Dorking Wanderers set to make history (again) with oldest ever goalkeeper claim

With the 2025/26 football season back with us, fans have been inundated with a plethora of stories and headlines over the last few months.

And it has been typical usual fare with the Premier League dominating given the incredible spending that goes on in the English top flight, and the pyramid has thrown up plenty of other bits of news as you can barely go a day without hearing something about Wrexham and their resurgence under the Hollywood duo of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

As we all know though, there is more to football than just the big boys and their never ending chequebooks, as we continue to have a thriving and lively non league set up that thousands of fans up and down the country religiously follow, and in many cases much prefer, because it represents the true spirit of the ‘beautiful game’ and is far more genuine than the manufactured and manicured versions that take place in higher leagues.

Non league is also home to a number of bizarre and entertaining headlines on occasions as well, and with the September international break putting on a pause on the top two divisions in the country, all non league sides at varying levels know it is the perfect time to pull in some fresh fan faces and do the equivalent of winning the jackpot at the online btc casino Betpanda and given themselves a significant financial boost.

Publicity stunts

This normally means promotions, PR and publicity stunts and so on, and if we are honest about it, it has nothing to do with improving the atmosphere, or even really trying to tempt a new fan into becoming a regular – it is all about getting cash out of their pockets even if you do not ever see them on the terraces again.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with that as the pockets of fans are of intrinsic value to clubs at the non league level, and they are a lifeblood to a sides very existence, and the efforts undertaken by some teams to get a short term boost can often be incredibly entertaining.

Take for example Dorking Wanderers. To mark the first international break of the 2025/26 campaign, they recently announced that this Saturday, the National League South outfit would be giving a goalkeeping debut to a 54-year-old fan.

The club had already made the headlines again as in their clash with AFC Totton, vital and outspoken gaffer (and chairman) Marc White was returning to the home dug out having served a six match touchline ban for some unsavoury comments.

Staunch supporter

Those with long memories may remember him going viral back in 2023 with an expletive laden rant aimed squarely at his players following a surprise FA Cup qualifying defeat that did not leave him best pleased, so it is probably no surprise that he is looking to capitalise on his return, by doing something else outrageous.

Enter 54-year-old Terry Dunn on a short-term contract, who is a ‘staunch supporter’ with previous amateur experience between the sticks, but a man who also finally hung up his gloves way back in 1997.

The contract is so short that it will expire on Sunday morning, as with first choice Harrison Foulkes sidelined with a spleen injury, Dorking expect to announce a new loan keeper on Monday, so is purely a one match gig but it will be a little bit different from the walking football that Dunn is now used to.

White explained – “In an era where passion comes in low quantities, what Terry lacks in mobility, he’ll make up for in heart – and for one game, we’re just going to have to get on with it.”

Unsurprisingly, in making his debut, Terry will become Dorking’s oldest ever player in history, in fact, the oldest ever player in sixth-tier history and that record is already held by Dorking and was set by 40-year-old Tony Craig in their recent defeat to Hornchurch.

Admit it, you will be checking their score on Saturday evening…I know I will.