Wealdstone FC,
Grosvenor Vale,
Ruislip
HA4 6JQ

Wealdstone FC were formed in 1899 and remained an amateur club until the 1970s. In 1984/85, they became the first of only three clubs to achieve the non-league double — winning both the Alliance Premier League (as the National League was then known) and the FA Trophy. Only Colchester United and Wycombe Wanderers have since matched that feat.

The Stones played at Lower Mead in Harrow until 1991, when financial difficulties forced the sale of the ground. A supermarket now occupies the site. What followed was a long period of groundsharing — with Watford, Yeading, Edgware Town, and Northwood — until they finally settled at Grosvenor Vale in 2008, formerly the home of Ruislip Manor. The Hive stadium – which is as near to the neighbourhood of Wealdstone as the old Lower Mead ground was – was originally intended to be Wealdstone’s home, but in the end, after much drama,  it ended up as the home for old rivals Barnet, despite being several miles from Barnet.

Although founder members of the new nationwide fifth tier in 1979 — and its champions in 1984/85 — Wealdstone endured a long period in the football wilderness. From 1988 to 2013, they bounced between various divisions of the Isthmian and Southern Leagues. A step back up came in 2014/15 when they entered the Conference South, spending five seasons in the sixth tier. Promotion to the National League followed in 2020/21, returning the club to the fifth tier after 32 years away.

Since then, they’ve established themselves as a lower-half side in the division, with a best finish of 13th to date.

“You’ve Got No Fans”

Another Wealdstone Raider: Vinnie Jones is perhaps the biggest name associated with Wealdstone. He spent two seasons with the club in the mid-1980s, making 38 appearances, before signing up to become part of the Wimbledon `Crazy Gang’ and then, in turn, developing another career in acting. He was present at their FA Trophy victory at Wembley over Boston Utd in 1985, but didn’t play on that day.

Future England U21 and 2012 Olympics Great Britain manager, Stuart Pearce, also started out his footballing career at Wealdstone, making 176 appearances for them between 1978 and 1983.

Wealdstone FC have not been based particularly close to Wealdstone (which is just north of Harrow) for some years. At present, they reside in Ruislip, which is in the traditional county of Middlesex, near the north-western tip of today's Greater London. It's a road journey of about 90 miles from Nailsworth, with a journey time of about two hours.

By Supporters Club Coach.  For information about Away Travel, including precise details of pick-up locations – look here. For this match, the departure times are Stonehouse Brunel Way – 10.15am, Sainsbury's Dudbridge – 10.30am, and The New Lawn – 10.45 am.  

The prices for coach tickets to this match are as follows (Supporters' Club members get a £3 discount): Adults £29, U-16 £17, U-11 £8

Visit this link to purchase your travel.

To book a seat with the supporter's club discount, please call 0333 123 1889  on Monday, Thursday, or Friday at 11am to 2pm.  Please try to book early.

By Car – The address for car travellers is Grosvenor Vale, Ruislip, HA4 6JQ. Car parking on match days at Grosvenor Vale is currently limited to players, management and club officials only. There is limited street parking close to the stadium.

From the West – Leave the M25 at Junction 16 and take the M40 towards London. At the end of the M40 the road becomes the A40. Take the first exit on the A40, onto the B467 towards Ruislip. At the roundabout at the top of the slip road take the first exit towards Harefield/Ruislip. Continue along the B467 going across two roundabouts. At the end of the B467 you will reach a T-junction that has a small bandstand located in front of you. Turn left here onto the High Road. Follow the High Road passing West Ruislip Station on your right and at the roundabout with the White Bear pub on the right hand corner, take the fourth exit into Wood Lane. Continue along Wood Lane crossing one small roundabout and at the next roundabout bear right onto West End Road. Then take the second left hand turn into Grosvenor Vale and the stadium is located at the bottom of this road.

By Train – Ruislip has five railway/underground stations: Ruislip and Ruislip Manor are both on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly Lines; West Ruislip, Ruislip Gardens, and, slightly further away, South Ruislip are on the Central Line. West Ruislip and South Ruislip are also on the Chiltern Mainline out of London Marylebone, but are mostly served only by local and not long-distance trains.

Ruislip station is a five-minute walk from the stadium (marginally nearer than Ruislip Manor).

Adult return fares from Stroud (invariably via Paddington) are in the region of £70 and the journey will take around 3 hours.  There are plenty of options to get there and back on the same day.

This is the eponymous Weald Stone that is said to have once marked a local boundary.  It’s unusual in that it’s a sarsen stone (same as Stonehenge and Avebury).  Nobody’s really sure how it got to Middlesex.  It would be easy to overlook in its home outside the Bombay Central restaurant!

Grosvenor Vale is often described as ‘quirky’.  It is a ground where sections have been added piecemeal over the years, making it something of a hotchpotch stadium, but not without charm.  It has a capacity of 4,085, with a mixture of seating and standing areas. A unique feature is a towering concrete gun turret at its northeast corner that was used to protect nearby Northolt Aerodrome from German bombing during World War II.  It is brightly painted in white & blue like the rest of the stadium, though slightly overshadowed by the ‘Couch Corner’ stand at that end of the ground.

There are currently plans for the club to move to a new ground, very close to the A40 and Hillingdon tube station.

