WHO ARE THE SHOTS PLAYING?
Woking FC, The Cardinals/Cards, Founded 1889.
HOW DID THEY DO LAST SEASON?
The Cards finished 20th last season, with 33 points from 42 games.
HOW DID SHOTS GET ON AGAINST THEM LAST SEASON?
The sides played three times last season, with The Shots winning both National League encounters. Jermaine Anderson, who might line up in the Woking side on Boxing Day, scored twice against the Cards on Boxing Day at the EBB Stadium, with Harry Panayiotou grabbing Aldershot’s other goal in a 3-0 win. A few days later, Ricky Miller claimed the only goal of the game at Kingfield to secure a league double for Town. Woking however won the FA Cup tie between the two sides, in a 2-1 win at the EBB Stadium earlier in the season. Just one week ago, the two sides met at the EBB Stadium on Boxing Day, where late penalties for each side saw the points shared in a 1-1 draw, with Aldershot Town’s Alfie Saunders also receiving the Shots first red card of the season.
WHO’S THEIR GAFFER?
51-year-old Gateshead born Alan Dowson, is now in his fourth season in charge of The Cards – their first as a Full-Time outfit. He was a defender in his playing days, who made 55 Football League appearances for the likes of Bradford City and Darlington, before moving into Non-League, with Slough, Gateshead and Walton & Hersham. He spent 11 years with The Swans, the last three of which he also managed them, before switching to another management role with Kingstonian. In his second full season with The K’s, they won the Isthmian Division One South. They made a couple of play-off appearances in the Isthmian Premier but after the second of those in 2014, Dowson resigned. He was soon back in management, with Kingstonian and in 2015-16, he led them to the Isthmian Premier League title, scoring 105 goals. In 2018, he was appointed Woking manager and they finished runners-up in the National League South, came from behind late on to beat Welling in the Play-Off final and secured promotion to the National League. Two seasons ago, Dowson steered the Cards to a highly creditable 10th place finish in what was their first season back at National League level. However last season, despite a promising start, they struggled in the second half of the season and finished a lowly 20th.
WHO’S DEPARTED?
With the switch to Full-Time, there would inevitably be a fair few outgoings at Kingfield in the summer. Notably, Ben Gerring and Dave Tarpey chose not to go full time and moved on to pastures new. Jack Cook and Charlie Cooper both signed for Wealdstone, whilst Kane Ferdinand was rather surprisingly released and is now banging goals in for Maidenhead United.
WHO’S STAYED?
16 players remain contracted at the club from last season, including Defenders Josh Casey & Moussa Diarra, Midfielder Max Kretzschmar and Striker Jamar Loza.
WHO’S ARRIVED?
Dowson’s most eye-catching signing is Striker Tahvon Campbell, who has scored an outstanding 13 goals in all competitions. Only Kabongo Tshimanga and Michael Cheek have scored more National League goals this season than Campbell. Another forward, Inih Effiong, has also returned to the club for a second spell, after leaving Stevenage in the summer. Experienced players such as Joe McNerney (Crawley Town) and Tom Champion (Borehamwood) are two more new faces at Kingfield this season. Most recently, Dowson has brought in Centre-Back Louie Annesley (on loan from Blackburn) and Midfielder Louis Britton (on loan from Bristol City) in an attempt to revive the Cards fortunes.
ANY EX-SHOTS?
Josh Casey is a former Aldershot Town Youth player. Mark Smith spent a couple of seasons at the EBB Stadium, making 10 appearances in total for The Shots.
WHO’S GOT THE WHISTLE?
Sunday’s referee is Sunny ‘Sukhvir’ Gill. This season, to date, he has taken charge of 9 National League matches, showing 33 Yellow Cards and 1 Red Cards. He has refereed the Shots and the Cards once each this season; Shots v Wrexham (0-5) and Woking v Altrincham (3-2).
HOW TO GET TICKETS:
Tickets from the club ticket office has now stopped, so to get your tickets, head to the Woking FC website!
There will be no sales on matchday for away supporters due to security purposes, so online sales will be cut off at 5pm prior to the game.
Supporters also must stay in the area designated to their away ticket on the day.
They can not migrate between seat and terrace and must respect this at all times whilst at the ground.
Woking FC have also sent the following information for our travelling supporters ahead of the game:
The Vanarama National League match will be played on Sunday 2ndJanuary, 15:00 kick-off.This is a Category A fixture with ticket prices being £20 for Adults, Concessions £15, Next-Gen £12, and £7 for Under 16s.If you require a carer ticket please contact tickets@wokingfc.co.uk and we can add the extra ticket to your order.This match will be segregated, with Aldershot fans being allocated the Chris Lane Terrace and some seats in the Seymours Community LGS.Tickets can be purchased here.
Parking:
There will be no additional parking available at the ground.
For fans wishing to drive to the match, please park in Heathside Crescent (GU22 7AG)
WHERE TO FOLLOW THE MATCH:
There will be ‘Live’ BBC Radio Surrey Sport Online commentary of the match with Mark Francis and Guest Summariser Ian Nicholson. There will also be Social Media coverage on Instagram & Twitter (@OfficialShots) with team news, updates and post-match coverage throughout the afternoon.
