Born in 1880, Dorking were the oldest senior football club in Surrey – but the curtain sadly came down on The Chicks in 2017. In 2014, the club was forced out of its Meadowbank Park ground after it was deemed not fit for purpose. The Chicks shared with Horley for a time, with the aim of being back home sooner rather than later. But delays pushed back their return and caused financial worries due to the cost of finding another temporary home.
In March 2016, it was announced that Dorking Wanderers would put them up until their home was ready the following summer. Sadly, the club didn’t make it to summer 2017; closing in February that year and merging into the Wanderers.
In terms of us and them, we went onto clinch the 1993-4 Diadora League Premier Division title; the second time in as many seasons we went up against against Dorking in the league. For the Chicks, that season is as good as it got. In fact, they went down – not once, but twice; finishing bottom of Division One at the end of the 1994-5 campaign. Their slide continued once more two seasons later; Dorking ending up in Division Three.
In the early 2000s, fortunes took a turn for the better. The 2003-4 season saw them finish second in Division Two (the old Division Three) and go up. But it was only for one season. And, once back down, there was just one more term in the Ryman before moving to the Combined Counties League in 2006. A year later, tragedy hit the club when skipper Stewart Vaughan passed away from cancer; Vaughan still playing on while receiving treatment.
