VS MARGATE
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE | SOUTH EAST DIVISION SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2026 | KICK OFF 3PM
Chairman’s message
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Vistavis Community Stadium for the last game of the season and sadly our last match after 450 games and 12 seasons in the Isthmian League South East Division.
Today’s opponents are Margate and we extend a warm welcome to their officials, management, players and supporters as well as this afternoon’s referee Pablo Aguilar Cabanes and his assistants Robert King and Steven Fogden. I trust everyone enjoys their brief stay and our hospitality
I want to sincerely thank every supporter, volunteer, parent, coach and player who has stood by the club throughout what has been the most challenging campaign during my time at the club and one of the most disappointing in our 136-year history.
But even in a tough season, there are moments that show you exactly what a club is made of — and, for us, that has been the emergence of our young players.
One of the real positives of this year has been seeing several of our U18s players step up into the first-team environment and not just cope, but compete. They’ve shown maturity beyond their years, embraced the challenge and brought energy, hunger and a genuine connection to the club. Their performances have given us something to build on and reminded everyone what our pathway is all about and why it is so important.
These lads have earned their opportunities, and they’ve taken them. They’ve shown that the future of this club is bright, and that with the right support and structure we can develop talent capable of playing at this level. Their progress is a credit to the youth coaches, the families who back them, and the senior players who have helped guide them.
As we close out the season today, let’s get behind the team one more time. Your support has meant everything. This club is stronger when we stand together, and the foundations for next season are already being laid on and off the pitch for a more successful future.
Thank you for sticking with us. Enjoy the game, and here’s to a brighter, more positive campaign ahead at Step 5, even though we don’t know yet what league we will be competing in.
Richard Tramontin
OWNERSHIP STATEMENT
In accordance with the Football Association's Rule 2.13 (publication of ownership) in relation to Step 1 to Step 6 Clubs within the National League System East Grinstead Town FC is an unincorporated association / members club and a Community Amateur Sports Club (reg no CASC 02270).
From the bench
Welcome back to the Vistavis Community Stadium for our final game of the season against Margate, to whom we extend a warm welcome. We wish them safe travels for the trip home.
Margate under Ben have had a great season, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. As always they will be tough opponents as the form guide suggests. Recently they have had some great wins including a 2-0 victory over newly crowned champions Three Bridges.
A quick note about our recent games. Last time at home we lost 2-0 to Faversham but there were positives to take away for our young Wasps. We followed that up with a disappointing 7-2 loss at Merstham. A bright first half from us saw us losing 2-3 at half-time and we showed encouraging signs before the break. However, their fourth goal which was cleared off the line was somehow judged to have cross the line! It was swiftly followed by a fifth when the linesman flagged for a throw in the build-up and was overruled by the man in middle. Those two goals killed us off and summed up the luck we’re getting at the moment.
We have been aware of our inevitable fate for some time now, relegation to step 5. That said, the rebuild starts immediately. Recruitment is of course our highest priority so we can be highly competitive next term. Some faces will remain with us and young Mason and Max have put in displays which fully warrant their deserved promotion from our U18 set-up into next season’s first-team squad. Their development is a tribute to them and reflects the talent we have coming through the ranks.
Our targets have been identified and we will work tirelessly over the coming months to build a squad capable of delivering week in week out in both league and cup competitions.
I returned back in October, not just because of my affiliation with the club but because I firmly believe that East Grinstead Town FC is a sleeping giant and has yet to realise its full potential. The club is to undergo a rebuild in order to achieve this, not just on the pitch but off it too. There is some great work by the committee behind the scenes being undertaken to get more people involved and to take the club forward with a higher profile.
The ultimate aim is to deliver a squad and a club you the supporters can be proud of and your continued support will play a huge role in this.
On a personal note, Curt, Ryan, the players and I thank you for your support throughout the season. As of 5pm this evening the hard work for next season begins. East Grinstead Town FC, with your support, will bounce back a much stronger club. It’s time to wake up the sleeping Wasps!
Enjoy the game and the summer – see you in a few weeks.
