Molesey was officially formed in 1953 when Molesey St Paul's merged with another club. They won the Surrey Senior League in 1958, just five years after their formation. They later joined the Spartan League (with a best finish of 3rd in 1971/72) before joining Division Two of the Athenian League in 1973. They joined the Isthmian League Division Two in 1977. In 1990 they gained promotion to Division One of the Isthmian League. Promotion to the Premier Division followed in 1993, where they spent three seasons. Relegation to Division One in 1996 was followed by a further drop into Division Two in 1999. They remained at this level, although due to league reorganisations they found themselves in Division One South until being relegated to the Combined Counties League in 2008. In 2014/15 they won the division and returned to the Isthmian League.

In their first season they ended a respectable 9th position but last campaign dropped down 10 places to 19th.

We first met in 1988 in the FA Cup Preliminary Round and came away defeated 7-0! In the four encounters between the teams in the Isthmian League Herne Bay have won both home ties, 3-1 and 2-0, but have only managed one away point with a defeat and a draw. Last season Bay came from 0-1 and then 1-3 down to salvage a point in Surrey in December, thanks to goals from Danny Walder from the spot, James Turner and Mark Lovell and then in March, in front of Chelsea legend Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris, and on the back of four straight defeats with the playing budget having been slashed, Lovell again was on the scoresheet along with Ian Pulman in a 2-0 win at Winch’s Field. This was Herne Bay’s last win of the season as they went on to draw two and lose five before the campaign ended.

Following a run of seven games with six defeats and just one win (against East Grinstead Town), the Moles had a fine home win last Saturday 3-0 against Chipstead and then entertained Guernsey on Tuesday. It was the Green Lions who picked up their third win on their travels with a 4-2 victory. Molesey are in 21st place with five wins, one draw and 11 defeats from their 17 games and are nine positions and 11 points below Herne Bay.

The return match is in early February at 412 Walton Road, West Molesey, Surrey. KT8 2JG. 80.2 miles from Winch’s Field. Estimated journey time 1 hour 47 minutes. Our two previous home games against Molesey have seen crowds of 207 and 187 whilst away the games between the teams has seen an average of just 47 people in attendance, the lowest average of any team that we have met in the Isthmian League.