DORKING WANDER INTO MEADOWBANK

A club from Surrey. Worth seeing how it can grow.
Do not confuse Dorking FC with Dorking Wanderers! The original Dorking FC was formed in 1880 and was the oldest senior football club in Surrey until folding and disbanding in 2017. So "out with the old and make way for the new". Above is the Dorking FC old ground, Meadowbank. AND below the home of the new club in Dorking, which is..... 

Dorking Wanderers Football Club is a semi-professional club affiliated to the Surrey County FA and they are currently members of the National League South, the sixth tier of English football They play at Meadowbank, their home since July 2018. 

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

Dorking Wanderers club was formed in 1999 and initially played in the local Crawley and District League. 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. 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 2005–06 saw them promoted to the Premier Division.

In 2006–07 Wanderers won the West Sussex League's Premier Division, clinching the title with a victory on the last day of the season. As a result, the club were promoted to Division Three of the Sussex County League, winning Division Three in 2010-11, with promotion to Division Two and  then promoted to Division One. 

However, the league initially denied them entry to the division as their ground was not deemed to meet the necessary requirements, but the club appealed to the FA who over-ruled the decision after an independent ground grading visit, confirmed that the ground reached the mandatory standards for Division One football. In 2014-15, Dorking won promotion to Division One South of the Isthmian League.

They finished as runners-up in Division One South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, but lost the crucial match. They finished second again, beating Hasting Uniyed 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. The club moved from Step 5 to Step 1 in 9 years.

Following the curtailment of the 2019-20 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 2020-1 season was made null and void following a vote by member clubs of the National League, Dorking were sitting top of the league at the point the season was ended.

In the 2021–22 season Wanderers won their first Surrey Senior Cup Final beating Kingstonian FC.  In 2020-1 Dorking finished second in the league, going on to defeat Ebbsfleet United in the play-off final, earning promotion to the National League for the first time in the club's history. Their next promotion could be to the EFL Two.  If you would like to see how your local club could climb the pyramid, have a look at these.  

https://www.dorkingwanderers.com/club-history  (14 mins)

https://www.dorkingwanderers.com/about