Written by Sofian Aftab
The K’s have bounced between grounds since leaving Kingsmeadow in 2017, but a move back to the borough could finally be on the cards
Kingstonian FC are working towards a move back to the borough of Kingston, almost a decade after losing their home at Kingsmeadow.
The club has readied a pre-planning application, which it confirmed will be “presented to the council by early 2027; the plan is always to move back to Kingston.”
The Isthmian South-Central Premier League side, seven levels below the Premier League, were founded 140 years ago.
They played at Richmond Road for 86 years before moving to Kingsmeadow, where they stayed from 1989 to 2017.
The troubles began in 2001, when the club entered administration and was bought by Indian businessperson Rajesh Khosla, but no longer held the Kingsmeadow lease. AFC Wimbledon, already sub-tenants, raised £2 million to buy it in 2003, and Kingstonian secured a 25-year sub-tenancy at a cheap rent.
However, in 2015, Chelsea FC struck a deal with AFC Wimbledon to buy the ground, and by 2017, Chelsea “didn’t want” Kingstonian as part of any deal, according to Yiorgos Vasilias, club chair/director. “We moved out of Kingsmeadow in 2017; I wasn’t an owner then, just a fan. I’ve been supporting the club since I was 7, and I’ve been a director for just over 9 years.” said Vasilias.
Vasilias continued: “We had no help at the time; we had no say in the matter. Chelsea didn’t want us there, which upsets me to this day. They have a huge casual audience in the Kingston area, and it would’ve cost them nothing to keep us.”It’s massively affected the fans; you always want to play in your home borough. The whole situation was out of our control, and land in the borough is at premium.”
One of those fans is Charlie Walsh, who has supported Kingstonian FC for over 30 years and is one of many affected by the constant stadium moves.
“It’s not ideal, obviously; it’s been a situation for 10 years, though. This is the 4th place we’ve been to. We’ve been to Leatherhead, Tolworth, Tooting & Mitchum, and Raynes Park last season; it makes it harder to bring new fans in and exceedingly difficult to get to matches, especially Ashford. Non-League football to me is football you can go to every week. It’s affordable, and you have a better connection with the club,” said Charlie.
Charlie continued: “It’s obviously not better quality than the Premier League or EFL, but I feel much more connected and have much more affiliation to Kingstonian than to any Premier League club; fans of those clubs are treated like customers. Ideally, everybody should support their local team.”