History & club records
History
Walton Casuals F.C. was founded in July 1948 and owed its early origins to members of the Armed Forces who formed a Sunday side playing only friendly fixtures during the 1946-47 season.The club started off in Division 1 of the Surrey Intermediate (Central) League, playing at Elm Grove Recreation Ground, gaining promotion to the Premier Division in 1952-53. Walton Casuals finished runners-up on 3 occasions: 1954-55, 1956-57 and 1964-65. The Surrey Intermediate (Central) League disbanded in 1965 and the club moved into the League’s Western Section for three seasons.In 1969 Casuals joined the new Surrey Senior League and moved into its current home at Franklyn Road. Two years later Casuals became founder members of the Suburban League, playing one season at Walton & Hersham’s Stompond Lane ground before moving to Addlestone’s Liberty Lane ground for eight seasons and then returning to Franklyn Road where the Reserves had been continuing playing in the Surrey Combination League.The 1982-83 season saw Casuals win their first major honour, becoming champions of the Southern Section of the Suburban League and setting a League record of going 23 games unbeaten. The following year Casuals were runners-up behind Sutton United.In 1986-87 Casuals reached the Surrey Premier Cup Final, only to lose to a strong Croydon side.Subsequent years saw the club slip into a steady decline and it was regularly finishing in the bottom two of the Suburban League. After 21 years of competing in the Suburban League, the club decided to switch to the Surrey Premier League in June 1992 in order to join the pyramid system. A year of consolidation paved the way for major changes at Franklyn Road the following summer as Kim Harris was reappointed as manager after a successful spell at Hersham RBL and the club expanded into both Sunday and youth football.In 1993-94 Casuals won the Surrey Premier League Challenge Cup, defeating Holmesdale after a replay, and in 1994-95 the club finished runners-up in the League and were losing finalists to Vandyke in the Challenge Cup but secured their promotion to the Combined Counties League.The first four seasons of senior football proved a real struggle with Casuals even finishing bottom of the table in 1996-97 but able to avoid relegation thanks to the League exercising its prerogative to maintain a minimum number of clubs in the Premier Division. With the help of Walton Charities, the installation of floodlights at Franklyn Road was completed in February 1999, a major hurdle overcome as far as ground requirements were concerned.The appointment of Mick Sullivan and Garry Clark as joint managers in the summer of 1999 brought about a dramatic improvement in results. As well as a best-ever finish of 5th in the league, the club won the League Cup in 2000, beating Viking Greenford 4-2 in the final at Farnborough. The following season was also a relatively successful one, with a placing of 7thin the table and another appearance in the League Cup Final, beaten on this occasion bydouble-winners Cove 3-0 at Woking.Although 2002-03 proved a disappointment in as much as the club finished in a lowly 18th spot, the seeds of success had been sown with Spencer Collins taking over as first-team manager in November 2002 and a team capable of much better things slowly began to take shape.After more team-building in 2003-04 and a big jump up the table to finish in 7th spot, the club took the Combined Counties by storm in 2004-05, finishing a massive 26 points clear at the top of the table.After initially failing an FA ground inspection, Casuals launched a successful appeal and achieved their dream of promotion to Ryman League Division One for 2005-06, when the club finished their first season at Step Four in 15th place with a creditable 58 points from 44 games.The last two seasons both proved more of a struggle however, with similar final placings of 17th in 2006-07 and 16th in 2007-08.
Club records
All the records below are achievements since becoming a senior club in August 1995.
Record Attendance: 1748 v AFC Wimbledon (12th April 2004)
Record Goal Scorer: Emerson Barrs - James 92
Most Appearances: Lawrence Ennis 235 (2)
Oldest Player: Norman Rudd (47 yrs 351 days)
Youngest Player: Billy Rowley (16 yrs 147 days)
Biggest Win: 10-0 v Chessington Utd (A) 28/12/04 (Combined Counties League)
Biggest Defeat: 0 - 7 v Redhill (A) 8/12/98 (Surrey Senior Cup)
Major Honours: Combined Counties Challenge Cup Winners 1999-00, Combined Counties Challenge Cup Runners-up 2000-01, Combined Counties League Winners 2004-05, Ryman League Cup Semi-finalists 2007-08
Internationals: James Hoyt (Fiji), Aaron Barnett (Antigua)
Players Progressed to Football League: Peter Cawley - Wimbledon, Leroy Griffiths - Q.P.R, Chris McLaren - Darlington