WE'LL BOUNCE BACK IN STYLE

IT’S fair to say that Colliers Wood United didn’t plan to mark their 150th anniversary with relegation – but now they’re eager to bounce back.

Founded in 1874, Wood were stalwarts of Surrey football before becoming one of the founder members of Combined Counties Division One just over two decades ago.

They swiftly progressed to the league’s top flight, but last season hit a major bump in the road as they finished bottom of Premier Division South and suffered relegation back to Division One.

“It’s hugely disappointing to get relegated at any time, but this year it was particularly the case with it being our anniversary,” chairman Steve Turner told The NLP.

“We don’t pay any money, so we probably knew at some point it was going to happen, even though we tried hard to stay up.

“We haven’t paid players for the last three years and we never paid much anyway, just a bit of expenses. However, it wasn’t sustainable – unless you have someone with deep pockets.

“We would rather spend money on our ground and over the last five years we have done an awful lot of work on it – fencing, dugouts, spectator rail, changing rooms, referee’s room, turnstiles. We felt that was where the money was better spent.”

If fortunes have waned somewhat on the pitch in recent times, the hope is that the club have reached a nadir and can now start to flourish again.

Prestige