Away fans are welcome in the clubhouse before the match, and if the weather is good, expect an array of stalls selling club memorabilia outside too.

Ticket prices for 2025/26 are as follows (with the reduction for purchasing online shown in brackets):
Please note that tickets for seating must be purchased online in advance.

TV documentaries about non-league football have surged in popularity in recent years. The trend arguably began with Class of ’92: Out of Their League, following Salford City, and continued with Disney’s Welcome to Wrexham. In both cases, the club’s celebrity owners were as much in the spotlight as the football itself.

YouTube series Bunch of Amateurs has regularly featured non-league clubs, particularly Dorking Wanderers, while Amazon Prime’s All Town Aren’t We covered Grimsby Town’s recent campaign in the fifth tier — and their successful promotion push.

Next up: Wealdstone.  DAZN recently announced that the Stones will be the focus of a new documentary covering the entire 2025/26 season, “bringing to life the unique and exciting stories only found in the National League.” As one of the few part-time clubs left in the division — now stacked with former EFL sides — there’s hope that Wealdstone’s underdog story will resonate. DAZN’s promotional blurb calls it “a story about community, belief and the spirit of underdogs determined to make their mark.”

Interestingly, perhaps by chance, perhaps because of their location close to Wembley and London – this isn’t Wealdstone’s first brush with the small screen.

While it’s sometimes wrongly claimed that a Wealdstone match was the first ever broadcast by the BBC, there’s good evidence that the club was involved in a different kind of milestone. However, what does appear to be a credible claim is that an Athenian League match between Wealdstone and Barnet, played at the latter club’s old Underhill Ground in October 1946, was the first live football match televised by the BBC after the Second World War. At least, part of the game was broadcast, with only 20 minutes of the first half being broadcast, intentionally, and then some way through the second half, darkness made it impossible to continue filming.

Wealdstone also appear to have featured in two of the earliest FA Cup matches (in the qualifying rounds) broadcast live by the BBC: a 1–0 win over Edgware Town in October 1949, followed by another 1–0 victory over Colchester United the following month.

And finally, a more recent — and unexpected — connection to television: new Stones manager Sam Cox made an appearance in Ted Lasso (Season 3), playing a fictional West Ham United player named Armando.

Wealdstone finished 20th in the National League in 2024/25, securing survival with 37 points and 10 wins. Their place in the division was only confirmed on the final day, thanks to a 3–1 win over Halifax Town — and a 1–1 draw between Solihull Moors and Dagenham & Redbridge, which saw the latter relegated. Somewhat ironically, Solihull’s manager at the time, Matt Taylor, had only months earlier left Wealdstone — and his new side’s result ended up helping his former club stay up.

It was the second successive year the Stones left it late. In 2023/24, they also avoided relegation on the final day, with a win over Oldham Athletic. That victory came under interim manager Sam Cox, who took charge for the closing stretch of the season. Cox was appointed on a permanent basis in June 2025, replacing Neil Gibson, who had succeeded Matt Taylor in January.

The new management has made a few new signings, including defender Junior Tiensia (from Barrow), centre-back Connor McAvoy (Fulham), winger Sak Hassan (Hashtag Utd), and midfielder Omar Mussa (Torquay Utd). One name familiar to Rovers fans is midfielder Dylan Kadji, who came to the Stones via Weston-super-Mare.

The Stones have made a very decent start to the current season, with eight victories from 19 games, and currently sit eighth in the table, three points from the play-off zone. The 3-2 defeat of Southend Utd is probably the season highlight so far, although coming back from 3-1 down to beat Morecambe 4-3 on their home turf must have brought a certain satisfaction.

Dylan Kadji in FGR days

Sam Cox was appointed Wealdstone manager in May 2025, just after the end of the season, and now begins his first full campaign in charge. He previously oversaw the final five matches of 2023/24 as interim boss, helping the club avoid relegation with a crucial final-day win.

A product of the Tottenham Hotspur academy, Cox also represented Guyana at international level. As a player, he was a versatile presence in defence or midfield, spending much of his career in the fifth and sixth tiers, particularly around Middlesex and Hertfordshire. He made 98 appearances over three years at Boreham Wood, and 64 for Wealdstone, where he also had one of his most settled spells. Other clubs include Barnet, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Hayes & Yeading United and Welling United.

His only previous permanent management role came at Oxford City, where he took charge at the start of the 2024/25 season. However, he lasted just nine games, departing after a poor run of results in their first year in National League North, following their relegation from their only season in the fifth tier the previous year.

58 year-old builder and roofer, Gordon Hill, became an internet and chart sensation in 2014 as The Wealdstone Raider.  Gordon donates proceeds to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

If you have heard of Wealdstone, it may be because of internet celebrity (and Wealdstone FC fan) Gordon Hill aka ‘The Wealdstone Raider’. He released a charity single at Christmas 2014 titled ‘Got no Fans’.  The song originated as a taunt during a match between Whitehawk FC, in Brighton, and Wealdstone FC.  It charted at number 5 in the Christmas singles charts.

Wealdstone FC have used their current crest since the 1960s. The blue and white chequers in the top left represent the club’s traditional colours, while the three lions in the top right echo the Royal Arms of England. In the bottom left are the three seaxes and crown from the historic emblem of Middlesex, and the bottom right features a football.

FGR fans from England and Scotland at Grosvenor Vale last season