Woking Football Club is a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club, based in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England. The team competes in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, the fifth level of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

. Founded in 1887, they joined the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

in 1911–12 and won the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

in 1957–58. Woking were relegated twice in 1982–83 and 1984–85. However, they were promoted three times: in 1986–87, 1989–90 and 1991–92, to reach the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

. Woking won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

on three occasions throughout the 1990s and finished as runners-up in the Conference in their third and fourth season at that level but were not promoted. They remained at the highest level of non-League football until relegation in 2008–09. Woking subsequently won promotion back in 2011–12 before suffering another relegation in 2017–18. They earned immediate promotion to the

via the play-offs in 2019. The club currently plays its home matches at the

Kingfield Stadium Kingfield Stadium, currently known as The Laithwaite Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Association football, football stadium in the Kingfield area of Woking, Surrey, and is the home of Woking F.C., Woking Football Club which has a ...

and is nicknamed the Cardinals, often shortened to the Cards.

History

Early years

Woking Football Club was founded in 1887. The club joined the West Surrey League in 1895–96, winning the title by one point. However, within 21 years of being formed, the club was in danger of folding for financial reasons. The turning point came when, in January 1908, Woking played

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, having made it through five qualifying rounds. Despite losing the away game 5–0, the club made it into the national news. Bolton Wanderers, impressed by the minnows they had defeated, travelled to Woking for a friendly match the following season, which kept the club solvent.

Isthmian League years

In 1911 the club joined the

, maintaining their place in the top division for 72 years and finishing as runners-up to Wycombe Wanderers in 1956–57. That achievement was eclipsed the following season when, in front of a 71,000 crowd, Woking beat

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

3–0 to win the 1958 F.A. Amateur Cup final, the last to be televised live. The club then went into decline, culminating in a first-ever relegation in 1982–83. By the end of the 1984–85 season the club had plunged to Division Two South of the Isthmian League. Former player, Geoff Chapple, was appointed as manager on 24 September 1984, but was not able to save the club from relegation. The following season, the club just missed out on promotion at the first attempt. However, the club clinched the Division Two South title in 1986–87 and, after two third-place finishes in Division One, they were promoted back to the Premier Division at the end of the 1989–90 season.

FA Cup glory

During the 1990–91 season, the club reached the fourth round of the

. Woking beat three

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

sides to set up a third round away tie at Second Division side

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. After trailing 1–0 at half time, Woking went on to win 4–2, with Tim Buzaglo scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. In the Fourth Round, the club was drawn against First Division Everton. The tie was originally going to be played at Woking, however the venue was switched to Everton's home ground,

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

. Woking narrowly lost the match 1–0 to a Kevin Sheedy goal.

Promotion to the Conference and FA Trophy success

Wembley Stadium - Cup Winners - geograph

Promotion to the Conference was achieved in 1991–92. The

title was clinched in early April, with seven games still to be played, 18 points clear of nearest rivals, Enfield. The next season saw Woking finish the season in eighth position. The following summer saw Chapple sign former Chelsea,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and QPR winger, Clive Walker, from Brighton & Hove Albion and he was to prove the catalyst in the most successful period in the club's history. Woking won the

for the first time in 1994, defeating

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

in the final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

; the following season they became only the second club to win back-to-back FA Trophies (after

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in 1976–77), defeating Kidderminster Harriers in the final. A third FA Trophy triumph followed in 1997, with Dagenham & Redbridge the opponents in the final. The Cards also achieved five successive top-five finishes in the Conference, including being runners-up in 1994–95 and 1995–96 when they finished below

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

. The club also continued to enjoy national prominence in the FA Cup. Barnet were defeated in successive seasons following draws at their homeground. In 1996–97 a run in the FA Cup saw the club beat Millwall, then top of Division Two, and

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, who were challenging for promotion from Division Three. The third round saw Woking draw 1–1 away to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side Coventry City, thanks to a last minute equaliser from the Cards' Steve Thompson, but Coventry won the replay at Kingfield 2–1. At the end of the 1996–97 campaign, having just clinched the FA Trophy for the third time, Geoff Chapple and his coach, Colin Lippiatt, left the club and joined Kingstonian. This was the beginning of a less successful period for the club. John McGovern and then Brian McDermott were given the position of manager, but neither achieved anything greater than a mid-table finish.

