNERSHIP STATEMENT
East Grinstead Town FC is an unincorporated association / members club and a Community Amateur Sports Club (reg no CASC 02270).
Followuson:
ClubManagement:
Chair & Treasurer: Richard Tramontin
Secretary & Vice chair: Brian McCorquodale
Senior Football Officer: Steve Norris
Head of Recruitment: Matt Wheeler
Commercial Manager: Steve Norris
Club Welfare Officer: Brian McCorquodale
Disability Welfare Officer: Stuart Gibson
Safety & Facilities Officer: Barry Bryant
Bar Manager: Stuart Gibson
Press Officer: Bruce Talbot
ED&I Officer: Andy Dodson
FootballManagement
Manager: Drew Cooney
Assistant Manager and Team Coach: Ian Nicholls
Assistant Team Coach: Steve Sargent, Matt Wheeler
Physiotherapist:
Kit manager:
Disability Team Manager:
Youth Coordinator & Development:
Under-18 Managers:
Under-16 Amber Manager:
Under-16 Black Manager:
Under-14 Manager:
Under-12 Amber Manager:
Under 12 Black Manager:
Under 11 Manager:
Shannon McEvoy
Adam Robinson
Ant Bowler
Jay De Vito
Lewis McDonnell & Kevin Wright
Lewis McDonnell
Nigel Leach
Sean Clarabut
Ted Symes
Tom Butcher
Ben Payne
FROM THE Dugout
GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO TODAY'S GAME AGAINST SEVENOAKS.
Good evening everyone for tonight’s home game against Sevenoaks.
After what’s been without doubt the toughest week of my footballing career as a player and a manager it’s been tough to write some pre-match notes for you all to be honest.
After last Saturday’s loss at home to Herne Bay I didn’t think the week could get any worse. But it did Tuesday night away to Merstham. Weeks like that really start to make you question and doubt what you are doing this all for. What many people forget is that myself Ian, Sarg and Matt are all volunteers. We give up 2-3 hours every Tuesday and Thursday and pretty much all our day on a Saturday.
Football now costs me a considerable amount of money to now be part of after supplying all the player supplements and pre-match food and drink, fuel etc. To have this thrown back in my face like it was on Tuesday went way beyond what I have ever experienced. Maybe my long association with the club means I take every loss very personally, but I can honestly say in 25 years of being involved in football I’ve never felt so ashamed as I did last week.
We had a meeting on Thursday at the club led by Ian, Sarg and Matt (as I was away) to put across to the players some home truths. We often have meetings with the lads to discuss and listen and it’s a two-way thing, but the lads needed to hear our thoughts and a few home truths were rammed home.
Yes we had a reaction with the 1-0 away win down at Hythe on Saturday but the lads have got a lot more to do over the coming weeks to earn the coaching staff’s trust back. I’ve heard lots of excuses being made over the last week, with players missing, injuries, three games every eight days etc. and yes, there are other things going on behind the scenes that people aren’t in the loop with.
But fundamentally as a team playing at step 4 we cannot ever produce anything close to what we did at Merstham again. That pain and that result will stay with all of us for the rest of our careers, but we have all agreed we now need to work together and make the necessary changes to make sure that never happens again.
As ever we thank you for your support, but the lads now owe you fans, the committee, chairman and everyone else associated with the club our deepest apologies and we will look to regain your faith over the remaining games of the season.
SEVENOAKS TOWN TheAwayEnd
Sevenoaks Town - the Isthmian League years
Sevenoaks – the Isthmian League years
A tenth place finish in their first season in Isthmian League South East in season 2018-19 proved an impressive start. Two Covid interrupted campaigns followed and the 2022-23 season proved a difficult one and a poor run of results ending with the departure of Micky Collins, who had been in charge since 2014-15, following a 4-0 defeat at Ashford United in mid-February, after seven and a half seasons in charge.
Harry Hudson was appointed two weeks later with 10 games left a host of new players featuring in his first match in charge, earning a 1-1 draw at Corinthian. A point was a good enough start with an almost completely new side, but nobody could have predicted the dramatic transformation in the team’s fortunes from relegation candidates to mid-table finishers in the remaining two months of the season, rounded off with a 2-1 final day win at champions Hastings United.
