AFC Croydon Athletic (H)
The Charles Ground
Isthmian League South East Division
IST
15th March 2025 - 3:00 pm
The Charles Ground
Isthmian League South East Division
IST
15th March 2025 - 3:00 pm
AFC Croydon Athletic visit The Charles Ground on 15th March for a match in the Isthmian League South East Division (IST). Kick off is at 3.00 pm.
AFC Croydon Athletic is a football club based in Thornton Heath, within the London Borough of Croydon, England. Established in 2012 by supporters of the former Croydon Athletic F.C. after its dissolution, the club is nicknamed 'The Rams' and currently competes in the Isthmian League South East Division.
In June 2023, a consortium including Premier League footballer Wilfried Zaha, rapper Stormzy, and former Crystal Palace 'Head of Player Care' Danny Young acquired ownership of AFC Croydon Athletic. This new leadership coincided with the club's promotion to the Isthmian League South East Division for the 2024–25 season.
As of February 2025, the team is now managed by Danny Kedwell, who took over following the departure of Keith Millen.
CURRENT FORM
Both sides go into the game off the back of 2-2 draws; ours with Hythe and our visitors with Herne Bay. Our last home game saw us 2-0 victors over basement side Steyning Town, which helped stop a rotten run of form for the Hoops.
We currently occupy 10th place in the league, with 44 points on the board. The last five matches include 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses:
01/02/25: Loss to Phoenix Sports (1-2
08/02/25: Loss to Ashford United (0-3)
15/02/25: Loss to Erith Town (1-3)
04/03/25: Win over Steyning Town (2-0)
08/03/25: Draw with Hythe Town (2-2)
AFC Croydon Athletic are currently sat in 15th place with 39 points after 32 matches. They have had a good run of form recently, having picked up some valuable points, with a very impressive win over Margate last month. Their last five matches include a win, three draws and one loss:
08/02/25: Loss to Hythe Town (0-2)
15/02/25: Win over Margate (1-0)
18/02/25: Loss to Burgess Hill (0-1)
01/03/25: Win over Ashford United (2-1)
08/03/25: Draw with Herne Bay (2-2)
As a last ten game (league fixtures) comparison it looks like this:
DTFC: WLLLWLLLWD
AFCCFC: DDLWWLWLWD
ONES TO WATCH
The club's main marksman is Brandon Pierrick, who leads the goalscoring charts. He has scored 20 goals in all competitions so far this season, in 38 appearances; 12 of his 20 coming in the League.
Croydon Athletic have recently announced the signings of Josh Bayliss and David Boateng.
Bayliss is no stranger to the Charles Ground, albeit not actually on-field, having watched numerous games here in the past. He comes in on loan from Gillingham where signed his first professional deal in the summer. He has already had an Isthmian South East loan spell this season, recently spending time at Margate where he played just twice. He also played three times for Ashford United at the closing stages of last season, scoring once.
David Boateng will be rather familiar to the Rams, as he was a big part of their promotion-winning side last season, winning the Managers Player of the Year Award. He has most recently been playing in Germany for KFC Uerdingen. The right back came through the ranks at Crystal Palace, playing youth, Under 18 and Under 21 football for the Eagles before heading north of the border on loan, with Queens Park. He also had a loan spell with Dover Athletic when they were in National League South, before first joining Athletic.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
A trip to Greater London on the 14th of December resulted in all three points returning to the Charles Ground, albeit it was not all plain sailing.
10 minutes into the second half and, what seemed strong claims of a foul on Hatcher were waived away, as the ball broke Omilabu on the left and his shot nestled in the back on the net. This seemed to galvanise our hosts on the day as King replaced Hatcher with Rory Smith.
It was not until the 80th minute, however, that the Hoops got back into the game. Tom Chapman picking up a clearance from a corner and his shot flying past Tangara’s out stretched left-hand, into the back of the net for a deserved equaliser. Barely had the travelling support taken their seats when from the kick off, the ball broke to TC on the right and his mazy run ended up in the back of the net down low to the left for a quick fire second and the lead. His performance earning him the MAPS away man of the match bottle!
MATCH OFFICIALS
The match will be refereed by Sussex-based Level 3 match official David Spain (HASTINGS). The former Level 2b referee will by Matthew Pollington (TONBRIDGE) and Thomas Reed (TONBRIDGE).
