NON-LEAGUE NEWS: The roller-coaster season endured by Croydon FC fans looks like it could go into extra time, while Stormzy and Wilf Zaha’s club is seeking stability on and off the pitch. And there’s even a chance of a Wembley final, as ANDREW SINCLAIR reports
Captain courageous: skipper Kieran Rufus has been a rock in Croydon’s defence this season. Pic: Paul Davis
Croydon FC received an unexpected boost to their play-off hopes this week as their Southern Counties East Football League campaign heads for a dramatic conclusion.
The Trams are on an eight-game unbeaten run and with four games to go they are fifth in their division, the final play-off place.
With the notable exception of the 8-0 thumping of bottom-of-the-table Meridian, four of Croydon’s last five games have ended in draws.
Those dropped points could have proved costly for the Croydon Arena side, with just four points now separating the teams from second to sixth in the SCEFL first division table.
But in a strange turn of events, one of their play-off rivals have eliminated themselves from promotion contention.
One point ahead of Croydon, in fourth place, are Canterbury City, who are groundsharing with Margate. But they are without a home ground for next season. They tried to come to a rental agreement with the University of Kent – even offering to pay for an upgrade of the students’ track outside the city centre – but when those talks broke down they were forced, reluctantly, to apply for voluntary relegation to Step 7.
Croydon therefore find themselves in de facto fourth place with four games to go – the last of which is at home to Canterbury.
That’s the only game left for the Trams at the Arena this season, with their other three league games away at struggling Halls, plus much a tough Easter weekend back-to-back fixtures at title-chasing Faversham – who are currently second but with games in hand – and at Thamesmead, where Ryan Watts and Alex White were in charge before they made their mid-season switch to Croydon.
Into the finishing straight: the SECFL Div 1 table ahead of the next round of games
Croydon’s flying start to the season under Antonio Gonnella came to a grinding halt when he did a flit in November, taking half the playing squad with him as he took over at a Forest Hill Park side he’d just beaten 5-0. Last summer, on his arrival at South Norwood, Gonnella had promised to deliver the league title, and with a handful of games to go, and with many of the players who were on the roster at Croydon, it is looking as if he might just do that, but for Forest Hill.
Reluctant announcement: how Canterbury City announced their plight this week
A play-off finish would be just reward for the Trams’ strong start to the campaign and their recent revival under Watts and White.
With so little between the play-off teams in the table and on the pitch, the nail-biting end-of-season fixtures promise to be even more tense than usual, as Croydon bid to get back to the ninth tier of English football for the first time in six years.
The financial troubles at Croydon Council are having a knock-on effect on local non-league sides, too, with Croydon Athletic still seeking some clarity from the Town Hall over their Mayfield Road ground.
The ground in Thornton Heath is owned by the cash-strapped council and so is nominally among the public assets that are up for sale, and with world-famous rapper Stormzy and former Palace star Wilf Zaha (currently playing for Charlotte in the MLS) among the co-owners, the football club is understood to be exploring options to secure the club’s future. But despite the council in desperate need of money, sources at the club suggest that negotiations had ground to a halt.
Home advantage: council-owned Mayfield Road Stadium, which Croydon Athletic want to buy
On the pitch, Croydon Athletic have steadied and stabilised under Danny Kedwell, who took over as the club’s fourth manager of the season in February. The Rams, promoted last season to the Isthmian League’s South East Division, are now mathematically safe from relegation.
Kedwell has brought defensive stability to the Mayfield, winning four of his nine league games and taking the Rams up to 13th in the table with five games left.
Their next assignment is a tricky-looking home tie with promotion-chasing Burgess Hill Town, with a schedule thereafter that looks favourable for a strong finish to the campaign.
A trip to 10th-placed Sheppey United looks a well-matched encounter, while almost-relegated Lancing, followed by Phoenix Sports and East Grinstead, two limited sides who are below Athletic in the table, provide plenty of point-gathering possibilities for an end-of-season surge.
A strong finish for Kedwell should bode well for the next campaign, with the club’s famous owners ambitious to build on the progress made so far.
The Rams could well be joined in the Isthmian South East Division next season by AFC Whyteleafe.
The Leafe have had an excellent campaign and are currently locked in a dramatic three-horse race for the Combined Counties League Premier Division South title with Redhill and Jersey Bulls.
And the phoenix club which was formed in 2021 is now just one game away from Wembley, having beaten Andover New Street 3-1 last week in the first leg of their FA Vase semi-final in front of a sellout crowd of 2,000 at Church Road. The decisive second leg is at Andover tomorrow.
Read more: Manager merry-go-round spins Trams into promotion race
FIXTURES
Croydon FC
Sat April 12: SCEFL Div 1 v Halls (A)
Sat April 19: SCEFL Div 1 v Faversham (A)
Mon April 21: SCEFL Div 1 v Thamesmead (A)
Sat April 26: SCEFL Div 1 v Canterbury C (H)
Croydon Athletic
Tomorrow: Isthmian SE Div v Burgess Hill T (H)
Sat Apr 12: Isthmian SE Div v Sheppey Utd (A)
Sat Apr 19: Isthmian SE Div v Lancing (H)
Mon Apr 21: Isthmian SE Div v Phoenix Sports (A)
Sat Apr 26: Isthmian SE Div v East Grinstead T (H)
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