21st century

After McDermott, Colin Lippiatt returned but fared little better. He was replaced by his former boss as Geoff Chapple too came back to Woking. Lippiatt departed in January 2002 and Glenn Cockerill joined as Chapple's assistant. This season ended with the club just one place above the relegation places. In the meantime very significant events had taken place off the field. The downturn in the club's fortunes had led to a financial crisis. With the club facing administration or worse, local businessman and long-time fan Chris Ingram bought the club, becoming chairman in February 2002 with an aim of trying to increase the club's income and to secure its long-term financial stability. Cockerill took over as manager later that year, and oversaw a relative period of stability for the club, before he was sacked shortly before the end of the 2006–07 season. An unimpressive campaign under the management of Frank Gray followed in 2007–08, before a disastrous 2008–09 season which saw three men (Kim Grant, Phil Gilchrist and Graham Baker) take charge of the club, eventually resulted in the club's relegation to the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

. That summer, a

supporters' trust In British sports, a supporters' trust is a formal, democratic and not-for-profit organisation of Fan (person), fans who attempt to strengthen the influence of supporters over the running of the club they support. There are over 140 supporters' tru ...

took over the running of the club. Woking finished 5th in their first Conference South season, but lost to Bath City in the play-off final. The following season saw Woking struggling to challenge for promotion, and Graham Baker was sacked halfway through the campaign for suggesting that the fans were expecting too much of the team. Garry Hill took over as manager and improved the team's form, eventually resulting in another fifth-place finish, only for the club to get knocked out in the play-off semi-finals this time against Farnborough. In April 2012, having beaten Maidenhead United 0–1 with Giuseppe Sole scoring for a record breaking ninth game in a row, Woking were promoted to the Conference Premier, winning the

with two games to spare. They eventually reached 97 points, beating second placed

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

by nine points. After five seasons in the

(formerly Conference Premier), Woking acrimoniously parted company with Hill after six-and-a-half years at the helm. The club appointed former

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

under-23s coach

Anthony Limbrick Anthony Limbrick (born 9 April 1983) is an Australian professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of National League side Hartlepool United. As a player, Limbrick played at a semi-professional level for Austr ...

in May 2017, which saw the club take another step to becoming full-time again, with players training three times a week. Despite a good run in the 2017–18 FA Cup, Woking's league form suffered, which culminated in just three league wins between October 2017 and April 2018. Limbrick was subsequently relieved of his duties just 11 months into a three-year contract, leaving assistant manager Jason Goodliffe to take over the managerial reins (aided by former

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

coach Matt Gray) to preserve The Cards' National League status with just five games remaining. However, Woking's fate was eventually sealed on the final day of the season after a 2–1 home defeat against Dover Athletic. On 16 May 2018, and after much speculation, the club finally confirmed the appointment of former Kingstonian and Hampton & Richmond Borough manager Alan Dowson. Woking returned to the

in 2019 at the first time of asking following a 1–0 win over Welling United in National League South play-off final. During this promotion season, Woking reached the third round of the

. Woking had beaten League Two side

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

before losing out to

side

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

2–0. The following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, Woking finished in 10th place back in the

following the decision to stop the season in March 2020 due to the disruption caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In the 2020–21 National League season, Woking finished 20th. On 28 February 2022, Dowson was sacked by the club following a "prolonged run of poor form in the league", ending his four-year association with the

-based side. Dowson informed local paper ''SurreyLive'' that the club had sacked him in a 20-second phone call and he would never return to Woking. Due to the circumstances of how Dowson was sacked board members Rosemary Johnson and Kelvin Reay resigned. Ian Dyer, the assistant manager, took charge of the club as caretaker manager. On 28 March 2022, former Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll was appointed until the end of the 2023–24 season. In the 2022–23 season, Woking finished the season in 4th place but lost the play-off eliminator at home to

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

. Despite signing a new two-year deal in February 2023, Sarll was ultimately sacked in November 2023 following defeats to eighth-tier side,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

in the

and Oxford City in the National League. A month later, former Coventry City, Sheffield United and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

player, Michael Doyle was appointed as first-team manager on a two-year deal, replacing the interim manager, Ian Dyer. Doyle went onto secure the club's National League status on the final day of the season, with a 3–0 home victory over AFC Fylde. In July 2024, it was reported that Woking could go into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

if a buyer could not be found in the next few weeks. Owner Drew Volpe was willing to sell the club for £1, and only a £600,000 loan from his parents was keeping the club afloat. In November 2024, American businessman Todd Johnson (a former vice-chairman of Dagenham & Redbridge and a co-owner of

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

side

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the W ...

) agreed to acquire a majority stake in Woking, with Volpe – who had provided £3m to the club – retaining a minority stake. In December 2024, shareholders voted in favour of the club's takeover by Johnson's Cardinal Football Group. After three defeats in four games, on 16 December 2024, the club sacked their then manager, Michael Doyle, as well as Ben Turner, assistant manager. Woking were 19th in the National League, a point above the relegation zone. Neal Ardley was appointed as manager on 19 December 2024.