Address: The Charles Ground, St Leonard's Road, Deal, Kent, CT14 9AU.
Admission: Adults £10, Concessions £6, Under 18s-U15s £4 & U14s Free
Parking: Limited parking is available at the ground however please be mindful if not able to park within the ground be considerate around the surrounding roads being respectful to our neighbours
Train Station: The nearest train station is Deal which is approximately a 20 minute walk to the ground.
Ground entrance: Entrance to the group is on St Leonard's Road.
Food and drink: There are two bars at the ground and food and drink is available
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Recent Deal Town results:
AFC Croydon Athletic was officially born on 6th February 2012 after a group of supporters gathered at Selhurst Evangelical Church, in South Norwood, to form a new club. The club's home matches are held at the Mayfield Stadium, also known as the Keith Tuckey Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,000 spectators.
The newly appointed Committee had just seven weeks to put everything in place to convince the Football Association, and the League, that they were worthy of a place at Step 6 in the pyramid. Despite the challenge it was a successful journey.
The need to form a new club had about because of the demise Croydon Athletic FC, who had become the innocent victims of an international cricket match-fixing scandal by their then owner. Valiant attempts to find a buyer, which looked very positive at times, turned out to be fruitless and with debts mounting and owners unwilling to pay what they owed the club folded playing its last game in December 2011.
Having secured the support of the Combined Counties League and the London FA, representatives of the Club met officials from the FA and made their case for being placed in Division One. Having made a presentation and answered questions for more than ninety minutes there followed a long wait to see if they would endorse the application. On the day of the first Annual General Meeting, on 10th May, the Club got the call that they had been recommended to be placed at Step 6.
The biggest challenge had been securing a stadium to play at. The club’s real home remained the Mayfield Stadium off Mayfield Road but that currently lies empty as the owners of the old Club refused to give it up and back to the Council and whilst unused the clubhouse was destroyed by fire.
For the first season the Club was indebted to both Croydon FC and Croydon Council who facilitated the use of Croydon Sports Arena as the Club’s first home.
With a place in the League secured, the focus shifted from off the field priorities back to the team. On 29th May the Club announced the appointment of Antony Williams as its first manager and along with his management team he set about the task of putting together a squad capable of competing in the division. The preparations begun in earnest with the first pre-season friendly against Fisher FC and the journey had really begun. AFC Croydon completed their initial season in Division One of the Combined Counties League in a creditable 8th position. The club also won its first piece of silverware by winning the Lemon Recordings Division One cup by beating Staines Lammas 5-0 at Windsor. The 2013/14 Season was more a season of continued consolidation; finishing one place higher in the League and with a little more consistency could have been in the final shake up for promotion.
The Club returned to its Spiritual home of Mayfield Stadium on 15th November 2014 with a game against Banstead Athletic. This was later than had been expected as there were problems with the pitch and floodlights. Despite these problems and having to play their first 10 matches away from home the club maintained a promotion chasing position all season and finally clinch 2nd place with a 3-0 victory over Cobham FC. The club also won its 2nd piece of silverware when winning the London Senior Trophy beating Interwood 4-3 after extra time.
With the FA Leagues Committee having placed the club in The Southern Counties East Football League (formally the Kent League) following promotion for the 2015/16 season the club then maintained their position in the League by finishing 11th.
Antony Williams resigned to take over at Chipstead FC and the club replaced him with Kevin Rayner as they looked to continue the progress they have made.
His first season saw a 7th place finish; it was hoped that this would enable the team to progress further but successive seasons have seen mid-table finishes. In 2017/18 the club slipped to 13th and the following year went down to 15th. However, in 2018/19 saw progress in the FA Cup for the first time which coincided with their first home tie too. A 5-0 victory over Rochester United and then a 1-0 replay win over Hanworth Villa saw a First Qualifying Round tie.
Since then the global pandemic has curtailed two seasons. The 2019/20 season saw progress in the FA Cup again before succumbing to Herne Bay, after a replay, but after 27 games the season was abandoned. Season 2020/21 started late with a thriller of an FA Cup tie against Sutton Common Rovers; a record 174 turning up, but the season would again be curtailed after just 12 matches.
A reorganisation means that it is time to move back to the Combined Counties Football League Premier Division South for the 2021/22 season, with promotion to the Isthmian League ahead of the 2024/2025 season.
COME ON YOU HOOPS
