Alfold On Cloud Nine As Cup Debut Grips Village

IN 2015, Alfold club secretary Wayne Mouring was erecting a fence around the pitch to stop cars parking on it.

- Alex Thrower

Little did he realise in just five years the small, sleepy, Surrey village would have a team in the FA Cup.

Founded in 1923, the club did little special in the first 90 years of their history. A West Sussex League win here, a Chichester Charity Cup there.

But that all started changing eight years ago when the club gained promotion from Step 7 to Step 6 and began gaining momentum.

The doomed 2019/20 season was their first in the Southern Combination Premier (Step 5) and dreams of appearing in football’s oldest competition for the first time began.

On Tuesday, Mouring, who’s been at the club for 42 years, realised that ambition. His beloved club thrashed Shoreham 9-1 in the extra preliminary round.

“We put the fence up in 2015 so people wouldn’t drive on the pitch,” he told The NLP.