Stadium

At the start of the 1922 season, Woking F.C. moved to

, which has been known as the Laithwaite Community Stadium since August 2015. Previously, the club had played at the Horsell Cricket Ground before moving to a dedicated football venue on Pembroke Road in 1907. Different stands of Woking FC stadium: The KRE: This is the main home terrace and usually where the best atmosphere is found. It runs along one end of the pitch. The terrace is covered by a roof. The Leslie Gosden stand: This stand is the largest stand of the stadium and is located opposite to the KRE. The LGS is an all seater stand consisting of around 2,000 seats. A quarter of this stand is usually given to away fans. The Chris Lane terrace: The Chris Lane terrace is a large terrace without a roof and is reserved for away fans. The terrace runs a whole length of the pitch. Moaners corner: Moaners corner is one of three stands on the opposite side of the pitch to the Chris lane terrace. It's a small terrace stand without a roof. The fans who stand in the terrace are usually veteran fans. Directors box: The directors box is a small stand the directors of the club sit in, this is also where the media area and PA box are located. This stand is located in between moaners corner and the family stand. The family stand: The family stand is located next to the directors box and is an all-seater stand usually consisting of families.

Mascot

Woking F.C. has a team mascot called K.C. Kat.

Rivalries

For many years Woking's main rivals have been

and

, where games attract larger than average crowds. Stevenage are Woking's historic rivals due to animosity in the 1990s, while the rivalry with Aldershot is a more recent rivalry due to locality.

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

have also become minor rivals due to intense games and competition when they were relegated to the national league south together; altercations between fans have also helped feed this new rivalry.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Seasons

Statistics from the previous decade.

Managerial history

A list of Woking FC managers from 1984 onwards. {, class="wikitable" , - ! Dates ! Names ! Notes , - , 1984–1997 , Geoff Chapple , - , 1997–1998 , John McGovern , - , 1998–2000 , Brian McDermott , - , 2000–2001 , Colin Lippiatt , - , 2001–2002 , Geoff Chapple , - , 2002–2007 , Glenn Cockerill , - , 2007 , Graham Baker &
Neil Smith , Caretaker Managers , - , 2007–2008 , Frank Gray , - , 2008 , Kim Grant , - , 2008–2009 , Phil Gilchrist , - , 2009–2011 , Graham Baker , - , 2011–2017 , Garry Hill , - , 2017–2018 ,

, - , 2018 , Geoff Chapple , Caretaker Manager , - , 2018–2022 , Alan Dowson , - , 2022 , Ian Dyer , Caretaker Manager , - , 2022–2023 , Darren Sarll , - , 2023 , Ian Dyer , Caretaker Manager , - , 2023–2024 , Michael Doyle , - , 2024– , Neal Ardley

Club officials

{, class="wikitable" , - !Position !Club Official , - , Executive Chairman / Director , , Todd Johnson , - , rowspan="6", Directors, , George Burnett , - , Steven Batchelor , - , Dean Curtis , - , Emanuele Palladino , - , Kathryn Swallow , - , Drew Volpe , - , Director of Football , , Jody Brown , - , Cards Trust Board Representative, , George Burnett , - , Honorary Vice President of the Cards, , Peter Jordan , - , Club Ambassador, , Geoff Chapple , -

Management team

{, class="wikitable" , - !Position !Staff , - , Manager, , Neal Ardley , - , Assistant Manager, , Simon Bassey , - , Goalkeeper Coach, , John Keeley , - , Head of Performance, , Craig Mackail-Smith , - , Data Analyst, , Connor Croft , - , Physiotherapist, , Dan Rowe , - , Kit Manager, , Malcolm Jobling , -

Club records

*Highest league position: 2nd in Conference National, 1994–95, 1995–96 *Best

performance: Fourth round, 1990–91 *Best

best performance: Winners, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97 (Joint record number of wins) *Largest transfer fee received: £150,000 for Kevin Betsy to

, 1998 *Largest transfer fee paid: £60,000 for Chris Sharpling from Crystal Palace, 2001 *Record win: 17–3 vs. Farnham, Surrey Charity Shield, 1913 *Heaviest defeat: 16–0 vs. New Crusaders, FA Cup, 1905 *Record attendance: 6,000 vs Swansea City, FA Cup, 19 December 1978; 6,000 vs Coventry City, FA Cup, 4 February 1997 *Record home league attendance: 5,297 vs

, National League, 1 January 2023

Honours

Sources: League *

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

(level 6) **Champions: 1991–92, 2011–12 **Play-off winners:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

*Isthmian League Division One **Runners-up: 1989–90 *Isthmian League Division Two South **Champions: 1986–87 Cup *

**Winners: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97 **Runners-up: 2005–06 * Conference League Cup **Winners: 2004–05 * Isthmian League Cup **Winners: 1990–91 *

**Winners: 1957–58 *Isthmian Charity Shield **Winners: 1992, 1993 * Surrey Senior Cup **Winners (13): 1912–13, 1926–27, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1971–72, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1999–00, 2003–04, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2016–17 * Trevor Jones Memorial Trophy **Winners: 2011 * Vauxhall Championship Shield **Winners: 1995

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Football clubs in England Football clubs in Surrey Association football clubs established in 1887 1887 establishments in England Surrey County Intermediate League (Western) Isthmian League clubs National League (English football) clubs