CAFC vs AFC Croydon Athletic – Match Preview
Carshalton Athletic take a break from league action when they welcome south London neighbours AFC Croydon Athletic to Colston Avenue on Monday for a Velocity Cup tie.
Carshalton Athletic
It was certainly a weekend to remember for Robins faithful after Peter Adeniyi’s side inflicted Billericay Town’s first defeat of the 2024-25 season, coming back from 3-1 down to win 4-3. Midfielder Fabio Saraiva was the man of the moment following an audacious long-range screamer that left Donkin completely stunned between the sticks. Striker David Smith also grabbed his third goal in as many games, a superb start to life in Red for the former Cray Wanderers forward.
AFC Croydon FC
AFC Croydon Athletic shared the points with Erith Town at the weekend after a well-fought second half by the Rams.
They currently reside in step four of the English Football Pyramid after achieving promotion to the Isthmian League South East Division for the first time since the club was reformed over a decade ago.
The Rams currently occupy 10th position on 19 points from 13 games. On Saturday, Croydon clinched a last-gasp leveller through Brandon Pierrick that ensured their unbeaten streak extended to 10.
Interestingly enough, as alluded to above, the club’s inception came relatively recently, on February 6 2012 to be specific. A group of supporters gathered at Selhurst Evangelical Church South Norwood to form a new football team. The reason for this came following Croydon Athletic FC’s demise. Owner Mazhar Majeed had been involved in “spot-fixing”, bowling no balls for betting rings, he was filmed by an undercover News of the World journalist accepting £140,000 to ensure they were delivered. Croydon were therefore innocent victims, fruitless searches for a new buyer ensued alongside the mounting debts, which Majeed refused to pay, unfortunately, they would play their last game in December 2011.
The newly appointed committee spearheading a Croydon renaissance through the new AFC club had the tough task of putting everything together in time to convince the FA and the league that they were worthy of a place at step six. With the support of the Combined Counties and London FA, representatives met officials from the FA and presented and answered questions for over 90 minutes as to why they had a case to be in Division One, eventually, the committee were notified the Rams had been recommended for the top tier of the Combined Counties.
Croydon Council would facilitate the club, giving them use of Croydon Sports Arena and by late May of 2012 they had appointed their first manager Antony Williams.
The south-London-based side would finish in a credible 8th position in their maiden campaign. That said, it was made even more memorable by the fact that they also won their first piece of Silverware, winning the Lemon Recordings Division One Cup by beating Staines Lammas 5-0 at Windsor.
The 2013-14 season proved to be another of consolidation, languishing a place higher in the league and with more consistency could have been in the mix to shake up the promotion positions.
Off the field, the Rams made a much-welcomed return to their spiritual home of Mayfield Stadium on 15 November 2014 in a game against Banstead Athletic. During that campaign, Atheltic would clinch second place after a 3-0 victory over Cobham FC much to their delight, they would cap it off by picking up the club’s second piece of silverware when winning the London Senior Trophy, edging Interwood 4-3 after extra time.
Of course, Croydon had sealed promotion for 2015-16 and the FA Leagues Committee placed them in The Southern Counties East Football League, formerly the Kent League, punching above their weight, the Rams made a good account of themselves, sitting in mid-table, 11th, come the conclusion of the season.
That summer, the Rams would have to contend with the departure of manager Williams, who left for Chipstead, Kevin Rayner came in. Rayner would achieve seventh position, which remained the club’s highest finish before last year’s triumph. Frustratingly, Croydon failed to kick on and consecutive mid-table finishes followed, slipping to 13th and then 15th in 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively.
In 2018-19, there was progress in the FA Cup for the first time when a 5-0 Rochester United win and 1-0 Hanworth Villa replay victory realised a First Qualifying tie. As we are all well aware, COVID-19 curtailed the next two campaigns, so 2021-22 saw a move back to the Combined Counties Football League Premier Division South.
Fast forward to a historic 2023-24 where the Rams would languish in fifth place on 70 points, qualifying for the play-offs. A superb 2-1 win at Jersey Bulls in the semi-final set up a final with Knaphill, goals from Pierrick and Louie Theophanous earned a narrow 2-1 victory to confirm promotion and spark jubilant celebrations at Redding Way.
Likely line-ups
Carshalton Athletic
Roberts, Sankoh, Tanner, Atewologun, Read, Saraiva, Bradford, Saunders-Henry, Ifeanyi, Smith, Frimpong
AFC Croydon Athletic
Tangara, Savane, McCarthy, Webber, Diallo, Serbonij, Kirby, Pierrick ©, Daniel, Omilabu, Dotse
Team news
Carshalton Athletic
Goalkeeper Mackenzie Foley and striker Luke Cook remained side-lined, temporary shot-stopper 18-year-old Sam Roberts on loan from Sutton United made way for latest addition Dion-Curtis Henry, formerly of Hornchurch. David Smith, meanwhile, having arrived from Cray Wanderers relatively recently, spearheads the Robins attack and is in fine form, bagging three goals in three matches.
AFC Croydon Athletic
Expect the Rams to have a fully fit team at their disposal.
Pre-Match Analysis
Even though AFC Croydon have netted 26 times in the 2024-25 campaign, a high percentage of those have been thanks to Brandon Pierrick, the Rams main attacking threat, speaking to a heavy reliance on the attacking output of the 22-year-old winger. David Omilabu has contributed, but nowhere to the same capacity as Pierrick with just five goals to his name. For the Robins, nullifying the former Crystal Palace men, particularly goal machine Pierrick will be of extreme importance.
Key Player
Boasting a whopping 17 goals so far in the 2024-25 campaign, there is no doubt that forward Brandon Pierrick is AFC Croydon’s key player. A familiar name to Crystal Palace supporters, Pierrick came through the Eagles academy and became the club’s second-youngest Premier League debutant in a 1-1 draw with Norwich on New Year’s Day in 2020, he was even involved in Roy Hodgson’s sides late equaliser, passing to Wilfred Zaha who crossed for Connor Wickham to tap into the net. The winger would be sent out on loan to Scottish Premiership outfit Kilmarnock to gain some more senior experience. The next stop on his footballing journey was Danish Superliga club Vejle, but he only made a handful of appearances before a few months applying his trade for fellow Premier Division side Dover Athletic.
Monday’s visitors also have David Omilabu in their ranks, Omilabu lit up the youth ranks in SE25. Signing his first professional deal with the Eagles in March 2021, he helped Palace secure promotion to the Premier League Two Division One later that year after he scored an extra-time winner in the play-off semi-final against Wolves. The versatile frontman featured more than 30 times for the South Londoners U21’s in 2022-23 as he picked up eight goals and seven assists in all competitions. It was a shock when his departure was announced in summer 2023, many fans were expecting Omilabu to be a part of the club’s long-term plans.
The Gaffer
Jermaine McGlashan stepped down after just one year at the helm in September. McGlashan took over as manager with the club 17th place in the Combined Counties League, he steered the team into the playoffs and promotion. With the team having yet to taste victory up to that stage, the owners agreed that the time was right for him to depart. Assistant Manager Chris Zebroski has deputised in his absence.
Match Details
Date: Monday, November 11, 2024
Venue: Colston Avenue
Kick-off: 07:45 PM
Admission: Admission: £11, £8, £5 (online prices) on the gate is a pound dearer.
Tickets: https://form.123formbuilder.com/566
