MATCHDAY PROGRAMME OF EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN FC 2023/24
Saturday October 5th 2024 - Isthmian League South East Division Kick off 3pm
SHIRT
East Grinstead Town FC
The Vistavis Community Stadium, East Court, East Grinstead, RH19 3LS.
Website: www.egtfc.co.uk
Facebook: East Grinstead Town FC
X: @egtfcwasps
Instagram: egtfcwasps
Club Management 2024-25
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 & Club Photographer: Stuart Gibson
Press Officer: Bruce Talbot
ED&I Officer: Andy Dodson
Football Management 2024-25
Manager: Drew Cooney
Assistant Manager and Team Coach: Ian Nicholls
Assistant Team Coaches: Steve Sargent, Matt Wheeler
Physiotherapist: Kate Moss
Kit manager: Adam Robinson
Disability Team Manager: Ant Bowler
Youth Coordinator & Development: Jay De Vito
Under-18 Managers: Lewis McDonnell & Kevin Wright
Under-16 Amber Manager: Lewis McDonnell
Under-16 Black Manager: Nigel Leach
Under-14 Manager: Sean Clarabut
Under-12 Amber Manager: Ted Symes
Under 12 Black Manager: Tom Butcher
Under 11 Manager: Ben Payne
Head of Youth Development Jay De Vito
Andy Dodson
Stuart Gibson
Bruce Talbot
Andy Willis
Grant Hearn
Stuart Hedgecock
Matthew Wheeler
Manager
Steve Sargent
Darren Hadlum
Jamie Brownlie
Adam Robinson
Howard Wrate &
TO EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN
Good afternoon and welcome to our visitors from Merstham for our first home game for nearly a month.
Cup commitments - usually involving the opposition unfortunately - can play havoc with the fixtures at this time of the season but things should settle down now and we can get back into a rhythm of playing every week... or twice weekly as it turns out for a couple of weeks. On Tuesday we head to Newhaven in the Sussex Senior Cup second round before hosting Ashford in a rearranged league game on Tuesday 15th. In between there is our first visit to Steyning Town at this level next Saturday. For now the focus is on a tough-looking game today. A repeat of last season's result at home to the Moatsiders would get the month off to a great start wouldn't it?
PLAYER SPONSORSHIP
Our player sponsrship scheme is back this season and details can be found in tonight's programme of the benefits and cost. Please see our Commercial Manager Steve Norris to book your player.
LEAGUE DIVISION TABLE | 23-24
1Beckenham Town971125101522
2Sheppey United66001631318
3Ramsgate55001541115
4Erith Town7412179813
5Sittingbourne54011651112
6Deal Town74031713412
7Burgess Hill Town6402108212
8Merstham63121011-110
9Margate52306339
10Broadbridge Heath5302610-49
11East Grinstead Town72231011-18
12Eastbourne Town6213913-47
13Sevenoaks Town62131015-57
14Steyning Town52037706
15AFC Croydon Athletic7133912-36
16Hythe Town8206520-156
17Herne Bay31114404
18Littlehampton Town61141116-54
19Lancing7115611-54
20Three Bridges6033913-43
21Ashford United4022612-62
MANAGER’S NOTES
We welcome everyone back for today’s clash against locals Merstham. To be fair to them they have had a fairly similar start to us but come here off the back of a decent 2-1 win at home to Littlehampton.
As for ourselves we added Ricardo Thompson to the ever growing list of injuries for this weekend's game. It has been really frustrating over the past four weeks having a mixture of injuries and absentees making it hard work to nail down our best starting 11 and squad of 16.
Since last week's 2-1 defeat away to Burgess Hill we have had two really good sessions with the lads. If I’m honest I was actually more annoyed with our performance away when we beat Phoenix Sports 2-1 than I was last week away at Burgess Hill.
A really poor early goal was given away from a set piece we then dominated most of the first half. We then get ourselves the equaliser and probably had as many clear chances as they did to win it. But it was Burgess Hill in this case who got the winner in the later stages.
