HISTORY OF CROYDON ATHLETIC 

FROM LITTLE ACORNS

The Story of Croydon Athletic Football Club

When a meeting took place in 1986 between Keith Tuckey (now club Chairman) and Ken Fisher (now club President), neither of them could possibly have imagined what was to come to pass in only a few year's time. Keith was then Chairman of Norwood F.C., an intermediate club who played on the site of what is now our ground, Mayfields. Ken was Manager and much else besides at Wandsworth F.C. who had no permanent ground of their own. Also present for Wandsworth was Tony Peck who was to be our General Secretary until 1995.

The meeting was about the possibility of a merger in order to form a new club to be called Wandsworth & Norwood. It was a success. Both sides were suited because Wandsworth had senior status while Norwood had a ground.  Consequently the new club was formed playing in the London Spartan League.  The club enjoyed some success but many were starting to ask themselves: "Why are we called Wandsworth & Norwood when we play in Thornton Heath, Croydon?"  A general meeting was called in 1989 to discuss a change of name, and so it was that in 1990, Croydon Athletic was born in a blaze of publicity. Well, a spark anyway: there was a small article in the local paper!

The name change brought about a real sense of optimism and ambition at the club. No doubt about it; we were going to go onwards and upwards - and fast!  Looking back at those times, it is hard to imagine why we felt so confident.  The ground was a joke by senior football standards and there was so much work to be done, you had to ask yourself, "Where do we start?"  Fortunately, someone had got hold of a Ryman (then Icis) League handbook and we were about to be introduced to a subject in which - by necessity - we have become experts: ground grading criteria!

A little of the initial enthusiasm drained away when we realised the enormity of what needed to be done. As an example, there was no concrete walkway around the pitch, the railings weren't infilled, the clubhouse was like a glorified scout hut and as for the stand ......  No matter; where there's a will etc.  And actually we were very lucky in that we had quite a large group of members who worked in the various building trades and who were willing to do their bit for nothing.

No one who was present will ever forget the club's first building day in the summer of 1992. On a scorching hot morning, an intrepid few arrived to start work on concreting the walkway. One problem; the only item of equipment present was a cement mixer, and yet the grass around the pitch was at least a foot long! Undeterred by the sun, we started to pull up grass and weeds with our hands - no gloves for us. To cut a long story short, we got ourselves organised, and by the start of season 1992-93, we had achieved a great deal. Just a shame the team flopped.

With many new players signed on by Manager Martin Caller, the team got off to a flying start in 1993-94 finally finishing in runners up position. And so it was that the Committee decided to apply for admission to the Icis League. Call it the brashness of youth if you like. Here we were, three years old as a club, and wanting to be up there with the big boys who had been around for maybe a hundred years or more! I suppose that's us. We respect everyone but fear no-one.

After Christmas, we met with the Icis League officials who were very polite but left us in no doubt that an enormous amount of work still needed to be done.  What's more there was a deadline of April 30th for completion. By now, we were into March and all the materials had still to be ordered. Day by day, lorry loads of breeze blocks, fencing panels - you name it - arrived at the ground and had to be unloaded and stored. Then we started.

It was an amazing effort. Every weekend and every weekday evening we toiled away in what seemed like a never-ending downpour. We built a big clubhouse extension, fenced in the whole ground and oh so many other things. On the day of the final inspection, we were still working. Fortunately, the Icis officials weren't due to arrive until early evening. The last job we had time for was the outside toilets. By the way, what you are about to read must never reach the ears of League officials.

In order to satisfy this requirement, we hired a Portaloo, which didn't arrive until mid afternoon. We had decided on a cunning plan. We would place it in a prominent position and then just hope that no one among our distinguished visitors had been caught short! However, when it arrived we realised that it was obvious to everyone that the waste pipe was going nowhere - except the concrete! With under an hour remaining, we drilled a hole in the concrete, stuck the pipe in the hole and then cemented over.