A seventh successive victory clinched 13th place, with 26 points out of a possible 30 putting them top of the form table and Hudson named Manager of the Month for April.
The 2022/23 season saw the club record their best run in the Emirates FA Cup and Isuzu FA Trophy. The FA Cup highlight was the 1-0 win in the third qualifying round at National League South Bath City, before going out to Ebbsfleet United 2-0, a week after they had exited the Trophy 1-0 at Isthmian Premier Lewes. Eighth place was the club’s best finish at step 4.
The 2023/24 season saw Sevenoaks finish tenth with inconsistent results after a promising start seeing them feature in a congested mid-table with only five points separating as many as six clubs. Reaching the quarter-finals in the Kent Senior Cup was a highlight after disappointing early exits in the FA Cup and FA Trophy.
The club said farewell to two managers. Hudson left in October, replaced by his No.2 Mark Dacey who then stepped down for personal reasons. Marcel Nimani was appointed in June 2024 with the task of rebuilding the squad with only two players remaining from last season.
A reserve team has been re-introduced, managed by Steve McGinn, to play in the Sevenoaks League Premier Division.
The club’s women’s teams continue to progress in their respective competitions and there has been regular success for many of the club’s junior teams, both boys and girls. Meanwhile, powerchair footballer Gregg Baxter was selected for the England Development Squad and scored a hat-trick against Spain. The strength of the club is highlighted by these figures: 1299 players, 234 volunteers and nearly 90 sponsors while funding is now in place to finance the long term redevelopment Greatness Park.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
AUGUST
Sat 3 AugAGlebeFA Cup EP2-0192Folkes, Tighe
Sat 10 AugAMargateIsthmian South East0-0402
Sat 17 AugHRedhillFA Cup P1-3193Spinks
Fri 23 AugHAFC Croydon AthleticIsthmian South East2-1228Lawson, Weaire
Mon 26 AugASevenoaks TownIsthmian South East2-2107Harris, Daniel
Sat 31 AugHDeal TownIsthmian South East2-3124Daniel, Tighe SEPTEMBER
Tue 3 SepHMersthamVelocity Cup 20-1115
Sat 7 SepAHartley WintneyFA Trophy 1Q1-2163Harris
Tue 10 SepHBroadbridge HeathIsthmian South East1-293Folkes
Sat 14 SepAPhoenix SportsIsthmian South East2-186Daniel, Weaire
Sat 28 SepABurgess Hill TownIsthmian South East1-2415Humpherston OCTOBER
Tue 8 OctANewhavenSussex Cup 21-1Harris
East Grinstead Town win 7-6 on penalties
Sat 12 OctASteyning Town CommunityIsthmian South East3-2110Andrade Filipe, Tighe, Folkes
Tue 15 OctHAshford UnitedIsthmian South East1-3113Tighe
Sat 26 OctAThree BridgesIsthmian South East1-066Christmas NOVEMBER
Sat 2 NovHErith TownIsthmian South East0-4123
Tue 5 NovABroadbridge HeathIsthmian South East2-4107Daniel, Tighe
Sat 9 NovHPhoenix SportsIsthmian South East4-2101Harris, Humpherston, Christmas, Daniel
Tue 12 NovHLancingSussex Cup 30-277
Sat 16 NovAAshford UnitedIsthmian South East0-3434
Sat 30 NovHLancingIsthmian South East1-3119Jabbie DECEMBER
Tue 3 DecHRamsgateIsthmian South East2-1102Lovatt 2
Sat 14 DecAHerne BayIsthmian South East2-1374Thompson, Harris
Tue 17 DecABeckenham TownIsthmian South East2-2182Tighe, Harris
Thu 26 DecAEastbourne TownIsthmian South East1-1309Tighe
Sat 28 DecHMargateIsthmian South East0-2210
JANUARY
Sat 18 JanALittlehampton TownIsthmian South East1-0278Harris pen
Tue 21 JanASittingbourneIsthmian South East0-3189
Sat 25 JanALancingIsthmian South East6-2263Lovatt 3, Daniel 2, Tighe
FEBRUARY
Sat 15 FebHSteyning Town CommunityIsthmian South East0-1139
Tue 18 FebHSheppey UnitedIsthmian South East2-196Daniel, Humpherston
Sat 22 FebARamsgateIsthmian South East1-21208Tighe
MARCH
Sat 1 MarHThree BridgesIsthmian South East0-1220
Tue 4 MarHHythe TownIsthmian South East2-195Own goal, Lovatt
Sat 8 MarAErith TownIsthmian South East0-0107
Tue 11 MarHBeckenham TownIsthmian South East2-1121Gibson, Daniel
Sat 15 MarHHerne BayIsthmian South East0-4164
Tue 18 MarAMersthamIsthmian South East0-9356
Sat 22 MarAHythe TownIsthmian South East1-0287Tighe
