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| Full name | Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The Terrors, The Stripes | ||
| Founded | 1932; 93 years ago (1932) | ||
| Ground | Imperial Fields | ||
| Capacity | 3,500 (612 seated) | ||
| Chairman | Phil Nightingale | ||
| Manager | Jamie Byatt | ||
| League | Combined Counties League Premier Division South | ||
| 2024–25 | Combined Counties League Premier Division South, 8th of 20 | ||
| Website | www | ||
Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club is anassociation football club based in theLondon Borough of Merton. They are currently members of theCombined Counties League Premier Division South and play atImperial Fields inMorden.[1] Their nickname is "the Terrors" or "the Stripes".
In 1932, Tooting FC (founded 1887) and Mitcham Wanderers FC (founded 1912) united to become the modern club representing the two areas. Their merger had been mooted for two years previously, but it was only after it became clear that the area could not host two competitive teams that anything happened to advance it. Originally playing in white shirts, in 1956 the broad black and white stripes were adopted.
The club has reached theFA Cup proper on 10 occasions, the last time being the2009–10 season. It has also won the Isthmian League twice, in 1958 and 1960. Other honours include theSurrey Senior Cup which the club has won nine times and theLondon Senior Cup which the club has won six times.
Perhaps the most famous FA Cup run was in 1959, when the club reached the third round; drawn at home to First DivisionNottingham Forest, on a frozen pitch they went into a 2-goal lead with goals from Grainger and Murphy before Forest fought back with the aid of a Murphy own goal and a penalty. Forest won the replay 3–0 in front of a crowd of 42,362 and went on to win the trophy that year. A British Pathe newsreel features this game.[2]
Alex Stepney, who was born inMitcham in 1942, joined the club in 1958. In 1963 he signed forMillwall and later played forChelsea,Manchester United andEngland.Dario Gradi, who spent more than twenty four years as manager ofCrewe Alexandra, briefly played for the club in the 1960s.
Tooting enjoyed a more sustained period of FA Cup glory in the 1970s. In 1974–75, they reached the first round proper for the first time since 1963–64 and were drawn at home againstCrystal Palace, who played just five miles down the road and were in Football League Division 3. The game was played at Tooting's Sandy Lane ground on 27 November 1974, a Wednesday afternoon, in front of a packed crowd of, according to The Times, 10,000. A Crystal Palace side which includedTerry Venables,Peter Taylor andAlan Whittle won 2–1. Tooting's goal was scored by Steve Grubb.[3]
In 1975–76, Tooting went three steps further reaching the fourth round proper, the last 32. They beatRomford 1–0 in the first round proper andLeatherhead 2–1 after a replay in the second. In the third round they triumphed over Football League opposition defeatingSwindon Town of Football League Division 3.[4] After a 2–2 draw at Swindon (Tooting's goalscorers were Nicky Glover and Derek Casey), Tooting won 2–1 at Sandy Lane with goals from Dave Juneman and Alan Ives.[5] On 24 January 1976, the team and its supporters made the long journey toBradford City of Football League Division 4. Although they did get on the scoresheet through Dave Juneman, they lost 3–1. After the game, Bradford City's Don Hutchins, who scored two of his side's goals, said he thought ‘the game was tougher than Rotherham and Shrewsbury’ (Bradford's Football League opponents in the previous two rounds). ‘Tooting put up a good fight.’[6]
This proved to be the club's high point although the team went on to reach the second round proper in 1976–77 losing away at Kettering 1–0[7] and the first round proper in 1977–78 losing 2–1 at home to Northampton Town of Football League Division 4.[8]
In 2000–01Keith Boanas led the club to theIsthmian League Second Division title, before leaving to manageCharlton Athletic Ladies. In theIsthmian League First Division, the club were managed byRichard Cadette, whose lengthy list of former clubs includeFalkirk,Millwall andBrentford.
The team played a very consistent first half of the2005–06 season but injuries and the loss of star playerGavin Grant toGillingham saw the team lose some of their cutting edge and start to falter. At the end of this season Cadette was sacked as the team once again failed to gain promotion following defeat in theplayoff semi-finals toTonbridge Angels. Former playerBilly Smith was appointed as manager for the start of the2006–07 season, in which the club won the Surrey Senior Cup and London Senior Cup. In May 2008, the club secured promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division by defeating Cray Wanderers 1–0 at Imperial Fields.
In the 2009–10 season they reached the first round of theFA Cup where they played in front of over 3,000 people againstStockport County although they were beaten 5–0. Despite an encouraging season the board announced that the club required a 40% cut in budget, these changes saw manager Billy Smith, his assistant George Wakeling and many of the players leave the club. Former Sheffield United player Mark Beard was appointed manager in May 2010, with former player Kevin Cooper as his assistant. After a good start to the 2011–12 season Beard was relieved of his position in December 2011 when results declined. Academy manager Danny Lee was appointed caretaker manager but declined the job permanently. As a result, Kenny Brown was appointed the new manager. However the results got worse and Tooting were relegated at the end of the 2011–12 season.
Tooting & Mitcham had three managers in the 2012–13 season (Roberto Forzoni, Jamie Martin and Phil Simpson). The manager up until the end of the 2014–15 season was former player Craig Tanner who was in his second season at the helm with the Terrors before being sacked because of a lack of progress. Frank Wilson took his first senior role in football from 2015/16, an uncertain start saw a change in staff. Wilson introduced Paul Dale as 1st team coach in November 2015, a move that saw results improve, a climb away from relegation and the season rounded off with 2–0 victory in the London Senior Cup againstHendon. The following season saw them finish as Division One South Champions, finishing on 105 points, earning themselves a place in the Isthmian Premier Division. Having suffered immediate relegation in the2017–18 season, they were relegated a further time to the ninth tier in the2022–23 season.[9]
Imperial Fields has a capacity of 3,500 (including 612 seats) and is located inMorden. There are two adjoining artificial3G multi-purpose pitches, used primarily for training but also games of various sporting activities.[10] The stadium was selected as a2012 OlympicsTorch bearer change-over point, the torch was carried in byBBC Sport commentator and presenter,Sue Barker.[11][12]
The club moved to Imperial Fields in 2002 from their previous historic ground at Sandy Lane in Mitcham. The new stadium had previously been the site of a formerChelsea,Crystal Palace andBrentford training pitch and is adjacent to theRiver Wandle. The stadium was chosen to host the 2007 and 2011 finals of the London Senior Cup.
The club also has an academy scheme to develop talented 16 to 21-year-olds. This is run partly in association with Ernest Bevin College.[13]
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