We must move on from that and our main aim this month will be some consistency and I mean this not only with the results, but more so the performances of the individual players and then the squad.
As ever we thank you the fans and we know they will be in good voice for today's game.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
Aug 3GlebeHFA Cup1922-0PiersonDaCruzFilipeM.WilsonCadmanG.WilsonSinghHarrisTighe 1Folkes 1ThompsonCoulibalyDanielSpinksCashKouakou
Aug 10MargateAIsth SE4020-0PiersonDaCruzFilipeM.WilsonCadmanG.WilsonSinghHarrisTigheFolkesThompsonWearieSpinksDanielLawsonNunes
Aug 17RedhillHFA Cup1931-3PiersonSpinks 1CadmanM.WilsonWearieG.WilsonSinghThompsonTigheDanielNunesFilipeFolkesLawsonCoulibalyOnabanjo
Aug 23AFC Croydon AthleticHIsth SE2282-1PiersonCadmanFilipeM.WilsonWearie 1G.WilsonThompsonHarrisLawson 1SinghFolkesDanielTigheSpinksOnabanjo Aug 26Sevenoaks TownAIsth SE1072-2PiersonCadmanFilipeM.WilsonWearieG.WilsonThompsonHarris 1LawsonSinghTigheDaniel 1SpinksOnabanjo
Aug 31Deal TownHIsth SE1242-3PiersonCadmanFilipeM.WilsonWearieG.WilsonThompsonSpinksDaniel 1Tighe 1SinghNunesLovattOnabanjoDacruz
SEPTEMBER
Sep 3MersthamHVT 11150-1CashThompsonFilipeHarrisHumpherstonKouakouCampbellLovattOnabanjoNunesFolkesDanielSpinksWearieM.Wilson Sep 7Hartley WintneyAFA T pre1631-2PiersonThompsonFilipeNunesWearieG.WilsonSpinksHarris 1DanielTigheSpinksLovattFolkesCampbellKouakouOnabanjo
Sep 28Burgess Hill TownAIsth SE4151-2PiersonSpinksCadmanThompsonWearieHumpherstonSingh 1HarrisTigheLawsonDanielFolkesLovattCampbellOnabanjoM.Wilson OCTOBER
Oct 5MersthamHIsth SE
Oct 8NewhavenASx Sen
Oct 12Steyning Town CommunityAIsth SE
Oct 15Ashford UnitedHIsth SE
Oct 26Three BridgesAIsth SE
NOVEMBER
Nov 2Erith TownHIsth SE
Nov 5Broadbridge HeathAIsth SE
Nov 9Phoenix SportsHIsth SE
Nov 16Ashford UnitedAIsth SE
Nov 23Burgess Hill TownHIsth SE
Nov 30LancingHIsth SE
DECEMBER
Dec 7Beckenham TownAIsth SE
Dec 14Herne BayAIsth SE
Dec 21Hythe TownHIsth SE
Dec 26Eastbourne TownAIsth SE
Dec 28MargateHIsth SE
JANUARY
Jan 4SittingbourneAIsth SE
Jan 11Sheppey UnitedHIsth SE
Jan 18Littlehampton TownAIsth SE
Jan 25LancingAIsth SE
FEBRUARY
Feb 1Beckenham TownHIsth SE
Feb 8MersthamAIsth SE
Feb 15Steyning Town CommunityHIsth SE
Feb 22RamsgateAIsth SE MARCH
Mar 1Three BridgesHIsth SE
Mar 8Erith TownAIsth SE
Mar 15Herne BayHIsth SE
Mar 22Hythe TownAIsth SE
Mar 29Littlehampton TownHIsth SE APRIL
Apr 5Sheppey UnitedAIsth SE
Apr 12SittingbourneHIsth SE
Apr 19Deal TownAIsth SE
Apr 21Eastbourne TownHIsth SE
Apr 26AFC Croydon AthleticAIsth SE
PAST PROGRAMMES
I'm going to share with you a couple of programmes for matches in the past which were played towards the end of the first week in October.
