Merstham will have to spend another season feeling out of place.
As the only side from Surrey in the new Isthmian League One South East yet again, they look set to be travelling significantly further to games than when they were placed in the Isthmian League One South Central in the 22/23 season, following the FA’s league allocations.
Having completed what they thought was a one off tour of some new clubs, Merstham have found themselves in the Isthmian League One South East for next season.
For the club’s commentator James Barrett-Sterling, the decision is baffling.
“I just find it incredulous, I don’t understand how they work it out really, in terms of the geography and how it makes sense,” he says.
“It was a bit of a shock when we were put in the South East division last season, I don’t think anyone really expected it.”
Whilst Barrett-Sterling admits facing new teams was a ‘good experience’, that’s not to say him or the club are satisfied to be staying there.
Derbies against Leatherhead and Sutton Common Rovers will have to wait at least another year for the club and its supporters, who instead will have to travel as far as Margate at least an hour and a half away.
“Merstham back in the Central Division would be brilliant,” Barrett-Sterling says.
“There would be loads of local derbies, yet they’ve put Horndean in there, I don’t understand why they’re in a division full of Surrey, South London and Kent teams when they’re by Portsmouth.”
It’s also worth noting that Moneyfields who are also in the Central Division are in the centre of Portsmouth itself and not the outskirts, making them an even further distance from the majority of the teams in the league.
It’s safe to say, Merstham’s placement further East has left several members of the club less than impressed, including vice chairman Chris Pullen, who claims the FA haven’t replied to any of the Moatsiders‘ protestations.
Whilst no official appeal has been made public by Merstham, frustrations are clear for the Moatsiders both inside and outside the club.