Wikipedia - Whyteleafe F.C.
Whyteleafe Football Club was an English football club based in Whyteleafe, Surrey. The club was established in 1946 and joined the Athenian League in 1981. The club is an FA Chartered Standard club affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association.
History
Whyteleafe F.C. was formed in 1946, replacing another club, Whyteleafe Albion, which had existed before World War II. The new club initially played junior football in such local leagues as the Thornton Heath & District League, before gaining senior status and joining the Surrey Senior League in 1958, at which time they moved to the Church Road ground, which would remain their home until 2021.
Whyteleafe were Surrey Senior League champions on at least one occasion in the 1960s before switching to the London Spartan League in 1975. In 1981 they switched to the Athenian League and then in 1984 to the Isthmian League. In 1989 they were promoted to Division One, a level at which they played for 23 years (albeit with league reorganisations placing the team in Division One South from 2002 to 2004 and again in 2006). In 1999, they reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time in their history and held Chester City to a 0–0 draw before losing the replay. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club were relegated from the Isthmian League to the Kent League. After one season of consolidation the club was promoted from the renamed Southern Counties East League back to the Isthmian League at the end of the 2013–14 season.
Ahead of the 2021–22 season, Whyteleafe announced that they had withdrawn from the Isthmian League, following the loss of their Church Road ground. In August 2021, a 'phoenix' club named AFC Whyteleafe was formed, securing a deal on Church Road. The club entered the Surrey South Eastern Combination.
Klubben har en lang og stolt historie og har produceret en række bemærkelsesværdige spillere, herunder jamaicanske internationale Ricardo Fuller og Crystal Palace-legenden Ian Wright. Whyteleafe har også en stærk ungdomsafdeling, der har produceret en række spillere, der er gået videre til at spille professionel fodbold.
Klubbens nuværende manager er George Wakeling, som har været i spidsen for Whyteleafe siden 2015. Wakeling er en erfaren manager, der tidligere har stået i spidsen for klubber som Sutton United og Maidstone United. Under Wakelings ledelse har Whyteleafe opnået betydelig succes, herunder sejr i FA Trophy i 2016.
Whyteleafe er en klub med et stærkt fællesskabsetos, og den har en stor gruppe loyale fans. Klubben er også aktiv i lokalsamfundet og driver en række initiativer, der har til formål at hjælpe unge mennesker i området.
Hvis du er på udkig efter en klub at støtte, som har en lang og stolt historie, et stærkt fællesskabsetos og en lys fremtid, så er Whyteleafe klubben for dig.