Westfield F.C. (Surrey)

Not to be confused with Westfield F.C. (Sussex) or Westfields F.C..

Westfield
Full nameWestfield Football Club
Nickname(s)The Field, The Yella
Founded1953
GroundWoking Park
Capacity1,499
ChairmanSteven Perkins
ManagerAndrew Crossley
LeagueIsthmian League South Central Division
2023–24Isthmian League South Central Division, 5th of 21

Westfield Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in the Westfield area of Woking, England. The club is affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association.[1] They are currently members of the Isthmian League South Central Division.

History

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The club was established in 1953 as Westfield Boys Club and started playing in the local Woking and District Football league.[2] During their time in the local leagues, the club won the Surrey Junior Charity Cup and the Surrey Junior Cup.[2] After a few seasons, the club moved up to the Surrey intermediate leagues.[2]

For the 1962–63 season, the club joined the Parthenon League, now under the name of Westfield and finished runners-up at the first attempt.[3] The following season saw the club join the Surrey Senior League.[4] Their ninth season in the Surrey Senior League, 1972–73, saw the club clinch the league title and complete a double success by winning the league cup.[2] Further success followed the next season as they successfully defended the league title.[4] The 1974–75 campaign saw the club make their debut in the FA Vase, where they lost to Chertsey Town, and finished bottom of the league; however, they did not suffer relegation back to the intermediate leagues.[5]

In 1978, the club became a founder member of the Home Counties Football League, which was then renamed the Combined Counties Football League the following season.[6] The club remained in the Combined Counties Football league for the next twenty-seven seasons, despite finishing in the bottom three times within this period. They also managed to advance to the Concours Challenge Trophy, but lost out to Hartley Wintney in the final.[5][7] This period also saw the club enter the FA Cup for the first time when they met Dorking in the extra preliminary qualifying round, but lost 2–1.[5] The 2005–06 campaign saw the club finish in eleventh place, but they were relegated to Division one as their ground did not meet the criteria to remain in the Premier Division.[8]

In 2011–12, the club rewatched its first cup final for in twenty years when they met Warlingham in the Division One Challenge Cup, but lost 4–2.[9] In 2013, the club's youth team was transferred to the Sturridge Football Academy, owned by Daniel Sturridge and operated in part by Leon Sturridge and Cleveland Clarke, which now runs the club's U18 team.[10]

In 2017–18, Tony Reid's side went one better than their runners up position the previous season, after they clinched the Combined Counties Football League title with six games remaining. The Yellows beat local rivals Knaphill 4–1 at Woking Park (12 April 2018) to secure the championship and promotion to step 4 of the National League System for the first time in their history.

2018-19 saw the club finish in 5th place, losing the play-off semi-final to Bracknell Town.[11]

The club remained in contention for promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division during the 2019–20; however, the season was eventually abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic, after the UK Government placed all four nations on lockdown from 23 March 2020. This prompted Reid and his assistant Martyn Lee to resign on 15 April 2020, with both seeking new managerial roles within the higher echelons of the non-League football pyramid.

On 16 May 2020, Westfield formally announced the appointment of Simon Lane, who had previously managed at Egham Town, Northwood, Windsor and Eton and Wingate and Finchley. On 9 February 2023, it was announced that Lane had left the Woking Park side to join Kingstonian.[12]

On 25 February 2023, the club announced it had appointed former Arsenal, Fulham and Woking midfielder Ian Selley.[13]

The 23/24 season proved to be one of great excitement which saw the clubs reach the playoffs again but fell in extra time away to Marlow. A week later the club lifted the Aldershot Senior Cup for the first time after defeating Badshot Lea on penalties.

On 16 May 2024, the club announced that Ian Selley had resigned so that he could take up the vacant Manager position at Leatherhead. He was replaced by player-manager Andrew Crossley.

Ground

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The north and east sides of the ground.
Woking Park, home of Westfield F.C.

Westfield play their home games at Woking Park, Woking, Surrey, GU22 9BA. The ground is located on the north side of Kingfield Road, Woking, on the south side is fellow local non-league side Woking F.C. The top of Woking's Leslie Gosden Stand and floodlights at Kingfield Stadium are visible from the balcony at Woking Park.