Tue 25 MarHSevenoaks TownIsthmian South East7.30pm
Sat 29 MarHLittlehampton TownIsthmian South East3pm APRIL
Wed 2 AprHBurgess Hill TownIsthmian South East7.30pm
Sat 5 AprASheppey UnitedIsthmian South East3pm
Sat 12 AprHSittingbourneIsthmian South East3pm
Sat 19 AprADeal TownIsthmian South East3pm
Mon 21 AprHEastbourne TownIsthmian South East3pm
Sat 26 AprAAFC Croydon AthleticIsthmian South East3pm
TEAM LINE UP
Mattie Pierson
Warren Colman
Tom Cadman
Michael Wilson
Matthew Weaire
Glenn Wilson (C)
Finlay Lovatt
Charlie Harris
Connor Tighe
Alex Andrade Filipe
Omar Folkes
Matthew Daniel
Kieran Humpherston
Will Hoare
Luke Harrison
Harrison Parker
Charlie Gibson
Brady Ayoola
Colours:
Littlehampton Town
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN HISTORY
Programmes from the Past by Lester Medcalf
A couple of past programmes to share with you for games played on more or less the same date as today's game. We'll start by going back exactly 20 years for East Grinstead v Sidley United on Saturday 25 March 2005 in a Sussex County League division one match. The team photo on the front cover has Dave Gellatly holding the RUR Charity cup which the team had just won in the previous season – there's no prize even if you can successfully name all the players in the photo.
The match had an unusually early kick-off time – 12 o'clock – so that everybody could watch an England v Northern Ireland international match. And hopefully everybody then chose to watch the England match in our clubhouse. (I didn't choose to do so though.) We were struggling close to the bottom of the league and so manager Bobby Smith was reasonably happy with a 0-0 draw earlier in the week away to Ringmer, the first time in nearly four months that we had kept a clean sheet..
The programme's results list tells us that we had already played Sidley twice – drawing 2-2 in the away league match (goals from Chris Arrow and Ben Brockbank) and then losing 2-1 after extra time in a League Cup match here at East Court (Kris Trevor scoring our goal). The league table had us second from bottom with Sidley just a couple of places above us – so it was a game that both teams might have hoped they could win. And it was us who took the points with goals from Aaron Zimmatore and Drew Cooney (our 2025 team manager of course). And we also won our next two games.
NUTS AND BOLTS COME LOOSE
Some 13 years later we come to East Grinstead v Ashford United on Saturday 24 March 2018 in the Isthmian League with the front cover action photo showing some recent ice and snow.
This would be the Ashford team's first season in the Isthmian League and so their first visit to East Court. The club had been through various financial and legal problems in the past. We had made our first trip to their ground in October and had come home with a point in a 1-1 draw with our goal coming from Charlie Postance. The ice and snow I've already mentioned gets a further mention in Richard Tramontin's notes when he congratulates our groundsman Geoff Gilbert on the work he'd done earlier in the week to get our pitch ready for a Tuesday evening match against Horsham. We also get a full match report of that game as well as a couple of action photos. The match had seen no first half goals, but the second half came to life as Horsham twice took the lead and we twice equalised. 2-2 it finished with our goals from Alex Gaggin and Charlie Postance.
A look at the Ashford programme league table shows us fourth from bottom and Ashford one place below us – and therefore a game both of us would like to win to keep out of relegation positions. Alex Gaggin scored for us after some 20 minutes and he added a second goal on the stroke of half-time. Ashford then pulled a goal back halfway through the second half and for a while threatened more. But right at the end Charlie Postance scored our third, although there was still time for a second Ashford goal. But 3-2 to us it was.
If you've had your memories jogged by this piece then I’d be happy to hear from you at lestermedcalf@btinternet.com.
