Whyteleafe Football Club was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Whyteleafe Whyteleafe is a village in the district of Tandridge, Surrey, England, with a few streets falling inside the London Borough of Croydon. The village, in a dry valley of the North Downs, has three railway stations (on two parallel lines). Neighbou ...

, Surrey. The club was established in 1946 and joined the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an England, English amateur association football, football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football ...

in 1981. The club was an FA Chartered Standard club affiliated to the

Surrey County Football Association The Surrey County Football Association was founded in 1877 and affiliated to The Football Association in 1882, at the same time as a County Senior Cup competition, the Surrey Senior Cup, was established. The organisation administers all levels ...

History

Whyteleafe F.C. was formed in 1946, replacing another club, Whyteleafe Albion, which had existed before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The new club initially played junior football in such local leagues as the Thornton Heath & District League, before gaining senior status and joining the

Surrey Senior League The Surrey Senior League was an English regional football league for teams based in Surrey although teams from outside the county were often admitted as well. The league existed from 1922 until 1978, when it was rebranded as the Home Counties Leag ...

in 1958, at which time they moved to the Church Road ground, which would remain their home until 2021. Whyteleafe were Surrey Senior League champions on at least one occasion in the 1960sHistory page of the club's official website
/ref> before switching to the

London Spartan League The Spartan League was a Association football, football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands Football League, Spartan So ...

in 1975. In 1981 they switched to the

and then in 1984 to the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

. In 1989 they were promoted to Division One, a level at which they played for 23 years (albeit with league reorganisations placing the team in Division One South from 2002 to 2004 and again in 2006). In 1999, they reached the First Round Proper of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for the first time in their history and held Chester City to a 0–0 draw before losing the replay. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club were relegated from the Isthmian League to the Kent League. After one season of consolidation the club was promoted from the renamed

Southern Counties East League The Southern Counties East Football League is an English football league established in 1966, which has teams based in Kent and Southeast London. Its two divisions are allocated at Step 5 and Step 6 of the National League System (which equates ...

back to the Isthmian League at the end of the 2013–14 season. Ahead of the 2021–22 season, Whyteleafe announced that they had withdrawn from the

, following the loss of their Church Road ground. In August 2021, a 'phoenix' club named AFC Whyteleafe was formed, securing a deal on Church Road. The club entered the

Surrey South Eastern Combination The Surrey South Eastern Combination is one of the three intermediate association football leagues based in the English county of Surrey (the others are the Surrey Premier County Football League and the Surrey County Intermediate League (Wester ...

Ground

Whyteleafe played their home games at Church Road, Whyteleafe, Surrey, CR3 0AR until June 2021. The site of Church Road was formerly farmland, and the farm's existing buildings were converted into the clubhouse and dressing rooms. The club originally planned to add a running track and cricket pitch to the complex, but these plans were abandoned. Floodlights were added in the early 1980s and a new main stand added in 1999 for the club's first round

match against Chester City, which saw a record attendance of 2,164. Some of the turnstiles added at the ground were purchased from

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

after they moved to the

Britannia Stadium The bet365 Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the cl ...

in 1997. In June 2021, following the purchase of the ground by Singaporean-based company Irama, Whyteleafe left Church Road due to Irama refusing to negotiate a new lease with the club.

Records

*Best league performance: Fifth in Isthmian League Division One South, 2002–03, 2014–15 *Best

performance: First round proper, 1999-00 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

performance: Fourth round, 1998–99 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

performance: Fifth round, 1980–81, 1985–86 *Record attendance: 2,210 vs Chester City, FA Cup first round, 30 October 1999Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2020) ''Non-League Club Directory 2021'', p577

Honours

Southern Counties East Football League The Southern Counties East Football League is an English association football, football league established in 1966, which has teams based in Kent and Southeast London. Its two divisions are allocated at Step 5 and Step 6 of the National League ...

: ** Premier Division Champions (1): 2013–14 *

: ** Premier Division Champions (1): 1968–69 *

: ** Division Two South Runners-up (1): 1988–89 *

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

: ** Runners-up (2): 1987–88, 2007–08 *East Surrey Charity Cup : ** Runners-up (1): 1977–78 *Surrey Junior Cup: ** Runners-up (1): 1951–52

Former players

References

External links

* {{coord, 51, 18, 17, N, 0, 4, 47, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Isthmian League clubs Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1946 Association football clubs disestablished in 2021 Athenian League Defunct football clubs in Surrey Southern Counties East Football League 1946 establishments in England 2021 disestablishments in England