WHITE BACKING WANDS FOR BIG RETURN
DEFIANT Marc White admits his Dorking Wanderers side “come up just short” this season – but is backing them to make an immediate return to the top-flight.
White has led the Surrey club to an incredible 12 promotions in 23 seasons since being formed as a park side in 1999.
But Tuesday night’s 4-2 defeat at Wealdstone condemned the Wands to relegation from the National League – the first in the club’s proud history.
“This is a team that were playing on a council pitch,” an emotional White stated. “We’ve took it from there to Oldham Athletic, Notts County, Chesterfield on TV, it’s almost too good to be true.
“You know it is important that we remember where we have come from and we’ve had to work really hard to get where we are, dig trenches and all the rest of it.
“I don’t think anyone could have dreamed in a million years to see a team in Dorking bring so much to the town, and to the country. We put Dorking Wanderers on the map.”
White led the club to 16th in the National League table last season, seven points above the drop zone.
But it just hasn’t gone the Wands’ way this time round with the part-timers hampered by a series of injuries in the second half of the season.
White, however, is still proud of his team success and is already looking towards next season and beyond.
“It is an abject failure, it absolutely is,” he added. “We deserve to go down but there are things that have massively gone against us.
“I’m absolutely devastated for the supporters, for all the staff at the club. It’s my responsibility.
“We have some squad building and a lot of offthe-field work to do but this club will find a way to bounce back. In my head, it’s promotion 13!”