It was all to no avail. We were up against Bedford Town and Canvey Island and their grounds proved just too good. And their toilets worked. It was a bitter disappointment and almost the lowest point in our short history (worse was to come). Still, never mind we thought. We've got a better ground than before and we'll try again next year.

On the playing side, season 1994-95 was one of our most successful. We were crowned London Spartan League champions with striker Marc Flemington scoring 54 goals. Unfortunately, ground development had not kept apace with events on the field. The enthusiasm of the previous year was simply not there. There were certain reasons for this but it meant that there was no point in pursuing our dream of promotion. Once again, we simply weren't ready.

As so often happens in these circumstances, Martin Caller left the club for Dorking - understandably in many ways - and took most of the team with him. It was now June and we had no Manager and almost no team. This was indeed the low point in our short life. Ray Purvis and then John Bellinger were appointed during season 1995-96. To be fair, they had a hard act to follow and Ray in particular had to build a whole new team. As a season, it was very forgettable. The one bright spot was the introduction of a young centre half called Darren Powell who had previously played for our Youth Team.  After two seasons with us, Darren went on to play for Hampton, Brentford and now of course, Crystal Palace.

Towards the end of the season, we decided to appoint Micky Taylor as Manager. At one point, Micky had been managing both the Reserves and the Youth Team, and deserved the chance. His first season - 1996-97 was undistinguished.  At the start of season 1997-98, Gary Todd was appointed as Assistant Manager and the partnership worked well. Gary's contacts allowed us to make three crucial new signings and the club finished in third position.

In the meantime, progress off the field had been resumed. The old spirit had returned and the sweet sound of cement mixers was heard once again. Covered step terracing was built opposite the main stand and open terracing behind one goal. Big improvements were also made to the dressing rooms. As a result, we decided we were ready to make another application to the Icis League.

We made it! The Rams were going up.

Life in Division Three was tough to begin with although we took some notable scalps. In 1999, the club took the difficult decision to dispense with the services of Manager Micky Taylor. He had made a considerable contribution both on and off the field, but we felt that he had taken us as far as he could. His replacement was controversial. At 27, Hayden Bird was the youngest Manager in the League at the start of season 1999-2000. He had previously managed a local Youth Team who played at our ground and then our Reserves. It was a gamble but we felt confident in our choice.

In his first three seasons in charge, the club reached the final of the London Senior Cup, the last 32 of the F.A. Vase and, crucially, promotion to the new Division One (South). It was scarcely credible that we were now going to play the likes of Dulwich, Tooting, Carshalton and Bromley - all clubs with great traditions who really belonged in the Premier Division. It was a sweet moment when the trophy was presented to us by League Chairman  AlanTurvey. And a particularly sweet moment for John Fowler, who, on the last match of the season, succeeded in breaking Marc Flemington's club record of 54 goals. John went one better to become the leading goalscorer in the entire League.

It was time to reflect on the past. Time to think of all the sacrifices in terms of time, effort and money that so many of us had made. Time to pinch ourselves in case it was all a dream. Time above all to think of our former player Paul Muir whose life had been tragically brought to an end the previous season - an innocent victim of senseless street violence. His

memorial is the Paul Muir Terrace. There you will find a plaque and engraved on it a few words which sum up what we thought of Paul as a player and a person. How he would have loved the promotion celebrations, which went on into the night.

It was not to be.

Our first season in Division One was one of consolidation. We now look to greater achievements with the impending reorganisation of non-league football. For this reason, we have embarked on our most ambitious ground development project to date thanks largely to a grant from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund and much hard work from our Chief Executive. With this money, we have built the new stand that you see today. We have also

levelled the playing surface having installed both a drainage and sprinkler system. The grass you see is the same as is used at top Premiership venues. All being well, there is more to come. Much more.

Why? Because the desire to progress is in our blood. When you are content to stand still, you end up going backwards. At the same time we have to realise our financial limitations and take one step at a time. One thing is certain: we want to go as far as we possibly can and, having come this far in thirteen years, why should we not go further?