Tommy is off!

News just in that Tommy has decided to leave Leatherhead after some fine years of service to join Hayden Bird's Mertsham.

A bitter blow for Richard Brady's plans no doubt with rumours that more will follow...

Ryman league it is...

Just released (subject to handshakes, backslapping and chats over brandy at League AGMs)

Ryman League One South:
Burgess Hill Town, Carshalton Athletic, Chipstead, Corinthian-Casuals, Crawley Down Gatwick, Eastbourne Town, Faversham Town, Folkestone Invicta, Guernsey, Hastings United, Herne Bay, Horsham, Hythe Town, Leatherhead, Merstham, Peacehaven & Telscombe, Ramsgate, Redhill, Three Bridges, Tooting & Mitcham United, Walton Casuals, Walton & Hersham, Whitstable Town, Worthing

Guernsey looks to be the stand out fixture... midweek away fixture (no doubt clashing with my wedding anniversary) anyone?

Season ticket news

For those of you who didn't get the email...


Season tickets have been increased in price by £5 for next season to cover the inflation increase over the past year. However if, as we hope, we remain in Ryman Division One South next season then you will be able to attend two extra home league games next season as there will be 24 teams rather than 22 in our division.

Please get back to Richard Bligh as soon as you can get copies of the forms and take advantage of the Early Bird discounted prices.

Where to go?

So good was the post by Evergreen on how the leagues are worked out I nicked for the main page...

The decision is based mainly on geography. Had we won promotion we would have been in the Ryman Prem again next season. However the ever increasing number of Kent and Sussex clubs in Ryman South means we are on the very edge of the catchment area. On the Tony Kempster forum there is a very good spreadsheet produced by black Douglas which he predicts where teams might be placed for next season.

In theory there could be NINETEEN Kent and Sussex clubs in our division next year plus Guernsey! Leaving just 4 other places,to be  filled by Carshalton, Tooting,  Redhill, Merstham and Chipstead, that's 5 clubs for 4 places. The spreadsheet shows us, Walton & Hersham and Corinthian Casuals in the southern.

This is all conjecture because nothing can be decided until all playoffs are completed. Our destiny could even be affected by the outcome of a northern prem play off! After the play offs two FA people sit down and produce their own suggestions for the split, this is submitted to the FA and the leagues. The Ryman and southern usually squabble over clubs and some sides even refuse to take promotion if they aren't in the league they hoped to be in. It's impossible to predict at this stage but I will update when I hear anything. However if we were to gain promotion from the southern central next year we would probably return to the Ryman Prem again.

Congratulations Maidstone

Congratulations to Maidstone who beat Faversham 3-0 today to go up with Dulwich.

Play-off final

A bumper crowd roared Maidstone home 1-0 against Folkestone.  Elsewhere Faversham saw off Hythe with ease to make it through to the final.

Maidstone host Faversham then on Saturday...

Tanners 0 - 1 Faversham

It was Folkestone who ended our dream of promotion three seasons ago in the semi-final and it is them again who spoil our party by grabbing 5th spot but in truth our failure to reach the promised land was of our own making.

We were lucky even to be in with a shout of this anyway.  The three points against Dulwich made both the title race and the 5th spot exciting where, if you were a betting man, it looked over at the time of the wall collapse.

However life is all about taking your chances and while we did at the replay we failed miserable yesterday.  Faversham looked quite content about the game.  They were not going hell for leather but were not lying down either.

As with the Horsham game, the opening spell looked bright with Leatherhead creating some pressure.  Faversham hit the bar from a freekick and on the death of half time Tommy blasted wide when most expected the net to bulge.

Second half and news of Folkestone being one nil up filtered around the Grove.  It confirmed what we already knew.  We had to score.

That didn't happen and just when it looked like we would end the season missing out on goal difference a freak goal added to our misery.  The visiting striker hit the ball with power from an impossibly tight angle and some how it came off or under the 'keeper and in.  0-1.

Could we respond?  No chance.  Composure out of the window and two one on one chances were missed in as many minutes.

Our friends from Dulwich would say justice was done.  Some fans behind the goal and in the forum are not so sure...