Page 8 - Chessington & Hook United vs.Godalming Town

HIStoRy oF tHE CLub

Chessington &

Hook United

ormed as Chessington F.C. in 1921, the espite the successes of the late 70s, the
Fclub entered the Kingston & District Dclub’s fortunes declined alarmingly in
League and within two years were the Divi- the early 80s. Relegation to the Surrey Pre-
sion 4 Champions. Further honours proved mier League was quickly followed by further
elusive through the divisions until 1961 win- demotion to the Surrey Combination, Bank-
ning the Premier Division. ruptcy was a real possibility. The introduc-
By 1968, the club had moved to the Premier tion of a new management team in 1986, led
Division of the Middlesex League, which was by Chairman Graham Ellis, (of Hook Unit-
their first taste of intermediate football. ed & Hook Youth) saw a rebirth of the club
They ended that first season as Runners-up and return to former glory under the banner
and were consequently admitted to the Sur- ‘Chessington & Hook United FC’ & ex-skip-
rey County Senior League – a major mile- per Eric Wicks as Manager & Graham’s son
stone in the club’s history. Even more signifi- Paul assistant. By 1994, they were back in the
cantly, they became Division 1 Champions in Surrey Premier League, by just one point to
the 1970-71 season. In 1972, the club joined make a welcome return to Senior football in
the Home Counties League and continued to the Combined Counties League. Eric stands
play in the League until the formation of the down due to work commitments, Paul takes
current Combined Counties League in 1978. the reins. Chessington played through to the
That season, the most successful in the League Cup Final in their first season versus
club’s history, when they brought home sev- Ash United at Woking, only to lose 6-1.
en trophies! They finished third in the Premier division