HISTORY OF GUILDFORD FOOTBALL

The History of Guildford City Football Club

Thirty years ago on the 12th February 1974, Guildford City FC played their last game at the Joseph's Road ground, thus ending senior football in the town. The tale of how the club and Guildford lost its well-loved team and ground will now be explained.

The Club was formed in 1921 and they played football on a semi-professional basis in the Southern League which is now the Nationwide Conference league.

Those were glory years: in the 1937-38 season they won the Southern League title and popular opinion has it that, if war hadn't broken out, they would have gone on to win promotion to the Football League.

In the following years Guildford City continued and managed to win the Southern League again in 1955-56; they also lifted the Southern League Cup in 1962-63 and again in 1966-67. From 1967 through to the early seventies they had a very good team, with regular gates of over 2000 and several players enjoying local household name status.

Their demise, however, started as early as 1969 and, with the club in financial trouble (liabilities of £33,700), the Chairman, Mr. Mac Sinclair, explored the possibilities of the ground being sold. The Council agreed that the ground could possibly be developed for residential housing, and they also offered the club £1,000 to help it through the season with repayment at 8% interest if it continued. In February 1969 the club decided not to accept the Council’s offer and instead offered to sell the ground to the Council for £30,000. The council approved the purchase in March and on April 3rd 1969 the club’s directors agreed to the sale, with Mr. Walter Wheatley signing for the club in the absence abroad of Mr. Sinclair.

However, when Mr. Sinclair returned in June 1969, he objected and said that he had received offers from private developers. The Town Clerk pointed out that planning permission would be required, as ratepayer’s money could not be used in a speculative venture. The Borough Council then made an application for planning consent. In the meantime the Bank wanted a payment of £18,000 from the club’s directors. Sinclair broke off negotiations with the Borough Council and, in July 1969, entered into an agreement with a local builder, C.G. Robertson. In September 1970 Robertson paid the club £40,000 and agreed that in the event of planning approval for residential development being given, he would pay the club 20% of the valuation price less the £40,000. However, in 1971, an organisation called Joviel Properties appeared on the scene and paid Robertson £200,000 for the ground. They were also willing to advance £20,000 to help Guildford City in erecting grandstands on a new site. They would also honour the agreement of 20% of the valuation fee current at the time of planning approval.

As the 1973-74 season got underway, Slyfield was earmarked as a possible new site but as it would not be ready for two or three years, a temporary ground would be needed if the club was to avoid playing outside of Guildford. GBC offered Bannister’s Farm recreation ground (where Tesco’s is) at a peppercorn rent, but this was not taken up. Instead the club, without the knowledge of the Council, took the decision to pull out of the town.


Cont 2,

Thirteen shareholders demanded an extraordinary general meeting of the club.
At this meeting general manager, Mr Colin Pinder, told the board and shareholders that, when the present board took over in July 1973, no provision had been made by their previous administration for a stadium for the 74-75 season even though it had been known since 1970 that Joseph’s Road needed to be vacated by April 1974.

The club now faced a dilemma: Woking FC could not help but Dorking would, provided it was not a temporary arrangement. Due to the fans’ awareness of the problems ahead, the directors felt uneasy so the last game was played in February rather than April ’74. The next few games were quickly arranged to take place at the Metropolitan Police ground at Imber Court in Thames Ditton. After that the team, with Southern League blessing, moved to its new home in Dorking and became known as Dorking & Guildford FC, quite simply because they had nowhere else to play.

The Joseph’s Road ground then sat empty and was not built upon until 1978.
You may well ask why the team was not allowed to stay until building work was actually due to begin!

After two seasons at Dorking most of the better players left and the team slipped into decline. They returned to Guildford in 1976 and became Guildford & Worplesdon FC, playing at the University for a short time and then moving to Worplesdon's ground. The team’s fortunes went from bad to worse, relegation followed and they were eventually kicked out of the League due to the inadequate facilities at Worplesdon’s ground. The team changed its name back to Worplesdon and carried on in the lower leagues where they are still playing today.
What happened to the plans for the new ground at Slyfield you may now ask?

As the years rolled on, a few people in the 1980’s tried to re-kindle some enthusiasm but to no avail. However, in 1996 Godalming Town FC applied to the ‘Guildford Appeals Committee’ and were given £20,000 to help erect a new stand and install floodlights at Weycourt. This was on the understanding that the team name would be changed to Guildford & Godalming FC. However, after monies were exchanged, the club reneged on this agreement but then, after much discussion, agreed to be called Godalming & Guildford FC. This did not go down too well with people who remembered the end of the Joseph’s Road ground and all the talk about a new stadium somewhere in Guildford. It was seen as the last chance to get senior football back to Guildford gone.


Now alongside this, back in 1992, Burpham FC were promoted from the Surrey Intermediate League to the Surrey Premier League. Burpham played at the Sutherland Memorial Park but, in 1996, the Surrey Premier League decided that the facilities at the Memorial Park were not up to the required standard for their league. Also, Burpham had to play the first few home games of each season at another venue, because Sutherland’s goalposts were not erected due to the Cricket season not being finished. The players were given a choice, either return to the Intermediate League or find somewhere else to play.



Cont. 3,

GBC were contacted and offered that the club could play at Spectrum. However that would mean Burpham losing the right to play on Sutherland Memorial Park. GBC, led by Councillor John Woodhatch and the Spectrum’s management, became involved in discussions with the Burpham committee: if the team were to play at Spectrum it could not be called Burpham so a new team would have to be formed.

So in 1996 ‘AFC Guildford’, made up of the Burpham first team and reserves, was formed. Two more teams had to be found to play under the Burpham name so that Burpham could continue to play at the Sutherland Memorial Park; this was done quite easily and Burpham still play in the Guildford & Woking Alliance league. Meanwhile down at the Spectrum, after a slow start and several indifferent years, the Burpham players under their new name ‘AFC Guildford’ have done very well.
Last season (2003/04) they won Division One in the Seagrave Haulage Combined Counties League, gaining promotion to the Premier Division.

However, we must bear in mind that the Seagrave Haulage Combined Counties League Premier Division is still two leagues below the Conference League (Southern League) which is where Guildford City played back in 1974. They were knocking on the door of Division 4 at the time so it is interesting to think of what might have been if the ground hadn’t been sold or if the talk of a new ground at Slyfield had been fulfilled.

So what of the future, the 2004/05 season and beyond? The Combined Counties League have approved the continued use of the Spectrum provided there are certain improvements to the ground: the pitch needs to be six meters longer, (to do this the hammer throwing nets will have to be moved); separate changing facilities are required for the referee and linesmen; screens need to be erected so it is not possible to view the game without paying and turnstiles will have to be put in place. This is the big test for AFC as, up until now, their audience of around 150 have been watching for free. Are they going to be prepared to pay to see their team in the Premier Division? Another issue is that these improvements all cost money and AFC have no money - even the players have to pay £4 subscriptions per game to play and this just covers hiring the ground from Guildford Borough Council.

A ground-sharing arrangement has been agreed with Cranleigh FC so AFC’s first few home games will happen there. After this the club will return to the upgraded Spectrum pitch, which should be perfectly adequate for the coming years in the higher Premier Division. AFC Guildford just need to hope that the paying audience is also there to watch the team as the financial security of a football club is as uncertain now as it was thirty years ago.

September 2004
Sources of reference: Original notes from 1972 made by past Mayor and Councillor Bill Bellerby who was also President of Guildford City Football Club. A Surrey Advertiser article dated 12.2.99. Information from past players and people who’ve been involved with Guildford football over the years.