Dorking Wanderers F.C.

The club was formed in 1999 and initially played in the Crawley & District League.[3] After their first season in the Crawley League they switched to Division Four of the West Sussex League, winning the division at the first attempt.[4] In 2001–02 the club finished as Division Three runners-up, earning a third consecutive promotion. After winning Division Two in 2003–04 they were promoted to Division One, and a third-place finish in Division One in 2005–05 saw them promoted to the Premier Division.[4]

In 2006–07 Dorking won the West Sussex League's Premier Division, winning the title with a win on the last day of the season.[4] As a result, the club were promoted to Division Three of the Sussex County League.[5] They went on to win Division Three in 2010–11, earning promotion to Division Two. A third-place finish in Division Two the following season was enough to see them promoted to Division One.[5] However, the league initially denied them entry to the division as their ground was not deemed to meet the necessary requirements.[6] However the club appealed against this decision to the Football Association, who over-ruled the decision after an independent ground grading visit confirmed that the ground reached the mandatory standards for Division One football.[7] Although the team initially struggled in Division One, finishing third-from-bottom in 2012–13, they finished second in 2014–15, earning promotion to Division One South of the Isthmian League.[5]

In Dorking's first season in the Isthmian League they finished as runners-up in Division One South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, going on to lose 2–1 to Faversham Town in the semi-finals.[5] The following season saw them finish second again; in the play-offs they beat Hastings United on penalties in the semi-final after a 1–1 draw, and then won again on penalties against Corinthian-Casuals in the final following a 0–0 draw, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2018–19 the club won the Premier Division by a margin of 22 points, earning promotion to the National League South for their first time in history. Following the curtailment of the 2019–20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were placed seventh in the league table (decided on a points-per-game basis), qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Bath City 2–1 in the quarter-finals, the club lost 3–2 to Weymouth in the semi-finals.

The club initially played at Big Field Brockham, before moving to the Westhumble Playing Fields on London Road in 2007.[3] The ground had a small seated stand and covered standing on one side of the pitch, with the remainder being uncovered;[10] Floodlights were installed in 2012. In July 2018 the club relocated to a refurbished Meadowbank ground,[11] which had previously been home to Dorking F.C. prior to their disbanding.[12] Their first game at Meadowbank was a friendly match against Sutton United on 17 July 2018.[11]

Meadowbank had become the home ground of Dorking F.C. in 1953.[11] A 200-seat stand was built on one side of the pitch around 1956,[11] with a covered standing area built on the other. Another covered standing area was installed behind one goal, with the other end left open.[13] However, they were forced to leave the ground in 2013 after it was shut down for failing to meet health and safety requirements.[11] Prior to Dorking Wanderers moving to the ground, it was upgraded to include a 300-seat stand, two covered standing areas and an 3G pitch as it was converted to a community sports facility at a cost of £5m.[11] The Surrey County Football Association also moved their headquarters to Meadowbank when it reopened.[11]

In February 2020 the club announced that planning permission had been granted to upgrade Meadowbank Stadium to a Grade B status. In July 2020, the stadium passed the Grade B status assessment. By September 2020 work had been completed on a new seated stand and a new covered terrace both at the east end of the ground, taking Meadowbank's official capacity to 3,000 [14]

As of 11 Jan 2021.[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SVK Slavomir Huk 2 DF  ENG Isaac Philpott 3 MF  ENG Sam Beard 4 DF  ENG Sami El-Abd 5 DF  ENG Ed Harris 6 MF  ENG Niall McManus 7 MF  ENG Jimmy Muitt 8 MF  ENG Matt Briggs 9 FW  ENG Jason Prior 10 FW  ENG Alfie Rutherford 11 FW  ENG James McShane 12 DF  ENG Callum Kennedy 14 MF  ENG Jake Gallagher

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  ENG Kane Wills 16 MF  ENG Nick Wheeler 17 MF  ENG Jerome Beckles 18 MF  ENG Luke Moore 19 FW  ENG Giuseppe Sole 20 MF  ENG Dan Gallagher 21 DF  ENG Ben Dyett 22 DF  ENG Barry Fuller 23 MF  ENG Wes Fogden 25 MF  ENG George Membrillera 26 GK  ENG Sam Howes 28 MF  ENG James Dickson

• Isthmian League
  • Premier Division champions 2018–19
• Southern Combination
  • Division Three champions 2010–11
• West Sussex League
  • Premier Division champions 2006–07
  • Division Two North champions 2003–04
  • Division Four North champions 2000–01

• Best FA Cup performance: Third qualifying round, 2017–18, 2018–19[5]
• Best FA Trophy performance: Third round, 2019–20[5]
• Best FA Vase performance: Second qualifying round, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15[5]

• Dorking Wanderers F.C. players

• Official website
• Meadowbank