Margate Player Profiles
Tom Wray
The 21-year-old keeper came through the ranks of the Dartford academy where he impressed and earnt himself a loan spell at Heybridge Swifts in the 22/23 season, and in 15 appearances he kept eight clean sheets, becoming a key player. After returning to Dartford, Heybridge would come back in for him on loan again the next season and once more, he would shine in between the sticks!
Dino Kaiser
19 year old Dino a Fulham U21 keeper was signed in February on loan for the remainder of the season. He Monday joined the Cottagers when he was 16 for £200,000 from QPR and made his U18’s debut in the 2022/23 season against Sheffield United in the Premier League Cup. He has represented Bosnia at youth levels and signed a professional contract at Fulham in April 2025.
Harrison Hatfull
23- year-old Harrison returned to the club last season after leaving Dulwich Hamlet. He has appeared over 150 times already in Blue and became a favourite around the ground during his stints at the club! He started off as a midfielder but soon transitioned to right back where he shined, demonstrating his attacking and defensive capabilities to become a key player, as well as bringing lots of energy down the right-hand side!
Harry Hudson
Harry has been a key player since signing for the ‘Gate at the start of the 22/23 season, and he has excelled on and off the pitch, from scoring the winning penalty in the Kent Senior Cup Final to bonding with the fans and becoming a real favourite around Hartsdown Park! Hudson is our captain for the 2025/26 season!
Ben Greenhalgh
Ben has been a Blue since the 2021/22 season, where as a player, he lit the blue touch paper, scoring 24 goals and assisting 28 times, becoming an instant fan favourite around Hartsdown Park. Since then, he has continued to play and give his all for Margate FC, reaching 200 appearances at the club last season Ben also has experience as part of the coaching team, as he was player/assistant manager, where he helped aid the club on an incredible Kent Senior Cup run which ended with the ‘Gate lifting the trophy at Priestfield Stadium!He became player/manager for the 24/25 season.
Tushaun Walters
TT as he is also known joined us towards the end of last season from Hythe Town and added pace and skill to our frontline. Has also played for Maidstone United, Ramsgate., Hastings United and Herne Bay
Kane Haysman
30 year old Kane, an attacking midfielder who signed for in August from Herne Bay where he scored 16 goals in the 24/25 season. He started his career with Gillingham and also played for Sutton United, Eastbourne Borough and Chelmsford City. He has played for us previously in 2017 but after leaving us he took some time out from football.
Brandon Davey
Brandon joined us in August 24 having been at Corinthian for the past three years and has been exceptional in the middle of the park, winning players player two years in a row, as well as playing over 100 games for Corinthian by the age of 20! He's an energetic midfielder with brilliant control of the football and with his range of passing and quick feet to evade pressure.
Ibrahim Olutade
26-year-old Ibrahim has experience playing in the National League South for both Maidstone and Tonbridge, scoring seven goals in that division and last season was on fire for Folkestone and Leatherhead, scoring 17 goals. He had his best spell at Folkestone, scoring 25 goals in his time there and was a popular player amongst the Invicta fanbase. Was our top scorer last season with 28 goals.
Henry Young
20 year old midfielder Henry rejoined the Blues in September from Dover Athletic where he played 30 times scoring 4 goals. He started his youth career at Gillingham between U8’s and U16’s level. He joined Margate Youth at U16’s level and got called up straight away for his first team debut at the age of 16.
Lewis Knight
The 31-year-old centre-back started 23/24 with Ashford United but rejoined Margate in October 24, where he went on to appear 28 times! Knighty, as he is known around Hartsdown Park, is popular amongst the fanbase after joining the ‘Gate in July of 2021, and he featured 54 times before he joined Enfield Town in the next season
Sam Blackman
30-year-old joined us on loan from Folkestone in for the latter part of last season. He was in Blue from 20212024 as well as being our captain in the 2023/24 season! He left last summer to continue playing at a step three level with Folkestone Invicta but after irregular game time he has joined us again for this season.
