Page 14 - Chessington & Hook Utd v. Croydon

CROYDON sition – fourth in the Premier Division title since 1966. In addition, the club

reached its first cup finals since 1982.
– in 1986.
Redevelop the Arena
Defeat against Woking in the Surrey
Croydon Amateurs FC was found- was relega- It was at this time that finances took a Senior Cup was forgotten the follow-
ed on 17th April 1953 at the behest tion followed turn for the worse, money – or rather ing day with victory over Purfleet in
of the County Borough of Croydon by two succes- the lack of it – was the root cause and the Full Members Cup.
to provide senior amateur football sive runners-up seven seasons of struggle ensued. Mat- The club survived two seasons
at the newly built Croydon Sports spots which meant ters weren’t helped when the local au- back in the Premier Division winning
Arena. And whilst the idea for a Premier Division football. But manager thority decided to redevelop the Arena, the London Senior Cup in the process
senior club carrying the town’s Jimmy Rose who master minded those exiling the club and causing a massive but budget cuts led to the loss of a num-
name had been mooted prior to the two seasons departed to Dulwich and loss in revenue. ber of quality players and relegation fol-
war, nothing had become of the sug- the team broke up. Founder Chairman Milsted, togeth- lowed a year later.
gestion and the catalyst proved to be Season of struggle er with two of the Club’s other elder Jarvie stepped down
the laying of the running track and A season of struggle followed and then statesmen, Alf Haylock and President Jarvie stepped down during the sum-
the need for the football pitch to be the Isthmian started to expand although Charles Waters retired in 1990, and the mer of 2003 leaving the Club and 2004
used. the club missed out on the first intake, a years that followed under new manage- saw Dickson Gill take over and to un-

At the inaugural meeting, Jack Milsted time when clubs could openly pay their ment culminated in the Club’s name successfully try to combine the roles of
was elected Chairman and George Bur- players. With the impending end of am- being dragged through the gutter. Chairman and manager. The Club con-
rows Secretary, a strong partnership for ateur status, the club dropped its suffix There was little stability either on or tinued to struggle and was duly relegat-
the first twenty-years. At the time, the during the summer of 1973. off the field. Five Chairmen and eleven ed to Division Two in April 2005.
club had nothing, its initial funding be- Ted Shepherd took over as manager, team managers, mounting debts and Money remained an ever present prob-
ing by way of public donations. introduced a much more professional threats of closure are ample evidence of lem and 2006 saw a season of consoli-
The Surrey Senior League suddenly attitude and thus began one of the club’s that. dation and being placed in the Kent
found itself with a space to fill and this most successful decades. 1974 saw elec- Local businessman, Ken Jarvie League in the FA led reorganisation of
enabled the fledgling club to have some- tion to the Isthmian League and in The nadir of the mismanagement was the non-League game.
where to compete and ten years were 1975-76 the team went undefeated in its 1993-94 but in stepped local business- A third place finish in its inaugural
spent in that competition. league programme to gain promotion man, Ken Jarvie at the eleventh hour. campaign was the best. Matters stag-
Rejection by the Athenian League to the top table. Phoenix Sun, his Thornton Heath nated and regressed, the one on-field
The club was ambitious and after its an- Shepherd’s decade saw four final ap- League side, stepped up nine levels of success being in 2009 when the Kent
nual rejection by the Athenian League, pearances in the League, London Sen- football to keep the Club’s name alive. League Cup and Charity Shield found
1963-64 saw elevation to the Spartan ior and Surrey Senior Cups, winning Jarvie’s arrival sparked one of the club’s their way west across the county border.
League where it won its first Champi- the latter in 1982. 1979-80 saw the club’s most successful periods but there was a There followed a short spell in the Com-
onship. The original clubhouse was also best run in the FA Cup, losing to Mill- financial cost. He tended to do things bined Counties League before being di-
erected during this season, having been wall in a Second Round replay at The his own way which caused some friction rected back east to the newly re-titled
obtained from a local building site. Den. but he inspired loyalty from his players. SCEFL.
The extended Athenian League gave Shepherd was succeeded by Barrie He led the club to promotion from Divi- Having cried wolf on numerous oc-
them the opportunity of further ad- Webb for the 1984-85 campaign and sion Two in 1996 and a nineteen match casions, Gill eventually resigned in
vancement in 1964 and the Division Two then Adrian Hill (1985-87) who took unbeaten run at the beginning of 2000 January 2017 and left a void which has
title won in 1966. Four years later, there the club to its highest ever League po- saw Croydon storm to their first league now been filled. Linking up with Kinet-