Like ourselves Woking gained promotion through the play-offs, and that’s where the similarities end really, as Woking have taken to life in the National League Premier like a duck to water, although that’s not surprising as unlike ourselves Woking have recently competed and been relegated from this level. So, I’ve not been surprised to see them sitting top of the table, given that they are an experienced team at this level, and they do have a good manager in Alan Devonshire.
Woking is a town that I’ve only ever visited for footballing reasons, in fact I’ve been to Woking numerous times but not once have I set foot in the town centre of Woking, although that’s the same for many towns up and down the country, I’ve been there but only to the football ground. My first trip to Woking’s ground came in the 2003/04 season when Shrewsbury Town found themselves on loan to the then Conference. Salop drew 3-3 with Woking, with Luke Rodgers scoring a hat-trick for the Shrews, with Ian Selley, Davis Haule and Amos Foyewa on the scoresheet for Woking. I then attended the Kingfield Stadium when Hayes & Yeading found themselves sharing the facilities there, in fact I attended one of Darlington’s last ever games before they folded, when they took on Hayes & Yeading at Kingfield.
I suppose this should be the point where I make a resolution to visit Woking town centre when we head there for the return fixture, but I’m not going to make any promises. Besides if I make a promise to visit Woking’s town centre then I’ll have to visit Scunthorpe, Sunderland, Newport and all the other places that I’ve only ever seen the football ground of. That’s a goal for the future though, when life is a little bit more settled and I’ve got the time and money to visit far-flung places and take weekend breaks on the English Riviera in Torquay and the ever delightful, Tinie Tempah free, Scunthorpe.
Today’s game was to be the second out of three consecutive home games as it was sandwiched between a County Cup game with Preston and a league match with Barrow. I did attend the Preston game, but decided against blogging it as we were beaten 4-1 by a Josh Ginnelly inspired Preston and given the less than civil way that Ginnelly left Shrewsbury Town I don’t really want to dedicate too many words to him.
In our last league match, we took on Dover in a game that ended 1-1, and from what I’ve read we could have had all three points if it hadn’t had been for a goal-line clearance in the dying minutes of the game. Slowly but surely, we seem to be finding our feet in this division, and I’m beginning to believe that we may have a chance of gaining safety in this league.
As I’ve mentioned Woking were promoted through the play-offs last season beating Welling 1-0 to regain their place in the National League Premier, after they were relegated in 2018. Founded in 1889, the club joined the West Surrey League in 1895, winning the title by one point. Unfortunately, after only twenty-one years of existence Woking were in danger of folding for financial reasons, but the turning point came in January 1908 as they played Bolton in the FA Cup First Round, and despite losing the away game 5-0 the club made it into the national news. So impressed by Woking were Bolton that the Trotters travelled down to Woking for a friendly the following season, a game which kept the Cardinals solvent.
The club joined the Isthmian League in 1911, maintaining their place in the top division for seventy-two years, finishing as runners up to Wycombe Wanderers in 1957. The following season, 1958, Woking beat Ilford to win the last ever FA Amateur Cup to be televised live. In front of a 71,000 crowd the Cardinals emerged as 3-0 winners.
The club went into decline following that achievement and in 1983 they were relegated for the first time, by the end of the 1984/85 season the club had plunged into the Second Division South of the Isthmian League. Woking clinched the Division Two South title in 1987, after missing out on promotion the season before. After two third place finishes in Division One they were promoted back to the Premier Division in 1990.
Promotion to the Conference soon followed, as they clinched the Isthmian League title in 1992 with seven games still to be played. In their first season in the Conference they finished a respectable eighth. In 1994, Woking won the FA Trophy for the first-time beating Runcorn in the final at Wembley, and in the following season they won it again, becoming the second club to have won back to back FA Trophies. A third FA Trophy win followed in 1997, and the Cardinals also established themselves in the league and FA Cup.
Woking remained in the Conference until 2009 when they were relegated to the Conference South. This relegation had been coming as the club had suffered with financial issues and in the Summer of 2009 a Supporter’s Trust took over the running of the club. Woking remained in the Conference South until 2012 when they won the league title with two games to spare, eventually finishing on 97 points, nine more than second placed Dartford.
It took just eight minutes for the first goal of the game to be scored. Jake Cottrell found himself in space down the left flank, and he played a beautiful ball into Chris Holroyd who cushioned it down and buried it. Since signing for us from Wrexham, Holroyd has been a delight to watch and his goalscoring ability could be the difference in our survival.
Woking equalised in the 21st minute, following a mistake in the Chorley defence. I couldn’t see who it was, but one of our defender’s mistimed a header and the ball bounced over his head, allowing Dave Tarpey to head home.
The rest of the first half was a rather poor contest, as both teams misplaced passes, and the half time whistle was a relief for everyone in the ground. At half time I walked round to the pop-up shop and separated with £7.95 for a copy of “Going Up, Going Up”, a book commemorating our promotion last season. It’s a decent read for Chorley fans, and one that shall be gracing the shelves of my bookshelves for a long time.
Half time seemed to have settled the players of both teams and play was more open, with plenty of attacking moves created by both sides. However, the chances created were wasted.
A personal highlight of the second half was the moment when the home fans realised that Woking’s number six, Moussa Diarra, had no neck. Seriously the guy’s head just sits on his shoulders. He’ll never be able to wear necklaces, and it must be hard to find formal shirts that fit, as he really does not have a neck.
Unfortunately, in the 73rd minute, Woking’s Tyreke Johnson, on loan from Southampton, had to be stretchered from the field of play with an arm injury, which looked to be a dislocated shoulder. Hopefully Tyreke will be back on the pitch soon as he had been one of Woking’s best players up until his injury.
Alex Newby was denied a penalty once the game restarted, as he found himself clear through on goal, and whilst he managed to force a save from the Woking keeper, he had Moussa “No Neck” Diarra all over him. But the referee saw no infringement from “No Neck” and play continued to the annoyance of the home fans.
He had no doubt however that Ben Gerring deserved a red card in the 91st minute, as the Woking player lost his head and clotheslined Marcus Carver, as Carver attempted to take a quick throw-in. There’s absolutely no other way than to describe Gerring’s actions other than idiotic. Carver tends to annoy opposition defenders, and in the first half he seemed to have rattled Gerring in a battle which continued throughout the game. But no matter how annoying Carver is, I still can’t get over the fact that Gerring resorted to a WWE move to stop his opponent.
We were unable to capitalise on our advantage however, despite having some good chances to do so. A point each reflected a well-matched game, and hopefully we’ll be able to get the three points against Barrow on Tuesday night.
Thanks for reading.
David's Adventures in Groundhopping 