Kai Garande
The 21-year-old plays at left back and was a part of the Charlton and Millwall youth academies! He played for Hythe Town in the Isthmian South-East in 23/24 season and fans should remember his wonder-goal in the first pre-season game against Whitstable Town last season.
20 year old midfielder Jack is a product of Ben Greenhalgh’s Dartford Academy. Has been on dual registration with Whitstable Town this season
Louie Atkins
19-year-old forward Louie was part of Dartford Academy who was on dual registration with us 23/24 season Scored over 100 goals for the Academy. He joined us after finishing his time with them.
Emmanuel Oke
22 year old defender Eman resigned for us in October 24 from Kings Lynn Town. A strong centre back who has also played in midfield for us. Previous clubs include Corinthians and Mangosfield United.
Kelechi Nkwocha
18 year old midfielder Kelechi is another product of Dartford Academy who joined us in September 25 to gain experience in the men’s games.
and skill to our is a serial, as well as playing at a higher level than that with Aldershot, Slough, Welling and Braintree.om played a key role in helping Tonbridge Angels gain promotion from the Isthmian Premier Division in 2019, going up through winning the playoffs.
3030Derry is a serial at Folkestone and Bishop’s Stortford in the league above more recently, as well as playing at a higher level than that with Aldershot, Slough, Welling and Braintree.
Tom played a key role in helping Tonbridge Angels gain promotion from the Isthmian Premier Division in 2019, going up through winning the playoffs.
Derry is a playing at Folkestone and Bishop’s Stortford in the league above more recently, as well as playing at a higher level than that with Aldershot, Slough, Welling and Braintree.
Tom played a key role in helping Tonbridge Angels gain promotion from the Isthmian Premier Division in 2019, going up through winning the playoffs.
Derry is a serial at Folkestone and Bishop’s Stortford in the league above more recently, as well as playing at a higher level than that with Aldershot, Slough, Welling and Braintree.
Tom played a key role in helping Tonbridge Angels gain promotion from the Isthmian Premier Division in 2019, going up through winning the playoffs.
STANDINGS LEAGUE
FIXTURES & RESULTS
TEAM LINE UP
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN F.C. MARGATE
Harry Howes n n
Luke Leppard n n
Steve Smith © n n
Curtis Gayler n n
Dan Perry n n
Tommy Seale n n
Tariq Richards n n
Omar Folkes n n
Tyler Grant n n
Leo Vowles n n
Harry Piper n n
Lewis McDonnell n n
Mason Saunders n n
Reegan Jeffery n n
Harry Bushell n n
Ethan Covus n n
Max Marshall n n
Jhon Murillo-Castillo n n
Declan Spittles n n
Josh Cryer n n
Tom Wray (GK) n n
Harrison Hatfull n n
Kai Garande n n
Lewis Knight n n
Harry Hudson © n n
Dino Kaiser (GK) n n
Tushaun Walters n n
Sam Blackman n n
Brandon Davey n n
Ibrahim Olutade n n
Henry Young n n
Ben Greenhalgh n n
Louie Atkins n n
Emmanuel Oke n n
Kane Haysman n n
Kelechi Nkwocha n n
NEXT HOME MATCH
Check www.egtfc.co.uk for pre-season games
Saturday 25th April 2026
MATCH OFFICIALS:
Referee: Pablo Aguilar Cabanes
Assistant Ref: Rob King
Assistant Ref: Steve Fogden
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN HISTORY
PROGRAMMES FROM THE PAST BY LESTER MEDCALF
With April 25 being the last day for games in 2026 I’m going to have a look at a couple of programmes we produced in the past for games played on April 25. Interesting that neither of the past games were the last game of the season.
We’ll start with East Grinstead v Stamco on Tuesday 25 April 1995 in division 1 of the Sussex County League. Like the 2025/26 season this was a season in which we came last by some distance. The programme editor’s notes start with a welcome to our visitors who had been knocked off the top of the league as a result of losing their most recent game. Stamco were a club who made little secret of their bid for playing in higher leagues and they had a number of critics in their fellow County League clubs.
