Croydon Athletic’s first game under new ownership drew almost nine times their typical crowd from last season – and the 542nd person through the gate at the Mayfield Stadium for yesterday’s FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round was none other than Stormzy.
Cup of dreams: Croydon Athletic co-owner Stormzy (centre, in sunglasses) in the directors’ box at yesterday’s game in Thornton Heath
The world-famous rap artist, together with Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha and Danny Young, bought Croydon Athletic in June.
Young was at yesterday’s game at the Thornton Heath ground with Stormzy to see their senior men’s side win 3-1 against Sutton Athletic, thanks to goals from Nahum Green, Dan Vaughan and Shawn Clement-Peters.
After Green gave the home side the lead in the 13th minute, Sutton equalised from the penalty spot with just five minutes of regular time left. Vaughan restored the lead in the 90th minute, while Clement-Peters added the gloss five minutes into time added for stoppages.
Perhaps a sign of how tight and tense the game was, the Man of the Match award went to Oshane Brown, the Rams’ goalkeeper.
And on hand in the clubhouse after the game to present Brown with his prize was Stormzy.
The win banked Athletic just over £1,600 in prize money from the FA, plus bumper gate receipts thanks to the impressive turn-out, undoubtedly boosted by the publicity generated by the club’s recent takeover.
Last season, it was considered to be a good day at the Mayfield if they had 70 spectators go through the turnstiles.
Delighted: Stormzy seems a happy chap after handing the Man of the Match award to keeper Oshane Brown
Only three other clubs playing in this round of the world’s oldest football competition managed bigger attendance figures over the weekend.
And while Stormzy might not be expected in the directors’ box for every home game, his and Young’s attendance yesterday is a clear signal of their serious commitment to the club.
“Danny literally flew in from Turkey in the morning and was flying straight back after the game,” a source at the club told Inside Croydon. Young’s club co-owner Zaha recently transferred to Turkish champions Galatasaray, where he is preparing for his first season of Champions League football.
Results at the weekend for the area’s other two non-league clubs were not so encouraging: Mayfield ground-sharers Balham lost their FA Cup tie with Steyning Town 4-0, while Croydon FC lost their opening Southern Counties East Div 1 league fixture at Larkfield and New Hythe 6-3.
Read more: Athletic hoping their new season will go down a real Stormzy
Read more: Stormzy and Zaha team up to buy their hometown football club
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