We start by going back a good number of years for a Sussex County League division 2 match East Grinstead v Worthing United on Friday 5 October 2001.
Clubs had by now played a reasonable number of matches and the programme's league table shows us in sixth place while our visitors on that evening were a couple of places below us. Programme editor Bruce Talbot – still doing the job in 2024 – talks briefly about our game on the previous Saturday in the Division Two Cup when we won 2-1 against Mile Oak. But more significantly he was pleased to see one of our players Keith Bradshaw “hobbling round” the ground after breaking a leg in our FA Vase game a couple of weeks earlier. Unfortunately, Keith was unlikely to recover until next season at the earliest.
Manager Bobby Smith also talks about the Mile Oak match and Keith Bradshaw's injury. He was not very happy with how we played in the Mile Oak game and was looking to recruit a few new players.
And there's a personal feature for me in the programme – I saw that my son Daniel was getting a warm comment in a third team match report! So how did we do against Worthing United? We drew 2-2 with both of our goals coming from Ben Burns.
Moving on a few years we'll have a look at the programme for East Grinstead v Rye United on Saturday 4 October 2008 in the first round of the FA Vase. We were in division one of the County League while Rye were in division two –not a division you normally saw Rye playing in. The league tables in the programme show neither of us were doing especially well. We were five places off the bottom while Rye were second from bottom. We had lost our last two league games without scoring a goal in either. The programme has match reports of both games with bookings and a ‘bizarre red card’ not helping us – as well as a failure to put the
ball into our opponents' netting.
Richard Tramontin's notes remind us of a previous FA Vase match against Rye when we were 3-1 up with five minutes to to go. In those last few minutes Rye scored four times to win 5-3. He hoped that nothing similar would happen again.
Amidst the above gloom the brightest part of the programme was the colourful advert for our annual fireworks display which would take place in early November.
Our performance over 30 years in the FA Vase had not been at all bright – would we improve things against Rye? It looked okay in the first 35 minutes with Alex McEwan and Dave Gellatly giving us a 2-0 lead only for Rye to be level at 2-2 by half-time. However, within five minutes of the second half re-start we were back in front with Mannie Neville heading home. We later had a bit of luck when Rye's best player lashed out after he had been fouled and was sent off and with a couple of minutes to go Nick Sullivan added a fourth goal for a 4-2 win. The draw for the next round of the FA Vase then sent us to Aylesbury.
Lester Medcalf
The cover from our Vase programme against Rye in 2008. We
MERSTHAM
MERSTHAM’S RECENT HISTORY
When Covid curtailed the 2019/20 season Merstham were fighting relegation and sat in 21st place in the Isthmian premier, although with home games against relegation rivals to play most were confident that the drop could be avoided. The 20/21 season lasted just 11 games before the surge in Covid cases brought the new season to an inevitable halt. When football finally returned at the start of the 2021/22 season, the Moatsiders made a decent start in the league and progressed through two rounds of the FA Cup before losing at home to Hereford United. In the FA Trophy, Welwyn Garden City came to the Moatside and caused something of an upset by winning comfortably 3-0. In November, the team went through a purple patch of form with the front two of Korrey Henry and John Ufuah forming a lethal combination and the team playing some superb football. In the home game against Haringey, Merstham were 5-0 up at the interval. However, other clubs had taken note and Ufuah departed for the Welsh Premiership and Henry to Carshalton. Without their front two, the Moatsiders struggled to score goals and combined with a horrendous run of injuries that reduced the squad to the bare bones, Merstham began to slide down the table. The team lost their final 13 league games and relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season. Manager Frank Wilson departed, and he was replaced for the 2022/23 season by former Carshalton boss and ex-Merstham midfielder Peter Adeniyi. Merstham were one of the favourites for promotion from the Isthmian South Central. However, Adeniyi’s young, new team failed to fire and after ten games the team were bottom of the table and remained there for much of the season. A bad habit of drawing games that they should have won didn’t help and the team eventually ended up with 17 draws from 38 games. That combined with a quite appalling record from the penalty spot meant that all too often the side managed to snatch defeat (or a draw) from the jaws of victory, a prime example was away to Southall when the
Moatsiders were 3-1 up in added time but ended up drawing 3-3!
