Page 22 - Raynes Park Vale vs Guildford City

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GUILDFORD CITY
The first club in the town was ama- of the 1936–37 sea-
teur side Guildford, formed in 1877 son the club made the
and known as the "Pinks". They massive decision to turn
played home matches at the Wood- full-time professional, ap-
bridge Road Sports Ground. pointing Haydn Green as manager. That
A successful start led to a number of peo- season they finished 4th but next season
ple mooting a new professional club and things got even better.
by the end of 1920 Guildford United was In 1937–38 City beat Reading in the FA
formed. In May 1921 they were accepted Cup but in the league they won 22 of their
into the Southern League. At the same 34 games to finish as Champions for the
time land had been purchased in Joseph's first time. That feat was nearly repeated
Road and "United" were able to kick off the following year, with City finishing
the 1921–22 season with a home match runners-up to Colchester United by one
against Reading F.C. Reserves. Playing in point, scoring 126 goals in the process. In
green and white the hosts won 2–0 with a the league game at home to Colchester on
crowd of over 5,000 fans. Easter Monday City won 3–1 in front of
In 1927 Guildford became a diocese and the largest crowd ever for a league game
the Guildford Cathedral was built. It was at Joseph's Road 9,443. Earlier that season
believed that Guildford would become City had attracted an even bigger crowd
a city so the club changed its name and to Joseph's Road for an FA Cup 1st Round
the "City" was born. At this time they Replay against local rivals Aldershot.
also changed the colours to red and white 9,932 people saw City lose a nail-biting
stripes. game 4–3.
Although they had little early success in This successful period was brought to a
the League, the FA Cup bought a taste of premature conclusion by the outbreak of
glory in 1928–29 when, having battled the Second World War. The ground had
through the qualifying rounds, they beat been used by the Army during the War.
Queens Park Rangers 4–2 in the First In 1946–47 City re-entered the Southern
Round Proper and in front of a crowd of League – this time as a part-time club. In
nearly 8,000. 1950–51 the team reached the final of the
Despite excellent gates the club was Southern League Cup for the first time,
facing a financial crisis at the end of the losing to Merthyr Tydfil despite winning
season – this was to be a recurrent theme the first leg.
throughout the club's history. At the start In the 1951–52 season the City under-