The Field moved to their current location around 1960, with floodlights being installed in 1998.[14] Major work was undertaken to the ground in the 2010–11 season, which saw the building of a new stand and facilities and the pitch being dug up and raised in May 2011.[14][15] A new 50 seater stand was constructed in March 2014 at the western end of the football ground to comply with FA Ground Grading requirements (shown in picture to right), this was later expanded to 104 seats in March 2019 following the club's promotion to the Isthmian League.[16][17]

Staff

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  • President - David Robson
  • Chairman - Steve Perkins
  • Vice Chairman & Commercial Manager - Jim Ahmed
  • Honorary Secretary - Michael Powell
  • Match Secretary and Social Media Lead - Darren Pasley
  • Treasurer & Catering Manager - Maggie Powell
  • Safeguarding Officer - Michael Lawrence
  • Bar Manager - Neil Harding
  • Programme Editor - Harrison Powell
  • Hospitality Manager - Michael Robson
  • Videographer - Ben Bronx
  • Turnstile Operator - Chris Pasley
  • First Team Manager - Andrew Crossley
  • Assistant Managers - Dave Powell & Jake Baxter
  • Coaches - Kevin Cleary & Ben Knight
  • Goalkeeping Coach - Damian Lynch (also works with u18s)
  • Physio - Katie Williams
  • Under 18s Team Manager - Lee Sawkins
  • Under 18s Coach - Frazer Fowler
  • Vice Presidents - John Ellesley, Philip Arthur-Worsop, Peter Gales, Nobby Reynolds, Alan Evans, Brian Weston, John McIlhargy, John Ludlow, Mick Joseph, Doreen Cable, Michael Lawrence, Alan Morton, Graham Pope, Colin Rearden, Neil Harding, Pat Kelly, David Robson, Michael Robson, Martin Powell, Mark Pullen & Richard Hill

(Last updated: 9 August 2024)

Honours

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League honours

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Cup honours

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Records

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  • Highest League Position: 5th in Isthmian League South Central Division - 2018–19 & 2023-24
  • FA Cup best performance:[5] 2nd Qualifying Round - 2022–23
  • FA Trophy best performance:[5] 1st Round Proper - 2023–24
  • FA Vase best performance:[5] Fourth round – 2000–01
  • Highest Attendance:[2] 325 vs Guernsey 2011–12
  • Oldest Competitive Player:[2] Roger Steer (1 appearance) 2017–18

Westfield Ladies

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Westfield Football Club had operated a women's football team, Westfield Ladies FC. It had been affiliated to the men's team since forming in 2009 until 2014, and contributes into the club's community development programme. The Ladies won their respective league in their opening season and played their homes games at Woking Park. However, after only a few seasons the ladies team was dissolved leaving only the senior men's team and the reserves (now U18s).

References

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  1. ^ "CCFL_League_Table". Combinedcountiesleague.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "History". Westfield FC. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Website created using 350pages at www.350.com". Nonleaguematters.net. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Surrey Senior League 1922–1978". Nonleaguematters.net. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h WESTFIELD (SURREY) at the Football Club History Database
  6. ^ "Combined Counties League 1978–2002". Nonleaguematters.net. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b c "Official CCFL Web Site". Combinedcountiesleague.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Combined Counties League 2002–2011". Nonleaguematters.net. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Warlingham 4 Westfield 2 Lemon Recordings Division One Challenge Cup Final – a set on Flickr". Flickr.com. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Reds Ace Sturridge at Westfield". surreyfa.com. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Club History".
  12. ^ "Kingstonian Appoint New Manager".
  13. ^ "Westfield appoint Ian Selley".
  14. ^ a b Bernard, Rob (16 July 2012). "Hopping all over the World: Westfield". Worldgroundhop.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  15. ^ Webmaster, Westfield FC. "Ground Redevelopment. Jan 2010–present photos". Westfield FC. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  16. ^ Burrows, Ben (29 March 2014). "Is this the most pointless stand ever? Non-league Westfield FC expand stadium for just 50 fans". Mirror. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  17. ^ webmaster, Stadium Solutions. "Our Work: Westfield FC". Stadium Solutions. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Saturday Premier Cup Previous Winners". SurreyFA. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  19. ^ "Saturday Junior Cup Previous Winners". SurreyFA. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
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51°18′32″N 0°33′23″W / 51.30889°N 0.55639°W / 51.30889; -0.55639

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