The team seemed to have turned a corner around the New Year and had a number of good results, including an unbeaten run of six games, but only one of those was a win. As the season drew to a close, Merstham had their fate in their own hands with games against others around them in the relegation zone. But a damaging defeat at Sutton Common Rovers and a disappointing home draw with Bedfont Sports followed by a 6-0 thumping at Walton & Hersham put them in deep trouble near the bottom.
A fighting performance and 90th minute winner at Chertsey meant it was all to play for in the final league game of the season at home to Westfield. After 45 minutes the Moatsiders were 2-0 down and staring relegation in the face. However, a stirring second half display earned them a point with a 2-2 draw, but they could have won it. It condemned Merstham to a relegation play off against an in-form Egham Town. In front of over 650 spectators, Merstham conceded first and were lucky not to be two down. But on the stroke of half-time, Aaron Goode powered home a header to make it 1-1. After the break it was all Merstham, and two goals guaranteed the Moatsiders survival. In the summer of 2022, they switched to the South East division and finished in a comfortable mid-table position last season.
Sep 28Littlehampton Town (h)W3-1
Sep 21Beckenham Town (a) L0-3
Sep 14Tonbridge Angels (a) L1-2
Sep 10AFC Croydon Athletic (a)D3-3
Sep 6Ascot United (a) L0-5
Sep 3East Grinstead Town (a)W1-0
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congue dapibus ipsum molestie. Praesent ornare consectetur ante sed sollicitudin. Proin auctor nulla mi.
Ever thought of volunteering to help your local
football club?
There are many different volunteer roles in non-league football and Isthmian League football clubs need your help with them.
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The Trident Leagues and Pitching In’s online Volunteer Hub is the place where you can find opportunities and contact your local football club.
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Please visit Pitchinginvolunteers.co.uk to find out more
Photography by
We were a bit unlucky to be on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat at Burgess Hill last Saturday. Above, Ollie Spinks makes a typically committed attempt for the ball while, below, Kieran Humpherston has just equalised. Photos by Stuart Gibson.
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TODAY’S Teams
EAST GRINSTEAD FC MERSTHAM
Matte Pierson cc
Oli Cash cc
Marcel Campbell cc
Adonai DaCruz cc
Brissi Iwen-Kuwaku cc
Tom Cadman cc
Alex Filipe Andrade cc
Glenn Wilson cc
Matty Weaire cc
Kieran Humpherston cc
Matt Daniel cc
Michael Wilson cc
Ricardo Thompson cc
Ollie Spinks cc
Toch Singh cc
Charlie Harris cc
Connor Tighe cc
Alex Nunes cc
Finlay Lovatt cc
Camron Lawson cc
Omar Folkes cc
Abdoulaye Coulibally cc
Manager: Drew Cooney
Colours: Amber & Black
Sam Roberts cc
Oliver Khinda cc
Jude Molloy cc
Harry Pointing cc
Matt Drage (C) cc
Olu Lawal cc
Billy Oram cc
Aidan Brown cc
Sam King cc
Aaron Jenkins cc
Bradley Wilson cc
Dean Gunner cc
Abel Vendrells cc
Harry Murphy cc
Lee Lewis cc
Andy Somo cc
Manager: Jamie De Cruz
Colours: White
The Isthmian Football League strongly supports the FA statement that there should be a zero tolerance approach against racism and all forms of discrimination. Accordingly any form of discriminatory abuse whether it by reason of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex and sexual orientation or any other form of abuse will be reported to The Football Association for action by that Association.”
The FA 0800 085 0508 Kick it Out 020 7253 0162
The Isthmian League and all Member Clubs in the League are committed to promoting equality by treating people fairly and with respect, by recognising that inequalities may exist, by taking steps to address them and providing access and opportunities for all members of the community.
Next HOMe GAMe
ASHFORD UNITED Tuesday 15 October - kick off 7.30pm Isthmian League South East Division
