DOCKERS LIVE AS NOMADS NO MORE
AFTER five years of ground sharing, Southern Counties East League outfit Erith Town are back home for 2018-19.
New chairman Mark Deveney has overseen the return of the club to the Erith Sports Stadium – the venue the Dockers occupied from 1996 until the previous owners relocated the club in 2013.
A three-year co-habitation with Cray Valley Paper Mills was curtailed when Greenwich Borough also moved to Middle Park Avenue, and the past two seasons have been spent closer to home at VCD Athletic before this summer’s return to the town whose name the club has carried since its first tenure of the stadium.
It is perhaps too early to gauge public buy-in to the move. “Funnily enough our attendances have been better on Monday nights,” says Fixture Secretary Paul Carter.
“We had an excellent gate of around 170 for our game against Glebe on a Monday. We are working with the community to build the profile of the club and improve attendances.”
An example of such an initiative is a link-up with Bexley Foodbank.
The upcoming home game against Punjab United on December 8 has been designated as “Football for Food” day with free admission available to those bringing non-perishable items to donate to the food bank.
Playing at a multi-sports facility comes with its challenges. “The people here are very good at running a leisure centre, but not necessarily a football club,” adds Carter.
Even on matchdays Erith Town are juggled with other users of the centre, but the club is working hard to ensure all matchday requirements are met.
So, whilst happy to be back in Erith, the club’s long-term aim is to have a bespoke football ground of its own for the benefit of the local community.
Chairman Deveney concludes: “We have three youth teams, all of whom have been very successful, and we are going to double that number and create links with three local schools.
“Ultimately, we do want a permanent facility of our own and we are currently monitoring two or three sites. The club has been nomadic for too long.”