Welcome to the Epsom & Ewell FC Historical Website. I thought I'd provide a quick introduction for the benefit of any new or lapsed Epsom supporters, or even for other club's budding historians, who may hopefully be inspired to have a go with their own clubs. My name is Richard Lambert and I have been a supporter of Epsom & Ewell F.C. for 33 years. It almost sounds as though I'm at one of those type of meetings where the person concerned has to stand up and confess their addictions! Without doubt though, football contains similarities to that scenario. It can be extremely addictive, and certainly since I started supporting this club at the age of 14 I was hooked from day one and resolved to go as often as I could. Starting from the 1982/83 season I went for thirteen and a half years without missing a single match, and although I occasionally miss one now and again, the anticipation of a good result is still there every week, despite how well or badly the previous game has gone. Sure, there have been times when I have questioned my faith. (football is the new religion - discuss) All supporters do, especially during the tough times, and there have certainly been some of those over the years. But true supporters keep coming back, and at Epsom & Ewell FC there are many of us who have clocked up well over thirty years service, with some even passing the forty year mark. This is obviously an impressive feature of our club, but it is even more so when you realise that it is now over twenty years since we had our own home ground. Yes, May 6th 1993 was the date of the last first team match at West Street, and since that time we have played over a thousand competitive matches as tenants of someone else's hospitality. Time is running out for our club as the money generated by the sale of our former ground has nearly run out. Indeed, without going into detail, if it weren't for a couple of lucky breaks we wouldn't be here now. "So, what can I do about it" you might ask. Well, in my case, I decided that the club needed publicity. Lots of it and quickly, before the town forgot that we even existed. A history book, Two Legs Not Four followed in 2007 as I realised that as a statistician (which I am), it made sense to look at the history of our club. No one could have prepared me for how rich and varied our history was. In addition I took on the Programme Editor role at the club and gained nationwide publicity for our club by finishing third for two seasons in a row in the National Non-League awards out of just under a thousand entries. The programmes appear across the country now with many available on eBay. So now it's my turn to ask. What could you do for your club? Well, there are a number of ways that you could help us: 1) Get involved - How long has it been since you watched an Epsom game? Why not come along? High Road is not that far away, being no more than four miles from the edge of the Borough and we play some nice football, despite having a young side. Entry is only £6 and the award winning programme is an extra £2 but trust me, it's full of information! 2) Bring a friend - Or maybe more. Our support has dwindled since we left West Street, but the Borough of Epsom & Ewell is a large one and we need your support. It's all about getting back to your roots, as it's not all about the Premier League and Sky TV you know! 3) Become a Club Member - It only costs £6 but you get a say in the running of the club at the A.G.M. and other benefits for members are being considered. Above all though, it's a way of showing a bit of support and it's very cheap really. 4) Sponsor a Match or Ball - If you want to spend more than £6, Sponsorship for a League match costs £40 with Match Ball sponsorship costs just £25 although there is a combined offer of £55 for both, while Player sponsorship is £40. If you have a local business you may want to advertise your services in the programme and prices vary for this depending on the size of the advert. For those really interested in helping the club you could even consider some form of Club Sponsorship in the same way our Kit Sponsors, Intercem did. Obviously this costs a bit more, but not as much as you'd think, and that little bit of sponsorship could enable us to get a couple of extra players that could make the difference between going up or just missing out. If we go up, your company would obviously get extra exposure. In addition, if you think the way forward is online and you want to place an advert on this site, which can be entirely to your design, let me know and we can discuss prices. We're very reasonable! 5) Advertise the club - The club has two websites. 1) The official one you are looking at and 2) the Photographic one at: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/epsomandewellfc/ We also have Twitter, Facebook and Instragram pages if you are familiar with that sort of thing. The links are at the foot of the index page. Please follow us and publicise them constantly to friends, family, rich uncles, celebrities, etc. 6) Keep Visiting the Websites - Even if you really can't get to a game, hits on our website might encourage other people to advertise on them. The website is continually changing as I get more experienced with the coding required to make it all work, so please keep looking and help to save the club! Thank you!