(STATE-OF-THE-ART: Surrey FA?will also be based at the stadium)
By Alex Wright
Dorking Wanderers chairman and manager Marc White has set his sights on reaching the Football League after the opening of its state-of-the-art £8 million stadium in the heart of the town.
Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the Meadowbank Stadium on Friday, White told The NLP that promotion was the immediate target, but added that one day he hoped Wanderers would become a Football League team.
He also believes that the move from Westhumble Playing Fields to the centre of Dorking will help to build the club's fan base and attract new players.
“This is just the beginning for us,” he said. “We want to bring a Football League club to the town of Dorking and all the benefits that brings with it.”
But in the near future White admitted that with only one promotion spot up for grabs next season it will be a challenge to get there.
“We teed it all up to come in here and try to get promoted,” he said. “We know it will be a big challenge, but we are a footballing side and I believe the new surface will benefit us massively.
Swanky
“It has already helped us to attract a high calibre of signing such as Jason Prior, Niall McManus and Kieran Lavery who have come down to see the facilities and bought into the project. And it will also help us to attract more families and who knows, maybe unearth some stars of the future.”
The club have been active in going into local schools to promote the facilities at the new 2,000 capacity stadium and have distributed ‘One Mile Club' membership cards to 3,000 homes in the area offering reduced admission prices and discounts on food and drinks.
The swanky new stadium also boasts a lounge and bar, open all week, and an outdoor bar area where fans can sit and enjoy a drink at half-time or after the game, as well as a soft play facility for children.
It also shares the site with Surrey FA, whose chief executive Caroline Royall told The NLP that the new stadium will allow it to showcase its training courses for players, coaches and referees, including youth team, women's and walking football.
“This fits in perfectly with our new three-year strategy for 2018-21 where we want to increase participation across the game at all levels, including local schools and football clubs,” she said. “We need more of these facilities across the county and we will be trying to support clubs' ambitions to develop facilities like this.”
Councillor Charles Yarwood, deputy leader and cabinet member for strategy and assets at Mole Valley District Council, which funded the bulk of the project along with Sport England, said that the new location would also benefit the wider community.
“This is a landmark community development in the heart of Dorking with a wide range of wonderful facilities,” he said. “Football is about community and bringing people together to share an experience and that's what we have here.
Celebrity
“Meadowbank Park will be a destination venue for decades to come. There's nothing like it in the local area and to have a football ground in the centre of town these days is truly unique.”
Kicking off events, stars from TV shows Love Island, I'm a Celebrity and The Only Way is Essex will play in a celebrity match today with 1,500 tickets sold so far, before Dorking Wanderers host Sutton United in their first home pre-season game on July 17.
The stadium's opening is almost a year behind schedule and about £1.5m over budget after the club postponed the original opening date in August 2017 and subsequent dates for a variety of reasons including discovering a landfill site with asbestos deposits.
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper which is available every Sunday and Monday
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