Saturday 15th July 2023 ko 15:00

Pre-season friendly

TOOTING & MITCHAM UNITED 3 (A Trialist 23 Siklawi 25 B Trialist 75)

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS 1 (Trialist 34)

Att 118 at Back Pitch, Imperial Fields

Entry £3

This one started with a comment that was unlikely to be endearing to a Tooting fan. My wife Robyn has been slowly trying to complete her “92” and suggested she go to Sutton United vs Reading if I could find a game at a new ground for me nearby. However much Tooting’s fans might hate Sutton United, their existence got me to this game!

I visited the main Imperial Fields Stadium back in 2006, 4 years after it opened, and prior to that the site had been used as a training ground by Crystal Palace. There are two other pitches here, both 3G, at either end of the stadium. As an aside Tooting Bec would regard the front pitch as home, they moved into the main stadium to fulfil ground gradings. In fact they are an indirect victim of Wimbledon moving to Milton Keynes. Because if that hadn’t happened AFC Wimbledon wouldn’t have been formed, Kingstonian wouldn’t have been forced out of Kingsmeadow, and pushed Tooting Bec away to Chipstead.

But back to Tooting & Mitcham. There can be no swerving the fact that the club lost their Isthmian League status last season and that Imperial Fields does look tired. Nevertheless there are plans for a face-lift and that would include cover on the back pitch. The terrace on one side was an unexpected bonus!

Despite that relegation there’s an optimism about the place, there’s been a change in management, new players have been signed and the view is that the Combined Counties League is a new start for the club. And while nothing concrete should be implied by their beating of Isthmian South-Central Corinthian-Casuals the fact that they did will have been a morale-boost.