The notes go on to say that, because of our poor season, there had been “much speculation about the future of our own club." But the programme could now announce a change in our manager and his back room helpers - in particular Bryn Marshall taking over as manager from Mark Arnold for the following season. The programme has a number of profiles of the various people who would manage things next season - with the hope that we would get back into division 1 pretty quickly.
The programme editor - not sure if it was Steward Ward or Bruce Talbot? - announced that he “was typing his last programme. I’ve done the job for 10 years.” Colin Wheeler - who you can still see at matches in 2026 - was taking over the role.
We do have a number of brief match reports. Starting with a 2-0 home defeat to Pagham followed by a 2-2 away draw against Whitehawk (our goals from Jeff Franklin and Bobby Smith) before a 3-2 away defeat on a dreadful Crowborough surface (Mark Cohen scoring twice) and a 1-1 away draw at Portfield (Steve Banks scoring). The defeat to Crowborough confirmed that we would be relegated. Looking at the programme’s league table Stamco are now second while we are of course bottom with 2 wins, 5 draws and 28 defeats. We had played Stamco in the reverse match back in August and had only lost 2-0. But I don’t know how the match at East Court went, though I know that we drew 2 of our last 3 matches (including the Stamco match) while Stamco won 4 of their last 5 matches (including the game against us).
DERBY DRAW BACK IN 2011
Moving on a few years we’ll have a look at the programme for East Grinstead v Crawley Down on (Easter) Monday 25 April 2011 with an 11 am kick-off in division 1 of the Sussex County League. The programme also covered our home match against Pagham played on Saturday 23 April - however I won’t cover that match.
Chairman Richard Tramontin tells us that Crawley Down had already won the league (and were very likely to gain promotion to the Isthmian League) with just one defeat - but he found it rather surprising that we had not yet played Crawley Down either home or away.
Team manager Tony Beckingham talks about our 4 recent trips to play away league matches in the southern part of Sussex which saw us win one (4-0 against Eastbourne United), draw one (1-1 against Wick) and lose one (1-0 against Sidley). So what happened to the fourth game (against Arundel ?) I don’t know is all I can say, though it sounds as if it was abandoned for things that we were blamed for. Programme editor Bruce Talbot reports pthat “the club will be conducting a vigorous and - we believe - compelling case against the charges made against us.” The programme does have a trip to Arundel listed in early May. The above game against Wick does have a match report in the programme. Wick went ahead in the very first minute - and might have scored more in the first half but didn’t. We had much more of the game in the second half with a total of some 17 corners and we had to wait until the very last minute when Peter Cooper’s mis-hit shot in the Wick penalty area somehow dribbled into the Wick goal for the equaliser. Let’s talk about the Crawley Down game. The programme’s league table of course had them top while we were in 7th place with another 4 games to play. Crawley Down scored an early goal after some 10 minutes but Jez Tobin equalised for us some 10 minutes from half-time. No goals in the second half and so it ended 1-1. And I don’t know how our game away to Crawley Down eventually went - though there’s something suggesting we lost 1-0.
Our Isthmian League record
As we bid goodbye or perhaps au revoir to Step 4 football today, it’s worth looking back at our record at this level which is the highest we competed at in our 136year history.
As you can see from the table, the last 12 seasons have been a story of struggle, with the odd exception. In a completed season we have never come higher than 14th which means we have never had a top-half finish.
The 2020-21 season was shaping up to be different. We were fourth and unbeaten when the league was abandoned due to Covid after six games. But we were also reprieved when the pandemic curtailed the 19-20 campaign and we were bottom of the table having won just once!
What surprised me was that we had two successive seasons when we conceded more than 120 goals – but still managed to beat the drop.
But overall, the numbers speak for themselves and in our heart of hearts we probably knew that one season we wouldn’t be good enough. So here we are.
It is November 2024 – so more than 18 months – since we last won a Saturday game at home, a 4-2 victory over Phoenix Sports. That’s a sequence we’d love to end in our 450th and final game as a Step 4 club.
GETTING STUCK IN AGAINST FAVERSHAM
Action from our last home game shows Luke Leppard (top) and Reegan Jeffrey in action. Photos: Stuart Gibson.
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