AFC Croydon Athletic is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

in the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Mayfield Stadium. They are affiliated to the

London Football Association The London Football Association (LFA) is the regional Football Association for inner areas of London. The London FA was established in 1882 and is affiliated to The Football Association. The London FA administers all levels of men's, women's and ...

History

The club was formed in 2012 by fans of

Croydon Athletic F.C. Croydon Athletic Football Club was an English football club based in Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon, London, England. It was founded in 1986 and initially named as Wandsworth & Norwood until 1990. The club progressed through va ...

after that club withdrew from the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

during the 2011–12 season and eventually folded.Croydon Athletic FC revival plans get underway
Croydon Advertiser, 13 April 2012 Prior to their resignation, the club's owner

Mazhar Majeed Mazhar Majeed (born 1975) is a British sporting agent and bookmaker who came under police investigation in 2010 following reports of cricket ' match fixing' after a '' News of the World'' sting operation. On Saturday 28 August 2010, he was arrest ...

had been jailed following his involvement in the

Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal The Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal was a sports scandal that occurred during a Pakistani cricket team in England in 2010#Fourth Test, Test match between England and Pakistan at Lord's, London, in August 2010. The scandal centered on th ...

, Majeed had been recorded admitting that he had purchased the club solely in order to

launder money Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

, and the club had been locked out of its ground by the local council due to unpaid debts. The new club joined Division One of the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

for the 2012–13 season. In their first season they finished eighth and won the Division One cup, beating Staines Lammas 5–0 in the final. They finished seventh the following season and were runner-up in 2014–15, earning promotion to level eight of the pyramid. Rather than entering the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League, they were transferred into the Southern Counties East League. The season also saw them win the London Senior Trophy, beating Interwood 4–3 after extra time. The first season in the Southern Counties East Football League saw them finish eleventh, their highest finish to date. After four years at the club, manager Antony Williams left to join Chipstead in May 2016, and was replaced by Kevin Rayner. At the end of his first season in charge he led the team to their highest finish of seventh. At the end of the 2020–21 season the club were transferred to the Premier Division South of the Combined Counties League.

Ground

After its establishment the club were unable to continue playing at the former club's Mayfield Stadium, and so arranged to groundshare with

Croydon F.C. Croydon Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Croydon, London. Until 2006, they played in the Isthmian League, but lost their place in that league as part of the 2006 re-structuring of non-league football, and n ...

at the Croydon Sports Arena.AFC Croydon Athletic in race against time to return to 'spiritual home' for new season
Wirral Globe, 8 July 2014 In January 2013 the Mayfield Stadium clubhouse was destroyed in a fire, but was rebuilt and the club moved to the ground in 2014, playing their first match there against

Banstead Athletic Banstead Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Tadworth, near Epsom in Surrey, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Merland Rise. They are affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association. History The c ...

on 15 November 2014. MayfieldStadium

Club officials

Managers

:''As of matches played 30 April 2021. All competitive matches are counted.''Hall of Fame
AFC Croydon Athletic

Honours

*Combined Counties League **Division One Cup winners 2012–13 *London Senior Trophy **Winners 2014–15

Records

*Highest league position: 7th in Southern Counties East Football League, 2016–17 *Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

performance: First qualifying round, 2018–19 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

performance: Second round, 2018–19

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croydon Athletic, AFC Fan-owned football clubs in England Football clubs in England Football clubs in London Southern Counties East Football League Combined Counties Football League Association football clubs established in 2012 2012 establishments in England Sport in the London Borough of Croydon Phoenix clubs (association football)